Ultimate PoE Orbs Guide [PoE 3.25]

Path of Exile, unlike many other ARPGs, has a rather complicated currency system. Much of the currency that is being traded in the game does not come in the form of gold. Instead, this game uses orbs for trade – an awful lot of them, in fact.

If you fire up PoE and you find a ton of different orbs, you will be overwhelmed if it is your first time playing this game. But do not worry, we at RPGStash are going to help you!

In this guide, we will go over all of the orbs that you can find in the game. We are going to talk about their uses, which ones are typically being traded in the community, and where you can acquire them.

So, without further ado, here is our Ultimate Guide to Orbs in Path of Exile!

What Are They?

Orbs in Path of Exile are items that are used for crafting, utility, and trade. Developer Grinding Gear Games created a lot of them in the game, each with its specific use-cases.

For instance, some orbs are used in crafting endgame items, such as the Chaos Orb, Orb of Alteration, and the Exalted Orb, just to name a few.

There are also others that can change or alter equipment. The Chromatic Orb, for example, is used to change the socket colors of a piece of gear.

Most of the orbs in the game can drop from anywhere. In fact, you might come across some orbs just by completing PoE's main campaign.

However, the vast majority of these currency items are found when you are doing one of the endgame content in the game - mapping.

Mapping in Path of Exile refers to completing maps in order to get some lucrative rewards at the end. You can enter maps by putting them inside the Map Device that is situated inside your hideout.

It is also worth noting that certain endgame orbs can only be acquired by defeating bosses. Do not worry, they will be discussed in greater detail later on in this Ultimate Orbs Guide.

Before We Begin

Due to the sheer number of orbs in Path of Exile, we at RPGStash have decided to divide them into three categories: Crafting, Utility, and Miscellaneous.

Under the "Crafting" category, the orbs that will be mentioned here are primarily used in crafting items in the game. This is going to take the bulk of the guide mainly because there are just so many orbs utilized for this specific purpose.

In the "Utility" section, these orbs are used to alter or enhance certain aspects of gear, like the Chromatic Orb that we talked about earlier.

Then, in the "Miscellaneous" category, we are going to discuss the orbs that do not fit in the previous two. This is the shortest part of our Ultimate Orbs Guide for Path of Exile since there are only a handful of orbs that are appropriate for this section.

No matter what categories they fall under, though, the majority of the orbs that can be found in Path of Exile are considered currency items. This is simply due to the fact that they can be used to trade for the various items in the game.

So, with all of that out of the way, let's go over the orbs that are used for crafting, shall we?

Crafting

Grinding Gear Games created a lot of orbs used for crafting in Path of Exile. Because crafting is a core part of the game, especially when talking about endgame gear, a lot of people use these orbs for trading items as well.

Chaos Orb

If there is one primary currency item in Path of Exile, it would be the Chaos Orb. The Chaos Orb's main function is to "reroll" the explicit modifiers on a rare (yellow) item, giving you a new random set of effects each time it is used. If you are new to PoE, explicit modifiers (or mods) are effects that you see on various stuff, including jewels, gloves, helmets, and body armor, among others.

Now, the reason why the Chaos Orb is the primary currency item in the game is that it has a lot of other uses besides rerolling modifiers on gear.

For example, when you interact with the Crafting Bench inside your hideout, you will find that the higher-tier mods on the list require you to pay some Chaos Orbs every time you apply them during crafting.

Certain NPCs in the game take Chaos Orb as payment as well. The maps and Cartographer's Chisels that Commander Kirac is selling require some Chaos Orbs to obtain.

So, where can you get some Chaos Orbs? Well, they can drop from anywhere. Just complete maps diligently so that you can farm a bunch of them in the process.

Additionally, the Chaos Orb stack size has been increased from 10 to 20 in the Crucible League (Patch 3.21). This means that you can put more of these orbs in the trade window when purchasing items from another player.

Divine Orb

The Divine Orb is another currency item that can be used for crafting and trading. On the crafting side, this particular orb randomizes the values of the modifiers that are already on an item. If you have, say, a body armor that has a T1 life modifier on it, you can utilize the Divine Orb to get the maximum number from that range.

Although the Divine Orb can be obtained in maps, they are a bit rarer compared to the Chaos Orb. As such, most PoE players only trade Divine Orbs for the more expensive stuff, such as awakened gems, Transfigured Gems, and endgame equipment.

