Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide Towards Item Upgrades

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

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

In most cases, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade gear because of their requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They increase the performance of the item they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of games and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at bonfires. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items with upgrade components inside them, with a professional or higher salvage kit.

The amount of damage an armored piece or weapon will absorb is contingent on the degree of upgrades. A piece of armor upgraded to maximum upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. However, it's important note that this will also increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than before.

There are a few different types of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have different effects. Certain upgrades grant armor an extra number of health points, while others make it more powerful and lighter. The type of armor upgrade that an item upgrader can receive will be identified 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, as shown by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees to use. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are either continuously updated or never expire depending on the upgrade.

The cheapest method to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be obtained through exploring the surroundings and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more costly, but is readily available in the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide a significant improvements in stats and are worth the cost, especially for single-handed weapons.

The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece up to the max upgrade level will increase its defense value. However, it can also decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The defensive boost gained typically isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. For instance an upgrade could increase the damage dealt by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of a rifle that snipes. Some weapons also have special enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes the possibility of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration for greater damage) are two examples.

The majority of upgrades for weapons require a whetblade, one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. These are obtained through either doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.

Upgrades to a weapon, equipment Set piece or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade fee that is based on a specific number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars you will need to complete the upgrade. The cost of upgrading will be lower if have more than one of the upgrade materials.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your equipment and weapon sets changed a little. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon or equipment by paying a certain number of Bars. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.

You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. You're better off buying gear that has low upgrade levels and high base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a greater chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of benefits and blessings.

The majority of players will prioritize upgrades to the weapons they are most likely to use to help them level up faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates use to make them stronger. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F so that he can unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are utilized in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. They can be created through a process called jewelry crafting, where you combine a gem and several chemicals at a table. The higher the level of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The quality of a jewel can be improved by the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts can vary depending on the level the jewel is in when it's slotted into jewelry, weapons or other gear.

All tiers of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a certain level to be able to get the privilege of having them. Jewels can be replaced by another jewel without damaging the original. However you can only swap out a jewel in an equipment piece once.

It is normal to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. In addition to enhancing performance, the diamonds create an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so the repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades players can also obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be traded, but they're not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold and a scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis cannot be swapped out, and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can provide your hero with a variety of small, but useful, benefits. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and through doing road interactions. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased from the Trading Post.

The first trinket players can unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in movement speed and the ability to evade. The player can then collect necklaces, rings, and amulets, in a similar way similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any device. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.

These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that are active whenever the hero is not fighting. This allows a hero to become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also compensate for the absence of good slots in the team or talent tree which are usually filled by the hero's Best item upgrader stats.

A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best item upgrade-in-Slot) items that you will not replace soon, followed by any items with desirable stats but less important than the iLevel of the item upgrader kit to be upgraded. This is especially true when you are looking to upgrade multiple 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 trinkets to a red one at the beginning of the game. Mid and top players however, will choose a green or a pink ward, based on the game's matchup. These choices can affect the ability of a hero to control the map.

In addition to the items listed above, players will find other trinkets in the form trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story. For example, completing the main quest for a chapter or defeating the boss. These can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.