PoE 2 Currency Guide

Currency in Path of Exile 2 has several functions: crafting, trading, as well as possibly paying for certain services that you’ll find later in the game.

Currency Orbs are found as natural drops from slaying monsters, with bosses having a higher chance to drop more rare Currency types. You can also Disenchant items at certain Vendors to gain Currency Shards, which will combine into a full Orb when you have enough Shards.

This guide will mainly cover the function, rarity, and uses of various currency items that you will find in Path of Exile 2.

For more a more in depth guide on trading/crafting, you can refer to our other guides:

• PoE 2 Intro to Crafting Guide
• PoE 2 Trading Guide

Upgrades a Normal Item to a Magic Item with 1 Modifier 

Rarity: Very Common

Primarily used in the initial stage of crafting, but can be used early during the campaign to upgrade Normal Rarity (White) Items to Magic (Blue) Items for small upgrades, as well as to upgrade Flasks to Magic Rarity to improve them.

Do not feel scared to use these when you need them – they are common and can be good to create sorely needed upgrades early on. If you have high level Flasks and an abundance of Orbs of Transmutation, don’t forget to use them on your Flasks!

If you Disenchant Magic items at a Vendor, you will gain 1 Transmutation Shards. A full stack of 10 Transmutation Shards will create an Orb of Transmutation.

Augments a Magic Item with a new Random Modifier

Rarity: Very Common

Used to add an additional modifier to a Magic Item, usually after using an Orb of Transmutation on it. These can be used to further upgrade basic items in the campaign, or to add a second modifier to a Flask.

These are also used in more advanced crafting methods to gain a second rare modifier on an item before proceeding further.

Note: Magic Items can have a maximum of 2 Modifiers - a prefix, and a suffix.

Upgrades a Normal Item to a Rare Item with 4 Modifiers

Rarity: Uncommon

Primarily used to have a chance to create a good rare item with at least 4 modifiers. These can be incredibly powerful during the campaign if you get lucky with the modifiers that roll on your item.

If you’re lucky enough to find one of these during the campaign, it’s recommended you use these on good item bases, especially weapons to fish for damage upgrades, or Boots to try to gain Increased Movement Speed, as well as Jewellery (Rings, Amulets, Belts) and Body Armours for Life and Resistances.

Orbs of Alchemy are much less common in Path of Exile 2 than they were in Path of Exile 1, so use them wisely when you find them, saving them for when you really need them.

Upgrades a Magic Item to a Rare Item, adding 1 Modifier

Rarity: Uncommon

Regal Orbs upgrade a Magic Item into a Rare one while adding an additional modifier. The other bonus of Regal Orbs is that the maximum number of mods that that item can have increases from 2 (1 Prefix and 1 Suffix on a Magic item), to 6 (3 Prefixes, 3 Suffixes on a Rare item).

If you Disenchant Rare items at a Vendor, you will gain Regal Shards. A full stack of 10 Regal Shards will create an Regal Orb.

Regals are fairly uncommon during the Campaign and should be used sparingly; these Currency items are important as they are the bridge between certain Currency items that can only affect Rare items. In the endgame, Regal Orbs become much more common and can be used freely.

With the update to Essences in PoE 2 patch 0.3, there should be less of a chokepoint on Regal Orbs as many of these lower-tier Essences function in a similar manner to Regal Orbs, while guaranteeing a specific modifier

Removes a random modifier and Augments a Rare Item with a new random modifier

Rarity: Very Uncommon 

Chaos Orbs can be used as a gamble to improve an item - if you have an item with 2 good modifiers, and 2 bad modifiers, using a Chaos Orb has the chance to remove one of the bad modifiers to replace it with a good one.

This item should be used sparingly, and with caution, especially during the campaign. Don’t gamble on items you are using in case the Chaos Orb removes a good modifier and replaces it with a bad one, but rather save your Chaos Orbs for average items that have the potential to become massive upgrades if you get lucky. 

Modifies an Item Unpredictably and Corrupts it

Rarity Uncommon

Vaal Orbs are reserved for the final step of a crafting process as using it will apply the “Corrupted” tag to the item, preventing any further changes from being made to it. These Currency Orbs can be acquired as rewards during the Trial of Chaos or as a random drop. Vaal Orbs have numerous outcomes, some good, some…interesting:

1. Add an Enchantment: Vaal Orbs have a chance to add an additional modifier to your item in the form of an Enchantment
2. Add an additional Socket
3. Reroll Up to Half of an Item’s Modifiers
4. Vaal Orbs can also unpredictably increase or decrease the modifier values on a Unique item, increasing their power.
5. Vaal Orbs can also be used on Skill Gems:
6. 1. No Effect
   2. Increase/decrease Level by 1
   3. Increase/decrease Sockets by 1. Max 5 sockets
   4. Increase/decrease the Quality of a Skill Gem. Max 23%

For a more in depth breakdown on Vaal Orbs/Corrupting/and outcomes, check out our full Vaal Corruption Guide.

