Grinding Gear Games has launched Path of Exile 2 in early access, adding a plethora of mechanics, features, and improvements across the boards. Living up to tradition, some things haven’t changed, such as the need to identify rare items using scrolls.
While a similar system, portal scrolls, has been simplified, you still need to collect identify scrolls if you want to see the stats of loot and wear it on the go. That being said, there’s an NPC that makes the process much less arduous. Here’s how to identify items for free in Path of Exile 2.
How to complete Sorrow Among Stones in Path of Exile 2
In order to unlock the ability to identify items for free, you’ll first need to reanimate a certain NPC. This is part of the main questline throughout Act 1 of the game, branching out from The Mysterious Shade, and it involves a lengthy set of objectives.
Once you’ve defeated Ervig, the Rotten Druid, you’ll gain access to a new area after the Grim Tangle. There you’ll meet Lachlann the Lost, which grants you the Sorrow Among Stones quest. In old-school ARPG fashion, you’re tasked with scourging around a cemetery, looking for two separate dungeons. The enemies in the area can be quite aggressive, so try to pace yourself and not attract everybody’s attention by sprinting everywhere.
In essence, you need to get through both dungeons and defeat the boss at the end of each: Draven the Eternal Praetor, and Asinia, the Praetor’s Consort. As you can probably guess from the names, the enemies know each other–to the point where they’ll ask for their aid during each respective fight. Meaning that Draven will show up during Asinia’s encounter to help her and vice versa.
For Draven, be mindful of his chain of melee attacks. Try to stay in movement and don’t get close to the limits of the area, or you might end up being cornered in a spot you can’t dodge away from. Asinia’s fight is more tricky, as she’ll periodically summon a trap and follow up with a deadly attack inside it. To escape it, you can either dodge it before it’s placed on the ground, or attack the walls to break free if you get caught.
After you’re done, head back to the starting point of the area to speak to Lachlann. Once you open the gate, you’ll have to follow him inside. As it’ll be immediately apparent, Lachlann is the final boss of this quest. It’s a fairly straightforward fight, but keep an eye out for his area attacks, as you’ll be slowed down considerably if you walk over it. Running around the tomb can help with this, as silly as it looks. Defeat him to get your hands on the Count Lachlann’s Ring.
Return to the camp HQ (remember that you can use time portals without a cost) and deliver it to Una. This marks the end of both Sorrow Among Stones and The Mysterious Shade simultaneously.
How to identify items for free in Path of Exile 2
After you’ve completed The Mysterious Shade in Path of Exile 2, The Hooded One will become an NPC in the base camp, standing next to the stash. Aside from story-related chats, you can interact with them to identify items. As retribution for reanimating them, The Hooded One will identify your items for free.
All you need to do is have those items in your inventory at the time of choosing the option, not your stash. The character will automatically identify them, no questions asked, and crucially, no cost involved.
You’re free to continue collecting identify scrolls and doing so manually, if you desire, especially when you’re on the go and maybe you don’t feel like backtracking. But if you’re ever short on them, remember that you can just return to the camp and The Hooded One will take care of it.
Looking for more help? Good, because we have more Path of Exile 2 guides for you, including how to earn Twitch drops for early access, how to upgrade healing and mana flasks, and how to get uncut skill gems.