One of the most straightforward ways to make a character stronger in Path of Exile 2 is to add Runes to their equipment. PoE 2 is significantly harder than PoE 1, and players will need all the help they can get to progress past some of the more troublesome bosses in the game. Increased combat difficulty was the biggest promise GGG made to their fanbase, and they more than delivered.
Unfortunately, most weapons and armor found as loot come without any sockets to slot runes into. Luckily, the process is fairly simple. Here’s what you need to do.
Related
Path Of Exile 2: 8 Best Things You Should Do In The First 10 Hours
Path of Exile 2 players should ensure they do the following things near the beginning of the game so they hit the ground running.
How to Add Sockets to Items in PoE 2
Players can add sockets to weapons and armor using an item called the Artificer Orb. The process is very straightforward: Right-click on the Artificer Orb and then left-click on the item you want to add a Rune socket to.
Large items, like armor and large martial weapons, can have up to two sockets added to them, whereas everything else can only have one socket. Charms, Belts, Rings, and Amulets cannot have sockets. Size is an easy indicator of an item’s socket capacity.
To add runes to a socket, left-click the rune in your inventory to pick up and left-click the item you want to add it to. If there is an empty socket available, it will be slotted in.
Once a Rune has been added to a Socket, it becomes permanently attached to that item and cannot be removed by any means.
It’s possible to add a third socket to certain items using a Vaal Orb—a late-game crafting item—which results in corrupted items. Vaal Orbs can only be used on an item once, and the third socket is not a guarantee. Vaal Orbs only start appearing near the end-game.
In the late game, players will be able to use Soul Cores through the Trials of Chaos. Soul Cores can be placed in sockets just like Runes, and offer unique and very powerful effects.
How to Get Artificer Orbs
Artificer Orbs are rare loot drops in Path of Exile 2. In the early game, the only reliable way to obtain this crafting item is to combine 10 Artificer Shards to form a single Artificer Orb. Artificer Shards are obtained by dismantling an item with sockets using the Salvage Bench. Each destroyed socket will give the player 1 Artificer Shard. When 10 Artificer Shards are gathered, they automatically combine to form a complete Artificer Orb. One Artificer Orb will create one socket.
Weapons and armor with empty sockets start dropping more frequently beginning from Act 2. Instead of selling the extra loot for a small sum of gold, salvage them for Artificer Shards.
Leave a Reply