Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a frequent and essential way to boost the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can be a good source of additional damage and more AD or even more attaches.
Often times however upgraded Common and Magic gear is often surpassed by Rare-grade gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be used on weapon and armor items. They improve the stats of the item they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged by using a professional or higher salvage kits to salvage upgrade components from other items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can take on. Upgrading a piece of armor to its highest upgrade level will boost the damage it absorbs. However, it's important keep in mind that this will increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than it was before.
There are several kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game, and each one has distinct effects. Certain upgrades give armor a greater amount of health points while others make it lighter and more powerful. The name of the armor upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade the item can be given, as illustrated below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a combination of technology and magic, as identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Certain upgrades require charges in order to be used. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are continuously updated or never expire depending on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to improve your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost to stats and are a worthwhile investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.
The player must be aware that upgrading a piece to its maximum upgrade level will boost its defense. However, it will also decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The defensive boost gained typically isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of a weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Certain firearms also have upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
Most weapon upgrades require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade to apply. They can be obtained by doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
Upgrades to a weapon, equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade cost of a set number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars required to complete it. The cost of upgrading will be less if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your equipment and weapon sets was a bit different. Previously click this link here now could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to a higher rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level and at that point, the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're better off going to stores and buying equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These will have a better chance of bringing you the best tier of benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they most often use to allow them to progress quicker. Additionally, players should consider upgrading the weapons favored by their squadmates to make them more powerful as well. Shepard, for example should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when used with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are placed in the sockets of armor and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. Jewelry crafting is a method for creating them. You combine gemstones with specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the quality of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or through finding Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.
The Jeweler can boost the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Based on the tier of the gem it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
All kinds of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to qualify for these. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped by a different jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. However it is only possible to replace one jewel in an item of equipment only once.
It is typical to use more jewels for aesthetic reasons. item upgrade can also enhance performance and create a harder surface than steel so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to the movement.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your shields and weapons. These glyphs provide a small boost and can be swapped, but they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold and a scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like aegis or traits cannot be swapped, and can only be retrieved by using an Upgrade extractor or salvaging using Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that offer a wide range of small but useful benefits to your hero. They are available in the starting area as loot or as personal story rewards. They are also available through vendors and after the completion of road interactions. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket players will unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in movement speed and the ability to escape. The player can then acquire necklaces, amulets, and rings in a similar manner similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be placed in any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded and is only compatible with certain types of trinkets.
These trinkets also grant additional buffs and skills that are active even when the character is not fighting. This lets the hero perform better when they are not active and also helps fill in the void of a strong team or the absence of any talent tree slots which would normally be filled with hero's ideal statistics.
In general trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items that you will not replace soon. Then, you should consider any items that have desirable statistics are less significant than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true when you are looking to upgrade multiple statistics on an item. It's more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat rather than two suboptimal ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one prior to the start of the game. Top and mid players however, will choose either a pink or green ward, depending on the game's matchup. These choices can affect the hero's ability to manage the map.
Aside from the items listed above, players can also find a number of other items in the form of awards and trophies. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story, like the main quest of a chapter or killing a particular boss. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.