Metamods are an essential part of crafting items in the game. They are mods found in the Crafting Bench that enable you to save certain modifiers on gear from disappearing or force them to be removed while retaining the desired ones. Example of metamods in PoE include:

• Prefixes Cannot Be Changed
• Suffixes Cannot Be Changed
• Can Have Up to 3 Crafted Modifiers
• Cannot Roll Attack Modifiers
• Cannot Roll Caster Modifiers

For you to put any of them on your gear, you have to spend one to two Divine Orbs depending on which metamod you are going to use. For instance, the "Can Have Up to 3 Crafted Modifiers" metamod costs 2 Divine Orbs.

Exalted Orb

You know, crafting in PoE is interesting because there are times when you only need one more modifier to complete an item. To fill that last affix slot, you have the Exalted Orb for that specific purpose.

Now, bear in mind that you can technically use the Exalted Orb to add as many modifiers on an item as you want, so long as it is within its limits. For instance, a rare helmet can have a total of six modifiers on it, including three prefixes and three suffixes.

If, say, the helmet currently has only three mods, you can utilize the Exalted Orb a few times to fill those empty slots.

In addition, there are some options in the Crafting Bench that require you to pay Exalted Orbs if you want to use them. For instance, the "43% Increased Damage While Leeching" prefix can be applied by spending an Exalted Orb.

The Exalted Orb is also used by the community to trade for items along with the aforementioned orbs. The hierarchy looks like this:

Chaos Orbs (affordable/cheap items) > Exalted Orb (relatively expensive stuff) > Divine Orb (very expensive items).

Orb of Transmutation

There are three different item rarities in Path of Exile. There's the Normal item, which is denoted by the white text on the description. Then, there's the Magic item - one that you can easily distinguish because of its blue text. And, you have the Rare item that has yellow text on the background and its description.

Having said that, an item with Normal rarity does not have any explicit modifier on it. In order for it to gain some, you need to upgrade that into a Magic item and then subsequently into a Rare item. That first transition is possible with the use of an Orb of Transmutation.

Orb of Alteration

Magic items in Path of Exile are those that have blue-colored names and texts on their description. Having said that, the Orb of Alteration is a cheap way to get the modifiers that you want on your gear.

How it is utilized is by "spamming" it on the piece of gear you want to craft until you get the modifier that you need. Of course, this is just one of the steps to crafting because you will still need to use a Regal Orb to turn a magic item into a rare one. Do not worry, the said orb is going to be discussed a little later, so read ahead!

Anyway, we are going to let you in on a little secret. Normally, when you use something in the game like the Orb of Alteration, you would right-click this item, and then left-click on the item you want to craft. This is quite cumbersome if you do it this way.

Luckily, when you press and hold the "Shift" key after right-clicking on the Orb of Alteration, you can then just left-click on the item numerous times until you get the desired outcome. This is how to properly "spam" a crafting item in the game.

Orb of Augmentation

The Orb of Augmentation is commonly used in conjunction with the Orb of Alteration. You see, the Orb of Alteration will occasionally put only one modifier on an item. Since magic (blue) items can have a total of two, you can fill the other slot by using an Orb of Augmentation.

Although you can just use Orb of Alteration again to reroll the affixes, there are some scenarios where that is not ideal. For instance, if your crafted wand has the prefix "+1 to Level of All Fire Spell Skill Gems" and there is still an open suffix, you can potentially get a good modifier just by using an Orb of Augmentation. Perhaps, you can acquire a cast speed suffix if you are lucky!

Regal Orb

Although the Orb of Alteration allows you to get some desirable mods on the cheap, you still need to turn a magic item into a rare one. This is done by using the Regal Orb.

The Regal Orb essentially upgrades a magic item into a rare item. Why is this important, you ask? Well, a magic item can only roll two affixes - one prefix and one suffix. On the other hand, a rare item can have up to six. Therefore, it is imperative when crafting gear that the item is ultimately upgraded into a rare one if you want to fill it up with some amazing modifiers.

That said, the Regal Orb is best utilized after you have spammed Orb of Alteration on a piece of gear to get a mod that you want.

Orb of Annulment

The Orb of Annulment is another important currency item used in crafting. This Orb is primarily used to remove a random modifier on an item. Take note that using this is a bit risky, especially since it can annul off a desired mod.

Despite the risks that come with it, think of the Orb of Annulment as a "high risk, high reward" item. Sure, it can potentially remove a modifier that you want. However, this orb can also take out the undesirable mod on your crafted gear, thus allowing you to make it even better.

Orb of Scouring

While dire as it may seem, there are cases where starting over is more feasible than trying to salvage the modifiers on an item. Maybe you have used an Orb of Annulment and the mod that you desired has been removed in the process. In these instances, you can just go back to a clean slate and start over by utilizing the Orb of Scouring.

