Picking up an
item immediately
shows whether or not it could be a potential upgrade depending on the arrows, and you'll even have the option to
equip the recently acquired good or drop it for a friend through a quick hotkey.
When one
shows up in your game, you can do one of three things: pay to add their Tactician to your army, buy
items that their units have
equipped or take them on in battle to earn their Tactician for free.