Blog Tag: Poe 2 Item Upgrade

As we all know, Path of Exile is an MMO game with various currency items as the core, and the items in the inventory play a huge role in the player’s strength. And POE 2, as a sequel that inherits the core content of the original, of course retains this feature. Not to mention that the character skill power in POE 2 is largely affected by the item scaling of the equipment, so once your gear is updated, there will never be a feeling of “skill problem” again!

Therefore, here, we will talk about the simple ways to upgrade equipment that we have learned so far in POE 2 Early Access to help your campaign progress smoothly and fun! This should help you start your journey to playing like a professional in POE 2. Without further ado, let’s get straight to it!

Before You Start

Here we will consider 3 situations: the first is a Softcore character, the other is the second character who completes 3 Acts, and the last is a player who plays Solo Self-Found. Of these 3 scenarios, the second one is more interesting when leveling up, and we’ll explain why and how next.

In Path of Exile 2, you only need 4 things to complete all Acts like a pro. That is: gear, gems, flasks, and your build plan, which includes your passive tree. You should keep upgrading all of these as the game progresses. These 4 are very important, especially your life and mana flasks.

Softcore Characters

For Softcore characters, there are 5 ways to upgrade your gear. One is to check vendors when leveling up, the second is to gamble for items, the third is to craft your own gear, the fourth is to identify loot on the ground, and the last and easiest and most effective way is to get items directly from the official POE trading website.

1. Trading Websites

If you’re not playing SSF, I strongly recommend that you spend POE 2 currency to get important items such as weapons from trading websites. Because just spending one or two Exalted Orbs to get a delightful piece of gear is much more cost-effective than crafting the same item. And most of them will help you complete several acts. But make sure not to forget to set the check box for the level requirement. It is very important.

2. Gambling For Items

If you are a big fan of POE series, you will know that in POE 1, you had several Vendor Recipes and a Crafting Bench, which made your progress much easier even for SSF players. But when you start your first character in POE 2, your stash barely has any gold or anything.

Therefore, the best option is to pick anything you find on the way and identify them, even white items, such as weapons, body armor, and boots. You should use Orbs of Transmutation and Augmentation for all your gear if these base types are relevant to your build. But don’t use Regal Orbs unless you get the 2 best possible mods. It will only make you lose more than you gain.

Also, it is worth noting that please use Exalted Orbs only in the first 3 acts when you play SSF. But if you find yourself unlucky when crafting, don’t throw it away! It will always be useful to keep it in your stash.

3. Reforging Bench

In addition to this, with Reforging Bench you can combine 3 items of the same type to get a brand new item! This is very useful since we don’t have Orb of Scouring or any Orb of Alteration in POE 2. So make sure to dump as many items as possible into your stash tab so you can combine them later.

4. Ground Loot

Whether you rely on ground loot or not, don’t forget to get the latest loot filter. The loot filter helps you pick up items that can salvage for existing equipment slots. You know, slots are very OP even in upgraded equipment. And an excellent weapon can take us smoothly from Act 3 to Act 6, with an extra 40% physical damage and 20% quality and prefixes here.

5. Equip The Latest Flasks

Finally, you should make sure to always keep your flasks up to date, especially life recovery rate modifiers that can save your life in boss battles. So make sure to transform and enhance these items as well. It’s worth mentioning that the best Charm in the early acts is Stone Charm, which prevents you from being knocked out in awkward situations.

Characters That Complete 3 Acts

If you use a second character after completing the campaign, you can gamble in the early acts to get the equipment you need more easily, as long as you have enough POE 2 Gold.

There are several places in the game where you can farm gold and items. With Waypoints, you can reset area instances and collect the same loot by respawning at checkpoints over and over again. This is especially effective under Cruel Difficulty.

The best way to earn gold in POE 2 Acts is to pick up rare magic items that can fit into 4 squares. Because rare items are worth more gold, especially wand and staff items that can roll spell modifiers.

Also, it is recommended that you identify items for free by holding down Control key and clicking on Hooded One. Because most of them are garbage and not worth recasting. And these things are best sold for gold!

Solo Self-Found Character

If you’re playing SSF, it’s a smart choice to use Essence to upgrade gear in the early game, as they are more deterministic, more available, and more useful in the endgame.

But if you use them, try to get a good base type with sockets and quality. Some implicits in POE 2 are very powerful for certain builds, for example, a Grenade build will greatly benefit from Bombard Crossbow. Choosing a good implicit can definitely get you twice the result with half the effort for your build.

This is how to craft and upgrade items in different situations. Especially in the late endgame, you can encounter more deterministic crafting items by farming Ritual, so knowing these tips ahead of time can greatly increase your efficiency. Good luck!