The Ultimate Glossary Of Terms About Item Upgrades

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

The performance of many Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading the performance of them. They can provide extra damage, AD or even affixes.

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

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They increase the effectiveness of the item they're attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of games and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged by using a professional or higher salvage kit to recover upgrades from the items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. Upgrading a piece of armor to the highest upgrade level will increase its damage absorption. It is important to keep in mind that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it should be heavier.

There are a variety of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each one has a distinct impact. For instance, certain upgrades will grant the armor a certain number of additional health points, while others make it lighter and stronger. The name of the upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade the item can be given, as illustrated below.

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

The cheapest method to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the area and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, however it is obtainable through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant increases in stats and are definitely worth the cost.

The process of upgrading an armor piece to its maximum upgrade level will significantly increase its defense values but the wearer must be aware that putting more weight on it will dramatically reduce its speed and agility. It is not recommended to upgrade armor beyond +9. The added defense typically isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to increase the effectiveness of specific aspects of an weapon. For example an upgrade could enhance the damage caused by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of the sniper rifle. Certain weapons come with special upgrades to improve their inherent capabilities. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed of projectiles to cause more damage).

The majority of upgrades to weapons require a whetblade. It's one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. These are obtained through either finishing side quests, taking out a certain number of bosses or monsters, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.

To upgrade an equipment set, weapon piece, or Whetblade, you must visit the NPC [ArmorBoboko. Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a certain number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars required to complete it. 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 and equipment by paying a specific amount of Bars. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level and at that point, the 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 gear that has low upgrade levels but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These will then have a chance at gaining you the highest tier benefits and blessings.

To increase their level faster, many players be more inclined to upgrade their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their squadmates utilize to increase their power. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more useful when used in conjunction by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are placed in the sockets of armor and weapons, increasing a stat and providing secondary effects. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, in which you combine gemstones with specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.

The Jeweler can improve the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Based on the level of the jewel it can provide different stat boosts when inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.

All kinds of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels which require you to be at a sufficient level to be able to get them. Jewels can be substituted with another one without damaging the original. You are able to replace the jewel only once in a piece of equipment.

Using more jewels in the movement 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 a surface that is harder than metal, so repeated friction from pivots doesn't damage them as easily.

In addition to the upgrades mentioned above, the player can also obtain glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These are a small perk and are able to be swapped easily, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler to exchange Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs can also be removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components such as traits or aegis can't be swapped, and can only be recovered by using an Upgrade extractor, or salvaging with the Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets are small pieces of equipment that provide an array of small but useful benefits to your hero. They can be acquired starting in the starter areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by performing road interactions. They can be purchased from the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.

The first trinket a player will be able to unlock is the cloak. It gives a small, but useful bonus in speed of movement and the ability to evade. After that, they'll be able to acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in a similar fashion to how the player can acquire armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be used in any kind of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and only works with certain kinds of trinkets.

These trinkets also provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active even when the character is not fighting. This lets a hero be more efficient when they are not active. It also helps compensate for the lack of a good slots in the team or talent tree which would normally be filled by the hero's best stats.

In general, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best in Slot) items that you aren't likely to replace anytime soon. Also, consider 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 you wish to upgrade, as it's often better to upgrade a single 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. Top and mid players however they will select a green or a pink ward, based on the matchup. These choices will have a major impact on the hero's map control abilities.

In addition to the items listed above, players can also find other trinkets that form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. item upgrades can be obtained by completing certain milestones in the story, such as the main quest of a chapter or destroying a boss. You can view them by selecting the achievement from the reward section of the hero's menu.