Basically, the Orb of Scouring removes all of the modifiers from an item, allowing you to start over. Bear in mind that you cannot use this orb on a corrupted item; only a non-corrupted one.

Aside from removing modifiers from an item, you can use the Orb of Scouring in a different way as well. Let's say that you have over-leveled a Vitality gem, causing you to spend more mana to activate the aura than your current build allows. You can revert the gem back to level 1 by selling an Orb of Scouring along with the gem in question to an NPC. This is also called a "vendor recipe" because "selling" a specific combination of items together will result in an entirely new item.

Orb of Conflict

When you use Eldritch Embers and Eldritch Ichors on a crafted item, you guarantee some incredible implicit mods that can benefit your build. With that said, you can actually "elevate" these mods by using an Orb of Conflict.

The Orb of Conflict can upgrade a random Eldritch implicit modifier to a higher tier, thus giving you better bonuses as a result. However, the issue here is that this currency item could potentially elevate the wrong mod, so you'd have to use it a number of times until you get the desired outcome.

This particular orb is a bit expensive since it can only be dropped by the Maven and the bosses that you will face in her invitations.

Orb of Dominance

In Path of Exile, there is a special class of equipment in the game that can come with "Influenced" modifiers. These modifiers are based on some bosses in PoE, including Al-Hezmin (Hunter), Baran (Crusader), Drox (Warlord), and Veritania (Redeemer), as well as the Shaper and Elder.

When you use a Hunter-influenced body armor as a crafting base, for example, you can roll up to several influenced modifiers on this piece of gear. By default, these special mods can only go up to Tier 1. However, you can actually elevate them by using an Orb of Dominance.

For you to be able to utilize the Orb of Dominance on a crafted item, that item must have at least two influenced modifiers on it. That is because this orb will try to elevate one of them, while also removing the other.

Just like the Orb of Conflict, the Orb of Dominance cannot drop from anywhere. It can only be obtained by successfully defeating Sirus, the Awakener of Worlds.

Awakener's Orb

When you are shopping on the PoE trade website, you will occasionally discover some items that have two influenced modifiers. You are probably wondering how other players were able to come up with those. Well, such items are possible by utilizing the Awakener's Orb.

What does this orb do, exactly? Well, it merges two influenced items of the same type in order to gain all of the influenced modifiers that are present on them into one rare item.

A popular example of this is the double-influenced "explodey" body armor. This piece of equipment comes with the Crusader mod "12% Increased Area of Effect, Enemies You Kill Have a 35% Chance to Explode", and the Hunter mod "You Can Apply an Additional Curse".

As you can tell, crafting this requires two separate body armors; one with a Crusader influence and the other with a Hunter influence. After acquiring the desired mods, you can combine them with an Awakener's Orb. The resulting body armor will have both of these influenced modifiers along with other random affixes.

Orb of Alchemy

The Orb of Alchemy is a godsend, especially early in a new league where you still do not have access to good gear yet. That is because, unlike the Orb of Transmutation, the Orb of Alchemy upgrades a Normal item straight to a Rare item.

That's not all! You can also use the Orb of Alchemy to upgrade a normal map into a rare map. This is crucial because a rare map can have multiple modifiers that affect the quantity and quality of items that can drop in the area.

Speaking of which, a rare map can have up to eight different mods. After using the Orb of Alchemy and you find that the new map still has some open mod slots, you can fill them up by using Exalted Orbs.

Just remember, the more modifiers a map has, the harder and more challenging it is to complete.

Orb of Binding

The Orb of Binding works similarly to the Orb of Alchemy. The only difference is that this specific orb upgrades a normal item into a rare item with up to four linked slots. During league start, you can utilize any Orb of Binding you find during your adventures in Wraeclast on certain pieces of gear, such as helmets, gloves, and boots. This is so that you can have their sockets linked together without relying on the Orb of Fusing.

Fracturing Orb

When you see an item in-game that has a modifier written in gold text, that item has a "fractured" mod. These mods are permanently fixed on the item itself, meaning, even when you use Chaos Orbs, Essences, or Fossils to obtain random modifiers, you cannot change the mod that is already fractured. You can only add to that by using these items.

Now, there are two ways to get fractured items. The most common way of acquiring these is by fighting monsters and bosses in maps and other areas in Path of Exile. That is because they will occasionally drop fractured items on the ground, which increases in chance when you are running a Magic Find character when mapping.

But, if there is a specific item you want to craft on, you can actually fracture one of its mods yourself with the use of the aptly named Fracturing Orb.

