A Productive Rant About Item Upgrading

Path of Exile Item Upgrading
Item upgrading allows players to improve their weapons and gear with new affixes, increasing the base stats of the item or giving additional benefits. To upgrade an item, the player has to have it in their inventory as well as access to the kiln.
Typically, items with weak bases (like rings) can be upgraded to a stronger base, whereas objects with strong bases, such as eth titans do not vary in their stats following being upgraded.
Upgrade components
Upgrade components can be slotted into weapons, armor, trinkets and tools for gathering, offering an attribute bonus or additional impact when the equipment is being used. They can be purchased from vendors, or found in loot from enemies, or obtained from chests and missions. Some upgrades additionally have special cosmetic effects. Most upgrades require that the equipment be above a certain level before they can be upgraded.
To upgrade a weapon, armor or other item in the game, the player will need to select it and then click on the Upgrade button in the toolbar. This will show a preview on the right side of the screen, showing what the expected upgrade statistics will be as well as the required element or material required to complete the upgrade.
There are three kinds of upgrade components: universal upgrades, prefix upgrades, and suffix upgrades. Universal upgrades, like gems, are able to be placed on any type of equipment. They offer a lower bonus than upgrade components that have a specific type restriction. Infusions are gems that can only be used in legendary and ascended equipment. They offer the same bonuses as jewels, but cannot be used with any other equipment. Suffix upgrades, which can be placed in gathering tools, will add their names to the end of the name of the item they are attached to, for instance adding a Glyph to a Staff Wrapping of Minor Vigor would change it to a Canthan Staff Wrapping of Minor Vigor.
In the instance of upgrades for gathering tools when a player swaps one glyph with a different one the old glyph will be returned to the inventory. If you replace another upgrade component, it will be destroyed, with the exception for the inscriptions, which are able to be swapped.
Leveling
The upgrade system in Path of Exile has some significant differences from the previous versions. Gear is now broken down into tracks and items can be upgraded a certain number of times before they are "leveled out." The cost of upgrading increases with each level, but the materials needed do not. This allows players to concentrate their efforts on a few key items and maximize their impact instead of spreading upgrade costs across multiple pieces.
This will enable the item to receive new upgrade components and a higher chance of success. This bonus is called the Artisan’s Energy and it resets at 0 if the upgrade fails or increases when the upgrade succeeds.
Once a piece is upgraded to its highest level, it is able to get an affix to increase its capabilities. The number of affixes that are available depends on the item's base. For instance an uncommon or exclusive weapon with a standard base will only have two affixes, whereas a legend armor will have eight affixes.
Each upgrade step will require the use of a certain amount of Flightstones and crests to complete depending on the item's current level and the slot it's in. Weapons will typically require more Flightstones than other equipment.
If an item is not able to reach its max level, the NPC will give the player the option of transfer it to a different character and re-infuse it with another set of upgrades. The process can take as long as two hours and will cost the same amount of materials, though it will result in less chance of success.
To measure the height of a structure, engineers will use a level to compare the measurement against a known reference point such as a benchmark or the elevation of the ground. This is known as a "level loop." This involves taking readings using the level, backsighting rod and then turning the level to take the foresighting rod reading. This method ensures that buildings are constructed to a high standard of accuracy and safety.
Rerolling
Rerolling is the process of changing the upgrade components of an item. It is an important aspect of the game and can dramatically improve an item's strength, damage, or other attributes. This can be done through the item menu or clicking the Reroll button on an upgraded item. Rerolling is costly and should only be done in rare cases.
The game allows players to recycle upgraded items, which can be used to obtain tokens for rerolls. These tokens are then used to upgrade the original item, or to upgrade another similar item. Recyclable items have a level gauge that shows how much of the upgrade gauge is filled. The rarity and cost of upgrading an item will determine the level of filling.
In the past, some upgrade items had priority affixes that made them easier to roll for than other. This meant that you would receive the stats that mattered most to your build often than other items. This included stats such as the armor's total armour, thorns and diminished duration due to control or the weapons' bonus attack speed and crit strike chance.
This was changed in the latest patch. Priority affixes were removed and all upgrades have the same chance of rolling each statistic. This could be good or bad, based on what you're looking to get from your equipment.
Each upgraded item may have a unique bonus that increases the power of the item by a specific percentage or flat value. These bonuses are added to standard affixes. The more you improve an item, the better the chance of receiving an exclusive bonus.
The game also features a number of sets, which give a set bonus when three or more upgraded items from the same set are equipped on an item. This is a great method of giving an individual character more power without spending a lot of money.
Many players opt to reroll their gear and weapons, particularly in the early stages of the game. Rerolling is a method to create a more powerful character quicker, which enables you to advance in the game and reach higher tiers.
Sets
Sets are collections of elements that can be arranged in a variety of ways. They can have various sizes, contain no elements at all or contain a single element. They can be used for organizing data or separating information. They can also be used to analyze patterns. Sets can be classified in a variety of ways, including size and shape.
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom provides an array of upgradeable set items. Certain items are worth upgrading, while others aren't. Upgrades are worthwhile for armor sets that provide high defense values and set bonuses. Upgrades to weapons aren't as effective in improving stats as their counterparts in purple. This makes them less appealing to upgrade in the event that your collection of weapons and armor pieces is already extensive.
Set items can be upgraded to include special procs that are useful for certain builds. item upgrading and Aldur's Advance boots are a good example of this. Both were upgraded from Exceptional Winged Helm and Exceptional Mirrored Boots respectively, boosting their defense by 217 to 321 (Strength requirement and Level requirement was increased as well).
Another reason to upgrade certain items is to bring them up to parity with their levels. For example the Immortal King set has a wide range of levels, ranging between 29 and 76. Upgrades to lower level items can increase their defense and increase their competitiveness when it comes to damage.
Clicking the Upgrade button will show the attributes of the item as well as the required items to upgrade it. The item's attributes will be displayed together with any required items. For example the No-mouth Face will require 1.1K Scrap Materials, 250 Enchanted Dust and 5 Glowing Shards to upgrade. Players can also check the upgrade requirements for specific items at the Cyrodiil Golden vendor or Leaderboard.
In general, weapons and armor have a higher trade value when fully updated. Upgrades to gold are recommended for weapons with spell/weapon-damage glyphs. This will result in a significant improvement in their stats. The armor that has a new appearance will also benefit from this as its defense value will increase when it goes from purple to gold.