10 Factors To Know To Know Item Upgrades You Didn't Learn In The Classroom
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading their performance. 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 high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They boost the effectiveness of the item they are attached 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 using a specialist or higher salvage kits to recover upgrade components from items.
The amount of damage that a piece of armor or weapon can absorb depends on the degree of upgrades. The absorption of damage by a piece armor will increase when it is upgraded to the highest upgrade level. But, it's important to keep in mind that this will raise its weight, requiring it to be heavier than before.
There are several different types of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each one has a distinct impact. For example, some upgrades will grant the armor a certain number of additional health points, while others will make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as indicated in the table below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, as indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Certain upgrades also require fees in order to be used. These are indicated as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades refresh daily or never expire dependent on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest way to upgrade your armor. You can locate it by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more expensive, but it can be obtained through 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 give a significant boost in stats, and are definitely worth the investment.
The process of upgrading an armor piece to its maximum upgrade level will significantly increase its defense values, but the player should be aware that increasing its weight will dramatically reduce its agility and speed. This is why it is generally not recommended to upgrade armor pieces that are higher than +9 since the added defense is generally not worth the extra weight and power costs of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades let players increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of an weapon. For example an upgrade could increase the damage dealt by shotgun shells or the accuracy of a sniper rifle. Certain weapons come with special upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, reduces the risk of weapon overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity for greater damage) are two examples.
Most upgrades for weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade for applying. These can be obtained by finishing side quests, killing a certain number of monsters or bosses or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
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 fee of a set number of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade, the more expensive the upgrade. 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 a bit. In the past you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay a set amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher quality. You could continue doing this until you reached the maximum upgrade level for your weapon or equipment, after which upgrades would reset.
You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're better off going to stores and buying equipment that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. They will also have a better chance of bringing you the most prestigious benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they use most frequently to allow them to progress faster. In addition players, they should also 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 to enhance its effectiveness when paired with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to improve the effectiveness of a skill or provide additional effects in weapons and armor. They can be created using an process known as jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gem with a number of specific ingredients at a table for jewelry. The higher the level of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten 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 quality of a gem can be improved at the Jeweler, with stages that range from Crude to Royal. Based on the tier of the jewel it will give different stat boosts when it is inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
The Jeweler can create the highest levels of gems with the exception of rare and legendary ones which you must attain an appropriate level to obtain. Like other upgrade components jewels can be swapped out by a different jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. You can only replace the jewel once within an item of equipment.
Using more jewels in the movement will make it more smooth and is typically used for aesthetic reasons. In addition to enhancing performance, the diamonds create a surface that is harder than metal, which means that repeated friction with pivots doesn't damage them as easily.
In addition to the above upgrades, the player can also get glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be freely exchanged, however they're not guaranteed to be available as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, like jewelry, at the Jeweler for gold, and also Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis, are not swappable, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor or salvaging them using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with many small, but valuable benefits. They can be obtained in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by doing road interactions. item upgrades can also be crafted by jewelers, and then found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinket that a player will unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player will then be able to acquire necklaces, amulets, and rings, in a similar way as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with an upgrade slot which can be universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets provide additional buffs and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't fighting. This allows a hero to be more efficient when they are not active. It also helps compensate for the lack of a strong slot in the talent tree or team which would normally be filled by a hero's top stats.
A good guideline for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing soon, followed by any items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is especially true when you are looking to upgrade multiple stats on an item. It's more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat than two less important ones.
At the beginning of the game, players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and middle players usually choose either a pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices can affect the ability of a hero to control the map.
Apart from the things mentioned above, players may also find other trinkets throughout the game in the form of awards and trophies. They can be earned through completing certain milestones in the story, such as finishing a chapter's main quest or destroying a boss. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.