Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) is the highly anticipated sequel to the original Path of Exile, and it builds upon the solid foundation of its predecessor by introducing new features, mechanics, and an expanded world. One of the most exciting aspects of PoE 2 is the crafting system, which has always been a central part of the Path of Exile experience.

Crafting in Path of Exile 2 offers players the ability to create powerful gear, modify existing items, and experiment with different affix combinations to suit their builds. Whether you're a seasoned crafter or new to the crafting mechanics of PoE, understanding how to use the crafting system effectively can give you a massive edge in the game.

This comprehensive Path of Exile 2 crafting guide will walk you through the essentials of crafting, including how to craft gear, which currency items you should use, advanced crafting techniques, and the overall crafting economy.

The Basics of Crafting in Path of Exile 2

Crafting in PoE 2 can be broken down into a few core concepts: modifiers, crafting bases, and crafting currency. To craft successfully, you need to understand these concepts and how they interact with each other.

1. Modifiers and Affixes

In PoE 2, all items come with modifiers, which are essentially attributes that define the stats and abilities of an item. These modifiers are split into two types:

Prefixes: These modifiers come before the item's name and usually affect stats like damage, defense, or resistances.

Suffixes: These modifiers appear after the item's name and often impact more situational stats like life, mana, or specific resistances.

An item can have multiple prefixes and suffixes, and the combination of these affixes is what defines the item's overall power. When crafting, your goal is often to find an item with a good mix of prefixes and suffixes, or to re-roll the affixes to create a stronger version of the item.

2. Crafting Bases

Every item in PoE 2 comes from a crafting base, which determines what types of affixes can appear on that item. The base also dictates the item's item level (iLvl), which is crucial for high-level crafting since some affixes only appear on high-level items.

Weapon Bases: This category includes one-handed and two-handed weapons, such as swords, bows, and wands. These items often focus on damage-related affixes and may include additional properties like attack speed or critical strike chance.

Armor Bases: These are items like helmets, body armor, gloves, boots, and shields. Armor bases generally focus on defensive modifiers like life, resistances, and energy shield.

Accessory Bases: This includes rings, amulets, and belts, which tend to focus on resistances, attributes, and defensive bonuses.

Each crafting base has inherent properties that influence which modifiers can appear on it. Understanding these base types is key to crafting powerful gear.

3. Crafting Currency

In PoE 2, the crafting system revolves around currency items, which are special items you use to modify or upgrade your gear. Some of the most common crafting POE 2 Currency include:

Orb of Transmutation: Turns a normal (white) item into a magic (blue) item with random affixes.

Orb of Alteration: Re-rolls the affixes of a magic item.

Orb of Regret: Respecs a portion of your passive skill tree, not related to crafting, but useful for character customization.

Chaos Orb: Re-rolls the affixes of a rare (yellow) item with random affixes.

Exalted Orb: Adds a new random affix to a rare item, making it even more powerful.

Divine Orb: Re-rolls the values of existing affixes (for example, changing a +10% to +15%).

Blessed Orb: Used to re-roll the base values of affixes when modifying items.

Fossils and Resonators: These are used for crafting on specific bases, typically with a focus on adding specific types of affixes.

These currencies are essential in modifying and improving your gear. Some are used to transform the rarity of an item, while others are used to fine-tune specific affixes, rerolling or adding them.

4. Item Rarity and Crafting

Items in PoE 2 can be of different rarities:

Normal (White): Items that are unmodified, and you can only apply basic crafting methods, like using a Transmutation Orb to make them magical.

Magic (Blue): Items with one or two affixes. These items are more useful for crafting as they allow for more refined upgrades using Alteration Orbs or other crafting methods.

Rare (Yellow): Items with three or more affixes. Rare items are where the true power of crafting lies. You can modify these items with Chaos Orbs, Exalted Orbs, and more.

Unique (Green): These items are special and have predefined stats. They are not typically crafted, but they may be modified or enhanced by certain crafting methods, such as through Delve Fossils or Essence crafting.

Understanding the rarity of your items and what type of affix you can apply based on the rarity is critical to mastering the crafting system.

Crafting Techniques in PoE 2

1. Basic Crafting Methods

If you're just getting started with crafting in PoE 2, you'll first want to experiment with simple methods:

Crafting Magic Items (Blue)

To craft a magic item, you will typically use an Orb of Transmutation to turn a normal item into a magic item. Once it's magic, you can use an Orb of Alteration to reroll its affixes, attempting to land the ones that best suit your build.

Example: You might start with a low-level item like a Wand, use a Transmutation Orb to make it magic, then use an Alteration Orb to get the desired affix combination, such as increased spell damage and cast speed.

Crafting Rare Items (Yellow)

Once you have a magic item with desirable affixes, you can upgrade it to a rare item using an Orb of Alchemy. From here, you can further modify the item using Chaos Orbs, Exalted Orbs, or Divine Orbs to fine-tune the affixes.

Example: After using Alchemy to upgrade to rare status, use a Chaos Orb to reroll the affixes and get better stats. If the affixes are perfect but the item's values are suboptimal, use a Divine Orb to modify the values.

2. Crafting with Fossils and Resonators

Fossils are a specialized type of currency in PoE 2 that add a layer of complexity to the crafting system. They modify the way affixes appear on an item, making it easier to obtain certain types of modifiers or exclude unwanted ones.

Fossils come in many types: Pristine Fossil (for life-related affixes), Jagged Fossil (for physical damage), Aetheric Fossil (for energy shield), etc.

Resonators are used to hold fossils. They allow you to insert one or more fossils into them and then apply the crafting process to an item.

For example, if you want to craft a helmet with a high chance to gain energy shield and life, you could use a Pristine Fossil and an Aetheric Fossil to increase the likelihood of life and energy shield affixes appearing on the item.

3. Essences

Essences are another special crafting resource that allow players to guarantee specific affixes on an item. Using an Essence on an item locks in one modifier, and the other affixes are randomly generated.

Example: If you need an item with high life regeneration, you could use a Essence of Greed to guarantee that specific modifier on a rare piece of armor.

Essence crafting is powerful but limited by the number of affixes that can be generated.

4. Crafting on Influenced Items

Items that are influenced by specific endgame mechanics (like the Shaper, Elder, or Hunter) allow you to add very powerful affixes to your gear. If you want to quickly and easily obtain these items, you can use poe2 trade. Crafting on these items is extremely valuable because the modifiers they offer are often some of the best in the game.

Influenced items can be crafted using special Influence Orbs or through specific crafting bench recipes. For instance, adding a Shaper's Orb to an item could allow for specific modifiers like increased global critical strike chance.

5. Master Crafting

In PoE 2, the Crafting Bench is a key component for modifying your items. This bench allows you to add specific modifiers to your gear at the cost of certain currency items or maps. Master Crafting is important for fine-tuning your gear to perfection.

You can craft affixes like +1 to all socketed gems, % increased attack speed, or increased resistances through the crafting bench.

Conclusion

Crafting in Path of Exile 2 is deep, intricate, and rewarding. Whether you're looking to create the perfect piece of endgame gear, improve an item for your current build, or simply experiment with affixes, the crafting system provides endless opportunities to refine and create powerful items.

By mastering the basics of modifiers, bases, and crafting currencies, and by experimenting with advanced crafting techniques like fossils, essences, and influenced crafting, you can create gear that pushes the boundaries of your builds. Whether you're looking to craft for yourself or to engage with the economy and trade, PoE 2's crafting system will be one of your most important tools on your journey through Wraeclast. Happy crafting!