The Fracturing Orb can only be used on a piece of gear that has four modifiers already on it. For this reason, you have a 25% chance of locking the desired modifier in place.

Because of how useful it is, the Fracturing Orb is pretty expensive when purchased from other people. If you want to farm the orb yourself, you can assemble it by acquiring a full stack size of Fracturing Shards. They can drop by defeating the Harbingers.

Veiled Chaos Orb

The Veiled Chaos Orb is one way to force a veiled modifier on a crafted piece of equipment. It basically acts like a Chaos Orb where you gain random modifiers, but the difference is that you are guaranteed to obtain a veiled mod as well.

Normally, the Veiled Chaos Orb is used along with a metamod to ensure that your other desired modifiers remain intact. Keep in mind that if you are going this route, you should put the metamod before you right-click on the Veiled Chaos Orb. After that, left-click on the item you wish to craft and you should see that you have a veiled modifier on it, which you can then unveil by talking to Jun.

Now, there is also this technique where you "block" certain modifiers from appearing during the unveiling process. This is explained in greater detail in our ultimate crafting guide, so go there if you want to learn more.

As you delve into higher levels of crafting in Path of Exile, you might ask what the difference is between using a Veiled Chaos Orb and putting an Aisling Veiled Modifier. Well, the former is akin to a Chaos Orb in that it may add an unwanted affix to your crafted piece of gear. Veiled Chaos Orb is usually only used if you want to save currency.

The preferred option when crafting endgame gear is always Aisling, mainly because there is a chance that you can add a veiled mod without removing the other modifiers on your gear.

Anyway, just like the other PoE Orbs mentioned thus far, the Veiled Chaos Orb can be obtained as a random drop. Just engage with any content in Path of Exile and you should obtain one with relative ease.

Alternatively, you have a higher chance of getting one by completing a full run of the Betrayal mechanic and visiting Aisling's reward room.

Tailoring Orb

The beauty of a self-crafted body armor in PoE is that you can add an enchantment to make it better via the Tailoring Orb.

The Tailoring Orb is a currency item that can only be obtained by inspecting the Curio Displays of any Grand Heist. They are not guaranteed to appear, so you may have to run Grand Heists a few times in order to get one.

That said, when used on a rare body armor, the Tailoring Orb will add a random enchantment to it. Here are just some of the possible enchantments that may appear:

• 8% Increased Explicit Life Modifier Magnitudes
• 8% Increased Explicit Defense Modifier Magnitudes
• 8% Increased Explicit Attribute Modifier Magnitudes
• 8% Increased Explicit Resistance Modifiers, Has No Green Sockets
• 12% Increased Explicit Attribute Modifier Magnitudes, 50% Reduced Explicit Life Modifier Magnitudes
• 15% Increased Explicit Defense Modifier Magnitudes, 200% Increased Attribute Requirements

Bear in mind that using the Tailoring Orb may reforge the socket or socket colors of your body armor. Do not worry if this happens because you can simply remove the enchantment via the Crafting Bench.

Sacred Orb

While not as popular as the orbs mentioned above, the Sacred Orb is still present in the game. This orb is used to randomize the numeric values of the base defenses found on gear, including body armors, helmets, gloves, boots, and shields. The "defenses" being referred to here are armor, evasion rating, energy shield, and ward.

Take note that the Sacred Orb does not change the numeric values of the explicit modifiers on your equipment because this role is specific only to the Divine Orb.

Even though the Sacred Orb is a random drop, it has a significantly lower drop chance compared to the Exalted Orb and Divine Orb.

Blessed Orb

If you have played Path of Exile for a while now, each increase in the numerical value of mods is crucial. That is why you need to do everything that you can to get the most out of each of your items.

Having said that, the Blessed Orb may have been overlooked by some players, especially those who are relatively new to the game. However, it's still important nevertheless. Why? Because it randomizes the value of the implicit modifiers of an item.

To illustrate, take a look at the Prophecy Wand. It has an implicit modifier that grants 36-40% increased spell damage. By spamming this wand with Blessed Orbs, you can get the full 40% without a problem!

The Blessed Orb's effect applies to the Searing Exarch and Eater of Worlds implicit modifiers as well.

Utility

In terms of the number of PoE orbs, those that are used for crafting definitely take the bulk of what you can find in the game. However, there are also other orbs in Path of Exile that are used for other things, which will be explained deeper in this section of the guide.

Chromatic Orb

The Chromatic Orb is one of the most important PoE orbs out there. That is because it is responsible for changing the colors of the sockets on gear, including the helmet, gloves, boots, and body armor.

