Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of a variety of Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading them. They can be a great source of additional damage or more AD or even more attaches.
Rare-grade equipment can be superior to modernized Common or Magic gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They improve the stats of whatever item upgrader kit they are connected to. Upgrades to armor can be found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at bonfires. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrades from the items.
The amount of damage a piece of armor or weapon can absorb depends on the degree of upgrades. The damage absorption of a piece armor will increase when it is upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. But, it’s important to note that this will also raise its weight, requiring it to be heavier than it was before.
There are several kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game and they all have different effects. For example, some upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade the item upgrader kit can receive, as shown below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a combination of technology and magic, as indicated by the “Magic” and “Hybrids” entries in the table. Certain upgrades also require fees for use. These are indicated as “Charges” entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades change daily or never expire, according to the upgrade.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the environment and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive but it can be obtained from smelters located in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant boost to stats and are worth the cost, especially for single-handed weapons.
The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to its max upgrade level will boost its defense. However, it can also decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense usually isn’t worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For example, an upgrade may increase the damage dealt by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of the rifle that snipes. Certain weapons also come with enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
The majority of upgrades to weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade to apply. These can be obtained by completing Side Quests, killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece or Whetblade, you must visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a certain number of Bars. The more bars required to complete an upgrade the more expensive the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials the cost of upgrading will be lower.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your equipment and weapon sets changed a little. Previously you could search for an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher quality. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level and at that point, the upgrades would reset.
It’s possible, but it relies heavily on RNG. You’re better off buying gear that has low levels of upgrade but with high base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a chance at gaining you the most prestigious perks and blessings.
To improve their skills quicker, players usually be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their teammates utilize to increase their power. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to enhance its effectiveness when paired with experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to increase the stats of a character or to provide additional effects in armor and weapons. They can be made through the process of jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gem with several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the level of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or through collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a jewel can be improved at the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. Depending on the tier of the gem it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.
The Jeweler can create all kinds of gems, with the exception of rare and legendary ones, which require an appropriate level to obtain. Jewels can be replaced by another jewel without damaging the original. However you can only swap out one jewel in an equipment piece only once.
Using more jewels in the movement will make it more smooth and is usually done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. The jewels also improve performance and make a harder surface than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots do not cause damage to them.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs that can enhance the look of your shields and weapons. These glyphs provide a small boost and can be traded, but they’re not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as aegis or traits cannot be exchanged, and can only be retrieved through an upgrade extractor or salvaging using Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can give your character a variety of small, but useful benefits. They are available in the starter area as loot or as personal story rewards. They can also be obtained from vendors and by doing road interaction. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket a player is able to unlock is the cloak. It grants an unimportant but beneficial boost to speed of movement and evasion. Then, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same manner to the way a player can acquire weapons and armor. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be used in any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that are active when the hero is not in combat. This enables the hero to perform better when they are not active and may also help make up for a lack of a solid team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero’s ideal stats.
A good rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren’t planning to replace soon, followed by any items with desirable stats but less important than the iLevel of the item level upgrade that is being upgraded. This is especially true when an item level upgrade has multiple stats that you’d like to upgrade as it’s often more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
In the beginning of the game players in the jungle are likely to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and mid players usually choose the pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero’s map control abilities.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players will also discover other trinkets in form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. These can be earned through completing certain milestones in the story, like completing a chapter’s main quest or killing a particular boss. These can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.