Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide To Item Upgrades

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

item upgrades [maps.google.Gg] are a common and important way to improve the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.

Rare-grade equipment is often superior to the more modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their higher requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They improve the performance of the item they are connected to. Upgrades to armor are available in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using a specialist or higher salvage kits to retrieve upgrade components from items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can take on. Upgrading a piece of armor to the highest upgrade level will increase the damage it absorbs. However, it's important note that this will also raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than before.

There are several different types of armor upgrades available in the game. Each has a different effect. Some upgrades give armor a greater number of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade an item can receive, as shown below.

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

Iron Ore is the cheapest way to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but is readily available at 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 give significant improvements in stats and are a worthwhile cost, especially for single-handed weapons.

A piece of armor upgraded to its maximum upgrade level will significantly boost its defense but the wearer must be aware that putting on weight will dramatically reduce its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The defensive boost gained typically isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of a weapon. For example an upgrade could improve the damage that is caused by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of a rifle sniper. Certain firearms also have upgrades that improve their innate qualities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes 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 completing Side Quests or by killing a certain amount of bosses and monsters.

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 cost of a certain number of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade, the more advanced the level. If you have multiple upgrade materials, the cost of upgrading will be less.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your equipment and weapon sets was a bit different. In the past you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to a higher rarity. You could do this until you reached a maximum upgrade level for the equipment or weapon, following which the upgrades would be reset.

It's still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. You should consider buying equipment that has minimal upgrade levels, but high base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a chance at gaining you the highest tier benefits and blessings.

To level up faster, many players be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. 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 make the weapon more effective when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are placed in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. They can be created using an process known as jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gemstone and a number of specific reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the level of the gemstone has, the more powerful its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.

The Jeweler can boost the quality of gemstones in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. The stat boosts can vary according to the tier that the jewel is at when it's slotted into jewelry, weapons, or gear.

All kinds of jewels can be made at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a high enough level to obtain the privilege of having them. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped with a jewel of the same kind without damaging it. You can only replace the gem only once in a piece of equipment.

The use of more jewels in the movement can make it feel more comfortable and is typically used to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. The jewels also improve performance and make a harder surface than metal so that repeated friction from pivots does not damage them.

In addition to the upgrades mentioned above, the player can also obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs give a slight boost in power and can be swapped, but they are not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also a Scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits or aegis can't be exchanged, and can only be found through an upgrade extractor or salvaging with Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage.

Trinkets

Trinkets are small pieces of equipment that provide an array of small but useful benefits to your hero. They can be acquired starting in the beginning areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, and by performing road interactions. They can also be made by jewelers, and found or purchased on the Trading Post.

The first trinket players will be able to unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in movement speed and evasion. Then, they can purchase amulets, rings and necklaces in a similar manner to the way a player acquires armor and weapons. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced, and can only be used with certain trinkets.

These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that remain active even when the character is not in combat. This allows the hero to be more effective while inactive and also helps make up for a lack of a solid team or the absence of any slots in the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's ideal stats.

A good rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best item upgrade-in-Slot) items that you will not replace 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 particularly true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade, as it's usually better to upgrade item a single important stat than two sub-optimal ones.

In the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade item their trinket to a red, while top and middle players will usually opt for a green or pink ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's map control abilities.

In addition to the items mentioned above, players will also discover other trinkets in form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, finishing a chapter’s main quest or beating an opponent. These can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.