Essence Update in PoE 2 0.3 The Third Edict

In PoE 2 patch 0.3 - The Third Edict, Essences are getting a makeover, improving their use and functionality and power. There are now four tiers of Essences, each adding guaranteed modifiers, but some function in slightly different ways to the way they did previously

How Essences Worked Before

Previously, there were only two tiers of Essences: Normal and Greater. Normal Essences could be used on a Normal Rarity item to make it Magic with a guaranteed modifier with a specific Tag. For example, you could use an Essence of Battle to upgrade a Normal item to a Magic item with a single Attack modifier: the problem with this however, is it provided no control over not only which Attack-tagged modifier was added, but which tier was added.

Greater Essences functioned in a similar way, but would upgrade a Magic item to a Rare with a guaranteed modifier of a specific tag. This too provided too little control, making the usefulness of Essences very limited

How Essences Work in The Third Edict

In PoE 2 patch 0.3, Essences will now guarantee a specific modifier depending on the item type they are being applied to, so you'll know what you're getting rather than hoping for the right modifier with the right tier.

There are now four tiers of Essences

• Lesser Essence
• Normal Essence
• Greater Essence
• Perfect Essence

Lesser, Normal and Greater Essences function similar to Regal Orbs, in that they will upgrade a Magic item to a Rare one, with one guaranteed modifier. The modifier added will depend on the item type the Essence is being applied to, but will be stated so you'll know what you're getting

This form of partial determinism in crafting is sorely needed in Path of Exile 2's Crafting repertoire and a great change to the previously underpowered Essence system and should provide players opportunities for guaranteed upgrades, especially in both the campaign and early- to mid-endgame

For reference, the above Essences add Fire Damage to Martial Weapons equivalent to:

• Lesser: Tier 9 Fire Damage
• Normal: Tier 6 Fire Damage
• Greater: Tier 4 Fire Damage

Perfect Essences

But there's more: Perfect Essences exist too. These function slightly differently to the lower-tier counterparts and will instead remove a modifier before adding a new, special modifier. This functionality is similar to that of a Chaos Orb, but with a guaranteed mod

This Perfect Essence of Flames shown during the announcement trailer for The Third Edict boasts 15-20% of Damage as Extra Fire Damage on One-Handed Melee Weapons or Bows, or 25-33% on Two-Handed Melee Weapons or Crossbows

Depending on whether or not this is a Prefix or a Suffix will determine exactly how powerful it is, but also might provide some interesting crafting tricks that can be taken advantage of.

For example, if a rare item has 6 modifiers, and the above Perfect Essence of Flame is a Prefix, it would be forced to remove a Prefix before adding a new Prefix, as it wouldn't have space to do so otherwise. This could mean that an item with perfect Suffixes and middling Prefixes could be adapted into a much more useful item by removing one of the bad Prefixes and adding a guaranteed good one, preserving the Suffixes in the processAct 4 Overview

We'll have to wait and see what the rest of the Essences look like once PoE 0.3 drops on 29 August 2025, but this is a promising development for the state of crafting in the game

Path of Exile 2 The Third Edict has plenty of other massive system overhauls and crafting changes that you can read about here:

• PoE 2 Auction House
• Act 4 Overview
• Free to Play Weekend Announcement
• All Guides and Updates