Item Upgrades A Simple Definition

Path of Exile Item Upgrades
The performance of many Path of Exile items can be improved by upgrading their performance. They can be a fantastic source of damage, more AD or even more affixes.
In most cases, however, upgraded Common and Magic gear is often surpassed by Rare-grade gear due to their higher requirements.
Armor
Armor upgrades are a type of upgrade that can be used on weapons and armor items. They increase the effectiveness of the item they're connected to. Armor upgrades are available in the world of games and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at bonfires. They can also be salvaged using a specialist or higher salvage kit to salvage upgrades from the items.
The amount of damage an armored item or weapon can absorb depends on the degree of upgrades. Upgrading a piece of armor to the highest upgrade level will increase the damage it absorbs. But, it's important to keep in mind that this will raise its weight, requiring it to weigh more than before.
There are a variety of armor upgrade available in the game. upgrade item has a different effect. For instance, certain upgrades will give the armor a certain amount of health points while others will make it lighter and stronger. The name of the upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade an item can be given, as illustrated below.
Some of the upgrades also require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which is identified by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table below. Furthermore, some upgrades require a charge to use, which is identified by a "Charges" entry in the table below. The charges for these upgrades change daily or never expire, depending on the upgrade.
The cheapest method of upgrading armor is with Iron Ore, which can be found through exploring the surroundings and looting chests of minor loot. Titanium is more expensive however it is obtainable from the smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge or the Hot Potato Books can only be applied to high-level armor pieces. These upgrades can give a significant increases in stats and are definitely worth the investment.
Upgrading a piece of armor to max upgrade level will significantly increase its defense values however, the user must be aware that putting more weight on it can drastically decrease its agility and speed. This is why it is not recommended to upgrade the majority of armor pieces above +9, since the added defense is usually not worth the additional weight and power costs of the improvements required.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades give players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can improve the accuracy of a rifle or the damage caused by shotgun shells. Some weapons also have special enhancements that enhance their intrinsic capabilities. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and reduces the risk of weapon overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases projectile acceleration for more damage).
The majority of upgrades for weapons require the use of a whetblade, or one of the three Power Dices and a different amount of Minerals and Erons. They can be obtained by completing Side Quests, taking out a certain number of bosses or monsters, or from 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 that is based on a specific number of Bars. The more bars needed to complete an upgrade, the more expensive the upgrade. The cost of upgrading will be lower if have more than one of the relevant upgrade materials.
In Chapter 2: Season 5, the method of upgrading your weapon and equipment sets has changed a bit. Before you could search for an Upgrade Bench and pay a set amount of Bars to upgrade your weapon or equipment to a higher rarity. You could do this until the weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would reset.
You can still do this but the process is high on RNG and low on agency. Instead, you're better off going to stores and buying gear that has low upgrade levels but good base scores and stat distributions. These will be able to give you the best tier of benefits and blessings.
To improve their skills faster, many players prioritize upgrading their weapons. Players should also upgrade the weapons their squadmates use to make them stronger. Shepard, for example, should upgrade the M92F in order to unlock the Beretta M93R. This will make the weapon more effective when used by biotic specialists like Grunt and Tali.
Jewels
Jewels can be used to boost a stat or provide secondary effects in armor and weapons. Jewelry crafting is a method for making them, in which you combine gemstones with specific reagents on a table. The higher the tier of the gem, the better its secondary effect. These reagents can be obtained around the world through Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and occasionally by salvaging Legendary equipment. You can also buy them from The Jeweler for gold and a Scattered Prism.
The quality of a gem can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that vary from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts can vary according to the tier that the jewel is at when it's inserted into weapons, jewelry, or equipment.
The Jeweler is able to create all kinds of gems, apart from the rare and legendary ones which you must be at an appropriate level to obtain. Jewels can be replaced by another jewel without damaging the original. However it is only possible to replace one jewel in a piece of equipment only once.
It is typical to use more jewelry for aesthetic reasons. The jewels can also enhance performance and make a harder surface than steel, so that the repeated friction caused by pivots does not cause damage to them.
A Glyphmaster can provide glyphs to enhance the appearance of your weapons and shields. These are a small perk and can be swapped out at any time, but are not guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs, like jewelry, can be upgraded at the Jeweler to exchange gold and Scattered Crystals. Glyphs can also be 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 Extractor, or by salvaging them using the Black Lion Salvage Kit or Ascended Salvage Tool.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that bestow a wide range of tiny but valuable benefits to your hero. They can be obtained in the starter areas as loot or personal story rewards from vendors, or by doing road interactions. They can also be crafted by jewelers and later found or purchased at the Trading Post.
The first trinkets that a player unlocks will be the cloak, which grants an unimportant but beneficial boost in speed of movement and the ability to escape. The player can then collect rings, amulets and necklaces, in a similar way similar to how they obtained weapons and armor. Every piece of equipment has a slot for an upgrade that is either universal or jewel. Universal upgrades are smaller and are able to be used on any device. Jewels are not upgradeable or replaced and are only compatible with certain trinkets.
These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active when the hero isn't engaged in combat. This enables the hero to be more effective when not active and may also help to compensate for the absence of a strong team or any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's ideal stats.
A good general rule of thumb for trinket upgrades is to prioritize BiS (Best-in-Slot) items that you won't be replacing soon, followed by items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item to be upgraded. This is especially true if an item has multiple stats that you wish 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 in the middle and top players will usually opt for a green or pink ward (depending on the game's matchup). These choices will have a major impact on the hero's map control abilities.
In addition to the items listed above, players can also discover a variety of other trinkets in the game in the form of awards and trophies. These can be obtained through completing certain milestones within the story. For instance, completing a chapter’s main quest or beating a boss. You can check them out by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.