Path of Exile Crafting Currency Guide

Crafting in Path of Exile is one of the game’s most rewarding yet complex systems. Instead of using gold or traditional currency, the entire economy revolves around crafting orbs—consumable items that modify gear in countless ways. From basic upgrades to highly specialized endgame crafting, understanding Path of exile currency is the foundation for both improving your own gear and generating wealth.

This guide will cover everything you need to know about crafting currency in Path of Exile: what each orb does, how to use them effectively, strategies for beginners, and advanced crafting tips for experienced players.

The Role of Currency in Path of Exile

Unlike most RPGs where gold is the universal currency, Path of Exile uses a barter-based system. Items such as Orbs of Alchemy, Chaos Orbs, and Exalted Orbs serve as both crafting tools and trade currency. This design ensures that the same items you use to modify your equipment also function as the backbone of the player-driven economy.

There are three main categories of crafting currency:

Basic Crafting Orbs – Introduce or reroll modifiers on items.

Upgrade Currency – Change the item’s rarity, influence, or socket structure.

Specialized Crafting Currency – Target specific mechanics like influences, essences, fossils, or eldritch modifiers.

Core Crafting Currency and Their Uses

Let’s go over the most important orbs and scrolls in the game, starting from beginner-friendly to advanced.

1. Scrolls

Scroll of Wisdom: Identifies items. The most common currency, functioning as a “consumable” to reveal rare or magic modifiers.

Portal Scroll: Creates a town portal. Less about crafting, but still considered basic utility currency.

2. Orb of Transmutation

Function: Upgrades a normal (white) item to a magic (blue) item.

Use Case: Early-game crafting for simple modifiers; rarely used at higher levels.

3. Orb of Alteration

Function: Rerolls the modifiers on a magic item.

Use Case: Early-game or “alt-spamming” to roll a specific pair of modifiers before upgrading further. Commonly used in crafting bases.

4. Orb of Augmentation

Function: Adds a new modifier to a magic item with only one affix.

Use Case: Often paired with Alterations during “alt-aug” crafting for specific mod combinations.

5. Orb of Alchemy

Function: Upgrades a normal item to rare (yellow) with random modifiers.

Use Case: Commonly used to craft early maps or gear before more advanced crafting.

6. Chaos Orb

Function: Rerolls all modifiers on a rare item.

Use Case: Chaos spamming is a mid-tier crafting strategy. Also the backbone of the trade economy—most items are priced in Chaos Orbs.

7. Regal Orb

Function: Upgrades a magic item to rare, adding one new modifier.

Use Case: Used in meta-crafting when transitioning from alt-spamming a magic item to creating a rare base.

8. Exalted Orb

Function: Adds a new random modifier to a rare item.

Use Case: Endgame crafting currency, either used directly or traded at high value. Exalts are less used directly in modern leagues due to crafting benches and meta-crafting mods, but still iconic.

9. Divine Orb

Function: Rerolls the numeric values of existing modifiers.

Use Case: Essential for perfecting high-end gear. Divine Orbs overtook Exalts as the true “premium” trade currency after balance changes in recent leagues.

10. Orb of Scouring

Function: Removes all modifiers from an item, making it normal.

Use Case: Used to reset a base for further crafting or prepare for meta-crafting with fossils or essences.

Socket and Link Currency

Sockets and links are just as important as modifiers. Crafting the correct socket colors and links is often a prerequisite for gear upgrades.

Jeweller’s Orb: Rerolls the number of sockets on an item.

Orb of Fusing: Rerolls the links between sockets.

Chromatic Orb: Changes socket colors at random.

Vaal Orb: Corrupts an item, potentially modifying sockets or granting powerful implicit modifiers. Risky but rewarding.

Advanced Crafting Currency

Once you reach endgame, you’ll encounter more specialized currency items. These allow for targeted crafting rather than pure randomness.

1. Essences

Function: Guarantees a specific modifier when used on a normal item.

Use Case: Great for targeted crafting on early to mid-game gear. Higher-tier essences enable strong guaranteed affixes.

2. Fossils and Resonators

Function: Fossils modify the mod pool, blocking or enhancing certain types of affixes. Resonators are the socketable shells that hold fossils.

Use Case: Fossil crafting is one of the most popular methods for deterministic outcomes—e.g., rolling high physical damage or chaos mods.

3. Influenced Currency

Examples: Hunter’s Exalted Orb, Crusader’s Exalted Orb, Warlord’s Exalted Orb.

Function: Adds a modifier specific to that influence type.

Use Case: Used in high-end crafting for powerful influence-specific mods (e.g., +1 to maximum Frenzy Charges).

4. Eldritch Currency

Examples: Eldritch Embers, Eldritch Ichor.

Function: Replaces a modifier with one from either Eater of Worlds or Searing Exarch.

Use Case: Endgame deterministic crafting, allowing you to fine-tune suffixes and prefixes.

5. Maven’s Orbs and Awakener’s Orb

Awakener’s Orb: Merges two influenced items, transferring modifiers.

Maven’s Orb: Removes one modifier but upgrades another, making it stronger.

Use Case: Reserved for top-tier crafting where multiple influenced modifiers are combined.

Crafting Bench and Meta-Crafting

In addition to orbs, players can use the Crafting Bench in their hideout. This allows you to add deterministic modifiers to gear for a cost in crafting currency.

Meta-crafting mods, often unlocked through master missions or unveils, allow you to manipulate affixes with greater control. Examples include:

“Cannot roll Attack Mods”

“Prefixes Cannot Be Changed”

“Suffixes Cannot Be Changed”

These mods are used in combination with Chaos Orbs, Scouring, or Orb of Annulment to lock in desired affixes while rerolling the rest.

Beginner Strategies for Using Currency

Don’t Waste High-Value Orbs: Save Exalted and Divine Orbs for trading unless you’re ready to invest in serious crafting.

Use Essences Early: They’re a great way to make solid rare items while leveling.

Upgrade Maps with Alchemy: “Alch-and-go” is the simplest way to maximize returns in the map system.

Chaos Spamming: A solid mid-tier method for rolling rare gear bases without too much planning.

Advanced Crafting Strategies

Alt-Regal Method:

Alt spam for desired prefixes/suffixes → Augment if needed → Regal to make it rare → Meta-craft from there.

Fossil Blocking:

Use specific fossils to block unwanted affixes and enhance odds of getting desired ones.

Influence Stacking:

Craft with influenced items, then use Awakener’s Orb to merge the best mods.

Eldritch Suffix/Prefix Locking:

Combine Eldritch currency with bench crafts to perfect endgame gear.

Currency as Trade Economy

It’s worth noting that every orb doubles as both crafting material and trade currency. For example:

Chaos Orbs are the mid-tier trade standard.

Divine Orbs are the high-tier premium standard.

Exalts are still used but have dropped in market dominance.

Learning when to spend or save currency is a core skill. Burning all your orbs early may slow down progression, while hoarding them forever prevents you from enjoying the power spikes they can offer.

Final Thoughts

Crafting in Path of Exile is a journey. At first, currency items seem confusing—a mountain of orbs, fossils, and essences. But as you progress, you’ll see the elegance of the system: each piece of currency serves as both a tool and a coin, blending gameplay with economy.

From using your first Orb of Transmutation on a leveling wand, to endgame fossil crafting an influenced chest piece, every player eventually learns to buy POE exalted orbs. With patience, experimentation, and practice, you can craft items that rival the very best on the trade market—or sell your crafted gear for massive profit.

Understanding crafting currency is not just about making stronger gear—it’s about learning the heartbeat of Path of Exile itself.