How to make white sockets in the Path of Exile

When you have played Path of Exile for quite some time, you know how annoying gem socket colors are, especially if you are the type of person who wants to experiment with different builds.

If you are a Righteous Fire Inquisitor, for example, you know how hard it is to place Righteous Fire and its support gems into a Glorious Plate, which is an armor that typically rolls mostly red sockets.

Sure you can use the "Three Red/Green/Blue Socket Colors" from the Crafting Bench, but that does not guarantee the right sockets you desire, particularly when you want four or more sockets of the same color.

Fortunately, Grinding Gear Games provides you with an easy way to solve all of your socket color issues – putting white sockets on your equipment.

You're probably asking how this is done. Do not worry, everything you need to know about white sockets will be discussed in this guide. So do read further until the end.

Why White Sockets Are Highly Coveted

To understand why white sockets are sought after in Path of Exile, you must learn the basics of coloring sockets on gear.

There are three main types of gear in PoE. The first is Armor-based equipment, which has a naturally high STR requirement to wear. This type of armor usually rolls red sockets, so you may have a hard time getting green- or blue-colored sockets with this one.

The second is Evasion-based gear. This type of armor has a high DEX requirement and mostly rolls green socket colors.

The third is Energy Shield-based armor. As you can already tell, this is an INT-based equipment that gives you an easier time rolling blue sockets as opposed to red or green.

Of course, there are also "hybrid" armors that contain armor-evasion, evasion-energy shield, or armor-energy shield as defensive layers. Although these armors let you easily roll at least two different socket colors depending on their bases, they are not that good from a defensive standpoint. You are still better off focusing on one defensive layer to ensure high values later on in the game.

Having to use multiple Gemcutter's Prisms just to get the right socket colors can be a pain. That is where white sockets come in. If you do not know, white sockets allow you to insert any gem in Path of Exile regardless of their colors. That is why white sockets are highly coveted because they alleviate the need to recolor the gem sockets on your gear whenever you change your build.

This is also the reason why people who are selling "mirror-tier" items only use Mirror of Kalandra when the pieces of gear all have white sockets on them.

Body Armor with White Sockets

How to Put White Sockets on Gear

Now that you know how important white sockets are, how exactly do you put them on your gear? Well, there are only two viable ways to populate your gear sockets with white-colored ones. They are:

Complete a Betrayal Run

The safest way to put white sockets on gear in Path of Exile is to complete a Betrayal run with Vorici as the "Captain" of Research. The Betrayal Mechanic can be accomplished by interrogating Immortal Syndicate Members and completing the Investigation Board, where you will face their leader, Catarina, at the end. You can force syndicate members to appear by using "Jun Missions" from your Map Device.

Having said that, whenever Vorici spawns in the Research Lab, always talk to him first so that you have a high chance of putting him in Research.

Whatever you do with the other members, make sure that Vorici stays in the Research group before you go and face Catarina, the final boss of the Immortal Syndicate. After beating her, search for Vorici's bench inside the main safehouse. Interacting with it prompts you to put any uncorrupted gear with sockets on it.

Now, the thing about Vorici's reward is that there is a chance that not all of the socket colors will be turned into white sockets. Because of this, you may have to complete multiple Betrayal runs until you achieve the desired outcome.

The good news is that whatever the result is, your gear will still be uncorrupted. This allows you to use a Gemcutter's Prism to randomize its socket colors if you're unsuccessful in your previous attempt. Doing so will let you try Vorici's reward again, hopefully, with a more favorable outcome.

If you're asking why you need to use Gemcutter's Prism if you do not have all white socket colors after the attempt, that's because you cannot get Vorici's reward if you still have any white-colored sockets on the piece of gear.

Betrayal Mechanic (Investigation Board)

To help you complete the Investigation Board to face Catarina as quickly as possible, you can take a few notable passives on your Atlas Tree. "Focused Investigation" grants you a small chance of gaining an additional Jun Mission upon completion of a map.

Next, take Effective Leadership. This notable Atlas passive makes syndicate members more likely to be accompanied by their leader. If Vorici is still not the Captain of Research, Effective Leadership makes it easier for you to upgrade his rank and relegate the current leader to a lower rank.

