Path of Exile 2: How to Upgrade Armor and Weapon Quality
21.01.2025 - 01:49:42
Game Guides , Path of Exile 2
One day, as you were playing Path of Exile 2, some valuable items dropped but you are unsure if they can still be improved in some way or not. However, as a PoE 2 beginner, you don’t exactly know what to do.
Well, in this article, we will give you everything you need to know about how to upgrade armor and weapon quality in Path of Exile 2!
PoE 2 Currency for Upgrading Items
There are three different types of PoE 2 Currency that you can use to upgrade your gear. These are the Armourer’s Scraps, Blacksmith’s Whetstones, and Arcanist’s Etchers.
The Armourer’s Scrap improves the quality of your pieces of armor, including the helmet, body armor, gloves, and boots. This currency item can also bolster the defense of a shield or caster focus.
Another type of PoE 2 currency that you need to be aware of is the Blacksmith’s Whetstone. If the Armourer’s Scrap is used primarily for upgrading any pieces of armor, the Blacksmith’s Whetstone is specifically made to improve the quality of martial weapons.
But wait, what are Martial Weapons in Path of Exile 2? Well, these are weapons that are not typically used by spellcasters, such as the mace, bow, crossbow, and quarterstaff. More weapon types will be added as the game inches closer to the full release, though it’s safe to say that they also need the Blacksmith’s Whetstone to give them a higher quality.
How about wands, sceptres, and staves? Is there a way to upgrade them as well? Thankfully, yes! You can utilize the Arcanist’s Etcher specifically to increase the quality of these weapons by up to 20%.
Among the three “upgrade currencies,” the Armourer’s Scrap is the most popular given that there are a bunch of items you can use it on. Still, having a healthy supply of Blacksmith’s Whetstones and Arcanist’s Etchers is a good thing, especially if you want to try different PoE 2 ascendancy classes later down the line.
How to Upgrade Weapons and Armor
Upgrading weapons and armor in Path of Exile 2 is quite easy. All you have to do is get a suitable piece of gear and then use the intended PoE 2 Currency for that item to improve its quality.
For instance, if you have a rare body armor that hasn’t been upgraded yet, you can utilize Armourer’s Scraps to increase its quality to 20%, which is the current maximum in Path of Exile 2 Early Access.
Using the currencies mentioned earlier is as easy as right-clicking on them and then clicking on the item that you want to upgrade. Fortunately, the game does a good job of highlighting items whose quality can still be increased, as you can see in the image below:
If you are wondering why the body armor on the right is not highlighted, that’s because it already has 20% quality. That’s the thing about upgrading weapons and armor in Path of Exile 2—you cannot get more item quality if the maximum is already achieved.
On that note, corrupted items also cannot be upgraded, so bear that in mind before using a Vaal Orb.
Aside from that, the rarity of an item is not important as long as its quality is below 20%. Although you can upgrade an item of normal rarity, we recommend that you only spend those “upgrade currencies” on gear that you will use in the endgame, such as rares or unique items.
Now, why should you upgrade your gear in the first place? Well, improving the quality of your weapons and armor grants a 20% boost in their base stats. For example, if you increase the quality of evasion-based body armor like the Expert Studded Vest, it gains 20% more evasion rating as a result of using Armourer’s Scraps to achieve the maximum quality.
Tips
Unlock the Salvage Bench
To upgrade gear pieces in Path of Exile 2, you need to use three different types of currency, such as the Armourer’s Scraps, Blacksmith’s Whetstones, and Arcanist’s Etchers. That said, have you ever stopped to wonder where you can get your hands on these things?
Well, you can acquire them as a random drop by defeating enemies. However, the most consistent and easiest way is by salvaging “quality items” that you don’t need. Martial weapons that have quality on them yield Blacksmith’s Whetstones when salvaged, for example.
Having said that, the Salvage Bench is not something that is readily available in town the first time you play Path of Exile 2. You have to unlock it first by completing the “Finding the Forge” quest from Renly in Act 1.
Don’t worry, the said quest is just a retrieval operation. Search the burning buildings in Ogham Village until you find Renly’s Tools. After that, talk to the esteemed blacksmith in town and he will have the Salvage Bench ready and waiting for you!
The good thing about unlocking the Salvage Bench is that you only have to do it once. After that, your other characters can use the Salvage Bench as early as the first mission!
Interact with the Vendors
If you are dying to upgrade your gear but don’t have any of the needed currencies to make that happen, you can actually get some by visiting the vendors. And no, you don’t buy the currencies as is—you still need to salvage items to obtain them.
Having said that, talk to any of the vendor NPCs in town and type the word “quality” in the search box. This highlights any item that you can salvage for scraps, etchers, and whetstones, allowing you to buy them easily without hovering over each one. You must have enough gold with you to do this strategy, though.
Buy Good Gear from NPCs
When you have a healthy supply of those “upgrade currencies,” you can actually talk to the vendor once more. This time, you’re not trading for salvageable items. Instead, you will be on the lookout for stuff that you can upgrade.
Interestingly, vendor NPCs in Path of Exile 2 will occasionally provide you with that. Some rare items that they have on offer can be a couple of mods away from being great! Buy these items from them and use the currencies mentioned throughout this guide to upgrade them accordingly.
Loot ‘Superior’ Items
Some items with quality above 0% have the “superior” prefix preceding their name. This is an easy way to tell if an item can be salvaged for scraps or not. During the course of your PoE 2 playthrough, you will come across these things by killing enemies. Don’t forget to pick them up if you need Arcanist’s Etchers, Armourer’s Scraps, or Blacksmith’s Whetstones.
Purchase the Currency Stash Tab
As you engage in high-level mapping, the currencies used for upgrading items in Path of Exile 2 become increasingly more common, so much so that you will need a dedicated storage to house everything in.
Luckily, there is the Currency Stash Tab, which can also keep PoE 2 Exalted Orbs, Divine Orbs, and other types of currency items in the game. You need premium currency before you can buy the Currency Stash Tab. This requires you to spend real money, but you only need to do it once, and you’re good to go!
If you are patient enough, you can wait for a stash sale every few weeks to get it at a discounted price.
Buy Armourer’s Scraps, Blacksmith’s Whetstones, and Arcanist’s Etchers
If you want to skip farming for quality items or shop for salvageable gear from the vendors, you can visit our PoE 2 Store to get the “upgrade currencies” right here, right now!
Get the most out of your Path of Exile 2 character by ensuring every piece of gear is upgraded. So don’t delay, visit our PoE 2 store today!