As an exile stranded on the dark continent of Wraeclast, crafting equipment is essential for survival. Whether playing solo or trading with other players, the core itemization and crafting systems in Path of Exile offer immense depth for character progression. From the most basic blacksmith stones to complex, multi-step meta crafting techniques, this guide aims to demystify the process and empower both new and experienced players.
Crafting Basics – Understanding the Foundation
Before diving into orb usage and advanced strategies, we must first cover some core concepts that form the foundation of PoE crafting:
Prefixes and Suffixes
All rare items have prefixes and suffixes which grant modifiers like added damage, resistances, and other stats. Magic items can have up to one prefix and one suffix, while rare items can have up to three of each. Paying attention to prefixes and suffixes is key for targeted crafting.
For example, when an item has modifiers like "+# to Maximum Life" and "+# to Strength", those are prefixes. If it has mods like "+#% to Cold Resistance" or "+#% to Critical Strike Chance", those would be suffixes.
Item Level
This determines the tiers of prefixes and suffixes that can appear on an item, with higher item levels providing access to better modifier rolls. The item level (ilvl) requirement for different tiers is shown below:
| Tier | Item Level Req |
|---|---|
| T1 | 84+ |
| T2 | 74+ |
| T3 | 64+ |
| T4 | 54+ |
| T5 | 44+ |
| T6 | 34+ |
| T7 | 1+ |
As you can see, an item must be ilvl 84+ to possibly roll Tier 1 Life (+# to Maximum Life) which can provide up to 159 to life. Know an item‘s level before crafting so you can set expectations.
Quality
Increased quality improves the physical damage and defenses of gear. Using a Blacksmith‘s Whetstone on weapons and Armourer‘s Scrap on armor is a cheap, accessible way to increase quality before crafting an item further:
| Quality | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Weapons | x% Increased Physical Damage |
| Armour x% Increased Defenses |
For example, a 20% quality helm provides up to 20% increased energy shield from that piece of armour. Don‘t forget this simple but impactful step!
Intermediate Crafting – Orbs and Fossils
Once you have a firm grasp of those core concepts, we can explore some of the common crafting approaches utilized in PoE:
Essences
These currency items add guaranteed modifier types depending on the essence used. They override other modifiers when used, allowing you to "lock in" a specific prefix or suffix before adding more modifiers:
| Essence | Guaranteed Modifier |
|---|---|
| Essence of Delirium | Adds # to # Chaos Damage (Prefix) |
| Essence of Woe | Adds # to # Physical Damage to Attacks (Prefix for Weapons) |
| Essence of Scorn | Adds # to # Physical Damage to Spells (Prefix for Weapons) |
Here is an example of using an Essence to guarantee a damage prefix before crafting further:
As you can see, this guarantees a high physical damage prefix as a starting point, preventing the need to repeatedly use "reroll prefix" harvesting crafts hope for a damage mod.
Fossils & Resonators
When used alongside resonators, fossils narrow the modifier pool towards certain attributes like elemental damage or critical strike chance. By restricting the mod pool, this method enables targeted crafting of very specific gear:
| Fossil | Focused Mod Group |
|---|---|
| Scorched Fossil | Fire Damage/Ignite modifiers |
| Frigid Fossil | Cold Damage/Freeze modifiers |
| Metallic Fossil | Physical Damage, Critical modifiers |
For example, if you combine a Metallic + Frigid + Serrated Fossil with a 4 Socket Resonator it will roll mods focused on physical damage, critical strikes, cold damage, and bleed chance.
Harvest Crafting
Among its many powerful crafts, Harvest allows you to add or remove certain modifiers without needing to rely as heavily on annulment orbs or luck. This craft method enables precise control over gear progression.
Some example Harvest crafts include:
- Reroll Cold Modifier
- Remove Life Modifier
- Add Physical Modifier
- Augment Critical Modifier
Advanced Techniques – Metacrafting and Min-Max Gear
Now that we have covered the basics and common intermediate methods, the final frontier is advanced crafting techniques leveraging metamodifiers and high risk/reward gambles to create mirror-tier gear:
Metacrafting
This refers to using "Prefixes Cannot Be Changed" and "Suffixes Cannot Be Changed" master mods to safely reroll only prefixes or suffixes repeatedly until the desired modifiers are hit.
The process involves:
- Obtain an item with at least one desirable modifier (either prefix or suffix)
- Craft "Prefixes Cannot Be Changed" or "Suffixes Cannot Be Changed" to lock that modifier group
- Use targeted annuls and exalts to build the unlocked modifier group
- Repeat process on the other modifier group
This allows you to have surgical control over modifiers without risking beneficial ones.
Maverick Gambles
Sometimes you just close your eyes, slam an exalt orb on an item and pray. Other times you annul modifiers one-by-one until only T1 remain. High risk but high reward.
Popular gambles include:
- Repeatedly annuling items until only T1 modifiers remain
- Using an Awakener‘s Orb to transfer influence modifiers between items
- Slamming items with Eldritch currency like Eldritch Chaos Orb
- Vaal Orb slamming strong unique items in hopes of implicits like +1 gem levels
These can brick items or give you a mirror-tier weapon worth over 500 exalted orbs!
Other Gear Types – Gloves, Boots, Jewels & More!
While much of the crafting discussion focuses on body armours and weapons, many other item types have special modifiers worth targeting:
Gloves – influence modifiers like "+X to Socketed Gems Levels" for summoned minions
Boots – tailwind elusive modifiers for huge action speed bursts
Jewels – unaffected by ignite for prolif elementalist builds
Community Tools & Resources
Here are some external sites and tools to enhance your crafting projects:
- PoE DB – lists all modifiers and item data
- Craft of Exile – create simulated items
- PoE Discord – price checks and craft advice
I highly recommend joining the PoE Discord community for questions or getting price checks on valuable crafts. The depth of knowledge there is immense.
Now get out there exile and start crafting your perfect build! This should arm you with the knowledge to comfortably navigate basic modifications all the way to mirror-tier metacrafting techniques. Wield the power of orbs and essence to prove your might across Wraeclast!