Path of Exile 2 crafting currency guide: All gear-modifying materials and their uses

Much like the previous game, Path of Exile 2 has a wide assortment of crafting materials to enhance the equipment you find during your adventure. Otherwise known as crafting currencies, many of them are returning materials from Path of Exile 1, where they became part of the currency exchange system since the Settlers of Kalguur League.

Not all the currencies have made it into the second game. Even those that indeed made it don't represent the same relative value, so things are quite different in Path of Exile 2.

By the end of the campaign, you're likely to have an entire stash tab full of them — if you hoard them all. Naturally, doing that is not a good idea, so you should start using them to upgrade items more liberally by time you get to the end of Campaign Act 2.

This doesn't go for all items, of course. Some of the crafting materials in Path of Exile 2 are notoriously rare, and shouldn’t be utilized unless you find the perfect piece of gear to use them on. Once you've gone over the basics, you can learn a bit more about it in our beginner-friendly crafting guide for Path of Exile 2.

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All crafting currencies in Path of Exile 2

You can take ordinary gear and make it extraordinary (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

Provided below is every crafting currency available in Path of Exile 2 as of league 0.2.0. We have also given them a rarity rating based on how commonly we've found them in this most recent league (after the item drop changes in patch 0.2.0g).

Note, however, that their future drop frequencies will more likely than not be tuned further in future economy resets, so if you're hoarding currency on standard, expect their market value to fluctuate.

If you're a complete beginner, here's a few basic things to note first:

• Modifiers, also known as affixes, are the stats on a Magic, Rare, or Unique item
• Normal items are white-rarity items with no explicit Modifiers (some of them, however, can have Implicit modifiers)
• Magic items are blue-rarity items with up to three Modifiers
• Rare items are gold-rarity items with up to six Modifiers

With that out of the way, here's all the crafting currencies:

