Path of Exile: The Ultimate Currency Guide
Jul-10-2025 PST
Understanding these currency items is essential to mastering PoE's economy and crafting system. This guide will introduce the most important currency items in Path of Exile, explain their uses, and provide tips on how to acquire and utilize them effectively.
What Makes Currency in Path of Exile Unique?
In PoE, currency items are both the means to craft and improve gear and the primary trade medium between players. Items like Chaos Orbs, Exalted Orbs, and Divine Orbs don't just buy things-they also alter your items' properties, making currency a multifaceted resource.
Because of this, Path of exile currency has inherent value based on its utility, rarity, and impact on gameplay, leading to a vibrant player-driven economy.
Overview of Key Currency Items
1. Chaos Orb (Standard Currency for Trading)
Function: Reforges a rare item with new random modifiers.
Use: Widely used to obtain new items and as a basic trade currency.
Rarity: Common enough to be affordable but valuable.
Tips: Chaos Orbs are the standard currency in many PoE leagues and trade hubs, often used as a baseline to price other currencies or items.
2. Exalted Orb (High-End Currency)
Function: Adds a new random modifier to a rare item.
Use: Highly prized for crafting powerful end-game gear.
Rarity: Very rare and valuable.
Tips: Exalted Orbs often trade for many Chaos Orbs and are a symbol of wealth in PoE. Used carefully, they can vastly improve gear quality.
3. Orb of Alchemy
Function: Upgrades a normal (white) item to a rare (yellow) item.
Use: Crafting rare items from scratch.
Rarity: More common than Exalted but less than Chaos Orbs.
Tips: Best used on high item level bases to maximize rare item potential.
4. Orb of Scouring
Function: Removes all modifiers from an item, making it normal (white) again.
Use: Prepping items for crafting or reuse.
Rarity: Common.
Tips: Essential for crafting, often paired with Orb of Alchemy or other crafting orbs.
5. Orb of Fusing
Function: Re-rolls the sockets and links on an item.
Use: Crafting items with specific socket colors and links.
Rarity: Common to moderate rarity.
Tips: Socket links are crucial for skill gem setups, so these orbs are important for crafting.
6. Divine Orb
Function: Rerolls the numeric values of explicit modifiers on an item.
Use: Fine-tuning gear stats.
Rarity: Rare and valuable.
Tips: Often used on high-end gear to perfect numeric rolls.
7. Regal Orb
Function: Upgrades a magic (blue) item to a rare (yellow) item.
Use: Crafting rare items from magic items.
Rarity: Rare.
Tips: Use on high-level magic bases to improve crafting potential.
8. Mirror of Kalandra (Extremely Rare)
Function: Creates an exact copy of any item.
Use: Duplication of rare and unique items.
Rarity: One of the rarest and most valuable items in the game.
Tips: Because of its rarity, it is highly prized and often used in big trades or crafting expensive items.
Special Currency Categories
Fossils and Resonators (Delve Currency)
Fossils: Used to craft items with specialized mods by slotting into resonators.
Resonators: Tools to socket fossils into gear.
Use: Powerful crafting tools allowing more control over item affixes.
Tips: Best for advanced crafters seeking specific mod combinations.
Essences
Function: Currency and crafting items that grant guaranteed modifiers when used on an item.
Use: Crafting items with predictable affixes.
Tips: Useful for consistent crafting and leveling rare items.
Scarabs (Delve Currency)
Function: Apply map modifiers that increase monster density or drop rates.
Use: Enhancing map runs for better farming efficiency.
Tips: Use to boost currency and item drops during map runs.
Incubators
Function: Attach to gear and, as you kill monsters, eventually hatch to give currency or items.
Use: Passive farming of currency or items during play.
Tips: Choose incubators based on your target rewards.
How to Acquire Currency in Path of Exile
1. Farming Maps and Bosses
Run maps and defeat bosses to earn currency drops.
Higher tier maps generally yield better currency.
Use sextants, scarabs, and other map modifiers to boost drops.
2. Trading with Other Players
Use PoE trade websites or in-game trading to buy POE currency or sell it.
Trade valuable loot or crafted items for currency.
Learn the currency exchange rates to get fair deals.
3. Vendor Recipes
Certain vendor recipes give currency items (e.g., selling a full set of rare items for Chaos Orbs).
Useful for converting unwanted loot into currency.
4. League Mechanics
Engage with current league content (e.g., Delve, Incursion) to farm unique currency related to the league.
League-specific currencies can often be traded for standard currency.
Currency Usage Tips and Crafting Basics
Understanding Crafting Steps
Use Orbs of Scouring to clear mods.
Use Orbs of Alchemy or Regal Orbs to upgrade base items.
Use Chaos and Exalted Orbs to reroll and add affixes.
Use Fossils or Essences for specific crafting.
Divine Orbs to perfect numeric values.
Managing Your Currency
Store currency carefully-avoid using rare orbs frivolously.
Learn which currency fits your crafting goals.
Trade excess currency to acquire what you need.
Keep an eye on currency inflation and market prices.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
Don't waste Exalted Orbs on low-level or low-item-level gear.
Avoid over-investing in crafting without a plan.
Don't hoard currency excessively; use it strategically to improve your gameplay.
Summary
Currency in Path of Exile is much more than mere money-it's the backbone of crafting, trading, and progression. Mastering the use and acquisition of currency items like Chaos Orbs, Exalted Orbs, Divine Orbs, and more is essential to enjoying the full depth of the game.
Whether you're a casual player farming maps or a hardcore crafter shaping perfect gear, understanding PoE's currency system opens doors to better gear, stronger characters, and a thriving trading economy.
Happy hunting, crafting, and trading in Wraeclast!