Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide To Item Upgrades

Path of Exile item upgrades (Full Posting)

Item upgrades are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can be a good source of damage or more AD or even more affixes.

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

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They improve the stats of whatever item upgrader kit they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternatively, they can also be rescued from items with upgrade item components inside them, with a professional or higher salvage kit.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can take on. A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will boost its damage absorption. It is important to note that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be heavier.

There are many different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game. Each has a different impact. For instance, certain upgrades will grant the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it lighter and stronger. The kind of armor upgrade item an item can receive will be identified by the name of the upgrade, as illustrated in the table below.

Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which are identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees in order to be used. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are either constantly updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.

The cheapest way to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the area and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more costly, but can be found at the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant boost to stats and are worth the investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.

Upgrading a piece of armor to its maximum upgrade level will dramatically increase its defense values, but the player should be aware that putting more weight on it can drastically decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The defensive boost gained typically isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. For example, an upgrade may improve the damage that is caused by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of the rifle that snipes. Certain firearms have upgrades to improve their inherent qualities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).

Most upgrades for weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade for applying. These can be gained by completing Side Quests or by killing a certain number of bosses and monsters.

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 that is based on a specific number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the more expensive the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be lower.

In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets has changed. Previously, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain amount of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to an increased rarity. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level and at that point, the upgrades would reset.

You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off going to the stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a higher chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of advantages and benefits.

Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they most often use to help them level up faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their teammates 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 effective when accompanied with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to increase the stats of a character or to provide additional effects in armor and weapons. They can be created using an process known as jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gemstone and several chemicals at a table. The higher the level of the jewel has, the more powerful 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 buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.

The quality of a jewel can be improved upon by the Jeweler in stages that range from Crude to Royal. Based on the tier of the jewel, it will provide a different stat boost when slotted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.

The Jeweler is able to create the highest levels of gems with the exception of rare and legendary ones which you must attain an appropriate level to obtain. Like other upgrade components jewels can be swapped by a different identical jewel without destroying it. You can only replace the jewel only once in a piece of equipment.

It is typical to use more gems to enhance the appearance of. Jewels also enhance performance and create a surface harder than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not damage them.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades players can also acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be swapped, but they are not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis, aren't swappable and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets can give your character various small, but useful, benefits. They can be acquired starting in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and through performing road interactions. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket a player will be able to unlock is the cloak. It grants a small, but useful bonus in movement speed and the ability to evade. Then, they can acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in a similar manner to the way a player acquires weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade which can be universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and only work with certain trinkets.

These trinkets grant additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This lets a hero become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also compensate for the absence of good team or talent tree slots that are normally filled by the hero's optimal 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 soon, followed by items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade, as it's often better to upgrade a single important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.

Jungle players usually upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red trinket at the start of the game. Mid and top players, on the other hand will pick either a pink or green ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's map control abilities.

In addition to the things mentioned above, players can find other trinkets in the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story. For example, completing the main quest of a chapter or defeating a boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.