Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide Towards Item Upgrades
Path of Exile item upgrader mod Upgrades
Item upgrades are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can be a good source of additional damage or more AD or even more attaches.
Often times however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade equipment due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They improve the stats of the item upgrading they are attached to. Armor upgrades are available in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at bonfires. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kits to retrieve upgrades from the items.
The amount of damage that a piece of armor or weapon will absorb is contingent on the level of its upgrades. The ability to absorb damage of a piece armor will increase when it is upgraded to the highest upgrade level. However, it's important to note that this will also increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than it was before.
There are several types of armor upgrades that are available in the game and they all have distinct effects. For instance, some upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade the item can receive, as shown below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which are shown by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Some upgrades also require charges to use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest option to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive however, it is available from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant improvements in stats and are definitely worth the cost.
The process of upgrading an armor piece to its maximum upgrade level will greatly boost its defense however, the user must be aware that increasing its weight can drastically decrease its speed and agility. This is why it is generally not recommended to upgrade armor pieces above +9, since the added defense is typically not worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades 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. Some weapons have special upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).
Most weapon upgrades require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade to apply. They can be obtained by finishing side quests, killing a certain amount of monsters or bosses, or from the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.
The process of upgrading a weapon, equipment Set piece, or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade fee of a set number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars you will need to complete the upgrade. If you have multiple upgrade materials, the cost of upgrading will be less.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and 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 do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would reset.
It's still possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off going to the stores and buying equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a better chance of giving you the most prestigious tier of blessings and perks.
Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they most often use to help them level up quicker. In addition to these players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons they use with their squadmates to increase their power 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 can be used to boost the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects on weapons and armor. They can be created through the process of jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gemstone and a number of specific reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the level of the jewel is, the greater its 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 quality of a jewel can be improved by the Jeweler in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. Based on the tier of the jewel it can provide different stat boosts when it is inserted into weapons, gear and jewelry.
All tiers of jewels are 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 high enough level to be able to get these. Jewels can be replaced with another one without damaging the original. You can only replace the gem once within an Item Upgrade of equipment.
The use of more jewels in a move will make it feel smoother and is usually performed for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and make an outer layer that is more durable than metal so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to them.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your weapons and shields. These glyphs offer a small boost in power and can be exchanged, however they're not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like traits and aegis are not swappable, and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets can be used to give your character various small, but useful, benefits. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by doing road interactions. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which gives a small, but valuable boost to speed of movement and evasion. The player can then acquire rings, amulets and necklaces, in a similar way to how they acquired weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade which can be universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be put into any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded and only works with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets grant additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This allows a hero to become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also make up for the lack of a strong slots in the team or talent tree which are usually filled by the hero's Best item upgrader stats.
A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren't planning to replace soon, followed by 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 stats on an item. It is best to upgrade just one crucial stat instead of two subpar ones.
At the beginning of the game players in the jungle are likely to upgrade their trinket to a red in the middle and top players will usually opt for the pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's map control abilities.
Apart from the items listed above, players may also discover a variety of other items in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, such as completing a chapter's main quest or killing a certain boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the relevant achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.