Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide To Item Upgrades
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a common and important way to improve the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Sometimes, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade equipment due to their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a form of upgrade that can be applied to weapons and armor items. They increase the stats of whatever item upgrader kit they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using a specialist or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrades from the 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 increase its ability to absorb damage. However, it's important to note that this will also increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than before.
There are several different types of armor upgrade available in the game. Each has a different impact. Certain upgrades grant armor a greater amount of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an Best item upgrader will receive will be indicated by the name of the upgrade, as illustrated in the table below.
A few of the upgrades are also magic or a mix of technology and magic which is indicated by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Additionally, some upgrades require charges to use, and are shown by the "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges for these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be found by exploring the area and looting small loot chests. 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 applied on armor pieces of the highest level. These upgrades can provide significant improvements in stats and are well worth the investment.
The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to its max upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it will also affect the speed and agility of the piece. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The defensive boost gained generally isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. For instance an upgrade could improve the damage that is caused by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of a sniper rifle. Some weapons have special enhancements to enhance their intrinsic qualities. 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 one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade to apply. These are obtained through either doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
Upgrading a Weapon, Equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade price of a certain number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars are required to complete it. The cost of the upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your equipment and weapon sets was a bit different. Previously you could go to an upgrade item Bench and pay a certain number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this, but the process is based on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off going to stores and buying gear that has low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a greater likelihood of granting you highest level of benefits and blessings.
The majority of players will prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they are most likely to use to allow them to progress faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates use to boost their strength. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to increase its utility when paired with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects in weapons and armor. They can be made through the process of jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gem with various reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the quality of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents can be found around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The quality of a diamond can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts will vary depending on the level the jewel is at when it's slotted into weapons, jewelry, or equipment.
The Jeweler can craft the highest levels of gems with the exception of rare and legendary ones that you must attain certain levels to gain. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped with another jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. However, you can only replace the jewels in an item upgrader mod of equipment once.
It is typical to use more gems to enhance the appearance of. In addition to enhancing performance, the jewels create a surface that is harder than metal, so repeated friction from pivots doesn't damage them as easily.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above, the player can also acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs provide a small boost and can be swapped, but they're not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler to exchange gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as aegis or traits cannot be swapped, and can only be found through an upgrade extractor or salvaging with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to give your character many small, but beneficial, advantages. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, or by doing road interactions. They can also be made by jewelers, and then found or purchased on the Trading Post.
The first trinket that a player will be able to unlock is the cloak. It provides a tiny but valuable boost in movement speed and the ability to evade. After that, they'll be able to get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same fashion to how the player can acquire weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be placed in any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't in combat. This lets a hero be more efficient while inactive. It can also compensate for the lack of a strong slots in the team or talent tree that are normally filled by a hero's top stats.
In general trinket upgrades should be a priority BiS (Best item upgrader in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace in the near future. Also, consider items with desirable statistics that aren't as important as the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. This is true especially if you're looking to upgrade several stats on an item. It's better to upgrade one important stat than two less important ones.
In the beginning of the game, players in the jungle are likely to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one in the middle and top players typically choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have a major impact on the hero's map control abilities.
In addition to the items listed above, players will discover other trinkets in form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, finishing a chapter’s main quest or defeating the boss. You can check them out by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.