Upgrade items

Hi. I am very new to this forum and to this game.
I just made it to the post searing area and was wondering....where can I find items to upgrade my weapons?

I see people selling them everywhere..but I want to try and find some of my own, can anyone help me with this?


My second question is...how do I get anywhere in this new world.
I'm trying to get to where Foibles Fair was, or Barradin Estate, but it is all dead ends. The only places you can really go is either north through Charr territory or through Regent Vally? So I'm thinking Regen vally might circle back around and lead to the Mountain or something.

Thanks in advance

Finding upgrades is a matter of certain conditions being met.
1) the weapon must be unidentified
2) once identified, if it's your first time finding a weapon with an upgrade, you'll be notified by a "weapon upgrade unlocked" message. For example, if you find a Long Sword of Fortitdude, it'll say "Sword hilt of fortitude unlocked" at the top. This means you'll have it available should you make a PvP only character.
3) after all this, you must use an Expert Salvage Kit, which can be found starting in Yak's Bend, to salvage the upgrade. Most of the time you will get the upgrade, but sometimes you'll get crafting material which can be disappointing if you find something you really want.
4) this process can be applied to Salvagable items such as Axe Fiend Gear or similar drops to unlock and salvage upgrade runes, which can be applied to your armor.

Hope this helps!

so to sum all that up...I basically just need to get an Expert Salvage kit ?