If you are new to the game, there are some important things to take note of. Socket colors are heavily influenced by the highest attribute requirement on your gear. Red socket colors are associated with Strength, Green socket colors are linked with Dexterity, and Blue socket colors correspond to Intelligence.

Now, let's take the Titan Gauntlets as an example. This piece of gear has a relatively high STR requirement, meaning, it always favors red socket colors when you are spamming Chromatic Orbs. This is not to say that you won't get any green or blue sockets, but this is just to emphasize that you are very likely to obtain red sockets over the other ones.

So, how do you address the issue of not getting naturally-colored sockets on your equipment? Well, you have the Crafting Bench for that. There are certain options that allow you to forcefully put the same color on up to three sockets on a piece of gear. For instance, you can force three blue-colored sockets on the Titan Gauntlets just by choosing the appropriate option in the Crafting Bench.

While the Crafting Bench is a convenient way to force certain colors to appear on your equipment, it does require you to pay a hefty amount per use. When you select the "At Least Three Blue Sockets" option, you spend 120 Chromatic Orbs in the process.

Thankfully, Chromatic Orbs are not rare, so you can farm and save up a ton of them before you try and get the right socket colors. Petarus and Vanja - an NPC that you will come across beginning Act 4 - have some Chromatic Orbs to sell to you for a few Jeweller's Orbs.

Jeweller's Orb

Another essential PoE Orb you can find during your adventures in Wraeclast is the Jeweller's Orb. Skill gems in Path of Exile have to be inserted on pieces of gear that have sockets on them. Sure, you can recolor the sockets with Chromatic Orbs, but to actually put sockets on them requires you to use Jeweller's Orbs.

The Jeweller's Orb will reforge the number of sockets on an item, giving you a random outcome every time it is used. The chance of obtaining a six-socketed body armor or two-handed weapon is increased the higher the quality of these items. You gain a 1% chance to obtain a six-socketed gear, up to 30%.

Just like the Chromatic Orb, there are some options available on the Crafting Bench to force sockets on your gear. This is the way to go if you do not want to deal with the random nature of using Jeweller's Orbs as is.

While it is a common drop in the game, you can actually purchase some Jeweller's Orbs from Petarus and Vanja on Acts 4 and 9 for two Orbs of Alteration.

In addition, if you pick up a body armor or a two-handed weapon with six sockets on them, you can take advantage of the vendor recipe by selling them to an NPC in exchange for seven Jeweller's Orbs.

Remember that the Crafting Bench can only force up to three sockets of the same color on your gear. We are going to let you in on a little secret: there is a cost-effective way to get more than three same-colored sockets on your items.

To do this, select the "Three Sockets" option in the Crafting Bench to begin. Assuming that they are the colors that you want, you can proceed with the next step. If they are not, use the Crafting Bench to force three-colored sockets that you need. Then, alternate between "Four Sockets" and "Three Sockets" until the fourth socket is the color that you are looking for. Follow the same principle for the remaining sockets. Doing this saves you a ton of Jeweller's Orbs compared to relying solely on Chromatic Orbs!

Orb of Fusing

If the Jeweller's Orb puts sockets on a piece of gear, the Orb of Fusing is used to link them. Linking sockets in Path of Exile is crucial, especially because these sockets allow you to boost the effectiveness of your main skill, aura, and travel skills by adding support gems into them.

It is best that you increase the quality of your items with Armourer's Scraps (Armor) or Blacksmith's Whetstones (Weapon) to 20% before you attempt to spam them with Orb of Fusing. That is because you gain a 1% increased chance of getting five- or six-linked sockets this way. If currency is not an issue for you, you could use Perfect Fossils until you get 30% quality on your armors and weapons for a much better chance of achieving the desired outcome.

According to Grinding Gear Games, the chance of obtaining a six-linked body armor or weapon with a 20% quality is about 1 in 1,000. However, there is a 5% chance that you will need more than that. If you are risk-averse and you do not like this level of randomness, you could select the appropriate option in the Crafting Bench to force your gear to have six-linked sockets at the cost of 1,500 Orbs of Fusing.

In terms of how you can get your hands on an Orb of Fusing, there are a few ways. The first is by farming it throughout the campaign and in maps as it can be randomly dropped by the enemy. The second is by vendoring a six-linked weapon or body armor to an NPC to get 20 of these orbs. And lastly, you could purchase it from Petarus and Vanja in Act 4 or Act 9 by exchanging four Jeweller's Orbs.

