Item Upgrades Explained In Fewer Than 140 Characters

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 be a fantastic source of additional damage, more AD or even more 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 boost the performance of the item that they are connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items that have upgrade components inside them, using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to absorb. The ability to absorb damage of a piece armor will increase when it's upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be more heavy.

There are several kinds of armor upgrades available in the game and they all have different effects. Certain upgrades grant armor an additional number of health points, while others make it lighter and more powerful. The name of the upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade that an item will receive, as shown below.

Some upgrades are magic or a mix of magic and technology, which is shown by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require a fee to use, which is indicated by the "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges associated with these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, dependent on the upgrade.

Iron Ore is the cheapest way to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more expensive but it can be obtained from smelters located in 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 significant improvements in stats and are a worthwhile investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.

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

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of a weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Certain weapons come with special upgrades to improve their inherent characteristics. Frictionless materials (improves stability, reduces the risk of weapon overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed to cause more damage) are two examples.

The majority of upgrades to weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade to apply. These can be obtained by completing Side Quests, killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.

The process of upgrading a weapon, equipment Set piece, or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade fee of a certain number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars required to complete it. The cost of the upgrades will be less if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.

In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. In the past you could search for an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to a higher quality. You could continue doing this until you reached the max upgrade level of the equipment or weapon, after which the upgrades would be reset.

You can still do this however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off going to the stores and purchasing equipment with low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a greater chance of granting you the highest level of advantages and benefits.

Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they use most frequently to help them level up quicker. In addition to these, players should consider upgrading the weapons they use with their squadmates to make them more powerful and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to increase a stat or provide secondary effects in weapons and armor. They can be made through a process called jewelry crafting, where you combine a gemstone and a number of specific chemicals at a table. The higher the level of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be found around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The quality of a jewel can be improved at the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. Depending on the tier of the gem it will give different stat boost when slotted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.

All tiers of jewels can be made at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a certain level to obtain them. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped with another identical jewel without damaging it. You can only replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.

The use of more jewels in a move can make it feel more comfortable and is usually done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. In addition to improving performance, the jewels create a surface that is harder than metal, so repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.

In addition to the upgrades mentioned above additionally, players can get glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These provide a small bonus and can be swapped out at any time, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as traits or aegis can't be exchanged, and can only be recovered through an upgrade extractor or salvaging using Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can give your character various small, but beneficial advantages. They are available in the start-up area as loot or as personal story rewards. They are also available from vendors and by the completion of road interactions. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased at the Trading Post.

The first trinkets a player can unlock is the cloak.  item upgrader  grants a small but useful bonus to movement speed and the ability to escape. The player can then collect necklaces, amulets, and rings in a similar fashion similar to how they obtained weapons and armor.  item upgrades  of gear comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any device. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced, and can only be used with certain trinkets.

These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that remain active when the hero is not in combat. This allows a hero to be more efficient when they are not active. It can also compensate for the lack of a good team or talent tree slots which are usually filled by the hero's optimal stats.

A good rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing in the near future, then any items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade, as it's often better to upgrade just one crucial stat than two subpar ones.

Jungle players often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red one prior to the start of the game. Top and mid 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 map control abilities.

In addition to the items mentioned above, players can also discover a variety of other items in the form of awards and trophies. They can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story, such as 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.