Path of Exile 2 Guide: How to Get Chaos Orbs

Path of Exile 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the widely popular action RPG by Grinding Gear Games. Like its predecessor, it’s a deep, complex, and rewardingly difficult game that heavily leans on its in-game economy. One of the most crucial currencies in Path of Exile 2 Trade is the Chaos Orb. These orbs are the backbone of trading and item crafting, often used as the default medium of exchange in player-to-player trading.

This guide covers everything you need to know about how to get Chaos Orbs in Path of Exile 2 – including farming strategies, vendor recipes, trading tips, and efficient gameplay mechanics to maximize your orb gains.

What is a Chaos Orb?

A Chaos Orb is a currency item that re-rolls the random modifiers on a rare item (yellow item). It’s valuable not only because of this function but also because of its high demand in trading. Players often price many items in Chaos Orbs, making them a foundational unit of currency — similar to gold in traditional RPGs.

Why You Need Chaos Orbs

Chaos Orbs are essential for:

Trading: Buying gear, crafting bases, maps, and fragments from other players.

Crafting: Rerolling stats on rare items during endgame optimization.

Upgrading: Investing in better maps and league-specific mechanics.

Without a reliable way to farm Chaos Orbs, you’ll be stuck relying on RNG drops or suboptimal gear — and in PoE 2, that can be a huge setback.

How to Get Chaos Orbs in Path of Exile 2

Let’s break down all the major methods.

1. Loot Drops from Monsters, Chests, and Boxes

The most straightforward method: kill enemies and loot everything. Chaos Orbs drop randomly from:

Monsters (especially bosses and map enemies)

Strongboxes (especially Arcanist’s Strongboxes)

Chests

League mechanics like Breach, Ritual, and Expedition

Tips:

Play on higher difficulty content for better drop chances.

Focus on areas with high monster density.

Use sextants and scarabs on maps to increase loot.

Prioritize map modifiers that increase item quantity and rarity.

2. Vendor Recipes

Vendor recipes are a surprisingly efficient and consistent way to earn Chaos Orbs, especially early in the game.

Chaos Recipe (Main Method)

Sell to a vendor:

1 full set of rare equipment (Helmet, Chest, Gloves, Boots, Belt, Amulet, 2 Rings, 1 Weapon, or 2 one-handers)

Requirements:

All items must be rare.

All items must be between item level 60 and 74.

Reward:

1 Chaos Orb (or 2 if all items are unidentified)

Pro Tip: Use loot filters to highlight Chaos Recipe sets. Tools like FilterBlade (custom filter generator) can help track them.

Chaos Shard Recipe (League-Specific)

Some league mechanics like Harbinger reward Chaos Shards, which combine into full Chaos Orbs. While not as reliable, they’re a supplemental method.

3. Trading with Other Players

If you find valuable items that you don’t need (uniques, skill gems, high-tier maps, etc.), sell them for Chaos Orbs. This is often faster than grinding them out.

Where to trade:

Third-party tools: Awakened PoE Trade, MMOEXP.

What sells for Chaos Orbs:

Good rolled unique items (e.g., Tabula Rasa, Goldrim early on)

Skill gems (especially 20% quality, or level 21)

Leveling gear

Maps with desirable mods

Rare jewels and cluster jewels

Currency flipping (buy low, sell high)

Tip: Use a stash tab with public pricing to automate your shop.

4. Delving in the Azurite Mine

Delving can be a lucrative Chaos Orb source if you go deep enough. As you progress downward, enemies become harder but drop more valuable loot.

Focus on:

Fossil nodes

Currency caches

Cities (contain chests with high loot potential)

Benefits:

Fragmented loot system makes it easier to target valuable drops.

Currency nodes can drop multiple Chaos Orbs or fragments.

5. Running Maps Efficiently

Once you're in the endgame mapping system, Chaos Orbs become much more accessible.

Tips for map farming:

Use Orbs of Alchemy and Chaos to roll maps with good mods.

Prioritize quantity and pack size.

Focus on mechanics like Legion, Blight, or Delirium.

Always complete map bonuses (Atlas passive tree helps here).

The Atlas Passive Tree in PoE 2 is a powerful tool that allows you to specialize your map drops and league mechanic outcomes — significantly improving Chaos Orb generation if configured properly.

Best Leagues and Events for Chaos Orbs

Certain challenge leagues are better for farming currency. Here are some standout mechanics:

1. Delirium

Delirium adds chaos and quantity scaling as you kill more mobs. A great source of raw currency and Chaos Orbs.

2. Legion

Frozen enemies with massive loot explosions if fully cleared. High chance to get shards, orbs, and valuable items.

3. Ritual

Gives you a choice of rewards, which often include Chaos Orbs or tradeable items.

4. Heist

Great for early league farming. Smuggler’s Caches often contain pure currency, including Chaos Orbs and Contracts that can be traded.

Essential Tools for Farming Chaos Orbs

These third-party tools will supercharge your efficiency:

PoE Trade Macro: Check item value instantly.

Awakened PoE Trade: Great for pricing rares.

FilterBlade: Customize your loot filter to highlight Chaos Recipe items.

PoE Ninja: See current Chaos Orb value and hot items in the economy.

Exilence Next: Tracks your profit over time.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Picking up everything: Focus on value, not volume.

Selling good rares to vendor: Check their value online first.

Ignoring league mechanics: They’re often the best Chaos sources.

Playing unrolled maps: Don’t waste your map runs—juice them.

Pro Tips from Veterans

Use your stash efficiently: Create Chaos Recipe tabs and rotate gear through.

Play in a group: Quantity bonuses make Chaos Orbs drop more frequently.

Learn the meta: Items and builds that are popular will fetch more Chaos.

Specialize in one mechanic: Don’t spread yourself too thin—focus on one profitable niche like Delirium or Heist.

How Many Chaos Orbs Per Hour Can You Expect?

Casual player: 5–10 Chaos Orbs per hour through maps and recipes.

Efficient solo mapping: 20–50 Chaos Orbs/hour.

Optimized trade flipper or Heist runner: 50–100+ Chaos/hour.

Final Thoughts

Getting Chaos Orbs in Path of Exile 2 takes time, planning, and smart gameplay. While RNG still plays a major role, there are many consistent and reliable methods to buy POE 2 Chaos Orbs or earn them. Whether you're selling gear, crafting, or slaying monsters across Wraeclast’s dangerous lands, understanding how to optimize your chaos income can dramatically improve your build’s power and your overall enjoyment of the game.

Invest in your loot filter, use the Chaos Recipe, sell smartly, and engage with profitable league mechanics — and you’ll never find yourself chaos-starved again.