Augments a Rare Item with a new Random Modifier

Rarity: Uncommon

Exalted Orbs are a Currency item that can be used to add an additional modifier to a Rare item, without removing another one first (in the way that Chaos Orbs function).

During the Campaign, Exalted Orbs are fairly scarce and should be used sparingly, saving them for only the best items you wish to improve further. Prioritising using them on your Weapon is preferable to fish for increased Damage

In the endgame, Exalted Orbs become much more common and can be used more freely.

A basic crafting process may look like something like this:

You find a powerful new Ma base and decide you want to upgrade it. You can start with an Orb of Transmutation which will upgrade it to Magic rarity along with a mod. Let’s say you hit a good mod that improves your damage. You decide to use an Orb of Augmentation and it adds another good modifier. Great. Time to use a Regal Orb: didn’t get another good modifier? That’s okay – your item is now Rare and has space for 3 more mods! Take out a couple of Exalted Orbs and use them on the item. Got a fourth good mod? Great - you could use a 5th and 6th too!

Randomises the Numeric Values of Modifiers on an Item

Rarity: Very Rare

The Divine Orb in Path of Exile 2 is an advanced Currency item that can be used to randomize the values on items to possibly improve them. For example, if there is a Unique item that can roll between +1 to +5% to Maximum Resistances, and you find that item with +1% to Maximum Resistances, using a Divine Orb would reroll that value, as well as any other modifiers with value ranges, on that item, potentially improving it. 

For Rare items, Divine Orbs will only change the modifiers within their modifier tier ranges. For example, a Tier 5 Life modifier might have a minimum value of 80 and maximum value of 89: the Divine Orb will only alter modifier values within this range and can't increase or lower it below these values.

These are extremely rare and shouldn’t be used carelessly.

Trading: Divine Orbs are currently used as the primary currency for trading with high value items. Depending on the duration of the League, 1 Divine can be worth anywhere from 5-100 Exalts. (Day 1 vs Day 30 for example)

Removes a Random Modifier from an Item

Rarity: Very Rare

Orbs of Annulment are an advanced crafting currency used to remove a random modifier from an item. This might seem counterintuitive to new players, but these can be incredibly powerful when used under the correct circumstances. 

Orbs of Annulment are used to gamble to hopefully remove a modifier on an item in an attempt to “make space” for a different one. Bear in mind: Magic Items can only have 1 Prefix and 1 Suffix Modifier, while Rare items are limited to having a maximum of 3 Prefixes and 3 Suffixes.

Unpredictably either upgrades a Normal Item to Unique Rarity or Destroys it

Rarity: Very Rare

Orbs of Chance are used to gamble to acquire Unique items. The vast majority of the time, they will instantly destroy the item they are applied to, but occasionally you can get lucky and get the Unique version of the item on that base type. For example, using an Orb of Chance on a Heavy Belt of the correct item level could result in a Headhunter.

Disenchanting a Unique item to a Vendor will grant you a Chance Shard. A stack of 10 Chance Shards will form a full Orb of Chance. So while the item drop itself is very rare, you can get more Chance Orbs through this method.

Rarity: EXTREMELY RARE - THE RAREST!

Function: Creates a copy of another non-Unique item.

This item is the most rare, sought-after, iconic and valuable item in the entire game.

If you find one of these, DO NOT USE IT unless you absolutely know what you are doing. If you are lucky enough to find a Mirror, tell all your friends, Reddit, and everyone in Global Chat and watch them all go wild with excitement along with you. To understand how rare the Mirror of Kalandra is, it’s not unusual for players with 5,000, or even 10,000 hours played to have never found one.

Mirrors of Kalandra are used to create copies of the most perfectly crafted items. Often, players will invest a massive amount of currency into creating a truly incredible item, and then offer other players to make a copy of their item for a service fee.  

Jeweller's Orbs are used to increase the Support Gem Sockets on a Skill Gem. Many players will refer to these as a "4-link, 5-link, or 6-link." This refers to the Sockets on the Skill Gem (Skill Gem included).

These extra sockets are very important for making your Skills stronger, so use them smartly.