Lastly, Intelligence Gathering lets you gain 10 Intelligence for a random safehouse when completing a map with Immortal Syndicate members on it. Although this passive node is situated at the top of the Atlas Skill Tree, it is still worth getting, especially if you want to speed things up to get Vorici's reward.

The Corruption Chamber

Although this next one is something that we do not recommend if your only goal is to put white sockets on your gear, you can still go for it. However, it is important to note that this is quite risky.

How risky is it, you ask? Well, there is a possibility that your gear will be destroyed! If you still want to proceed, read on.

The next thing that you can do to try and put white sockets on your equipment is by putting that piece of gear inside the altar found at the "Locus of Corruption." This is located in the Temple of Atzoatl, but you will have to set things up first before you can enter.

If you are not familiar with the Incursion mechanic in PoE, at some point while mapping, you will come across Alva, the Master Explorer. When she appears, she will give you a choice to enter an Incursion room if you want to. While she can be found in maps at random, you can force her to appear by using the appropriate Master Mission from the Map Device.

Temple of Atzoatl (Alva Mission) from Map Device

When you finish several maps with 3/3 or 4/4 Incursions, you will complete a Temple Chronicle that allows you to enter the completed Temple of Atzoatl. However, this is not as simple as it seems.

You see, each Incursion room has a couple of architects inside, vying for control over one part of the temple. One of the architects will upgrade the current room, while the other will change it entirely to something else. Killing one of them will guarantee a particular outcome. Remember that you can only slay one architect per room, so you have to choose wisely.

If you want to get the Locus of Corruption specifically, you have to look for the "Corruption Chamber" first. It will appear randomly, so check out the Incursion room's architects by looking at the window at the top-right corner of the screen when talking to Alva. Then, upgrading it a couple of times will turn it into the desired Locus of Corruption.

To aid you in doing that in the least amount of time possible, take some passive nodes on the Atlas Skill Tree, namely:

• Resource Reallocation
• Contested Development
• Artefacts of the Vaal
• The Perpetual Search

Artefacts of the Vaal ensures that your maps where Alva appears will always have four Incursions. With this node alone, it only takes you three maps to complete a Temple Chronicle.

Contested Development is another important node. When killing Resident Architects, or those that change the Incursion room to something else, their Upgrade Tier is added to the surviving Architect's Room. For example, a Tier 2 room, when changed to another one, will still result in a Tier 2 room when slaying Resident Architects.

Resource Reallocation is great because it grants you a 50% chance to upgrade the current room from Tier 1 to Tier 3 when killing Non-Resident Architects. For the uninitiated, Non-Resident Architects are those that can be killed to upgrade an Incursion room to a higher tier. 

The Perpetual Search just gives you a small chance of acquiring an Alva Mission when completing a map. Although this is not mandatory, it is quite helpful when you need to force Alva to appear in the future.

Now, let's get back to the Locus of Corruption. This room can be accessed by upgrading the Corruption Chamber twice. That is why taking Resource Reallocation is a must because you only have to upgrade the said room once.

When you have the Locus of Corruption, enter the Temple of Atzoatl by talking to Alva in your hideout. Once inside, interact with the altar and place the gear you want to put white sockets into. Then, hope that you will achieve the desired outcome.

Completed Temple Chronicle (with Locus of Corruption)

We just want to reiterate that this is a much riskier approach than Vorici. You could end up "double corrupting" the gear, resulting in two implicit mods that may improve the equipment even more. But, there is also a real risk of destroying the item in the process!

Get White Sockets, Guaranteed!

If you do not want to go through all of the hassles just to put white-colored sockets on your gear, you can just purchase a similar piece of equipment from other players instead. Obviously, you will need a ton of currency for that since, as mentioned earlier, white sockets are highly coveted in Path of Exile.

Luckily for you, we happen to have the best solution! We at RPGStash provide you with a lot of different PoE Currency that suit your needs. We offer numerous bundles so you can save more. For instance, our 75 Divine Orb Bundle gives you five Divine Orbs for free!

The items we offer have the lowest prices among other similar stores out there. And, depending on your RPGStash membership, you can even use your XP points to purchase anything you want from our shop!

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If you need assistance, our helpful customer service staff will answer all your queries and guide you through the entire process if needed.

So, if you need currency to buy gear with white sockets, then be sure to head to RPGStash today. We are happy to serve you!