Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide Towards Item Upgrades
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Best item upgrade upgrades are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.
Sometimes, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade gear because of their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They boost the performance of the item they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. Additionally, they can be rescued from items with upgrade components within them by with a professional or higher salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. The absorption of damage by an armor piece will increase when it's upgraded to the highest upgrade level. But, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, which will cause it to weigh more than it was before.
There are several different types of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each has a different impact. For example, some upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it lighter and stronger. The type of armor upgrade that an item will receive will be indicated by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.
Some upgrades also feature magic or a mix of magic and technology, which is indicated by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require a charge to use, which is shown by an "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
The cheapest method to upgrade armor is with Iron Ore, which can be obtained through exploring the surroundings and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but it can be obtained from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide a significant improvements in stats and are a worthwhile cost, especially for single-handed weapons.
The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece up to the maximum upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it can also affect its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The boost in defense usually isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. For example, an upgrade may increase the damage dealt 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 decreases the chance of the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).
The majority of upgrades for weapons require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. They can be obtained by completing Side Quests, taking out a certain number of monsters or bosses or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
To upgrade the weapon, equipment set piece or Whetblade you need to visit the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee that is a certain number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars are required to complete it. The cost of the upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain number of Bars. You could do this until you reached the max upgrade level of the equipment or weapon, following which upgrades would reset.
You can still do this but the process is based on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and purchasing equipment with low upgrade levels, but good base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a better chance of giving you the highest tier advantages and benefits.
The majority of players will prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they are most likely to use to make sure they are able to level up faster. Additionally, players should consider upgrading the weapons favored by their teammates to make them more powerful and effective. Shepard, for example should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to increase the stats of a character or to provide additional effects on weapons and armor. Jewelry crafting is the process of creating them. You combine the gemstone with specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the gemstone, the better its secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or by finding Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.
The quality of a diamond can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that range from Crude to Royal. Based on the tier of the gem it will give different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
All tiers of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a certain level to qualify for them. Like other upgrade components jewels can be swapped out by a different jewel of the same kind without damaging the original one. You can only replace the gem once in an item upgrade (other) of equipment.
Using more jewels in a movement will make it feel smoother and is usually used to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. The jewels can also enhance performance and make a surface harder than steel so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to them.
In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades, the player can also get glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These provide a small bonus and are able to be swapped easily, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits or aegis can't be swapped, and can only be recovered by using an upgrade items extractor or salvaging with the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that offer many small but useful benefits to your hero. They are available in the start-up area as loot or as personal story rewards. They can also be obtained from vendors as well as through the completion of road interactions. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket that a player will unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to escape. After that, they can purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in the same way to how a player acquires weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that remain active even when the character is not fighting. This enables the hero to perform better when they are not active and may also help to compensate for the absence of a strong team or the absence of any talent tree slots that would normally be filled with the hero's ideal statistics.
As a rule trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best item upgrade in Slot) items that you will not replace anytime soon. Also, consider items with desirable stats that aren't as significant as the iLevel for the Best item upgrader that is to be upgraded. This is especially true when you want to upgrade multiple statistics on an item. It's more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat instead of two subpar ones.
In the beginning of the game, players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one, while top and middle players will usually opt for either a pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a major impact on the hero's abilities to control maps.
In addition to the items mentioned above, players can also discover other trinkets in form trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, completing the main quest for a chapter or defeating the boss. You can check them out by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.