Path of Exile
Item UpgradesThe performance of a variety of Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading the performance of them. They can be a good source of additional damage or more AD or even more attachments.
Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to the more modernized Common or Magic gear due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a form of upgrade that can be used on weapon and armor items. They improve the performance of the
item upgrade they are connected to. Armor upgrades are found in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged using a professional or higher salvage kit to retrieve upgrades from the items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it can absorb. A piece of armor upgraded to its highest upgrade level will boost the damage it absorbs. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will raise its weight, requiring it to be heavier than before.
There are a few different types of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have distinct effects. For instance, some upgrades will grant the armor
Item Upgrader kit a certain number of additional health points, while others make it lighter and stronger. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the kind of upgrade an
Item upgrader mod can receive, as shown below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a hybrid technology and magic, which are shown by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Some upgrades also require charges to use. These are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges for these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, according to the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive but is readily available in the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on armor pieces of the highest level. These upgrades can provide significant improvements in stats and are definitely worth the investment.
The process of upgrading an armor piece to max upgrade level will dramatically boost its defense but the wearer must be aware that putting on weight will drastically reduce its agility and speed. This is why it is generally not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces beyond +9, because the increase in defense is typically not worth the extra weight and power costs of the upgrades required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can increase the accuracy of a rifle or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Some weapons have special enhancements to enhance their intrinsic capabilities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance 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, one of three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. They can be obtained by doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or through the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
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 higher the upgrade level, the more bars are required to complete it. The cost of upgrades will be less if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your weapon and equipment sets was a bit different. Before, you could seek out an Upgrade Bench and pay for a specific number of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to a higher level of rarity. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level at which point the upgrades would be reset.
You can still do this however, the process is high on RNG and low on agency. You should consider buying equipment with low upgrade levels but with high base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a better likelihood of granting you highest level of benefits and blessings.
Most players will want to prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they use most frequently to help them level up faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons that their teammates utilize to increase their power. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are used in the armor's sockets and weapons, increasing the stats of a weapon and providing additional effects. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, where you combine gemstones with specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the quality of the gemstone, the better the secondary effect. These reagents can be gotten from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or through finding Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The Jeweler can boost the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Based on the tier of the gem, it will provide a different stat boosts when it is inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
All levels of jewels are crafted at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a high enough level to be able to get these. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped by a different jewel of the same type without damaging the original one. However it is only possible to replace one jewel in a piece of equipment once.
It is typical to use more jewels for aesthetic reasons. In addition to enhancing performance, the diamonds create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, which means that repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.
A Glyphmaster can offer glyphs to improve the look of your weapons and shields. They offer a small benefit and can be swapped freely, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as aegis and traits, cannot be swapped out, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are pieces of equipment that bestow many small but useful advantages to your hero. You can find them in the start-up area as loot or as personal story rewards. They can also be obtained through vendors and after completing road interaction. They can also be made by jewelers, and found or purchased at the Trading Post.
The first trinket players can unlock is the cloak. It grants a small but beneficial boost in speed of movement and the ability to evade. After that, they can acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in a similar fashion to how the player acquires weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced and only work with certain trinkets.
These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This lets the hero be more effective when not active, and can also help to compensate for the absence of a solid team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with hero's ideal statistics.