A Retrospective The Conversations People Had About Item Upgrades 20 Years Ago

Path of Exile Item Upgrades

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

Rare-grade equipment is often superior to the more modernized Common or Magic equipment due to their higher requirements.

Armor

Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be applied to armor and weapon items. They increase the stats of whatever item they are attached to. Armor upgrades are available in the world of the game and are available from Blacksmiths on bonfires. Alternately, they can be rescued from items with upgrade components inside them, using a specialist or more powerful salvage kit.

The amount of damage an armored item or weapon is able to absorb is dependent on the extent of its upgrades. The ability to absorb damage of a piece armor will increase when it is upgraded to its maximum upgrade level. However, it's important keep in mind that this will increase its weight, which will cause it to weigh more than it was before.

There are several types of armor upgrades available in the game and each one has distinct effects. For example, some upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it lighter and stronger. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade that an item will be given, as illustrated below.

A few of the upgrades are also magic or a mix of technology and magic which is shown by a "Magic" or "Hybrid" entry in the table below. Certain upgrades also require fees in order to be used. These are identified as "Charges" entries in the table. These charges are either continuously updated or never expire based on the upgrade.

The cheapest method to upgrade armor is to use Iron Ore, which can be found through exploring the surroundings and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more costly, but can be found at the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, such as the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to high level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant boost in stats, and are definitely worth the cost.

Upgrading a piece of armor to its maximum upgrade level will dramatically boost its defense but the wearer must be aware that putting more weight on it will dramatically reduce its speed and agility. This is why it is typically not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, since the defensive boost gained is typically not worth the extra weight and power cost of the upgrades needed.

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 the rifle that snipes. Certain weapons come with special upgrades to improve their inherent capabilities. Frictionless materials (improves stability, and reduces weapon overheating) and Kinetic coils (increases the projectile's velocity to cause more damage) are two examples.

The majority of upgrades to weapons require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons and a whetblade to apply. These are obtained through either doing side quests, or killing a certain number of monsters or bosses, or by contacting 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 you will need to complete the upgrade. The cost of upgrades will be lower if you have more than one of the upgrade materials.

In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Prior to  item upgrades : Season 5 you could upgrade your weapon and equipment by paying a certain amount of Bars. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.

It's possible, but it relies heavily on RNG. Instead, you're much better off going to stores and buying gear with low upgrade levels, but excellent base scores and stat distributions. These items will have a higher likelihood of granting you highest level of blessings and perks.

To increase their level quicker, players usually prioritize upgrading their weapons. 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 to make it more useful when accompanied by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.

Jewels

Jewels are used in the sockets of armor and weapons, enhancing the power of a character and bringing about secondary effects. They can be created using an process known as jewelry crafting, which is where you combine a gemstone and several reagents at a jewelry table. The higher the grade of the gemstone, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world from 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 quality of a gem can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. Based on the tier of the gem it can provide different stat boost when slotted into weapons, equipment 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 jewels which require you to be at a sufficient level to be able to get the privilege of having them. Jewels can be substituted with another jewel without destroying the original. However it is only possible to replace the jewels in a piece of equipment only once.

It is normal to use more jewels for aesthetic reasons. In addition to improving performance, the jewels also create an outer layer that is more durable than metal, so repeated friction with pivots doesn't cause damage as easily.

In addition to the above upgrades additionally, players can obtain glyphs for their shields and weapons from a Glyphmaster. These glyphs offer a small boost and can be freely traded, but they are not guaranteed to appear as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Crystal. Glyphs can also be taken out and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components, such as traits and aegis, cannot be swapped out, and can only be retrieved using an Upgrade Extractor, or by salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage Tool.

item upgrading  can provide your hero with various small, but useful, advantages. They can be acquired starting in the areas of starting as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and through doing road interactions. They can also be made 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 a small, but valuable boost to speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player can then acquire necklaces, amulets, and rings, in a similar way similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Each piece of equipment has an upgrade slot that can be either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and can be used on any device. Jewels cannot be upgraded or replaced, and can only be used with certain trinkets.

These trinkets also provide additional buffs and skills that are 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 absence of strong slots in the team or talent tree that are normally filled by a hero's top stats.

As a rule trinket upgrades should be prioritized over BiS (Best in Slot) items that you will not replace in the near future. Then, you should consider any items with desirable stats that aren't as significant as the iLevel for the item to be upgraded. This is particularly true if an item has multiple stats that you wish to upgrade, as it's usually better to upgrade just one crucial stat than two subpar ones.

In the beginning of the game players who are in the jungle will typically want to upgrade their yellow trinket into a red one in the middle and top players typically choose the pink or green ward (depending on the matchup). These choices can affect a hero's ability to control the map.

Aside from the items listed above, players may also find a number 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 a chapter’s main quest or beating a boss. You can see them by clicking on the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.