10 Things Your Competitors Can Teach You About Item Upgrades

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

The performance of many Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading them. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.

Rare-grade equipment is often superior to modernized Common or Magic equipment because of their high requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They improve the stats of the item upgrader they're connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kit to recover upgrade components from other items.

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 is upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. However, it's important to note that this will also increase its weight, causing it to be heavier than it was before.

There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are that are available in the game and they all have different effects. For instance, some upgrades give the armor a certain number of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive will be indicated by the name of the upgrade as shown in the table below.

A few upgrades also feature magic or a mix of magic and technology, which is indicated by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require charges to use, and are shown by an "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are either constantly updated or never expire depending on the upgrade.

Iron Ore is the cheapest way to upgrade your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive however, it is available at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied on armor pieces that are of high-level. These upgrades can give players a significant boost in stats, and are definitely worth the investment.

The process of upgrading an armor piece to max upgrade level will greatly increase its defense values, but the player should be aware that putting on weight will dramatically reduce its agility and speed. It 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 allow players to increase the effectiveness of specific aspects of an weapon. For example, an upgrade may increase the damage dealt by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of a rifle sniper. Certain weapons also come with upgrades that improve their innate capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes weapon overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed for greater damage) are two examples.

Most weapon upgrades require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade for applying. These can be gained by completing Side Quests or by killing a certain number of bosses and monsters.

To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece, or Whetblade, you must 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 more bars required to complete it. The cost of the upgrades will be less if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.

In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and sets has changed. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon or equipment by paying a specific number of Bars. 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 going to the stores and purchasing equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a chance at gaining you the most prestigious perks and blessings.

To increase their level quicker, players usually be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates use to make them stronger. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by biotic specialists like 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 a process called jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gemstone and several ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the quality of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and sometimes by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The quality of a gem can be improved by the Jeweler in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts will vary depending on the level the jewel is in when it's slotted into weapons, jewelry, or other gear.

All tiers of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a high enough level to qualify for them. Unlike other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped by a different jewel of the same type without damaging it. You are able to replace the jewel once within an item Upgrader kit of equipment.

Using more jewels in a movement will make it more smooth and is typically performed for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and create a harder surface than steel so that repeated friction from pivots does not cause damage to the movement.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades players can also obtain glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs give a slight boost and can be exchanged, however they're not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold and a scattered Crystal. Glyphs may also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis cannot be exchanged, and can only be found through an upgrade extractor or salvaging with the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage.

Trinkets

Trinkets are items of equipment that offer many small but useful advantages to your hero. They are available in the starting area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They can also be obtained from vendors as well as through completing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased at the Trading Post.

The first trinket a player can unlock is the cloak. It gives a small but valuable boost in movement speed and evasion. Then, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same fashion to how the player obtains armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that can accommodate either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any equipment. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and only work with certain trinkets.

These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This enables the hero to be more effective when not active and also helps fill in the void of a solid team or the absence of any slots in the talent tree that would normally be filled with hero's ideal stats.

A good guideline 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 that is being upgraded. This is true especially if you're looking to upgrade several statistics on an item upgrader kit. It is more beneficial to upgrade items a single important stat rather than two suboptimal ones.

At the beginning of the game, players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their yellow trinket to a red in the middle and top players typically choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have an impact on the ability of a hero to control the map.

Apart from the things mentioned above, players may also find a number of other items in the form of awards and trophies. These can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing a chapter’s main quest or beating a boss. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.