Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading them. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Often times however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is often surpassed by Rare-grade equipment due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They increase the effectiveness of the item they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of games and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kits to retrieve upgrades from the items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to take on. The damage absorption of a piece armor will increase as it is upgraded to the highest upgrade level. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, which means it should be heavier.
There are many different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game. Each has a different effect. For instance, certain upgrades give the armor a certain number of health points while others will make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item can get will be indicated by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which is identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Certain upgrades require charges for use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades refresh daily or never expire, dependent on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest method to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small treasure chests. Titanium is more expensive, but can be found at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied on armor pieces that are of high-level. These upgrades can give a significant improvements in stats and are definitely worth the cost.
Upgrading a piece of armor to max upgrade level will greatly boost its defense however, the user must be aware that putting on weight will dramatically reduce its agility and speed. For this reason, it is not recommended to upgrade armor pieces beyond +9, because the increase in defense is generally not worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells cause. Some weapons also have special enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
The majority of weapon upgrades require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount Minerals and Erons. They can be obtained 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 cost that is based on a specific number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the more advanced the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials the cost of upgrading will be less.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment 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 continue to do this until you reach a max upgrade level of the weapon or equipment, after which upgrades would reset.
It's still possible, but it relies heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off going to stores and purchasing equipment with low upgrade levels, but good base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a better chance of giving you the highest level of benefits and blessings.
To improve their skills faster, most players will prioritise upgrading their weapons. In addition players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons they use with their teammates to increase their power and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will enhance its effectiveness when paired with biotech specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. They can be created using an process known as jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gem with several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the tier of the gem is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The quality of a diamond can be improved at the Jeweler in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. Depending on the tier of the jewel it can provide different stat boosts when it is inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.
The Jeweler is able to create all tiers of gems, apart from the rare and legendary ones, which require a certain level to get. Jewels can be replaced with another jewel without destroying the original. However you can only swap out one jewel in an item of equipment once.
It is normal to use more gems to enhance the appearance of. In addition to enhancing performance, the jewels also create a surface that is harder than metal, which means that repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the appearance of your shields and weapons. They offer a small benefit and can be swapped freely but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also Scattered Crystal. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like traits and aegis, are not swappable, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are pieces of equipment that bestow many small but useful advantages to your hero. They are available in the starting area as loot or personal story rewards. They can also be obtained from vendors and by doing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased on the Trading Post.
The first trinkets a player unlocks will be the cloak, which grants an unimportant but beneficial boost to speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player will then be able to acquire rings, amulets and necklaces in a similar fashion to how they acquired weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade which can be universal or jewel. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be put into any kind of equipment however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that are active whenever the hero is not in combat. This allows the hero to be more effective while inactive, and can also help fill in the void of a strong team or any slots in the talent tree that normally are filled with hero's ideal stats.
A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren't planning to replace in the near future, then any items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item that is being upgraded. This is especially true when an item has multiple stats you'd like to upgrade, as it's usually 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 in the middle and top players usually choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have a major impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
In addition to the items listed above, players may also find other trinkets throughout the game in the form of trophies and awards. upgrade item can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, for instance finishing a chapter's main quest or destroying a boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.