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 numerous items in Path of Exile. They can be a fantastic source of damage or more AD or even more attachments.
Often times however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade gear because of their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They improve the effectiveness of the item they are attached to. Armor upgrades are available in the world of games and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kits to salvage upgrades from the items.
The amount of damage a piece of armor or weapon will absorb is contingent on the level of its upgrades. The damage absorption of an item upgrader mod of armor will increase when it is upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. But, it's important to keep in mind that this will increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than it was before.
There are several different types of armor upgrades available in the game. Each has a different impact. Some upgrades give armor an additional number of health points, while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade an item upgrader can be given, as illustrated below.
A few upgrades are magical or a combination of magic and technology, which is identified by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees for use. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are either constantly updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be gathered through exploring the surroundings and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive, however, it is available from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to armor pieces that are of high-level. These upgrades can provide significant improvement in stats and are a worthwhile investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade level can increase its defense value. However, it can also decrease its agility and its speed. For this reason, it is typically not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces that are higher than +9 because the increase in defense is generally not worth the weight and power cost of the improvements required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain firearms also have enhancements that enhance their intrinsic characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).
The majority of upgrades to weapons require a whetblade, one of three Power Dices and a different amount Minerals and Erons. These can be obtained by completing Side Quests or killing a certain amount of bosses and monsters.
To upgrade the weapon, equipment set piece, or Whetblade you need to visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a specific amount of bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars are required to complete it. If you have multiple upgrade materials, the cost of upgrading will be less.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your weapon and equipment sets changed a little. Previously you could search for an Upgrade Bench and pay a set amount of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to an increased level of rarity. You could continue to do this until you reach a maximum upgrade level for your equipment or weapon, following which upgrades would reset.
You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're better off going to stores and purchasing equipment with low upgrade levels, but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a greater chance of granting you the highest tier blessings and perks.
Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they are most likely to use to allow them to progress faster. 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 paired with experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to improve the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects in weapons and armor. Jewelry crafting is the process of creating them. You combine gemstones with specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the level of the gemstone has, the more powerful its secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or by collecting Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The Jeweler can enhance the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. The boosts to stats will differ according to the tier that the jewel is in when it's inserted into weapons, jewelry, or gear.
The Jeweler is able to create all kinds of gems, apart from the rare and legendary ones that require certain levels to gain. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped with a identical jewel without damaging it. You can only replace the jewel once in an item of equipment.
Using more jewels in a move can make it feel more comfortable and is usually performed for aesthetic reasons. The jewels also improve performance and create an outer layer that is more durable than steel so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to them.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs that can enhance the look of your weapons and shields. They offer a small benefit and are able to be swapped easily but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler to exchange Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as aegis and traits, are not swappable, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that provide an array of small, but beneficial benefits to your hero. You can find them in the starter area as loot or personal story rewards. They can also be obtained from vendors as well as through the completion of road interactions. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinkets a player unlocks will be the cloak, which gives an unimportant but beneficial boost to movement speed and the ability to escape. The player will then be able to acquire rings, amulets and necklaces in a similar manner as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be used in any type of equipment, while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows the hero to become more efficient even when not in combat. It also helps compensate for the absence of good team or talent tree slots which are usually filled by the hero's best stats.
As a rule trinket upgrades should be a priority BiS (Best in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace soon. Also, consider items with desirable stats that are less significant than the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item upgrade has multiple stats you wish to upgrade, since it's generally better to upgrade just one important stat than two sub-optimal ones.
In the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one in the middle and top players typically choose a green or pink ward (depending on the matchup). These choices can impact a hero's ability to control the map.
In addition to the items listed above, players will also find other trinkets in the form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, finishing the main quest for a chapter or beating the boss. They can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.