Crafting Material	What does it do?	Rarity and usage tips
Orb of Transmutation	Upgrades a Normal Item into a Magic Item with one Modifier	The second-most common carfting currency; use liberally to get item upgrades during campaign, but always use the highest-level Normal item available in your current level range
Orb of Augmentation	Adds one Modifier to a Magic Item; does not work on Magic Items with two Modifiers, which is the explicit Modifier limit for this Item rarity	The most common crafting currency; always keep a stack of Transmutation and Augmentation Orbs during the campaign for some on-the-fly crafting - if your particular class is crafting-intensive, that is.
Regal Orb	Upgrades a Magic Item to a Rare Item with an additional Modifier (so three Modifiers in total)	Regal Orbs are quite uncommon during campaign, but become more expendable during Endgame. Use sparingly, and only on the best-case Magic Items where both available Modifiers are of great use.
Orb of Alchemy	Upgrades a Normal Item into a Rare Item with 4 Modifiers	Somewhat uncommon during campaigns, similar to Regal Orbs. Recommended to hoard during the entire campaign, as it's best use on Waypoints in the Endgame.
Exalted Orb	Adds a random Modifier to a Rare Item, as long as it has less than six explicit Modifiers	After patch 0.2.0g, the drop frequency of Exalted Orbs seem to be on par with Regal Orbs. This is the primary currency for p2p trading in Path of Exile 2, so you should not use it for crafting during the campaign at all. Exalted Orbs become far more frequent at the Endgame maps, so you can slam them on items more recklessly.
Chaos Orb	Removes one random Modifier from a Rare item and adds another random Modifier.	Very uncommon during the Campaign, but a bit more frequent during the Endgame. This is still quite a bit rarer than Exalted Orbs, so only use them for items which have good potential with multiple high-tier Modifiers. It can potentially brick your item's value too, so use Chaos Orbs at your own risk.
Artificer's Orb	Adds a socket to an Armor slot or Weapon, where you can slot Runes	Very rare drops during the Campaign, but you can farm these by turning socketed gear into Artificer Shards, which can be combined to create Artificer Orbs. Only use these on weapons and armor you wish to use for at least 10 more levels, or for Endgame transition gear.
Orb of Annulment	Removes one random Modifier from a Magic or Rare Item	These are about as rare as Choas Orbs, and you're unlikely to come across more than a handful before the Endgame. Best reserved for the Currency Exchange, as using a Chaos Orb is just more efficient.
Divine Orb	Rerolls the values of the Modifiers of an Item within their modifier tiers	This is the premium market currency for Path of Exile 2, and it's befittingly rare. In the vast majority of cases, you'll never find a Divine Orb till you've beat a few Endgame maps. Unless you have a god-roll Lvl 70+ Endgame item, beginners should not use it for crafting. Instead, it's an asset you can liquidate to get a lot of Exalts or a highly valuable item.
Vaal Orb	Corrupts an Item, modifying it unpredictably (learn more in this item corruption guide for PoE2)	Vaal Orbs start dropping after Act 3, and they're about as common as Regal Orbs in the Cruel Acts.
Orb of Chance	Unpredictable either Upgrades a Normal Item with a viable Unique with the same Item base, or destroys the Normal Item	Orbs of Chance are about half as rare as Chaos Orbs, and it's not very likely you'll come across a full Orb of Chance drop during the campaign. Instead, what you'll get a bunch is Chance Shards, 10x of which combine into this material.
Jeweller's Orb	Adds a Support Gem slot to a Skill Gem or Buff Gem; has three tiers: regular, Greater, and Perfect.	A few regularJeweller's Orbs always drop during the campaign, while Greater Jeweller's Orbs are rarer. Perfect Jeweller's Orbs are almost as rare as Divine Orbs.
Fracturing Orb	Fractures a random Modifier on a Rare item, locking it in place, and preventing future crafting currency uses from changing that Modifier. Only works on Rare Items with at least 4 Modifiers.	Fracturing Orbs can only be found in Cleansed Maps, with usually about one drop for fully cleared Cleansed Map. Only use on high-value gear you intend to use or sell.
Mirror of Kalandra	Creates a Mirrored copy of any Item.	Mirrors of Kalandra are the rarest crafting currency in Path of Exile 2, and coming across one means you've made a fortune in that League. In the vast majority of cases, it's better to liquidate them at the currency exchange to get about a thousand Divine Orbs.

We have excluded Runes from this list, as there are many Rune types you need to read up on. Runes are what you primarily put into gear sockets during Campaigns in Path of Exile 2 (check the Artificer's Orb entry), and they're relatively common drops.

That being said, since there are several types, you may find it about as rare as Regals to get the exact Rune type that would benefit your current gearing goals.

Some crafting materials drop incredibly easily (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

In addition, there are also crafting materials to improve the Quality of your gear. These range from common to uncommon, depending on how lucky you are when it comes to RNG.

Using these on armor slots will increase their defensive capabilities, and weapons will hit harder. You can also get these items from the Salvaging Station, making finding the Smith’s Tools in Act 1 incredibly important.

• Armourer’s Scrap: Improves Quality of Armor (Salvage Boots, Gloves, Body Armor, and Helmets with Quality)
• Arcanist’s Etcher: Improves Quality of Wands, Staves, and Sceptres (Salvage Wands, Staves, and Sceptres with Quality)
• Blacksmith’s Whetstone: Improves all Martial Weapons (Salvage Martial Weapons with Quality)

Finally, another returning set of crafting materials from the first Path of Exile title is Essences. They can turn your gear into a Rare one with one guaranteed affix determined by the type of Essence, making them a more stable way of getting a good roll.

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Check out our other Path of Exile 2 guides and features

• Path of Exile 2 0.2.0 meta wrap-up: Strongest build for each class, explored
• Path of Exile 2: New Arctic Armour - Trampletoe tech, explained (0.2.0)
• Best Sorceress builds in Path of Exile 2 Dawn of The Hunt (0.2.0)
• Best Amazon builds in Path of Exile 2 Dawn of The Hunt (0.2.0)
• 5 off-meta builds to try in Path of Exile 2 Dawn of The Hunt