Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and important way to improve the performance of numerous items in Path of Exile. They can cause additional damage, AD or even affixes.

Rare-grade equipment is often superior to upgraded Common or Magic equipment because of their high requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They boost the performance of the item upgrader kit that they are connected to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of games and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. Alternatively, they can also be salvaged from items that have upgrade components in them with a professional or higher salvage kit.

The amount of damage an armored piece or weapon will absorb is contingent on the degree of upgrades. The upgrade of an armor piece to its highest upgrade level will boost its ability to absorb damage. It's important to remember that this will increase the weight of the armor, therefore it must be heavier.

There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have distinct effects. Some upgrades give armor a greater number of health points while others make it stronger and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade an item upgrader can get will be indicated by the name of the upgrade as illustrated in the table below.

Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which are shown by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Some upgrades also require a fee to use, and are indicated by a "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges for these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, dependent on the upgrade.

Iron Ore is the cheapest method to upgrade your armor. You can find it by exploring and looting small chests. Titanium is more costly, however, it is available at the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high level armor pieces. These upgrades can give significant boost to stats and are worth the investment, particularly for one-handed weapons.

The process of upgrading an armor piece to max upgrade level will significantly increase its defense capabilities however, the user must be aware that putting on weight can drastically decrease its agility and speed. It is not recommended to upgrade armor past +9. The boost in defense usually isn't worth the weight and power cost of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of certain aspects of a weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Some weapons also have special enhancements that enhance their intrinsic characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and decreases the chance of the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).

The majority of upgrades to weapons requirr provide secondary effects in weapons and armor. They can be made through the process of jewelry crafting, where you combine a gem and various reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the gem, the greater the secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or by finding Legendary Gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Prisms.

The Jeweler can enhance the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Based on the level of the jewel it can provide different stat boost when slotted into weapons, gear and jewelry.

All kinds of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler however, there are some exceptions to this, such as the rare and legendary gems that require you to be at a certain level to be able to get the privilege of having them. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels can be swapped by a different jewel of the same kind without destroying the original one. You are able to replace the jewel once within an Item Upgrade of equipment.

Using more jewels in a move will make it more smooth and is typically done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. Apart from improving performance, the jewels also create an area that is stronger than metal, which means that repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.

In addition to the above-mentioned upgrades, the player can also acquire glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. They offer a small benefit and are able to be swapped easily, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs are like jewelry and can be upgraded at the Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Crystals and gold. Glyphs are also removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis cannot be swapped, and can only be found through an upgrade extractor, or salvaging with Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage.

Trinkets

Trinkets can give your character various small, but beneficial benefits. You can find them in the starting area as rewards for personal stories or loot. They can also be obtained through vendors and after completing road interaction. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased from the Trading Post.

The first trinket a player is able to unlock is the cloak, which gives an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and evasion. Then, they can acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in a similar manner to the way a player acquires weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal or jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer fewer benefits and can be used in any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and is only compatible with specific types of trinkets.

These trinkets also provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero is not 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 in the talent tree that normally are filled with the hero's ideal stats.

A good rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you will not replace soon, followed by items with desirable stats that are less important than the iLevel of the item upgrader that is being upgraded. This is true especially if you're looking to upgrade several stats on an item. It's better to upgrade one important stat instead of two subpar ones.

At the beginning of the game, players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their trinket to a red, while top and mid players typically choose the pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices will have a significant impact on the hero's map control abilities.

In addition to the items mentioned above, players will find other trinkets that form of rewards and trophies throughout the game. They can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, for instance finishing a chapter's main quest or killing a particular boss. These achievements can be seen by selecting the appropriate achievement in the reward tab of the hero menu.