20 Trailblazers Leading The Way In Item Upgrades
Path of Exile Item Upgrades
Upgrades to items are a frequent and essential way to boost the performance of a variety of items in Path of Exile. They can also provide additional damage, AD or even affixes.

Rare-grade equipment is usually superior to upgraded Common or Magic equipment due to their high demands.
Armor
Armor upgrades can be applied to both weapon and armor items. They boost the performance of the item that they're attached to. Upgrades to armor are available in the game's world and can be purchased from Blacksmiths at any bonfire. They can also be salvaged by using a professional or higher salvage kit to salvage upgrades from the items.
The level of an armor's or weapon's upgrade determines the amount of damage it will absorb. The damage absorption of an armor piece will increase when it's upgraded to the highest upgrade level. However, it's important to be aware that this upgrade will increase its weight, causing it to weigh more than it was before.
There are many different kinds of armor upgrades that are available in the game. Each has a different effect. For example, some upgrades give the armor a certain amount of additional health points, while others will make it stronger and lighter. The name of the armor upgrade will indicate the type of upgrade the item can receive, as shown below.
Certain upgrades require magic or a combination of technology and magic, which is indicated by the "Magic" and "Hybrids" entries in the table. Some upgrades also require charges in order to be used. They are referred to as "Charges" entries in the table. The charges associated with these upgrades are updated daily or never expire dependent on the upgrade.
Iron Ore is the cheapest method to improve your armor. It can be found by exploring and looting small treasure chests. Titanium is more expensive however it is obtainable through smelters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City. Certain upgrades, like the Reforge and the Hot Potato Books, can only be applied to higher level armor pieces. These upgrades can provide significant increases in stats and are definitely worth the investment.
The player should be aware, however, that upgrading a piece to the maximum upgrade level will increase its defense value. However, it can also reduce its agility and its 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 extra weight and power costs of the upgrades needed.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades allow players the ability to improve certain aspects of their weapon. Upgrades can boost the accuracy of a rifle, or the damage that shotgun shells do. Certain firearms have upgrades to improve their inherent characteristics. These include Frictionless Materials (improves stability and minimizes the risk of overheating) and Kinetic Coils (increases the velocity of projectiles for greater damage).
Most weapon upgrades require one of three Power Dices, a different amount of Minerals and Erons, and a whetblade. They can be obtained by completing Side Quests, taking out a certain number of bosses or monsters, or by contacting the Weapon Upgrade NPC in Central Flarine.
Upgrades to a weapon, equipment Set piece, or Whetblade requires visiting the NPC [Armor] Boboko in Central Flarine and paying her an upgrade cost of a set number of Bars. The higher the upgrade level, the more bars required to complete it. If you have multiple upgrade materials The cost of upgrading will be lower.
In Chapter 2: Season 5 the way you upgrade your weapon and sets has changed a bit. Before you could search for an Upgrade Bench and pay a certain amount of Bars to upgrade your equipment or weapon to an increased rarity. You could do this until your weapon or equipment reached its maximum upgrade level, at which point the upgrades would be reset.
It's still possible, but it relies heavily on RNG. You should consider buying equipment that has low upgrade levels, but high base scores and stat distributions. These will then be able to give you the best tier of bonuses and blessings.
Most players will want to prioritize weapon upgrades for the weapons they use most frequently to make sure they are able to level up faster. Players should also upgrade the weapons their teammates use to boost their strength. For instance, Shepard should consider upgrading the M92F to unlock the Beretta M93R, which will enhance its effectiveness when accompanied by 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. Jewelry crafting is the process of making them, in which you combine a gemstone with a number 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 from Treasure Goblins, World Bosses and, sometimes, by salvaging Legendary gear. You can also purchase them from The Jeweler in exchange for Scattered Prisms and gold.
The quality of a gem can be improved upon by the Jeweler, in stages that range from Crude to Royal. The stat boosts will vary according to the tier that the jewel is in when it is inserted into jewelry, weapons, or equipment.
The Jeweler can create all kinds of gems, except for the rare and legendary ones which you must be at a certain level to get. Jewels can be substituted with another one without damaging the original. However, you can only replace the jewels in a piece of equipment once.
It is common to use more jewelry to enhance the appearance of. In addition to enhancing performance, the diamonds create a surface that is harder than steel, so the repeated friction from pivots won't cause harm as easily.
In addition to the upgrades mentioned above players can also acquire glyphs for their weapons and shields from a Glyphmaster. These are a small perk and are able to be swapped easily but aren't guaranteed to drop as loot. Glyphs can be upgraded as jewelry, by visiting the Jeweler for gold, and also a scattered Crystal. Glyphs are also removed and returned to the inventory. Other upgrade components like traits or aegis can't be exchanged, and can only be retrieved with an Upgrade extractor, or salvaging with the Black Lion Salvage Kit or an Ascended Salvage.
Trinkets
Trinkets are items of equipment that provide many tiny but valuable advantages to your hero. They can be obtained in the starter areas as loot, personal story rewards, from vendors, and by performing 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. It grants a small, but valuable boost in speed of movement and the ability to escape. Then, they can get amulets, rings, and necklaces in the same way to how a player obtains armor and weapons. Each piece of equipment comes with one upgrade slot that accepts either a universal upgrade or a jewel upgrade. Universal upgrades offer smaller bonuses and can be placed in any type of equipment while jewelry cannot be changed or upgraded, and only works with certain types of trinkets.
These trinkets can provide additional bonuses and abilities that are active even when the hero isn't in combat. This allows the hero to be more effective when not active and also helps make up for a lack of a solid team or the absence of any slots from the talent tree which would normally be filled with the hero's best 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 any items with desirable stats, but less important than the iLevel of the item that is being upgraded. This is especially true when you want to upgrade multiple stats on an item. It's better to upgrade one important stat than two less important ones.
Jungle players will often upgrade their yellow trinket to a red one at the start of the game. Top and mid players however they will select either a pink or green ward, depending on the 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. enhance gear can be obtained by completing certain milestones within the story, for instance finishing a chapter's main quest or destroying a boss. You can view them by selecting the achievement in the reward section of the hero's menu.