Orb of Chance

The Orb of Chance is one of the more interesting PoE orbs primarily because its item description does not encapsulate all of its uses. On the surface, this particular currency item is used to upgrade a normal item into one of a random rarity. Although the result is a magic or rare item most of the time, this orb will occasionally upgrade a Normal rarity item into a unique item of the same base type.

That is why it is very useful early on in the league because you could be getting your hands on some handy unique items, while other players are still using magic or rare items.

Having said that, do not start a new league with that notion in mind because you will need roughly a thousand orbs to obtain something worthwhile. However, it is still good to know that acquiring a unique item this way is possible.

Take note that the Orb of Chance does not upgrade a normal item into a unique item that can only be dropped by specific enemies or bosses. For example, the Legacy of Fury, which is a pair of boots that can only be acquired from The Maven, cannot be obtained by just spamming Orbs of Chance on some normal boots.

If you do not use the Orb of Chance to upgrade items, you can utilize it for another purpose: spend it as a currency item to buy Orb of Scouring from Petarus and Vanja.

Orb of Regret

In Path of Exile, you can have as many as 123 passive skill points to use on your character. Even though there are some passives that you need to take while you are leveling up, there are those that do not make sense if you have reached the maximum level. Thankfully, Grinding Gear Games allow you to recoup your passive skill points by using Orb of Regret.

When you right-click on an Orb of Regret, you get one point that you can use to refund a passive skill. It goes without saying that you must use plenty of these PoE orbs if you want to refund more passive skill points. Do not worry, the Orb of Regret is a normal drop and you will get a relatively healthy stack size just by farming maps diligently.

Aside from getting points to refund some of your passive skills, the Orb of Regret has a vendor recipe as well. This vendor recipe enables you to reduce the level of a non-corrupted skill gem by one.

Let's say you have a level 12 Precision gem and you have accidentally leveled it up to 13. This aura reserves a flat amount of mana, meaning, if you have raised its level by accident, you might not have enough mana to use your active skill gems as a result.

To reduce its level, you can sell the gem in question along with a single Orb of Regret. Do this as many times as needed.

Orb of Unmaking

The Orb of Unmaking is similar to the Orb of Regret, albeit it refunds an Atlas passive skill point rather than your character's passive skills.

First introduced in Patch 3.13, the Orb of Unmaking can be acquired by defeating monsters in maps. The higher the tier of the map you are running, the better your chances of acquiring this particular currency item.

The Atlas passive tree is pretty massive and diverse. It contains plenty of passive skills that you can use to alter your currency-farming strategy. If you like to farm PoE orbs by forcing Legion encounters in your maps, you can do that by spending points on the appropriate nodes on the Atlas passive tree.

Since no currency-farming strategy is set in stone, at some point, you may want to change things up a little bit. That is where the Orb of Unmaking becomes handy. Just use as many of these PoE orbs as you can until you have altered the Atlas passive skills to your liking.

If you have spent all of the orbs that you have farmed but you still need some, you can actually purchase more from Kirac. Find Kirac in your hideout and interact with him. He sells an Orb of Unmaking for the price of two Orbs of Regret.

Instilling Orb

The Instilling Orb has become one of the most useful orbs in the game ever since it was introduced in Patch 3.15. If utilized as is, it adds a random enchantment to a utility flask when certain conditions are met. You can also use the Crafting Bench to force a specific enchantment on a utility flask, but you have to spend five Instilling Orbs and five Glassblower's Baubles for that. Here are some of the popular flask enchantments in Path of Exile:

• Used When You Hit a Rare or Unique Enemy, If Not Already in Effect
• Used When Charges Reach Full
• Reused at the End of This Flask's Effect
• Used When You Become Frozen
• Used When You Use a Life Flask

When a utility flask already has an enchantment on it, you can replace that with another enchantment by putting it in the Crafting Bench and selecting the appropriate option. This requires not only the five Instilling Orbs and Glassblower's Baubles mentioned earlier, but you will need to spend a couple of Orbs of Scouring too!

If you are in dire need of Instilling Orbs, which usually is the case during league start, you can take advantage of the vendor recipe where you sell two Enkindling Orbs, one trigger gem, and one Orb of Alchemy to an NPC. An example of a trigger gem is Cast on Critical Strike Support.

Enkindling Orb

Similar to the Instilling Orb, the Enkindling Orb also applies a random enchantment on a utility flask. However, the main difference is the type of enchantment that can be obtained by using this particular orb.

If the Instilling Orb automatically activates a utility flask when certain conditions are met, the Enkindling Orb, on the other hand, adds a random enchantment that improves the effect of the utility flask itself.

