The Ultimate Glossary Of Terms About Item Upgrades

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

The performance of many Path of Exile items can be enhanced by upgrading their performance. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.

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

Armor

Armor upgrades can be applied to both armor and weapon items. They improve the effectiveness of the item they are attached to. Armor upgrades can be found in the world of the game and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at bonfires. They can also be salvaged using an expert or higher salvage kit to recover upgrades from the items.

The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it is able to absorb. A piece of armor upgraded to the highest upgrade level will boost its ability to absorb damage. It is important to keep in mind 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 each one has distinct effects. For instance, certain upgrades will grant the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it lighter and stronger. The kind of armor upgrade an item can get will be indicated by the name of the upgrade, as illustrated in the table below.

Some upgrades also feature magic or a mix of magic and technology, which is indicated by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees to use. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades change daily or never expire, depending on the upgrade.

The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be obtained by exploring the environment and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive however, it is available in the smelters of Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be used on high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give a significant improvements in stats and are worth the cost.

The player must be aware that upgrading a piece up to the maximum upgrade level will increase its defense values. However, it will also decrease its agility and speed. This is why it is typically not recommended to upgrade most armor pieces that are higher than +9 since the added defense is typically not worth the additional weight and power costs of the upgrades required.

Weapons

Weapon upgrades allow players to improve the effectiveness of certain aspects of a weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle or the damage that shotgun shells cause. Certain weapons also come with upgrades that enhance their inherent qualities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, minimizes weapon overheating), and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's acceleration to cause more damage) are two examples.

Most upgrades for weapons require three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade. They can be obtained by completing side quests or by killing a certain number of monsters and bosses.

Upgrades to 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 more bars you need to complete an upgrade, the higher the level. The cost of the upgrades will be lower if have more than one of the upgrade materials.

In Chapter 2: Season 5, the ways to upgrade your equipment and weapon sets was a bit different. Previously  item upgrades  could go to an Upgrade Bench and pay a set amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher rarity. You could continue doing this until you reached a maximum upgrade level for your weapon or equipment, after which the upgrades would reset.

This is still possible, but it is dependent heavily on RNG. You're better off buying gear with low levels of upgrade but with high base scores and stat distributions. These gears have a greater chance of granting you the most prestigious tier of blessings and perks.

The majority of players will prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they most often use to allow them to progress faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates use to boost their strength. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R to make it more useful when paired with biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels can be used to improve the stats of a character or to provide additional effects on weapons and armor. They can be created through a process called jewelry crafting, in which you combine a gemstone and a number of specific chemicals at a table. The higher the level of the gemstone has, the more powerful its secondary effect. These reagents are obtained in the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also buy them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.

The quality of a jewel can be improved by the Jeweler, in stages that range from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts can vary depending on the level the jewel is at when it is inserted into weapons, jewelry, or gear.

All tiers of jewels can be crafted at the Jeweler and Jeweler's Workshop, with the exception of the rare and legendary jewels which require you to be at a high enough level to qualify for these. In contrast to other upgrade components, jewels are able to be swapped with a jewel of the same kind without damaging the original one. However you can only swap out the jewels in an item of equipment only once.

Utilizing more jewels in a movement will make it feel smoother, and is often performed to enhance the aesthetics of the movement. Apart from improving performance, the diamonds create an area that is stronger than metal, which means that repeated friction from pivots doesn't damage them as easily.

A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs to enhance the appearance of your shields and weapons. They offer a small benefit and can be swapped out at any time but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, just like jewelry, can be upgraded by the Jeweler in exchange for gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs are also removed, which returns them to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis cannot be exchanged, and can only be found with an Upgrade extractor or salvaging using a Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage.

Trinkets

Trinkets can provide your hero with many small, but useful advantages. They can be obtained in the areas of starting as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by completing road interactions. They may also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased on the Trading Post.

The first trinket that a player can unlock is the cloak. It gives a small but beneficial boost in movement speed and the ability to evade. After that, they can acquire rings, amulets, and necklaces in a similar way to how a player obtains armor and weapons. Each piece of gear comes with one upgrade slot that can accept either a universal or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be utilized on any equipment. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.

These trinkets also provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active even when the character is not fighting. This lets a hero become more efficient even when not in combat. It also helps compensate for the lack of a strong slot in the talent tree or team which are usually filled by a hero's top stats.

In general trinket upgrades should be a priority BiS (Best in Slot) items that you will not replace soon. Then, you should consider any items with desirable statistics that aren't as significant as the iLevel of the item that is to be upgraded. This is especially true when an item has multiple stats that you'd like to upgrade, as it's usually more beneficial to upgrade one crucial stat than two subpar ones.

At the beginning of the game junglers will usually want to upgrade their trinket into a red one, while top and middle players typically choose a green or pink ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices can affect a hero's ability to control the map.

In addition to the items mentioned above, players will also discover other trinkets in form trophies and rewards throughout the game. They can be earned by completing certain milestones in the story, such as completing a chapter's main quest or killing a certain boss. You can check them out by selecting the achievement from the reward section of the hero's menu.