Path of Exile 2: Crafting Explained After Patch 0.5

The crafting in Path of Exile 2 is no doubt one of the most complicated systems in all of gaming. However, it’s certainly a departure from the even more complicated system in the previous game.

Here, we can clearly see Grinding Gear Games making improvements to make the crafting as beginner-friendly as possible. It’s still complicated, that’s for sure, but new players should now be able to engage with it more easily than before.

So, how exactly does crafting work in the game after patch 0.5?

Crafting Explained in Path of Exile 2 After Patch 0.5

The crafting system in the game is unlike most systems in other games. Instead of unlocking a blueprint or recipe to craft an item and then gathering its required materials, crafting here relies on a bunch of currencies.

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It’s also one of the reasons for the complexity, because after all, there are lots of different currencies in the game. Let’s start with the basics first.

Any item/equipment has modifiers categorized into Explicit and Implicit modifiers. Explicit modifiers are the ones that you can modify via crafting. Meanwhile, Implicit modifiers are built into the item.

You can’t typically change them, only their numerical value.

An item can have up to 6 modifiers, depending on rarity.

There’s Normal with 0 modifiers, Magic with up to 2, and Rare with up to 6. Unique items, on the other hand, have fixed modifiers, and the only thing you can change is the numerical value of these modifiers.

These modifiers are then classified as either Prefixes or Suffixes. Prefixes are the ones on the top, while Suffixes are the ones on the bottom.

Typically, a Rare item can only have 3 Prefixes and 3 Suffixes. However, in patch 0.5, there’s a new currency called Serle’s Triumph that you can socket on any given equipment to give it +1 more suffix.

Aside from that, there’s also what we call an enchantment. This is the stat you can see in the image above. It basically adds an extra layer of enchantment to an item in different ways.

They are mainly obtained via socketable augments such as runes and soul cores. However, you can also get them via corruption, but this will turn your item into a Corrupted version. Once it does, you can no longer modify its modifiers.

Which Modifiers to Aim For

Ideally, you want to aim for modifiers that can benefit your build. For example, if you’re playing the Twister Spirit Walker, you want to aim for modifiers that add cold and physical damage to your attacks on equipment like your gloves and rings.

Meanwhile, your armor should ideally have modifiers like resistances, evasion rating, or maximum energy shield.

Needless to say, the modifiers you’re aiming for when crafting an item depend heavily on whichever build you’re currently using. For spellcasters, things like spell damage on their wands and maximum energy shield on their armor are preferred.

It’s worth noting that the modifiers that will roll on an item also depend on its type. For example, gloves can roll modifiers such as added damage to attacks and attack speed. Meanwhile, boots can roll mods like increased movement speed, etc.

This is what we call a mod pool, which is influenced by things such as the item level as well as its item type.

To get an idea of which modifiers can roll on an item, you’d have to use a third-party website such as Craft of Exile for this purpose.

How to Actually Start Crafting an Item

Crafting an item is actually pretty easy once you understand the basics. The complexity comes in figuring out which currencies to use and which mods to target.

That said, before you even start crafting, make sure you have plenty of currencies in your stash tab first. After all, despite Path of Exile 2’s more deterministic system, it still involves a lot of RNG.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to make things a lot easier to follow:

Purchase a Base Item

Look for a base for an item type you want to craft on. For the purposes of this guide, we’re going to craft a bow for a bow build.

The fastest way to find a base item is to purchase it straight from the market. There, you want to type in the base type, which is Gemini Bow in this case. Then, set the rarity to Normal and the Item level to 81.

This is so we can roll high-tier modifiers, which means stronger, more powerful stats.

Convert to Magic Rarity

After securing your base item, the next step is to convert it to Magic rarity. To do so, you want to use a currency called Perfect Orb of Transmutation. This currency guarantees that the modifiers that will roll on your bow are at least level 70+.

Next, you want to use a Greater Orb of Augmentation to add another modifier to the item. A Magic rarity item can only have up to 2 modifiers, 1 Prefix and 1 Suffix. Once you’re done, the next step is to convert it to Rare.

Convert to Rare Rarity

Basically, you can just use a Regal Orb to convert any Magic item to Rare. However, it’s a bit inefficient as it adds a single random modifier.

Instead, we’ll be using an item called Essence. This way, you can have at least one guaranteed modifier depending on the type of Essence you use. For this example, we’ll use the Essence of Haste or its higher versions to add a guaranteed attack speed modifier to the bow.

Simply right click on the Essence then click on your bow to add the attack speed modifier and convert the bow to Rare.

As you can see, the bow is now converted to Rare with a 13% increased attack speed modifier. Unfortunately, crafting has been nerfed in the new update, which means you can only have a maximum of 1 crafted modifier on your item.

