Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading their performance. They can be a great source of additional damage, more AD or even more attaches.
Rare-grade equipment is often superior to modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They increase the effectiveness of the item they are connected to. Upgrades to armor can be found in the world of games and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items that have upgrade components within them by using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The amount of damage that a piece of armor or weapon will absorb is contingent on the level of its upgrades. The absorption of damage by a piece armor will increase when it is upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. However, it's important keep in mind that this will increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than before.
There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game, and they all have different effects. For instance, some upgrades will grant the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others make it lighter and stronger. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade the item can be given, as illustrated below.
A few upgrades also feature magic or a hybrid of magic and technology, which is identified by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees to use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades are updated daily or never expire according to the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest way to improve your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but can be found in the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give a significant boost in stats, and are worth the investment.
A piece of armor upgraded to its maximum upgrade level will dramatically increase its defense capabilities, but the player should be aware that putting on weight will drastically reduce its agility and speed. For this reason, it is generally not recommended to upgrade armor pieces above +9, since the added defense is usually not worth the extra weight and power cost of the upgrades needed.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades let players increase the effectiveness of specific aspects of a weapon. For example an upgrade could improve the damage that is caused by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of the rifle sniper. Some weapons have special upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).
The majority of upgrades to weapons require 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 bosses and monsters.
Upgrading 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 are required to complete it. The cost of upgrading will be less if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your equipment and weapon sets has changed a bit. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific amount of Bars. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.
This is still possible, but it relies heavily on RNG. Instead, you're better off visiting stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels, but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These will then 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. In addition to these players, they should think about upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to increase their power and effective. Shepard for instance, should upgrade the M92F so that he can unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when used in conjunction with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are used in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. They can be created using a process called jewelry crafting, where you combine a gemstone and a number of specific ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the grade of the gemstone has, the more powerful its secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses around the world, or by collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.
The quality of a gem can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that range from Crude to Royal. The boosts to stats will differ depending on the level the jewel is at when it's inserted into jewelry, weapons or equipment.
All levels of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary jewels which require you to be at a sufficient level to be able to get the privilege of having them. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped with a jewel of the same kind without destroying it. However it is only possible to replace one jewel in an item of equipment once.
Using more jewels in the movement will make it more smooth, and is often used to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. Jewels also enhance performance and create an outer layer that is more durable than metal so that repeated friction from pivots do not cause damage to them.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above players can also get glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These are a small perk and are able to be swapped easily, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. item upgrade , like traits and aegis aren't swappable and can only be recovered using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can be used to provide your hero with various small, but beneficial advantages. They are available in the starter area as loot or personal story rewards. They are also available from vendors and by doing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased on the Trading Post.
The first trinkets that a player unlocks will be the cloak, which gives a small but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player will then be able to acquire necklaces, rings, and amulets, in a similar way as they did with weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be put into any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and only works with specific types of trinkets.
These trinkets grant additional buffs and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows the hero to be more effective while inactive, and can also help make up for a lack of a strong team or any slots from the talent tree that would normally be filled with the hero's ideal stats.
As a general rule, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace in the near future. Also, consider items with desirable stats that aren't as important as the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats you wish to upgrade, as it's often more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one prior to the beginning of the game. Mid and top players, on the other hand will pick a green or a pink ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have an impact on a hero's ability to control the map.
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 in the story, like the main quest of a chapter or killing a particular boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.