Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide In Item Upgrades
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Item upgrades are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can be a fantastic source of damage or more AD or even more attaches.
Rare-grade equipment is often superior to modernized Common or Magic gear due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They improve the stats of the item they are attached to. Armor upgrades are found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. Additionally, they can be salvaged from items that have upgrade components inside them, using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.
The amount of damage that an armored piece or weapon can absorb depends on the degree of upgrades. The absorption of damage by an item of armor will increase as it is upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. However, it's important keep in mind that this will raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than it was before.
There are many different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game. Each has a different impact. For example, some upgrades will grant 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 kind of upgrade the Best item upgrader can receive, as shown below.
Some upgrades are magic or a mix of technology and magic which is identified by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Some upgrades also require charges for use. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades change every day or never expire, according to the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest way to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more expensive but is readily available in 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 to stats and are a worthwhile cost, especially for single-handed weapons.
The process of upgrading an armor piece to its maximum upgrade level will greatly increase its defense values, but the player should be aware that putting on weight will drastically reduce its speed and agility. Therefore, it is generally not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, since the added defense is generally not worth the additional weight and power cost of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of the weapon. For example an upgrade could improve the damage that is caused by the shells of a shotgun or the accuracy of the rifle that snipes. Certain weapons also come with upgrades that enhance their inherent capabilities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of overheating of the weapon) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).
The majority of upgrades to weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade. They can be obtained by finishing side quests, killing a certain amount 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 specific number of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade the more advanced the level. The cost of the upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. In the past you could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific number of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to an increased rarity. You could continue doing this until you reached the max upgrade level of the equipment or weapon, after which the upgrades would reset.
It's still possible, but it relies heavily on RNG. It is better to purchase gear with low upgrade levels and high base scores and stat distributions. They will also be able to give you the most prestigious benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to prioritize upgrades to the weapons they most often use to make sure they are able to level up quicker. In addition players, they should also consider upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their teammates to increase their power as well. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F so that he can unlock the Beretta M93R. This will increase the effectiveness of the weapon when accompanied with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to improve the stats of a character or to provide additional effects in armor and weapons. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, in which you combine the gemstone with specific reagents on a jewelry table. The higher the grade 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 finding Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.
The quality of a gem can be improved by the Jeweler in stages that range from Crude to Royal. Depending on the tier of the jewel, it will provide a different stat boosts when it is inserted into gear, weapons and jewelry.
All tiers of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to obtain them. Like other upgrade components jewels are able to be swapped with a jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. However, you can only replace the jewels in a piece of equipment only once.
It is typical to use more gems to enhance the appearance of. Jewels also enhance performance and create a surface harder than steel, so that the repeated friction from pivots does not cause damage to the movement.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above players can also get glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These provide a small bonus and are able to be swapped easily however they aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler to exchange gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits or aegis can't be swapped, and can only be retrieved by using an Upgrade extractor, or salvaging with a Black Lion Salvage Kit, or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with a variety of small, but valuable benefits. They can be obtained in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and through performing road interactions. They can also be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinkets a player can unlock is the cloak. It grants an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and evasion. The player can then acquire rings, amulets and necklaces in a similar manner as they did with weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets grant additional buffs and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This lets the hero be more effective while inactive and also helps to compensate for the absence of a strong team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's ideal stats.
A good rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best item upgrader-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing in the near future, then any items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item being upgraded. This is true especially if you want to upgrade multiple stats on an Best item upgrade. It is more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat than two less important ones.
Jungle players often upgrade their yellow trinkets to a red trinket at the beginning of the game. Mid and top players on the other hand they will select a pink or green ward, based on the game's matchup. These choices will have a major impact on the hero's ability to control his map.
Aside from the items mentioned above, players may also find other trinkets throughout the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story. For instance, finishing the main quest for a chapter or defeating an opponent. You can view them by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.