Guide To Item Upgrades: The Intermediate Guide For Item Upgrades
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Path of Exile Item Upgrades
item upgrade upgrades - Home - are a common and crucial method to enhance the performance of many items in Path of Exile. They can be a great source of extra damage, more AD or even more attachments.
Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to upgraded Common or Magic equipment due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a form of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They improve the performance of the item upgrader kit they are attached to. Upgrades to armor are available in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kit to salvage 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 damage absorption of a piece armor will increase when it is upgraded to the maximum upgrade level. However, it's important to keep in mind that this will increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than before.
There are a few different kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game, and they all have distinct effects. For instance, some upgrades will grant the armor a certain number of health points while others make it lighter and stronger. The kind of armor upgrade an item will receive will be identified by the name of the upgrade as illustrated in the table below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which is shown by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Furthermore, some upgrades require a charge to use, and are identified by an "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges associated with these upgrades are updated daily or never expire, dependent on the upgrade.
The cheapest way to upgrade armor is by using Iron Ore, which can be gathered by exploring the environment and looting small loot chests. Titanium is more expensive however, it is available in the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Some upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide a significant improvements in stats and are a worthwhile investment, especially for 1-handed weapons.
The player must be aware that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade level can increase its defense values. However, it can also decrease its agility and its speed. Therefore, it is generally not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, since the defensive boost gained is typically not worth the additional weight and power cost of the upgrades needed.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades let players increase the effectiveness of certain aspects of an weapon. For instance an upgrade could increase the damage dealt by shotgun shells or the accuracy of a rifle sniper. Certain firearms have upgrades to improve their inherent characteristics. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces weapon overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's speed to cause more damage) are two examples.
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 can be obtained by completing side quests or killing a certain amount of bosses and monsters.
To upgrade a weapon, equipment set piece or Whetblade, you must visit the NPC [Armor] Boboko located in Central Flarine, and pay her an upgrade fee of a certain number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the higher the number of bars you will need to complete the upgrade. The cost of upgrades will be lower if have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the way you upgrade your weapon and equipment sets changed a little. Prior to Chapter 2: Season 5, you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a specific number of Bars. You could continue doing this until you reach a maximum upgrade level for the equipment or weapon, following which the upgrades would reset.
This is still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. You should consider buying equipment that has low levels of upgrade but with high base scores and stat distributions. These items have a better chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of blessings and perks.
To level up faster, many players prioritise upgrading their weapons. Additionally, players should consider upgrading the weapons that are most popular with their squadmates to increase their power as well. Shepard for instance should upgrade his M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when used with biotic specialists such as Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels are utilized in the armor's sockets and weapons, enhancing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. They can be created through the process of jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gem and several reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the tier of the gem is, the greater its secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through 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 boost the quality of the gem in stages that range from Crude up to Royal. Based on the tier of the jewel, it will provide a different stat boosts when it is inserted into weapons, equipment and jewelry.
All kinds of jewels can be made at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels that require you to be at a sufficient level to obtain them. Like other upgrade components jewels are able to be swapped with another identical jewel without damaging it. You can only replace the jewel once in an item level upgrade of equipment.
Utilizing more jewels in the movement will make it more smooth and is usually done for aesthetic reasons. Jewels also enhance performance and make an outer layer that is more durable than metal so that repeated friction from pivots do not damage them.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs to enhance the look of your shields and weapons. These provide a small bonus and are able to be swapped easily, 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 are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits or aegis can't be exchanged, and can only be found through an upgrade extractor or salvaging using Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are a great way to provide your hero with various small, but useful advantages. They can be obtained in the beginning areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by doing road interactions. They can be found on the Trading Post, or crafted by jewelers.
The first trinket players can unlock is the cloak. It gives a small but beneficial boost in movement speed and the ability to evade. After that, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same fashion to how the player obtains armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment comes with an upgrade slot that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be placed in any type of equipment however, jewelry cannot be replaced or upgraded and only works with specific types of trinkets.
These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that are active even when the character is not in combat. This allows a hero to become more efficient even when not in combat. It can also compensate for the absence of excellent slot in the talent tree or team that are normally filled by the hero's optimal stats.
As a rule trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best item upgrade in Slot) items you won't replace soon. Next, any items with desirable stats that are less significant than the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. This is particularly true if an item has multiple stats you'd like to upgrade items, as it's often better to upgrade just one important stat rather than two sub-optimal ones.
In the beginning of the game, players in the jungle are likely to upgrade their trinket into a red one in the middle and top players usually choose a green or pink ward (depending 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 will discover other trinkets in form of trophies and rewards throughout the game. They can be earned by completing certain milestones within the story, for instance the main quest of a chapter or destroying a boss. You can view them by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.
