Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and essential way to boost the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.

In most cases, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is often surpassed by Rare-grade gear because of their high requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They boost the effectiveness of the item they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items with upgrade components inside them, using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.

The amount of damage a piece of armor or weapon can absorb depends on the extent of its upgrades. The upgrade of an armor piece to the highest upgrade level will boost the damage it absorbs. However, it's important to keep in mind that this will increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than before.

There are a few different types of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have distinct effects. Certain upgrades grant armor an extra number of health points, while others make it lighter and more powerful. The name of the upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade that an item level upgrade will receive, as shown below.

Some of the upgrades are also magic or a mix of technology and magic, which is indicated by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require charges in order to be used. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades change every day or never expire, depending on the upgrade.

Iron Ore is the cheapest method to improve your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more expensive but it can be obtained through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are definitely worth the investment.

The player should be aware that upgrading a piece to its max upgrade level will increase its defense value. However, it will also affect its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The added defense typically isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of a weapon. For instance an upgrade could enhance the damage caused by shotgun shells or the accuracy of the rifle that snipes. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).

Most upgrades for weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade to apply. They can be gained by completing Side Quests or killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.

Upgrading a Weapon, Equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade price that is based on a specific number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars required to complete it. If you have multiple upgrade materials, the cost of upgrading will be lower.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Before you could search for an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to an increased quality. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.

It's possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. It is better to purchase gear that has minimal upgrade levels and high base scores and stat distributions. These items have a better chance of granting you the highest level of benefits and blessings.

To increase their level faster, many players prioritise upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates use to boost their strength. Shepard, for example should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are utilized in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing a stat and providing secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, where you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents on a table. The higher the level of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or through collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The Jeweler can boost the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. The stat boosts will vary depending on the tier the jewel is at when it's inserted into jewelry, weapons, or equipment.

The Jeweler can create all kinds of gems, except for the rare and legendary ones which require a certain level to get. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without damaging the original. You are able to replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.

It is typical to use more jewels to enhance the appearance of. Jewels also enhance performance and create an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to the movement.

A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs to enhance the appearance of your weapons and shields. These provide a small bonus and are able to be swapped easily however they aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also a scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like aegis and traits, aren't swappable and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with the Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can be used to give your character a variety of small, but beneficial benefits. You can find them in the starting area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They can also be obtained through vendors and after doing road interaction. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which grants an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and evasion. After that, they can acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in the same fashion to how the player obtains armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced, and can only be used with certain trinkets.

These trinkets also grant additional buffs and skills that remain active whenever the hero is not in combat. This lets a hero become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also make up for the lack of a strong slots in the team or talent tree that are normally filled by the hero's optimal stats.

As a general rule, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best item upgrader in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace soon. Also, consider items that have desirable statistics are less significant than the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. This is especially true when you are looking to upgrade multiple statistics on an Best item upgrade. It is more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat than two less important ones.

In the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and middle players will usually opt for the pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices can affect the ability of a hero to control the map.

In addition to the items listed above, players can find other items in the form of awards and trophies. They can be obtained through completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing a chapter’s main quest or beating a boss. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.