Path of Exile Item Upgrades

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

Often times however upgraded Common and Magic gear is often surpassed by Rare-grade gear due to their higher requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They improve the stats of the item upgrade that they're connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of games and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at bonfires. They can also be salvaged using a professional or higher salvage kit to salvage upgrade components from other items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can take on. A piece of armor upgraded to maximum upgrade item level will increase the damage it absorbs. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will raise its weight, requiring it to be heavier than it was before.

There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game, and they all have distinct effects. For example, some upgrades give the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others will make it stronger and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade an item can be given, as illustrated below.

Some upgrades are magical or a combination of technology and magic which is identified by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Additionally, some upgrades require charges to use, which is indicated by a "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges for these upgrades refresh daily or never expire depending on the upgrade.

Iron Ore is the cheapest option to improve your armor. You can locate it by exploring and looting small treasure 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 to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant improvement in stats and are a worthwhile investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.

Upgrading a piece of armor to the highest upgrade level will significantly increase its defense capabilities but the wearer must be aware that increasing its weight will dramatically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The defensive boost gained generally isn't worth the weight and Item upgrades power costs of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain firearms also have upgrades that improve their innate characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).

The majority of upgrades to weapons require one of 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 monsters and bosses.

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 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 way you upgrade your weapon and sets has changed. Prior to Chapter 2 Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain number of Bars. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would reset.

It's possible, but it depends heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and buying equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a higher likelihood of granting you highest tier blessings and perks.

The majority of players will make the most of upgrades to weapons they most often use to make sure they are able to level up quicker. In addition to these players, they should think about upgrading the weapons they use with their squadmates to make them more powerful and effective. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to make it more useful when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to increase a stat or provide secondary effects on weapons and armor. They can be made through the process of jewelry crafting, where you combine a gemstone and a number of specific chemicals at a table. The higher the quality of the gemstone, the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses all over the world, or by collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.

The Jeweler can improve the quality of gemstones in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. The stat boosts will vary depending on the tier the jewel is at when it is inserted into jewelry, weapons, or equipment.

All kinds of jewels can be 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 qualify for these. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without damaging the original. You can only replace the gem once in an item of equipment.

Using more jewels in a move will make it feel smoother and is typically performed for aesthetic reasons. The jewels can also enhance performance and make a surface harder than metal so that repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to them.

In addition to the upgrades mentioned above players can also obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. They offer a small benefit and can be swapped out at any time, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler to exchange gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components, like traits and aegis are not swappable, and are only recoverable by using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them with a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with many small, but useful benefits. You can find them in the starting area as loot or as personal story rewards. They can also be obtained through vendors and after completing road interaction. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket players will unlock is the cloak. It grants a small but valuable boost in speed of movement and the ability to evade. The player can then collect necklaces, amulets, and rings in a similar manner to how they acquired weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be used in any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded and only works with certain types of trinkets.

These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that remain active when the hero is not fighting. This allows the hero to be more efficient while inactive. It can also compensate for the absence of good team or talent tree slots which are usually filled by the hero's optimal stats.

As a general rule trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace in the near future. Also, consider items with desirable statistics that aren't as significant as the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true if you are looking to upgrade items multiple statistics on an item. It is more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat than two less important ones.

In the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one in the middle and top players usually choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices can affect the hero's ability to manage the map.

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