Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading the performance of them. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.
Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They improve the stats of whatever item they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged using a professional or higher salvage kits to recover upgrades from the items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will take on. A piece of armor upgraded to maximum upgrade level will increase its ability to absorb damage. It's important to remember that this will increase the weight of the armor, which means it must be more heavy.
There are several kinds of armor upgrades that are that are available in the game and they all have distinct effects. Certain upgrades give armor an extra amount of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade that an item will receive, as shown below.
Some upgrades also feature magical or a combination of magic and technology, which is shown by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require charges to use, and are shown by a "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges for these upgrades refresh daily or never expire, according to the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting chests of minor loot. 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 higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are definitely worth the investment.
Upgrading a piece of armor to max upgrade level will significantly increase its defense values however, the user must be aware that increasing its weight can drastically decrease its speed and agility. item upgrade is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The added defense typically isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells cause. Some weapons also have special upgrades that improve their innate capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes the risk of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration to cause more damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades to weapons require a whetblade, one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. These can be obtained by doing side quests, or taking out a certain number of monsters or bosses or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC located 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 of a certain number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade the more advanced the level. The cost of upgrades will be lower if have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your equipment and weapon sets has changed a bit. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain amount of Bars. You could continue doing this until you reached the maximum upgrade level for the equipment or weapon, after which upgrades would reset.
You can still do this but the process is based on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're better off going to the stores and purchasing equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These items have a better chance of giving you the highest tier advantages and benefits.
Most players will want to prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they most often use to allow them to progress quicker. Players should also upgrade the weapons their teammates use to make them stronger. Shepard for instance, should upgrade the M92F so that he can unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when used in conjunction with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost the stats of a character or to provide additional effects on weapons and armor. They can be created through the process of jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gem and several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the tier of the gem is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents can be found around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a jewel can be improved at the Jeweler, in stages that range from Crude to Royal. The boosts to stats will differ depending on the level the jewel is in when it's slotted into jewelry, weapons or other gear.
The Jeweler is able to create all tiers of gems, with the exception of rare and legendary ones that require an appropriate level to obtain. Jewels can be replaced by another one without damaging the original. You are able to replace the jewel once in an item of equipment.
Utilizing more jewels in a move will make it feel smoother, and is often performed for aesthetic reasons. In addition to enhancing performance, the diamonds create an area that is stronger than metal, so repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the appearance of your weapons and shields. These glyphs give a slight boost and can be traded, but they are not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs may also be 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 with Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can give your character many small, but useful advantages. They can be acquired starting in the starter areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by doing road interactions. They may also be crafted by jewelers, and found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinket a player is able to unlock is the cloak. It grants a small, but valuable boost to movement speed and the ability to escape. The player will then be able to acquire rings, amulets and necklaces, in a similar way as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be placed in any type of equipment however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and only works with certain types of trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows a hero to be more efficient while inactive. It also helps compensate for the lack of a strong slots in the team or talent tree that are normally filled by a hero's top stats.
A good general 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, but less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is especially true when you're looking to upgrade several statistics on an item. It's best to upgrade just one crucial stat rather than two suboptimal ones.
In the beginning of the game, junglers will usually want to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one, while top and middle players usually choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). More hints can impact the ability of a hero to control the map.
Aside from the items listed above, players can discover a variety of other items in the form of trophies and awards. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, finishing the main quest for a chapter or defeating a boss. They can be viewed by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.