Ten Things Your Competitors Teach You About Item Upgrades
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a common and important way to improve the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.
Often times however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is beaten out by Rare-grade gear because of their high requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a kind of upgrade that can be used on weapon and armor items. They boost the performance of the item they're connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Additionally, they can be rescued from items with upgrade components within them by using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can 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 to note that this will also raise its weight, requiring it to be heavier than before.
There are a variety of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each has a different impact. Some upgrades give armor an extra number of health points, while others make it lighter and more powerful. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade an item can be given, as illustrated below.
Some of the upgrades are also magic or a mix of technology and magic which is indicated by an "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Additionally, some upgrades require a charge to use, which are indicated by an "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are either constantly updated or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the area and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive but can be found at the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are well worth the investment.
The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece up to the max upgrade level will boost its defense. However, it will also decrease the speed and agility of the piece. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The boost in defense generally isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades let players increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of a weapon. For instance an upgrade could enhance the damage caused by shotgun shells or the accuracy of the rifle that snipes. Some weapons also have special upgrades that improve their innate qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces the risk of overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration to cause more damage) are two examples.
The majority of upgrades to weapons require a whetblade, one of three Power Dices and a different amount Minerals and Erons. These can be obtained by doing side quests, or taking out a certain number of monsters or bosses, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC located 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 price of a certain number of Bars. The more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the higher the level. The cost of upgrading will be lower if have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your equipment and weapon sets changed a little. In the past you could search for an Upgrade Bench and pay a set number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher quality. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're much better off visiting stores and buying equipment with low upgrade levels, but good base scores and stat distributions. These will have a chance at gaining you the highest tier bonuses and blessings.
Most players will want to make the most of upgrades to weapons they most often use to allow them to progress quicker. In addition, players should consider upgrading the weapons they use with their squadmates to make them more powerful as well. Shepard for instance, should upgrade the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost the stats of a character or to provide additional effects in armor and weapons. They can be created using the process of jewelry crafting, where you combine a gem and a number of specific reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the level of the gemstone, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or by collecting Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The Jeweler can boost the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. The stat boosts will vary depending on the tier the jewel is in when it's inserted into jewelry, weapons or equipment.
All levels of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels which require you to be at a high enough level to be able to get them. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped out by a different jewel of the same kind without damaging it. However, you can only replace a jewel in an item of equipment once.
Using more jewels in the movement will make it feel smoother and is usually done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. Jewels also enhance performance and create a surface harder than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not damage them.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your weapons and shields. These provide a small bonus and are able to be swapped easily but aren't 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 from the inventory, and they are returned to the inventory. item upgrades , such as traits and aegis, cannot be swapped out, 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 give your character many small, but valuable benefits. They are available in the starting area as loot or as personal story rewards. They are also available from vendors as well as through completing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased from the Trading Post.
The first trinket that a player will be able to unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in movement speed and evasion. The player can then collect necklaces, amulets, and rings, in a similar way as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be placed in any type of equipment however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and is only compatible with certain kinds of trinkets.
These trinkets also grant additional buffs and skills that remain active whenever the hero is not in combat. This enables the hero to perform better when they are not active and may also help make up for a lack of a strong team or the absence of any slots in the talent tree that would normally be filled with hero's ideal stats.
In general, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best in Slot) items you won't replace in the near future. Then, you should consider any items with desirable stats that aren't as significant as the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true when 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 trinkets to a red one at the beginning of the game. Mid and top players on the other hand they will select a green or a pink ward, depending on the matchup. These choices can affect the ability of a hero to control the map.
In addition to the items listed above, players can also find other trinkets in the form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. These can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, finishing the main quest of a chapter or beating an opponent. You can check them out by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.