Item Upgrades Explained In Fewer Than 140 Characters

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Upgrades to items are a frequent and crucial method to enhance the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can be a good source of damage, more AD or even more attachments.

Often times however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade gear due to their high requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They increase the effectiveness of the item level upgrade they're attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using an expert or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrades from the items.

The amount of damage that an armored piece or weapon is able to absorb is dependent on the level of its upgrades. Upgrading a piece of armor to its highest upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. It is important to keep in mind that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it should be heavier.

There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are that are available in the game and they all have distinct effects. For instance, some upgrades give the armor a certain number of health points while others make it lighter and stronger. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive will be identified by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.

Some of the upgrades also require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which is indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Some upgrades also require charges for use. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.

The cheapest way to upgrade armor is with Iron Ore, which can be found by exploring the area and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on armor pieces of the highest level. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are well worth the investment.

The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece up to the maximum upgrade level can boost its defense. However, it can also reduce its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The added defense generally isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells cause. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).

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

Upgrades to a weapon, equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade price of a set number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars you will need to complete the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials, the cost of upgrading will be less.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your weapon and equipment sets changed a little. In the past, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a set number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon 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 be reset.

You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. You're better off buying gear with minimal upgrade levels, but high base scores and stat distributions. These items have a greater chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of blessings and perks.

To level up faster, many players be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. In addition, players should consider upgrading the weapons favored by their squadmates to make them more powerful as well. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will increase the effectiveness of the weapon when accompanied with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are used in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, in which you combine gemstones with specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the gem, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or through salvaging Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The Jeweler can improve the quality of gemstones in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. The boosts to stats will differ depending on the level the jewel is at when it is inserted into jewelry, weapons, or other gear.

All levels of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to obtain them. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without destroying the original. However you can only swap out the jewels in an item of equipment once.

Utilizing more jewels in a move can make it feel more comfortable and is usually performed to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. In addition to enhancing performance, the jewels also create a surface that is harder than metal, so repeated friction from pivots won't damage them as easily.

In addition to the upgrades mentioned above players can also obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. They offer a small benefit and can be swapped freely but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded by the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. 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 with an Upgrade extractor, or salvaging with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can provide your hero with a variety of small, but useful, benefits. You can find them in the start-up area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They are also available from vendors and by doing road interaction. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket players will unlock is the cloak. It provides a tiny but beneficial boost in movement speed and the ability to evade. The player will then be able to acquire necklaces, amulets, and rings, in a similar way similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that can accommodate either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be put into any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and only works with certain types of trinkets.

These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't in combat. This enables the hero to perform better when they are not active, and can also help fill in the void of a solid team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's best stats.

A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best item upgrade-in-Slot) items that you will not replace soon, followed by items with desirable stats but less important than the iLevel of the item upgrader mod to be upgraded. This is true especially if you are looking to upgrade multiple stats on an item upgrader Kit. It's better to upgrade one important stat than two less important ones.

Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinket to a red trinket at the start of the game. Top and mid players, on the other hand will pick a green or a pink ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have an impact on the ability of a hero to control the map.

In addition to the items listed above, players will find other trinkets in the form trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be obtained through completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing the main quest for a chapter or beating the boss. They can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.