Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.

Rare-grade equipment is often superior to modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their high demands.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They boost the performance of the item they are connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be rescued from items with upgrade components within them by using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.

The amount of damage that an armored piece or weapon will absorb is contingent on the degree of upgrades. The absorption of damage by an armor piece will increase when it's upgraded to the highest upgrade level. However, it's important to keep in mind that this will increase its weight, which will cause it to be heavier than before.

There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are that are available in the game and they all have different effects. Certain upgrades grant armor an additional amount of health points while others make it lighter and more powerful. The kind of armor upgrade an item upgrader kit will receive will be indicated 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 are identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Furthermore, some upgrades require a charge to use, which is identified by the "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges associated with these upgrades are updated daily or never expire depending on the upgrade.

Iron Ore is the cheapest option to upgrade your armor. You can locate it by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant boost to performance and are worth the investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.

A piece of armor upgraded to its maximum upgrade level will dramatically boost its defense, but the player should be aware that putting more weight on it will dramatically reduce its agility and speed. Therefore, it is generally not recommended to upgrade most armor pieces beyond +9, since the added defense is usually not worth the extra weight and power costs of the upgrades needed.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of an weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Some weapons also have special upgrades that enhance their inherent characteristics. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of 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. They can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain amount of bosses and monsters.

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

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade items your equipment and weapon sets changed a little. Previously, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to an increased 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 based on RNG and low on agency. It is better to purchase gear that has minimal upgrade levels and high base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a better chance of bringing you the best tier of perks and blessings.

The majority of players will prioritize upgrades to the weapons they use most frequently to allow them to progress faster. Additionally, players should consider upgrading the weapons favored by their teammates to increase their power and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will make it more useful when paired with experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are utilized in the armor's sockets and weapons, enhancing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, in which you combine the gemstone with specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the gemstone, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.

The Jeweler can improve the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Based on the level of the gem, it will provide a different stat boosts when inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.

All kinds of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a certain level to obtain these. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped with another identical jewel without damaging the original one. However you can only swap out one jewel in an item upgrader kit of equipment once.

Utilizing more jewels in a move can make it feel more comfortable, and is often used to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. In addition to enhancing performance, the diamonds create an area that is stronger than metal, which means that repeated friction with pivots doesn't damage them as easily.

In addition to the above upgrades players can also acquire glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be freely exchanged, however they're not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also a scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed from the inventory, and they are returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis cannot be exchanged and can only be found through an upgrade extractor, or salvaging with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage.

Trinkets

Trinkets are items of equipment that provide a wide range of small, but beneficial benefits to your hero. You can find them in the starter area as loot or personal story rewards. They can also be obtained from vendors as well as through completing road interaction. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased from the Trading Post.

The first trinket players will be able to unlock is the cloak. It grants a small, but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to escape. After that, they'll be able to purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in a similar way to how a player can acquire armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment comes with a slot for an upgrade which can be universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be used in any type of equipment, while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.

These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't fighting. This lets the hero perform better when they are not active and also helps fill in the void of a solid team or the absence of any talent tree slots which would normally be filled with the hero's best statistics.

In general trinket upgrades should be a priority BiS (Best in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace soon. Also, consider items with desirable stats that aren't as significant as the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item upgrader mod has multiple stats that you wish to upgrade, since it's generally better to upgrade just one crucial stat than two subpar ones.

Jungle players often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red trinket at the start of the game. Mid and top players however, will choose either a pink or green ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have a major impact on the hero's abilities to control maps.

Aside from the items listed above, players may also find a number of other trinkets throughout the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing the main quest of a chapter or defeating an opponent. You can see them by selecting the achievement from the reward section of the hero's menu.