Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a frequent and essential way to boost the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can be a good source of damage or more AD or even more attaches.
Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to the more modernized Common or Magic gear due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be applied to weapon and armor items. They increase the effectiveness of the item that they are connected to. Upgrades to armor are available in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using a professional or higher salvage kits 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. Upgrading a piece of armor to its highest 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 heavier.
There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game and each one has distinct effects. Some upgrades give armor a greater number of health points, while others make it lighter and more powerful. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade the item can be given, as illustrated below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which are identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Some upgrades also require charges in order to be used. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades refresh daily or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest method to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more costly, but is readily available at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give players a significant increases in stats and are well worth the cost.
A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will greatly boost its defense however, the user must be aware that putting more weight on it will drastically reduce its agility and speed. Therefore, it is typically not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, since the added defense is typically not worth the extra weight and power cost of the improvements required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Certain weapons come with special upgrades to improve their inherent qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, reduces the risk of the possibility of overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed to cause more damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades for weapons require a whetblade, one of three Power Dices and a different amount Minerals and Erons. These are obtained through either completing Side Quests, taking out a certain number of monsters or bosses, 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 cost of a certain number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars you will need to complete the upgrade. The cost of upgrades will be less if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and sets has changed a bit. Previously you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay a set number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to an increased rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and buying equipment that has low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a better chance of bringing you the most prestigious benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they use most frequently to make sure they are able to level up faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates utilize to increase their power. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will increase the effectiveness of the weapon 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. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, where you combine gemstones with specific reagents on a table. The higher the quality of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and occasionally by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The Jeweler can improve the quality of gemstones in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. upgrade item to stats will differ depending on the tier the jewel is in when it's inserted into weapons, jewelry, or other gear.
The Jeweler can craft all kinds of gems, with the exception of rare and legendary ones which you must attain certain levels to gain. Jewels can be substituted with another one without damaging the original. You are able to replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.
Using more jewels in a move can make it feel more comfortable and is usually used for aesthetic reasons. In addition to improving performance, the diamonds create an area that is stronger than metal, so repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your shields and weapons. They offer a small benefit and are able to be swapped easily but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like aegis and traits, are not swappable, and can only be recovered using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that offer an array of small but useful advantages to your hero. You can find them in the starting area as loot or personal story rewards. They can also be obtained from vendors as well as through doing road interaction. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinkets a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which gives an unimportant but beneficial boost to movement speed and evasion. The player can then acquire necklaces, amulets, and rings, in a similar way to how they acquired weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be put into any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and only works with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that remain active when the hero is not in combat. This lets the hero be more effective while inactive and also helps to compensate for the absence of a strong team or the absence of any talent tree slots which would normally be filled with hero's ideal statistics.
A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing soon, followed by items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true when an item has multiple stats you'd like to upgrade, as it's usually more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
In the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their yellow trinket to a red, while top and mid players usually choose a green or pink ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a major impact on the hero's map control abilities.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players may also find other trinkets in the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned through completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing a chapter’s main quest or defeating the boss. You can check them out by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.