Crafting equipment is an essential component to keeping characters consistently strong in Path of Exile 2. Although Grinding Gear Games has already increased the loot drop rate in a recent patch, gear is still a necessary component to increasing a character's strength.
There is a bit of a barrier to entry with the underexplained system. There are an abundance of different craft materials that, despite being understandable in isolation, can be tricky to apply properly. However, once players have a firm grasp of the underlying system, crafting equipment can become an invaluable resource for increasing a character's strength.
When to manufacture equipment
Identifying when to create is essential
Similar to upgrading skills in Path of Exile 2Gear crafting should be a priority throughout Act One. Finding gaps in a character's equipmentsuch as missing slots, low-level parts, or underwhelming modifiers should be the first step in identifying when crafting can be useful, especially when a character is fighting enemies or bosses. There are several levers a player can use to increase a character's strength, such as skills or support gems, but often, elaboration is needed to add more support.
With the general removal of defensive nodes from the passive skill tree, equipment is even more important in a character's survivability, especially with the projected difficulty of Path of Exile 2. Stats like maximum health and elemental resistance are some of the best in the game. When fighting defensively, look at equipment first. For the attack, the equipment with the greatest impact is the character's weapon. An upgraded weapon can often double or triple a character's damage depending on the time since the upgrade, and may be just the push needed to take down a difficult boss.
How to get and use orbs for crafting
Loot, disenchant and cleanse
As mentioned, the crafting process is done through various crafting materials, often Orbs. Any material can be looted from defeated enemiesbut it can also be accumulated through disenchantment and disposal equipment of the associated rarity. Using an Orb is as simple as right-clicking in a character's inventory and then clicking on the desired part to upgrade it.
|
Name |
Effect |
|---|---|
|
Orb of Transmutation |
Upgrades a normal item into a magic item |
|
Orb of Augmentation |
Adds one modifier to a magic item, up to a maximum of two |
|
Royal Orb |
Transforms a magic item into a rare item |
|
Exalted Orb |
Adds one modifier to a magic item, up to a maximum of six |
There are numerous other crafting materials in Path of Exile 2 that perform a variety of functions, such as adding gem sockets or more specific modifiers. However, the four listed in the table above are the core of the system. With them, a normal item with no modifiers can be upgraded to a rare item with up to six. First, upgrade a common item to magical with an Orb of Transmutation, and add a modifier with a Augment Orb. After, repeat the process upgrading it to a rare item and capping its six modifiers with the corresponding orbs.
Knowing when to stop updating is also important to conserve resources. When modifiers aren't particularly useful, it's a good idea to stop using more orbs before upgrading the item to rare. Orbs based on magic items are typically in surplus, so experimenting with them is never a bad idea. Path of Exile 2.