The crafted modifier is the one with the lighter blue text, as shown in the image above.

Note: For the purposes of this guide, the results won’t be optimal as crafting an optimal item would cost a lot of currencies.

Add Additional Modifiers

With the bow converted to Rare, you now have a total of 3 modifiers. As mentioned earlier, a Rare item can have a maximum of 6 modifiers, 3 Prefix and 3 Suffix.

In this case, the item already has 1 Prefix and 2 Suffixes. You can check it by hovering over the item and pressing the Alt key. This means you can only add 2 more Prefixes and 1 more Suffix. To proceed, we’ll be doing something called an Exalt Slam.

This is a term where you use Exalted Orbs to add a random modifier to a Rare item.

Unfortunately, RNG plays a huge part here as the modifiers added are random. You just have to slam Exalts, pray to the RNG gods, and hope for the best.

For this step, you want to use a Greater Exalted Orb or its higher version if you can afford one. Right click on the currency and then click on the item to add another modifier. Only do this twice, as you want to leave one more space for something we call a Desecrated modifier.

Add a Desecrated Modifier

After having a total of 5 modifiers on your item, your next step is to add a Desecrated modifier as the final mod. You can purchase currencies called the Abyssal Bones on the Abyss section of the currency exchange.

You can also obtain them from Abyss encounters on the map.

For our bow, we’re going to use a Preserved Jawbone. As with other currencies, right click on it and click on the item. This will apply a Desecrated modifier. It will then appear as this cryptic green text on the item.

You then want to head to The Well of Souls to reveal the options for the Desecrated mod. Place the item on the well, click Reveal, and you should see three different mod options to choose from.

In our case, since the added Desecrated mod was a Prefix, the only options that appeared were also Prefixes. As you can see, I have managed to get an increased physical damage mod.

This is a good outcome if you’re running a physical bow build. Click Confirm once you have decided which mod to apply, and it should then replace the green text with the increased physical damage mod.

Increase the Effectiveness Even Further

The next step is to increase the overall effectiveness of your newly crafted item. You can do this by using a currency called Blacksmith’s Whetstone for weapons and Armorer’s Scrap for armors. This will increase their overall damage and defenses.

Lastly, use Artificer’s Orb to add sockets to your item. Two-handed weapons typically have a maximum of 2, while one-handed weapons have one. As for armors, the body armor has a maximum of 2 while other armor items have one.

You then want to enhance it by adding socketable augments to the sockets. They can either be in the form of Runes or Soul Cores. Then again, the type of augments you want to add depends on your builds.

In our case, we’ll be using Iron Runes to increase the physical damage of the bow even further. As you can see, it now has a 28% physical damage enchantment at the top.

And that’s basically how the crafting system works. However, you can take it one step further by corrupting the item. This is done through the use of currencies such as the Vaal Orb or the Architect’s Orb.

That said, I don’t recommend using it unless you have tons of currency to spare. Corruption can modify your item unpredictably, and the outcome is either:

• It gets Corrupted and nothing happens
• It gets Corrupted and gets an additional socket
• The item is destroyed and disappears from your inventory
• All of the modifiers are replaced with new, random ones

Changes to Crafting in Patch 0.5

The new Runes of Aldur league, which was introduced along with patch 0.5, has introduced several new systems to crafting in the game.

In particular, the league has introduced the Runeforging system. It basically adds several new items in the form of Runes and Runic Alloys that modify an item in a bunch of new ways.

For example, there’s a Rune called Kolr’s Hunt, which you can socket on your gloves to add an enchantment that lets you roll Marksman modifiers.

These modifiers are essentially related to bows and projectiles. Some examples include increased projectile damage, chance to pierce an enemy, + level to mark or projectile skills, etc.

Ideally, you want to use them on a base item with no modifiers added. This way, you can influence that item’s mod pool and potentially roll modifiers that can hugely benefit your build. Unfortunately, these runes don’t come cheap and are only ideal for endgame crafting.

There are also new items called Alloys that grant your Rare item a guaranteed modifier. The only caveat is that it also replaces one random modifier.

For example, the Sovereign Alloy grants a guaranteed modifier that increases the effect of socketed augment items on your weapon. While this can potentially improve your weapon’s overall damage, it might also remove any damage modifiers it has.

Wrapping Things Up

The changes in patch 0.5 of Path of Exile 2 have essentially nerfed the crafting system with the limitation of 1 crafted modifier on any given item. At the same time, it also brought new, interesting ways to modify your item beyond the usual methods.

Depending on how much currency you have, this could either be a good or a bad thing. After all, the system still relies heavily on RNG.