Path of Exile Item Upgrades

Item upgrades are a common and essential way to boost the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can be a fantastic source of additional damage, more AD or even more affixes.

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

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They improve the effectiveness of the item upgrade they are attached to. Upgrades to armor can be found in the world of the game and purchased from Blacksmiths on bonfires. They can also be salvaged by using a professional or higher salvage kits to recover upgrade components from other items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will take on. The absorption of damage by a piece armor will increase as it is upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. But, it's important to keep in mind that this will increase its weight, which will cause it to weigh more than it was before.

There are several kinds of armor upgrades available in the game, and they all have different effects. Certain upgrades give armor a greater number of health points while others make it more powerful and lighter. The kind of armor upgrade item an item can get is indicated by the name of the upgrade, as indicated in the table below.

Some of the upgrades also require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which are identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Additionally, some upgrades require charges to use, which are identified by the "Charges" entry in the table below. These charges are either continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.

The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be gathered through exploring the surroundings and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive, but it can be obtained through smelters in 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 boost in stats, and are worth the cost.

The player must be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to its maximum upgrade level can increase its defense value. However, it can also affect the speed and agility of the piece. It is not recommended to upgrade armor above +9. The added defense usually isn't worth the weight and power costs of the upgrades.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of specific aspects of a weapon. For example an upgrade could enhance the damage caused by a shotgun's shells or the accuracy of a rifle sniper. Some weapons have special enhancements to enhance their intrinsic characteristics. They include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the speed ot a stat or provide secondary effects in weapons and armor. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, in which you combine a gemstone with a number specific reagents in a jewelry table. The higher the level of the jewel the better the secondary effect. These reagents are available from Treasure Goblins and World Bosses in the world, or by collecting Legendary Gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.

The Jeweler can improve the quality of a gem in stages ranging from Crude up to Royal. Depending on the tier of the gem it can provide different stat boost when slotted into weapons, gear and jewelry.

All kinds of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a certain level to be able to get the privilege of having them. Jewels can be replaced with another jewel without destroying the original. You can only replace the gem once in an item of equipment.

The use of more jewels in a movement will make it more smooth, and is often done to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. The jewels can also enhance performance and create an outer layer that is more durable than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to the movement.

In addition to the upgrades mentioned above, the player can also obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost in power and can be swapped, but they are not guaranteed to show up as loot. Glyphs are upgradeable, as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also a Scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis aren't swappable and can only be retrieved using an upgrade item Extractor or salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.

Trinkets

Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with many small, but beneficial, benefits. They can be obtained in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by completing road interactions. They can also be made by jewelers, and 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 valuable boost in speed of movement and evasion. The player can then collect necklaces, amulets, and rings in a similar manner to how they acquired weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment comes with an upgrade slot that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades provide smaller bonuses and can be used in any type of equipment however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded, and only works with certain kinds of trinkets.

These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that remain active whenever the hero is not in combat. This allows a hero to become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also make up for the lack of a strong team or talent tree slots that are normally filled by the hero's best stats.

As a rule, trinket upgrades should prioritize BiS (Best in Slot) items that you will not replace soon. Also, consider items with desirable statistics that aren't as significant as the iLevel of the item upgrading that is to be upgraded. This is especially true when you're looking to upgrade several statistics on an item. It's more beneficial to upgrade a single important stat rather than two suboptimal ones.

At the beginning of the game players in the jungle are likely to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and mid players typically choose a green or pink ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices can impact a hero's ability to control the map.

Apart from the items listed above, players can discover a variety of other trinkets throughout the game in the form of trophies and awards. These can be obtained through completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, finishing the main quest for a chapter or defeating a boss. They can be viewed by selecting the appropriate achievement from the reward tab of the hero menu.