Its most common use-case is by adding the enchantment "70% Increased Effect" on utility flasks. Such flasks are often used by builds that wear the Mageblood unique belt. Other enchantments that the Enkindling Orb applies are:

• (60-80)% Increased Charge Recovery
• (35-25)% Reduced Charges per Use
• (80-100)% Increased Duration
• +(40-60) to Maximum Charges

Even though the flask enchants from using the Enkindling Orb are great, the said orb has a downside that you need to be aware of. Specifically, you cannot gain flask charges if the flask's effect is still active.

That is why the Enkindling Orb is primarily used as a way to increase the effect of utility flasks by 70% for those who wear the Mageblood. That is because the Mageblood gives you permanent uptime of your magic utility flasks anyway, so the Enkindling Orb’s downside becomes negligible.

So, where can you get Enkindling Orbs? Well, they are a random drop, so you can farm them from slain monsters in maps. Besides that, selling four Instilling Orbs, a trigger gem, and an Orb of Scouring to an NPC yields one Enkindling Orb.

Miscellaneous

The PoE orbs that will be outlined in this section do not really fit in the previous two categories. They are not used for crafting and they are certainly not utilized to provide utility. But, this is not to say that they are not useful; far from that. If anything, what they offer is something unique. Just keep this in mind as you peruse this section of the guide.

Orb of Horizons

One of the orbs that can be of great value to you early in a new league is the Orb of Horizons. When used, it transforms a map into a new one of the same tier. If you use the Orb of Horizons on a Tier 6 map, for example, the result is a random T6 map as well. This orb can only be utilized on a non-corrupted map.

The Orb of Horizons is typically used during league start, when the maps that you own are not the ones you want to run.

When a map has implicit modifiers, using the Orb of Horizon will not change them in any way. Additionally, this orb changes the Shaper Guardians map to another map of the same type. This is because the Shaper Guardians you face are contingent upon the map's base.

The Orb of Horizons, however, does retain the Conqueror's Citadel and Elder Guardians on a map. So, if you have used it on a Warlord-influenced map, you will still fight Drox at the end of it.

In addition to changing a map to another one of the same tier, the Orb of Horizons can be used to replace your unwanted Scarabs. The specific vendor recipe requires you to sell two Scarabs of the same type and tier along with a single Orb of Horizons. This results in a random Scarab of the same tier.

To illustrate, say you have a Rusted Ultimatum Scarab and a Rusted Abyss Scarab that you do not need, you can sell them to a vendor with an Orb of Horizons to change it to another random Rusted Scarab.

Delirium Orb

If you are looking to get the most out of your maps, one way to "juice" them up is by spending a few Delirium Orbs on them.

Delirium Orbs are a currency item in Path of Exile that adds layers of Delirium on a map, which guarantees specific reward types based on the orb that was used. The Fine Delirium Orb pictured above guarantees that you get currency items as rewards for slaying monsters.

Each orb that you use applies a 20% layer of Delirium on a map. The more layers a map has, the more difficult the content gets, but with the promise of better and more lucrative rewards.

Some of the most commonly used Delirium Orbs are:

• Diviner's Delirium Orb: Divination Cards
• Skittering Delirium Orb: Scarabs
• Whispering Delirium Orb: Essences
• Fossilised Delirium Orb: Fossils

Delirium Orbs can only drop by completing Delirium Encounters while mapping. You can improve your chances of acquiring some Delirium Orbs by allocating a point to "Paranoid Fixation" on the Atlas Passive Skill Tree.

Vaal Orb

When you shop for items on the PoE Trade website, you will occasionally find those that have some pretty useful implicit modifiers. Some of those modifiers come from using a Vaal Orb.

The Vaal Orb is an orb in Path of Exile that corrupts an item for a chance of getting a corrupted implicit modifier. It can be utilized to corrupt a skill gem as well. Doing so may raise the gem's level to level 21 (if used on a level 20 gem) or increase the quality of the gem to 23% (if used on a 20% quality gem).

In most cases, the Vaal Orb is used to get a corrupted implicit modifier on a unique item. For instance, if you want to get the Level 23 Discipline Skill on the Aegis Aurora, you can only get that by using a Vaal Orb.

So, how do you obtain some? The Vaal Orb is a random drop, but you have a higher chance of getting one by going through a Vaal side area. Alternatively, you can sell seven "Vaal" skill gems along with a Sacrifice Fragment in order to get a single Vaal Orb.

