In both Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2, Currency is used for a variety of things – and there is a lot more than just Gold to worry about. Though Gold is important, other Path of Exile 2 Currency items are almost exclusively used to upgrade your equipment, from adding Sockets to altering Modifiers and even improving the Rarity and Quality of weapons and gear.
Related
Path of Exile 2: How To Equip Support Gems
In Path of Exile 2, Support Gems work a bit differently than they did back in PoE 1.
There are a lot of Currencies in Path of Exile 2, but they all tie into each other to give players multiple ways to get powerful items. Essentially, Path of Exile 2 Currencies are a kind of crafting and upgrade system, not necessarily items you trade with Vendors, and each has a unique effect. Some Currencies can be created over time with Shards, while others can only be collected from monster drops – some of the most exclusive currencies can only be found in the very late game and post-game content, too.
This guide goes over every Currency item in Path of Exile 2 as of the Early Access release, and details what the effects of all PoE 2 Currency items are.
All Path of Exile 2 Currencies
Main Currencies – Modifiers, Quality, Sockets, & More Essentials
These Currencies can be found randomly throughout your adventures in the main campaign. At first, you will mostly get low-tier Orbs of Transmutation, Augmentation, Regal Orbs, and Gear Quality upgrading materials, which are the most common PoE 2 Currency items.
Later in the campaign and as you approach the end of the game you will find some of the higher-tier items (like Perfect Jeweller’s Orbs, Vaal Orbs, and Orbs of Alchemy).
|
Currency |
Effect |
|---|---|
|
Gold |
Spend on vendor items and on Gambling, respec Passive Skill Tree nodes |
|
Orb of Transmutation |
Turns a Normal item into a Magic item with one random Modifier |
|
Orb of Augmentation |
Adds a random Modifier to a Magic item (max 2) |
|
Orb of Alchemy |
Upgrades a Normal item into a Rare item with 4x random Modifiers |
|
Orb of Chance |
Turns a Normal item into a Magic, Rare, or Unique item with appropriate Modifiers |
|
Regal Orb |
Turns a Magic item into a Rare item with one new random Modifier |
|
Exalted Orb |
Adds a random Modifier to a Rare item (max 6) |
|
Chaos Orb |
Randomly replaces a Modifier with a new Modifier on any gear except Uniques |
|
Orb of Annulment |
Randomly removes a Modifier from the selected item |
|
Lesser Jeweller’s Orb |
Adds a Support Gem Socket to a Skill Gem slot. Works on Skill Gems with 2x Support Gem Sockets (default) |
|
Greater Jeweller’s Orb |
Adds a Support Gem Socket to a Skill Gem slot. Works on Skill Gems with 3x Support Gem Sockets |
|
Perfect Jeweller’s Orb |
Adds a Support Gem Socket to a Skill Gem slot. Works on Skill Gems with 4x Support Gem Sockets (maxes out at 5x Support Gem sockets) |
|
Artificer’s Orb |
Adds a Socket to Gear (Max 2x on two-handed weapons and Body Armor, 1x on all other equipment) |
|
Arcanist’s Etcher |
Increases the Quality of a Wand, Staff, or Sceptre. Useful for Witch and Sorceress classes. |
|
Armorer’s Scrap |
Increases the Quality of Armor pieces |
|
Blacksmith’s Whetstone |
Increases the Quality of a Martial Weapon (non-Wand, Staff, or Sceptre) |
|
Vaal Orb |
Corrupts an item and grants a random effect, from changing nothing to boosting stats or even granting an extra Rune Socket – but when used, the item can no longer be improved |
Related
Path of Exile 2: How To Bind Skills
To bind new Skills, Path of Exile 2 players on PC and console must equip a Skill Gem, then select the input of their choosing.
Path of Exile 2 Endgame & Exclusive Currencies
These five Currencies can only be acquired in the endgame and during specific Endgame activities.
The Catalyst, Distilled Emotions, and Omen Currencies are exclusive to the Breach, Delirium, and Ritual endgame events, while Essence and Greater Essence upgrade materials can be farmed from monsters.
|
Currency |
Source |
Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Essence |
Monster loot, like Upgrade materials in the campaign |
Turns a Normal item into a Magic item with one guaranteed Modifier |
|
Greater Essence |
Monster loot, like Upgrade materials in the campaign |
Turns a Magic item into a Rare item with one guaranteed Modifier |
|
Catalyst |
Breach event (exclusive) |
Increases Quality of Rings and Amulets |
|
Distilled Emotions |
Delirium event (exclusive) |
Adds Passives to your Amulet |
|
Omen |
Ritual event (exclusive) |
Grants specific abilities under certain triggers |
Path of Exile 2 Currency Shards
You can Craft Currency items Path of Exile 2 offers with Shards. These Shards can be acquired as normal monster and treasure loot, or gained by Disenchanting or Salvaging certain types of items. You will get Transmutation and Regal shards for Disenchanting Magic and Rare items, respectively.
You can Salvage gear that has Rune Sockets to create Artificer’s Shards, which will create a full Artificer’s Orb for a stack of 10x.
|
Shard Type |
Creates |
|---|---|
|
Artificer’s Shard |
10x required for Artificer’s Orb |
|
Chance Shard |
10x required for Orb of Chance |
|
Chaos Shard |
10x required for Orb of Chaos |
|
Exalted Shard |
10x required for Exalted Orb |
|
Regal Shard |
10x required for Regal Orb |
|
Transmutation Shard |
10x required for Orb of Transmutation |
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