Path of Exile 2 Guide | How To Craft Powerful Items

Crafting is one of the most important features of Path of Exile 2 gameplay, especially as one goes through the campaign. Without the upgrade that one needs, you may be stuck on that one boss who just won't die unless you have better weapons. The manufacturing or crafting system in Path of Exile 2 utilizes a mix of randomness and smart decision-making. This guide is aimed at helping you manufacture powerful equipment as soon as possible so that you may ready yourself for what is coming.

How to Pick the Basic Products

The very first act involved in crafting is picking an Item Base that suits your build. With the right item base, the outcome will certainly increase your chances of getting your desired modification. For instance, if you are on the bow, then a person should develop Dual-String Bows when armor users make Evasion or armor-based items.

Unlike Path of Exile 1, there is no way to restore an item's original condition after crafting. If you happen to roll bad modifiers, you have to chuck the thing and start fresh on a new base. For this reason, it is important to pick up many multiples of the base items you plan to craft. 

Basic Crafting

Upgrading An item is upgraded by first making a white item into a Magic Item. This is done with Orb of Transmutation; these add one random modifier to an item. Once you've rolled the first modifier, you can add a second modifier with an Orb of Augmentation. 

Because of this, for example, taking an Orb of Transmutation on Rawhide Boots could result in a Life Roll of Tier 3, which is a great starter. The modifier tiers, which can be the quality of the roll, are shown by pressing Alt on the keyboard. The lower the tier number, like Tier 1 or Tier 2, the more solid the modification.

When you have identified two modifiers on an item, you may stop or proceed with the next step. If the changes aren't what you want, then you may discard the item, beginning the process anew with another base. Knowing how item levels work is important, too, because higher-level items can roll stronger, higher-tier alterations. That way, you craft gear capable of scaling appropriately as you progress further into the game. 

Upgrade to rare items 

Once you get an item with some good modifiers, you're able to use a Regal Orb on it and upgrade that item into a Rare Item (yellow). While rare items can have up to six modifications, using the Regal Orb for the first time simply adds one more random modifier.

Although this process is hazardous, quite frequently, it's well worth the risk of augmenting the potency of your items. For example, using a Regal Orb on boots with Life and Fire Resistance will yield one of the other two desirable modifiers listed above, such as Evasion.

To get Regal Orbs, disenchant rare (yellow) items at an NPC and collect Regal Shards. Likewise, disenchanting magical (blue) items yields Transmutation Shards, which you can then use to make more Magic stuff. These orbs are used fairly often in this game, so always salvage any gear you aren't using.  

Adding Sockets with Artificer Orbs

Equipped with a powerful rare item, begin using sockets to imbue runes and abilities. Adding Sockets is done through the usage of the Artificer Orbs. You gain by salvaging items with sockets through the SalvageBench; you will be granted this technique Artificer Shards that merge to form the orbs.

Later, you can socket runes into your socketed gear and gain even more from them, like Glacial Rune in armor, which reduces Cold Damage; Desert Rune increased Fire Resistance, among others. Runes are nice for filling in any stat gaps, which mostly include resistances or health increases.

Deterministic Crafting Using Essences

While most of the crafting within Path of Exile 2 revolves around a bit of chance, Essences does offer a somewhat more controlled method when getting those specific modifiers. These are consumables that morph a white item into a Magic Item, guaranteeing one particular modification. An Essence of Fire will always add a Fire-related modifier to the item, such as Fire Resistance.

Essences will be rare during the campaign, and their usage must be considered carefully. These should be used on high-quality foundation items or if you need a certain stat out of Life or Resistances. The determinism from using Essences is worth even more later when those greater modifiers are required for progression.

Late Game Crafting

Later in the game, Chaos Orbs will be used to complement your equipment. Chaos Orbs reroll all the modifiers of a rare, so it is an extremely powerful but, meanwhile, extremely dangerous tool. It is most viable to use on an item that you already have with many great modifiers, and you would like to improve or complement the weakest one or two of them.

For instance, if you have an uncommon with three great changes and one that is decent, using an Orb of Chaos gives you a chance to get an even better setup; this is a very risky strategy, though, since you can very easily end up losing a keystone modifier. Because of this, Chaos Orbs are best saved for endgame when you are trying to completely max out gear.

Tips for Creating During the Campaign

With regular upgrades in equipment, work towards consistency that will be helpful in good crafting during the campaign. Focus on the stats important to the build, be it life, resistances, or attack speed. Pay attention to the item level of gear picked up since higher item levels mean modifiers are better allowed. Keep an eye out for any base items you're looking for, and make sure you have enough orbs of crafting to upgrade when needed.

You start with basic crafts such as Transmutations, Augmentations, and Regal Orbs. You save your Essences and Chaos Orbs for later in the game when you should be crafting deterministically or doing advanced optimizations. Use Artificer Orb to socket a gap in the stats of your item.

Finally…

Crafting in Path of Exile 2 is a continuous process that requires both time and resources. A right base with ordinary upgrades by using orbs of crafting, Essences, and Artificer Orbs, among others, will keep your gears powerful throughout your campaign. Focus on key numbers like Life and Resistances, as well as Attack Speed for survivability and damage. Later in the game, some of the technologies will allow for fine-tuning your equipment with more detail to maximize their effects: Chaos Orbs and deterministic crafts.

Also, check our Path of Exile 2 Review and other guides below:

• Path of Exile 2 Class Guide | Which Class Should You Pick
• Path of Exile 2 | Monk Build Guide
• Path of Exile 2 | Warrior Build Guide
• Path of Exile 2 Beginner's Guide
• Path of Exile 2 | Witch Build Guide
• Path of Exile 2 | Ranger Build Guide
• Path of Exile 2 | Mercenary Build Guide
• Path of Exile 2 | Sorceress Build Guide
• Path of Exile 2 | How To Level Up Fast
• Path of Exile 2 | How To Farm & Use Uniques
• Path of Exile 2 | How To Get Ascendency Points