Sacrifice Fragments include the Sacrifice at Dusk, Sacrifice at Dawn, Sacrifice at Noon, and Sacrifice at Midnight.

It cannot be stressed enough that the Vaal Orb may turn a unique item into a rare one of the same type. If you have a unique item that is a crucial part of your build, you should have a spare before using this orb.

Tainted Mythic Orb

What if you have used a Vaal Orb to corrupt a unique item and it got "bricked", thus turning it into a rare item? Well, you can salvage that somehow by utilizing a Tainted Mythic Orb.

The Mythic Orb will turn a normal, magic, or rare item into a unique item of the same base type. So, if you have used a Vaal Orb to corrupt a Mageblood Belt and it has transformed into a rare belt, you could potentially bring your Mageblood back with a Tainted Mythic Orb, though the chance of it happening is pretty slim.

Now, there are a few things to keep in mind. The Tainted Mythic Orb can only transform items into a unique item that can drop from anywhere. This does not include unique items that can only be obtained from bosses or specific types of content in the game.

In addition, the resulting unique item will be of the same base type. So, when the Tainted Mythic Orb is utilized on a belt, it will also result in a belt.

Lastly, even though you can use it on influenced items, the resulting item will still keep the influence, albeit without the influenced mods. This is because unique items in Path of Exile already come with their own set of modifiers.

The Tainted Orb is a bit expensive simply because you can only obtain them by defeating "Beyond" bosses and monsters.

Tainted Currencies

Some of the orbs mentioned earlier in the guide have "Tainted" versions as well. These PoE orbs retain the functionality of their original counterparts, except that you can use them only on corrupted items. These orbs are:

• Tainted Chaos Orb
• Tainted Chromatic Orb
• Tainted Exalted Orb
• Tainted Jeweller's Orb
• Tainted Orb of Fusing

Eldritch Currencies

Similar to Tainted Orbs, you can also find "Eldritch" versions of some crafting currencies. They are as follows:

• Eldritch Chaos Orb
• Eldritch Exalted Orb
• Eldritch Orb of Annulment

The effects of these orbs vary slightly depending on whether the Searing Exarch's influence is stronger than the Eater of Worlds or vice versa.

For example, the Eldritch Exalted Orb adds a prefix if the Searing Exarch is dominant. On the other hand, using the same orb on an item where the Eater of Worlds is dominant adds a suffix instead.

The "dominant" modifier depends on the tier of Eldritch Ember (Searing Exarch) or Eldritch Ichor (Eater of Worlds) used. If you have used a Grand Eldritch Ichor and a Lesser Eldritch Ember on an item, then the dominant figure in this context is the Eater of Worlds.

Harbinger's Orb

The Harbinger's Orb is another orb that you can use to get some higher-tier maps very early on in a new league. Unlike most of the PoE orbs outlined in this guide, this can only be acquired by slaying the Harbingers.

While you can get some of the higher-tier red maps with the Harbinger's Orb, you will sometimes be able to turn a map into one of the Beachhead maps instead. These maps contain loads of Harbingers for you to defeat!

Ancient Orb

Do you want to get your hands on some highly coveted unique items like the Headhunter just a few days into a new league? If so, you have the Ancient Orb specifically for that purpose!

The Ancient Orb essentially transforms a unique item into another one of the same type. This means that if you roll a Perseverance belt a number of times using this orb, you might have a chance of obtaining the Headhunter if you are lucky!

Although this orb can be expensive considering that it can only drop from the Harbingers, the Ancient Orb is still something that you'd want to get your hands on a few days into a new league to get a headstart.

Engineer's Orb

The last orb on this guide is rarely used, but it still has a place in PoE. The Engineer's Orb improves the quality of the Strongboxes that you can find while mapping. Although it is cumbersome to have to stop and use several of these orbs on a strongbox, at least, the option is there if you want to maximize the rewards that you can get. The Engineer's Orb can drop from anywhere in the game.

Final Thoughts

There are a ton of different orbs in Path of Exile. While you can say that Grinding Gear Games could have consolidated some of these orbs to cut the number down, we believe that the company did this for a variety of reasons; mainly to provide you with different options at any given moment.

For instance, it is a universally accepted fact that crafting is a core part of PoE. If the effects of the Orb of Alteration and Orb of Augmentation are merged into one, that may lead to a much longer time to get the mods or outcomes that you desire.

Yes, it is indeed cumbersome to have to farm different orbs in the game, but that is for a good reason.

So, there you have it! We hope that this guide serves you well. Be sure to bookmark this guide for future reference.

With that said, good luck on your adventures in Wraeclast, Exile!