Lesser Jeweller’s Orbs

Adds a Support Gem Socket to a Skill Gem with 2 Support Gem Sockets

Rarity: Uncommon

Note: Guaranteed Drop in Act 3 from the Azak Campfire in the Sandswept Marsh. These are very common in the Endgame, and not too uncommon past Act 3.

Greater Jeweller’s Orb

Adds a Support Gem Socket to a Skill Gem with 3 Support Gem Sockets

Rarity: Rare

These aren't too uncommon in the Endgame, but are considered to be a very lucky drop in the Campaign. If you find one early on, use it wisely!

Perfect Jeweller’s Orb

Adds a Support Gem Socket to a Skill Gem with 4 Support Gem Sockets

Rarity: Very Rare

These are fairly Rare in the endgame, but have been made more common than they once were, when they were seemingly impossible to find. Use them wisely on your most important Skill Gems first

In Path of Exile 2, you will be able to Salvage items with Quality at the Salvage Bench (unlocked in Act 1 side quest) to gain special Currency Orbs that improve the Quality of different items. Salvaging items permanently destroys them, so make sure you’re only using this on items you don’t want to keep!

Unless improved through special mechanics, items have a maximum quality of 20%.

Lastly, while the first three Quality items are common, you can farm for more of them by picking up and salvaging Superior items, so don't stress too much about using them. Keep in mind you'll need about 15 to quality an item to 20%. (Except for GCP which will require less)

Blacksmith’s Whetstone

Martial Weapons gain 1% More Physical Damage per Quality.

Rarity: Common

Salvaging Superior Martial-Weapons with Quality will grant Blacksmith’s Whetstones that will increase the Quality of that item by 1 or 2%. “Martial Weapon” refers to Weapons that are used to make attacks, like Bows and Maces, rather than Wands which are the preferred weapons of spellcaster builds.

Arcanist’s Etcher

Effect of Quality Varies

Rarity: Common

Salvaging Superior Caster Weapons grants Arcanist's Etchers. The Quality effects vary on different Caster Weapons. On Sceptres, increasing the Quality will increase the amount of Spirit it grants, whereas Quality on Wands and Staves improve the quality of the Skill granted by that item.

Armourer’s Scrap

Armours gain 1% more Defences per Quality

Rarity: Common

Salvaging Superior Boots, Gloves, Body Armour and Helmets with Quality will grant Armourer’s Scraps that will increase the Quality of similar pieces of gear.

Gemcutter’s Prism

Effect of Quality Varies per Skill Gem

Rarity: Rare/Uncommon

Gemcutter’s Prisms, also known as GCPs, can be used to increase the Quality of a Skill Gem by 5% per use, up to a maximum of 20%. The effect this has on a Skill Gem varies, but you can see what Quality on each Gem does by hovering over it and pressing Alt.

Glassblower’s Bauble

Flasks gain 1% more Life and Mana Recovery per Quality

Rarity: Rare/Very Rare

Artificer's Orb

Adds a Rune Socket to a Martial Weapon or Armour

Rarity: Uncommon

Salvaging items with Sockets will grant Artificer’s Shards. A stack of 10 Artificer’s Shards will create an Artificer’s Orb which can be used to add a socket to a piece of Armour or a Martial Weapon. Body Armours and Two-Handed Weapons can have up to 2 Sockets, while Gloves, Boots, Helmets, Shields, and Focus can have 1.

Caster Weapons, Quivers, Jewellery, and Belts cannot have Sockets.

Ezomyte Runes

We’ve spoken about Item Sockets, but we haven’t discussed what goes into these Sockets. In Path of Exile 2, you’ll find Runes which have guaranteed modifiers which you can insert into any open Socket you have on a piece of gear. The Rune will add a specific Enchantment to your item and its effect will change depending on whether it is inserted into a Weapon or Armour.

Socketing a Rune into a piece of Equipment is permanent, you cannot take it out once you do so.

Runes will be very helpful in solving any problems you may have by improving your damage and defences.

Examples:

Glacial Rune

Martial Weapons: Adds 6 to 10 Cold Damage
Armour: Adds +12% to Cold Resistance

Body Rune

Martial Weapons: Leeches 3% of Physical Damage as Life
Armour: +25 to Maximum Life

In the endgame, you will find even more types of advanced Currency types such as Omens, which change how some Currency Orbs affect items, Catalysts which can add Quality to Jewellery, Essences which guarantee certain modifier types on items, Soul Cores which are stronger forms of Runes and more.

As this is a beginner-focused guide, we will include those in a different article which we will link here once it has been written.