5 Laws That Will Help The Item Upgrades Industry
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading them. They can be a good source of additional damage and more AD or even more affixes.
Rare-grade equipment can be superior to the more modernized Common or Magic gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They increase the stats of whatever item upgrader mod they are connected to. Upgrades to armor are available in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using an expert or higher salvage kit to recover upgrade components from other items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will take on. The ability to absorb damage of an armor piece will increase when it is upgraded to the highest upgrade level. It's important to remember that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be more heavy.
There are several different types of armor upgrades available in the game. Each one has a distinct effect. Some upgrades give armor a greater 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 upgrade will be given, as illustrated below.
Some upgrades are magic or a hybrid of technology and magic which is identified by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Additionally, some upgrades require charges to use, which are identified by the "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are updated daily or never expire based on the upgrade item.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be gathered through exploring the surroundings and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive, but it can be obtained through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant improvement in stats and are worth the investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
Upgrading a piece of armor to the highest upgrade level will dramatically boost its defense however, the user must be aware that putting on weight can drastically decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The boost in defense typically isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain weapons come with special upgrades to improve their inherent qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes weapon overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed for greater damage) are two examples.
Most weapon upgrades require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade. These are obtained through either doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC 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 price that is based on a specific number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars required to complete it. The cost of upgrading will be lower 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. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific number of Bars. You could continue doing this until you reach a maximum upgrade level for your equipment or weapon, after which the upgrades would reset.
This is still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. It is better to purchase gear that has low levels of upgrade and high base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a higher chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of advantages and benefits.
To improve their skills faster, many players prioritize upgrading their weapons. Additionally players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons they use with their teammates to make them more powerful as well. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by biotech specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. They can be made through a process called jewelry crafting, where you combine a gem with several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the grade of the jewel is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or by salvaging Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The Jeweler can improve the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Based on the tier of the gem, it will provide a different stat boosts when it is inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.
The Jeweler can craft the highest levels of gems apart from the rare and legendary ones which you must attain a certain level to get. Like other upgrade components jewels are able to be swapped with another jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. You can only replace the jewel once in an item of equipment.
It is common to use more gems for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and make a harder surface than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to them.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs to enhance the look of your shields and weapons. These glyphs give a slight boost and can be freely swapped, but they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis can't be exchanged and can only be found with an Upgrade extractor, or salvaging with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can provide your hero with a variety of small, but beneficial advantages. They can be obtained in the starter areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, and by completing road interactions. They may also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased at the Trading Post.
The first trinket that a player can unlock is the cloak. It provides a tiny but beneficial boost in movement speed and evasion. After that, they can purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in a similar fashion to how the player acquires armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any device. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active when the hero isn't in combat. This enables the hero to be more effective when not active and also helps fill in the void of a strong team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's best stats.
A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you will not replace in the near future, then any items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the Item upgrader mod being upgraded. This is especially true when you are looking to upgrade multiple statistics on an item upgrader. It is better to upgrade one important stat rather than two suboptimal ones.
Jungle players often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red trinket at the beginning of the game. Top and mid players, on the other hand, will choose either a pink or green ward, depending on the matchup. These choices can impact a hero's ability to control the map.
Apart from the items mentioned above, players can find a number of other trinkets throughout the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story, like completing a chapter's main quest or killing a certain boss. You can view them by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.