Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and essential way to boost the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a fantastic source of damage or more AD or even more affixes.

Sometimes, however upgraded Common and Magic gear is outclassed by Rare-grade equipment due to their requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a form of upgrade that can be used on weapon and armor items. They increase the effectiveness of the item that they're connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Alternately, they can be salvaged from items that have 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 can take on. The damage absorption of an armor piece will increase when it is upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than it was before.

There are several kinds of armor upgrades available in the game and each one has distinct effects. Some upgrades give armor a greater number of health points, while others make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as shown in the table below.

Some upgrades also feature magical or a combination of technology and magic which is identified by the "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees for use. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades are updated daily or never expire according to the upgrade.

The cheapest method of upgrading armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the environment and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive however, it is available from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to armor pieces that are of high-level. These upgrades can provide significant increases in stats and are worth the cost.

The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it can also decrease its agility and its speed. Therefore, it is typically not recommended to upgrade most armor pieces that are higher than +9 since the defensive boost gained is typically not worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades needed.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to increase the effectiveness of specific aspects of an weapon. For instance an upgrade could improve the damage that is caused by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of a sniper rifle. Certain firearms have upgrades to improve their inherent characteristics. Frictionless materials (improves stability, reduces the risk of the possibility of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity to cause more damage) are two examples.

Most weapon upgrades require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade. These are obtained through either completing Side Quests, killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC located in Central Flarine.


To upgrade a 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 amount of bars. The more bars required to complete an upgrade, the higher the level. The cost of upgrading will be less if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your weapon and equipment sets was a bit different. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific number of Bars. You could continue to do this until you reach a maximum upgrade level for the equipment or weapon, after which the upgrades would be reset.

You can still do this, but the process is based 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 will be able to give you the best tier of perks and blessings.

To improve their skills faster, many players be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. Additionally, item upgrader should consider upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to make them more powerful and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will make it more useful when accompanied by experts in biotics like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to improve the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects in armor and weapons. They can be made through the process of jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gemstone and a number of specific chemicals at a table. The higher the tier of the gemstone, the better its secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses around the world, or through collecting Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The quality of a gem can be improved upon 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.

The Jeweler can create all tiers of gems, except for the rare and legendary ones which require certain levels to gain. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out with a identical jewel without destroying it. You can only replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.

Using more jewels in the movement can make it feel more comfortable and is usually performed to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. In addition to improving performance, the jewels create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, which means that repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades additionally, players can get glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These provide a small bonus and can be swapped out at any time but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler to exchange Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as aegis and traits, cannot be swapped out, 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 are small pieces of equipment that bestow many small but useful benefits to your hero. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by completing road interactions. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket that a player will be able to unlock is the cloak. It grants a small but valuable boost in movement speed and the ability to escape. The player can then collect necklaces, rings, and amulets in a similar manner to how they acquired weapons and armor. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that can accommodate either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be used in any type of equipment, however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.

These trinkets can also grant buffs and skills that remain active even when the character is not in combat. This lets the hero be more effective while inactive and also helps fill in the void of a solid team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree that would normally be filled with hero's ideal statistics.

A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you aren't planning to replace in the near future, then any items with desirable stats but less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats you wish to upgrade, as it's usually more beneficial to upgrade one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.

Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one at the beginning of the game. Top and mid players on the other hand, will choose a pink or green ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have an impact on the ability of a hero to control the map.

In addition to the items listed above, players can also discover other trinkets in form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be obtained through completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, finishing a chapter’s main quest or defeating a boss. You can check them out by selecting the achievement from the reward section of the hero's menu.