Crafting is one of the core features in path of exile. It allows players to customize their gear by rerolling stats and targeting specific modifiers. The most common methods of crafting require currency orbs found throughout Wraeclast. These orbs allow players to add specific modifiers to items, much like a chef adding spices to his creation.
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Crafting Basics
One of the most valuable features of the game, craft of exile is a unique way to give an edge to your gear. The crafting bench is a special station in your hideout where you can add crafted modifiers to items for extra oomph. These aren’t as powerful as the modifiers found on orbs of transmutation or alchemy, but they can still have a big impact.
The bench is a crucial tool for players, and it’s where many first start their itemizing journey. It’s important to know how it works so you can maximize its potential and get the most out of it.
Crafting in Path of Exile uses several different currencies and methods to improve items. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so understanding them all is key to success. Item level is a crucial factor in crafting because it dictates the pool of possible modifiers that can appear on an item. The higher the item level, the more modifiers are available, but it also makes it harder to hit specific mods. To make an item better, you need to use a Transmutation orb or an Augmentation orb on it. These orbs are fairly cheap, and they can be used on any white item to upgrade it to a magic item.
However, you should be careful when using these orbs. Adding too many affixes can degrade the item. This means that it will lose some of its stats, such as defense or damage. This is why it’s best to use them sparingly and only when necessary. Other methods to improve gear include scouring and essence crafting. Scouring is a method that involves rerolling an item over and over until it has the desired mods. Essence crafting, on the other hand, is a more targeted way of improving an item, as it guarantees that certain properties will be added.
Master crafting common stats like life or resistances can significantly boost an item’s performance. This is a useful technique for low-level characters who need some more survivability. Another useful technique is blocking the desired affixes on an item with a Regal orb. This will prevent any other affix of that type from being added via an Exalted orb, thereby increasing the odds of getting them.
Modifiers
Modifiers in Path of Exile are a very important part of crafting. They are used to give items their affixes and determine how much damage they do, what defenses they have, what traits they have and more. They are also the main way that players can upgrade their items, with more powerful affixes becoming available as you progress in the game. In order to obtain these new affixes and improve your items, you need to use the various currency orbs found throughout Wraeclast. A modifier can be one of three types: Implicit, Explicit or Hybrid. Implicit modifiers are innate effects that cannot be replaced, while Explicit mods can be replaced with a variety of different effects including re-rolling, enchantment and corruption. Hybrid modifiers are those that contain both implicit and explicit effects, such as the -% chance to Poison on Hit or +(26-30)% increased Chaos Damage (Suffix).
Each item in Path of Exile has its own set of possible modifiers. Some of these are shared across all types of items while others are exclusive to specific types of items such as a weapon or shield. In addition, some of the aforementioned currency orbs have been known to increase or decrease the likelihood that certain types of modifiers will appear on an item such as annulment orbs and catalysts. Modifiers can be tagged, which allows for deterministic outcomes when using the bench crafts to add or remove them from items. There are a number of tags that can be applied to modifiers such as Cannot roll Attack or Caster Modifiers, which allow you to target the specific types of modifiers you want to include on an item. Tags can also be applied to a reforged item with the Orb of Transmutation, making it easier to get the precise combination of affixes you need on your next weapon.
The regal orb allows players to apply two Explicit modifiers to an item and a third if the item is already capped in those slots. This can be a useful way of getting exactly the type of affixes you need on a new item and is particularly helpful for upgrading unique items or filling gaps in your resistances, as it prevents re-rolling against those specific types of implicits.
Catalysts
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up or improves a chemical reaction without being consumed by it. In the real world, scientists use a combination of physics, chemistry and math to understand how catalysts work. The key is that they alter the molecular interaction between reactants. A catalyst can do that by increasing or decreasing the speed at which reactants move, changing their kinetic energy, reversing their direction of motion, or making them move in different directions altogether. Path of Exile’s version of a catalyst is a currency item that can boost the effect of certain modifiers. These items come into play when augmenting or scouring, allowing you to better control the chance that an item gets a desired modifier or avoid losing one that’s already in place.
Catalysts can be acquired from rare drops in bosses, monsters and other players. They also can be obtained by combining specific essences at the crafting bench. These nifty currency items are a great way to fine-tune the outcome of a crafting session, much like a chef uses spices to guide a dish’s flavor. There are three types of catalysts: Fertile, Intrinsic and Prismatic. Each one has a unique impact on the item it affects. Fertile Catalyst enhances Life and Mana modifiers on a ring, amulet or belt. Intrinsic Catalyst increases Attribute modifiers, such as Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence. Prismatic Catalyst improves Resistance modifiers, such as Fire Resistance, Cold Resistance and Lightning Resistance.
When used at the crafting bench, a catalyst can increase the weight of any eligible modifier by 1% per quality on the item up to 20%. This applies to both unique, rare and magic items. The catalyst also reduces the chance of an orb of annulment or a scourge dropping any of the boosted modifiers on the item. While these nifty items can help you get the most out of a crafting session, they are not required. The most important factor is that the item you are trying to modify has at least one open suffix for a mod that matches the catalyst’s type.
Exalts
Using items to modify or improve other items is one of the key parts of crafting in Craft of Exile, and a large part of this is thanks to the availability of exalts. Exalts allow you to get specific modifiers on an item, and are obtained through the use of Fossils and other items like Catalysts & Annulment Orbs. These can be used to make a specific base item into a rare item with the desired mods, or even upgrade an influenced item to a higher tier with different affixes. The ability to obtain specific modifiers through the use of exalts is especially important for players seeking to build highly-efficient characters, or those who prefer a certain style of play, or want to have an increased chance of getting a specific affix in particular. As such, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of how each type of mod works, so that you can make the most of the available exalts.
While there are many ways to acquire specific modifiers through the use of various items and bench crafts, some of them offer a more deterministic outcome than others. For example, using a Fossil on an item will ensure that it receives a specific prefix or suffix (as long as there are two of them present), and the use of the bench craft “Cannot roll Attack Modifiers” can also guarantee a certain affix to be added.
Conclusion
With the release of patch 3.19, there have been some changes to the way that players obtain exalts. For example, the Heist Trinket modifier that provides a chance for Regal Orbs to drop as Exalted Orbs has been increased to match the level of similar modifiers. In addition, the 6-link vendor recipe now grants 20 Orbs of Fusing instead of a Divine Orb. Lastly, selling a full set of rare Shaper or Elder items to a vendor now grants you 2 Exalted Orbs. This is a substantial increase in value over what you would have gained with a single Divine Orb. This change will be beneficial for a wide variety of players who have been relying on the Divine Orb for exalts.
