Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide Towards Item Upgrades
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
item upgrader kit upgrades are a common and important way to improve the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a fantastic source of damage or more AD or even more attaches.
Sometimes, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade gear because of their requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be applied to weapon and armor items. They increase the stats of whatever item they are connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Additionally, they can be rescued from items with upgrade components within them by using an expert or greater salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to take on. The ability to absorb damage of a piece armor will increase when it's upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. However, it's important keep in mind that this will raise its weight, requiring it to be heavier than it was before.
There are several types of armor upgrades available in the game and each one has distinct effects. Certain upgrades give armor an additional number of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The name of the upgrade will tell you the kind of upgrade that an item upgrading will receive, as shown below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which is indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Some upgrades also require charges for use. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades are updated every day or never expire, dependent on the upgrade.
The cheapest method to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the environment and looting minor loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but is readily available at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant improvement in performance and are worth the cost, especially for single-handed weapons.
The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade item level will increase its defense value. However, it will also reduce its agility and its speed. It is not recommended to upgrade items armor above +9. The boost in defense usually isn't worth the weight and power expenses of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to enhance certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can boost 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, and reduces weapon overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration to cause more damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades to weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade. These can be gained by completing Side Quests or by killing a certain amount of monsters and bosses.
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 price that is based on a specific 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 lower.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. 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 your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade item 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 better off going to stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels, but good base scores and stat distributions. These items have a better likelihood of granting you highest tier advantages and benefits.
To level up faster, most players will prioritize upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates utilize to increase their power. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to make it more useful when paired with biotech specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is a method of creating them. You combine the gemstone with specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the level of the gemstone, the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or through salvaging Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a jewel can be improved upon by the Jeweler in stages that range from Crude to Royal. Depending on the tier of the gem, it will provide a different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
The Jeweler can craft all tiers of gems, with the exception of rare and legendary ones that you must be at certain levels to gain. Jewels can be replaced with another jewel without destroying the original. However, you can only replace a jewel in an item of equipment once.
Utilizing more jewels in a move can make it feel more comfortable and is usually used to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. Apart from improving performance, the jewels also create an area that is stronger than metal, which means that repeated friction from pivots doesn't cause harm as easily.
In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades players can also acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. They offer a small benefit and are able to be swapped easily however they aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also a scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like aegis or traits cannot be exchanged, and can only be retrieved through an upgrade extractor, or salvaging with the Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage.
Trinkets
Trinkets can provide your hero with various small, but useful advantages. They can be obtained in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by doing road interactions. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket that a player can unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in movement speed and the ability to evade. Then, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same way to how a player obtains weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This lets a hero be more efficient when they are not active. It can also make up for the absence of good team or talent tree slots which are usually filled by the hero's optimal stats.
As a rule trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items that you will not replace soon. Next, any items with desirable statistics that aren't as significant as the iLevel for the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade as it's usually better to upgrade a single important stat than two sub-optimal ones.
At the beginning of the game, junglers will usually want to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and mid players will usually opt for either a pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices can impact a hero's ability to control the map.
In addition to the items listed above, players will discover other trinkets in form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. They can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story, like the main quest of a chapter or killing a certain boss. You can check them out by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.