Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide On Item Upgrades

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and essential way to boost the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.

Sometimes, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade equipment due to their higher requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a form of upgrade that can be applied to weapons and armor items. They boost the effectiveness of the item upgrader they are connected to. Upgrades to armor can be found in the world of the game and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged using a specialist or higher salvage kits to salvage upgrades from the items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will absorb. The upgrade of an armor piece to the highest upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. However, it's important to note that this will also increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than before.

There are many different kinds of armor upgrade available in the game. Each has a different impact. Some upgrades give armor a greater number of health points, while others make it lighter and more powerful. The type of armor upgrade that an item can receive will be indicated by the name of the upgrade as shown in the table below.

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

The cheapest method to upgrade armor is with Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the area and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, however it is obtainable through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on armor pieces that are of high-level. These upgrades can provide significant increases in stats and are definitely worth the investment.

The player should be aware that upgrading a piece to its maximum upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it can also affect the speed and agility of the piece. Therefore, it is not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces beyond +9, because the increase in defense is generally not worth the additional weight and power cost of the upgrades required.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of an weapon. For instance an upgrade can enhance the damage caused by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of a sniper rifle. Certain firearms also have upgrades that enhance their inherent qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces the risk of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed for greater damage) are two examples.

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

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 more bars required to complete an upgrade the more advanced the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be lower.

In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. 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 the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would reset.

This is still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. You're better off buying gear that has minimal upgrade levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a better chance of bringing you the Best item upgrader tier of bonuses and blessings.

To improve their skills quicker, players usually prioritise upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates use to boost their strength. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will increase its utility when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are used in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. Jewelry crafting is the process of creating them. You combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the tier of the gem, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses around the world, or through collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.

The quality of a diamond can be improved by the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. The boosts to stats will differ according to the tier that the jewel is in when it's inserted into jewelry, weapons or other gear.

All kinds of jewels can be made at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to obtain these. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped with a jewel of the same kind without damaging the original one. You are able to replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.

It is common to use more jewels for aesthetic reasons. The jewels also improve performance and create a surface harder than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots do not cause damage to the movement.

A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the appearance of your weapons and shields. These are a small perk and can be swapped freely, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold and Scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis, are not swappable, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets are items of equipment that offer a wide range of tiny but valuable advantages to your hero. They can be acquired starting in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, or by performing road interactions. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased on the Trading Post.

The first trinkets that a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which gives an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and evasion. Then, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same manner to the way a player acquires armor and weapons. Every piece of equipment has 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 changed or upgraded, and only works with specific types of trinkets.

These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that are active when the hero is not in combat. This allows a hero to become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also compensate for the absence of strong team or talent tree slots that are normally filled by the hero's best stats.

A good general 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 upgrader mod to be upgraded. This is true especially if you're looking to upgrade several stats on an item upgrade. It is best to upgrade just one crucial stat than two less important ones.

Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one prior to the start of the game. Top and mid players however they will select a green or a pink ward, depending on the game's matchup. These choices can affect the hero's ability to manage the map.

In addition to the things mentioned above, players can discover a variety of other trinkets throughout the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, such as completing a chapter's main quest or destroying a boss. You can check them out by selecting the achievement from the reward section of the hero's menu.