Orb of Scouring is Gone The purpose of crafting items in PoE 1 and PoE 2 is to create awesome gear to make your leveling journey and endgame performance better. The basic formula for Path of Exile 2 crafting is to use an Orb of Transmutation on a normal item. After that, you proceed with using other crafting currencies, such as the Orb of Augmentation, Regal Orb, and Exalted Orb (in this specific order).

Although the crafting formula is straightforward, there is one glaring issue with it. Basically, any mods that you see on the crafted item are final and cannot be altered in any way (except for using the Vaal Orb, but that is a topic for another time). That is why a lot of Path of Exile 2 players miss the Orb of Scouring so much.

If you have not played the original game, there is a PoE currency item called Orb of Scouring. What it does is it removes all of the modifiers on a non-corrupted rare item. Think of this as sort of a reset in case you do not get the modifiers that you want.

Since Orb of Scouring is no longer present in the sequel, you either have to accept the final product or farm exactly the same item base to do another crafting project.

As many people in the community have put it, PoE 1 crafting is better because you can go back from scratch without having to farm a boatload of normal items.

Orb of Alteration is Missed
There are some PoE 2 currency items that are similar to their PoE 1 counterparts. For instance, Orb of Transmutation and Orb of Augmentation still do the same things as they did in the original game. However, the Orb of Alteration has been completely removed along with the Orb of Scouring mentioned earlier.

Orb of Alteration is a Path of Exile 1 crafting currency that completely changes the modifiers on a magic rarity item into a new set of random ones. This was a great way to get the mods that you wanted without the need for a different item in case things did not go as planned.

Understandably, the removal of very useful PoE currencies specifically for crafting in the sequel is quite frowned upon by the vast majority of the player base.

If Grinding Gear Games really wanted to give players a more simplified way to create items from scratch, then this is not the right approach to doing so. This is true, especially when considering that some currencies are hard to come by early on in the game.

Chaos Orb Now Acts Differently
The Orb of Scouring and Orb of Alteration have been removed in Path of Exile 2. However, one thing that still remains in the game is the Chaos Orb, albeit it has a much different effect compared to its PoE 1 counterpart.

You see, the Chaos Orb in Path of Exile 1 allowed you to reroll the modifiers on a rare item. Think of this as a more powerful version of Orb of Alteration, where you still get random mods, though on a rare item that can roll six modifiers in total.

So, what does the Chaos Orb do now? Well, the said currency item now functions as a combination of an Orb of Annulment and an Exalted Orb in Path of Exile 2. It essentially removes an existing random modifier on an item and then puts a new one to replace it.

In addition, the Chaos Orb is substantially rarer compared to the Exalted Orb. This is why most people use the Exalted Orb as the primary currency for trading in PoE 2. It's useful enough to be traded on a regular basis and its rarity is just right that people can get it even by playing the campaign.

Since the Exalted Orb is now the more precious PoE 2 currency than the Chaos Orb, you might need more to purchase the right items for your character. If that is the case, visit our Path of Exile 2 rpgstash.com store to get the best deals on Exalted Orbs and other crafting currencies!