Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading their performance. They can be a good source of damage, more AD or even more attachments.
Sometimes, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade equipment due to their requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They boost the stats of whatever item they are attached to. Upgrades to armor are available in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternately, they can be rescued from items with upgrade components within them by using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. The absorption of damage by a piece armor will increase when it's upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. But, it's important to note that this will also increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than before.
There are several kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game and each one has distinct effects. For example, some upgrades will grant the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others make it lighter and stronger. The type of armor upgrade that an item will receive will be identified by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
Some of the upgrades are also magic or a mix of magic and technology, which is identified by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require a fee to use, and are shown by the "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to upgrade your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more expensive however, it is available from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to armor pieces of the highest level. These upgrades can give players a significant increases in stats and are worth the investment.
Upgrading a piece of armor to max upgrade level will greatly increase its defense capabilities but the wearer must be aware that putting more weight on it will dramatically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The added defense typically isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of certain aspects of an weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain firearms have upgrades that enhance their inherent qualities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).
The majority of upgrades for weapons require a whetblade, one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. These can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.
To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece or Whetblade you need to visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee that is a certain amount of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade the higher 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 sets has changed. Before, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a set amount of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to an increased level of rarity. You could continue doing this until you reach a maximum upgrade level for the equipment or weapon, after which upgrades would reset.
This is still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. Instead, you're better off going to stores and purchasing equipment with low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a better chance of bringing you the highest tier perks and blessings.
To increase their level faster, many players prioritize upgrading their weapons. In addition players, they should think about upgrading the weapons they use with their squadmates to make them more powerful as well. Shepard, for example should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will increase the effectiveness of the weapon when used with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing a stat and providing secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, where you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents on a table. The higher the level of the gem is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The Jeweler can enhance the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Based on the tier of the gem, it will provide a different stat boosts when it is inserted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
All tiers of jewels can be made at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a high enough level to be able to get these. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without destroying the original. You can only replace the jewel only once in a piece of equipment.
The use of more jewels in the movement can make it feel more comfortable and is typically used for aesthetic reasons. Apart from improving performance, the diamonds create an area that is stronger than metal, so repeated friction with pivots doesn't damage them as easily.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs that can enhance the appearance of your weapons and shields. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be exchanged, however they are not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded by the Jeweler to exchange Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis cannot be exchanged, and can only be retrieved by using an Upgrade extractor or salvaging with 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 loot or personal story rewards. They are also available from vendors and by completing road interaction. They may also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased at the Trading Post.
The first trinket players will be able to unlock is the cloak. It gives a small but beneficial boost in movement speed and the ability to escape. The player can then acquire necklaces, rings, and amulets, in a similar way to how they acquired weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Cases gg are smaller and can be utilized on any piece of equipment. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't in combat. This allows the hero to be more efficient while inactive. It can also make up for the lack of a strong slots in the team or talent tree that are normally filled by a hero's top stats.
A good rule of thumb 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 but less important than the iLevel of the item that is being upgraded. This is especially true when you're looking to upgrade several statistics on an item. It is more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat instead of two subpar ones.
Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one at the beginning of the game. Mid and top players on the other hand, will choose a green or a pink ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's abilities to control maps.
Aside from the items mentioned above, players may also find a number of other trinkets throughout the game in the form of awards and trophies. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story, like completing a chapter's main quest or killing a particular boss. These can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.