What is PoE2?
Path of Exile 2 is a sequel to the popular action RPG from Grinding Gear Games studio, which gained huge popularity due to its deep mechanics, dynamic battles, and unique system of character upgrades. The original Path of Exile was released in 2013 and received many positive reviews for its complex and diverse builds, huge selection of skills and items, and constant content updates. Given the success of the first game developers decided to release a new part, which will be very similar to the previous one, but will try to solve all its major problems and add the necessary features that players need. This article will consider the changes in PoE 2 currency and related mechanics.
When will PoE 2 be released?
Early Access for Path of Exile 2 will begin on November 15, 2024, but will be limited and unavailable to all players. Participation in Early Access will most likely bring in players who have actively supported the game throughout its lifespan – this could include owning a dedicated set of supporters, beta testers, and long-time community members. The official start date for all players remains unknown.
Currency representation in Poe 2
Poe 1 is familiar to most players for its unique economy system, in which players choose their gold standard to be used for exchange with other players. This system will continue to be used in the new part. The main currency is chosen due to several factors that express the rarity of a particular currency as well as its capabilities and uses. These currencies are mainly orbs. It is not yet clear what will be the main object of exchange, but most likely it will be the same currency as in Poe1. Below we will look at all the key currency changes and how they will affect the game mechanics.
Changes in currencies
New currency
Gold
Players will be introduced to a new Path of Exile 2 currency – gold. It will not affect the economy and interaction between players but will replace the usual shards to buy items from vendors. Gold is earned by killing mobs and passing acts, so there will be no problems with it. Together with this update, the variety of goods from merchants will also increase: players will be able to buy rare items, which will give an additional advantage at the start. Gold will also be used to reset the points of passive skills.
Modified currency
Chaos Orbs
This is one of the most popular currencies that is also used in the exchange between players. In the first part of PoE, it had some interesting properties, allowing you to re-forge a rare item with new random modifiers. This causes some inconvenience because you can lose some useful modifiers and get bad ones in return. In the new game, their mechanics will be a bit different. For now, this orb removes one random modifier and adds a new one similar to Harvest Craft behaviour.
Orb of transmutation
Although the changes to this currency are minor, it is worth considering the new features. In both parts, these items are used to upgrade a normal item to a magic item, but in the first part after that, the item could have a prefix, suffix, or both modifiers at the same time, while in PoE 2 you will only get one modifier.
Alchemy Orb
Alchemy Orbs are a quick way to obtain powerful rare items at the beginning of the game or when upgrading new characters. You use it to turn a normal item into a rare adding a set of random modifiers to it.
In Path of Exile 1, after using Orbs of Alchemy, an item could gain from 3 to 6 modifiers depending on the luck level. However, in Path of Exile 2 this number will be fixed, and every rare item created with Orbs* will gain exactly 4 modifiers. This change is made to simplify crafting in the initial stages and to give players a more predictable and stable result, reducing the influence of randomness on the process of creating rare items.
Removed Currency
In Path of Exile 2, the developers decided to remove some of the currency items that existed in the first part of the game. This change is due to the fact that some of the old currencies lost their relevance in the new crafting and balance system, and their presence created unnecessary complexity and confusion. Removing these currencies allowed us to simplify the game and focus on key tools for upgrading items and interacting with game mechanics. In addition, such changes help make the crafting process more intuitive, balanced, and understandable for players, especially for those who are just getting acquainted with the game.
Orb of Scouring
This currency played an important role in the first game, but the developers decided to change its concept, so they removed this item. With it, players could remove all modifiers from an item, rolling back to its base state. This was shocking news because the orb was often used to reset heavy map modifiers. How this mechanic will be implemented in the new part is still unclear. This has its advantages. Thanks to this, normal items will have more value since there are no more opportunities to roll back improvements and players will have to think about all their actions when upgrading.
Orb of Alteration
Removing this currency will make it harder to obtain the magic items you need. This is because its use often resulted in mass consumption in an attempt to obtain the necessary modifiers, which made the game much easier to play.
Orbs of Regret
The removal of this currency has a simple and logical explanation—it lost its function. In PoE 1, Orbs of Regret were used to refund passive skill points, but in the new game, this role will be taken over by gold. This change comes with certain advantages. At various points in the game, players may need to change their build because their current one might not be effective enough to progress. With gold, players can do this at any time, without needing to gather a specific currency, the drop rate of which depended largely on luck.
Chromatic Orbs Jeweller`s Orbs Orbs of Fusing
In the first part of the game, these orbs were used to change the color of sockets, their number, and connections on items, which was an important part of crafting. However, in Path of Exile 2, the socket system has been completely reworked: skill gem sockets are now separated from the equipment itself, all connections are available to players from the very beginning, and the colour of the sockets does not matter. These changes are made to simplify the process of assembling builds, making it less random and more convenient. Removing these currencies also improves the accessibility of the game for newcomers.
Conclusion
Based on the above information you can see that most of the currency changes in the game try to simplify the mechanics of the game. Many players will say that because of this the game loses its authenticity and uniqueness, but it will allow to attract a new audience to the game. The game is trying to be more loyal to newcomers because many players have not been able to fully familiarize themselves with this universe through its complexity. Most likely these are not the last currency changes in the game and it is still hard to say which ones will be considered major. Regardless, we can say that after the release of the game, you will be able to buy PoE 2 currency on special marketplaces for a quick dive.
