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Path of Exile 2: How To Upgrade Item Rarity

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3 weeks ago

December 7, 2024

Christoph Rediske

path of exile 2 upgrade item rarities orb of transmutation

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All Path of Exile 2 Item Rarities

How To Upgrade Item Rarity In PoE 2

Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2 are very different games, but some things remain the same between the seminal original ARPG and its successor. In Path of Exile 2, Item Rarity is one of these things that hasn’t changed from the first game.

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There are four different tiers of Item Rarity in Path of Exile 2, and several Currencies that you can use to upgrade your gear from Normal to Magic to Rare in this simple ARPG system. This guide explains the Item Rarity system in Path of Exile 2, including details on how to upgrade Items in PoE 2 using these specific currencies.

All Path of Exile 2 Item Rarities

Path of Exile 2 Item Rarities Rarity Items PoE 2 Magic Rare Normal Unique

In Path of Exile 2, there are four categories of item rarities: Normal, Magic, Rare, and Unique. Each of these PoE 2 item rarities grants a number of Modifiers to gear, which vary in number depending on the item’s rarity.

Normal Items: White text, no Modifiers except base weapon stats.
- Most common type of item drop.
Magic Items: Blue text, comes with at least 1x random Modifier.
- Less common, typically drops from elites and chests.
Rare Items: Yellow text, comes with at least 3x random Modifiers.
- Very uncommon, can drop randomly from enemies, but especially bosses and high-level chests.
Unique Items: Orange text, Often some of the most powerful and build-defining items in PoE 2.
- Extremely rare, comes with pre-determined modifiers that make every unique, well, unique.

You can upgrade Normal and Magic items to their higher tiers (Magic and Rare, respectively) and add modifiers to each of these rarities, but you can only acquire Unique gear from certain sources.

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Unique Items always come with a set number of modifiers that are not randomized, and you cannot add new modifiers to these items.

How To Upgrade Item Rarity In PoE 2

Path of Exile 2 Item Rarities Rarity Upgrade Currency Items Orb of Transmutation Regal Exalted Augmentation

There are two currency items players can use to upgrade Item Rarity in Path of Exile 2: Orb of Transmutation, and Regal Orb. These two PoE 2 upgrade currencies are used to directly upgrade equipment, from Normal to Magic, and from Magic to Rare.

The Orb of Transmutation will upgrade a Normal item to a Magic item with 1x Modifier
A Regal Orb will turn any Magic item into a Rare item with 3x modifiers

You cannot upgrade a Rare item into a Unique item via similar currencies – Rare is the highest tier you can upgrade
Path of Exile 2
items.

There are three ways to get Orb of Transmutation and Regal Orb currencies: by finding them as world drops (from mobs, chests, etc), buying them from certain vendors, or by Disenchanting gear of the associated rarity.

By Disenchanting Magic (blue) items, you will acquire Transmutation Shards.
- When you get 10x Shards, you will create a full Orb of Transmutation.
By Disenchanting Rare (yellow) items, you will acquire Regal Shards.
- When you get 10x Shards, you will create a full Regal Orb.

These currencies can drop randomly from world mobs, and may show up in the Buy Or Sell inventories for vendors throughout your journey. Be sure to check everything that drops off enemies and check vendor inventories whenever you portal back to camp for these PoE upgrade currencies.

Upgrading & Adding Modifiers In Path of Exile 2

There are two other currencies you can use to upgrade equipment, though these will not upgrade item Rarity. Path of Exile 2 players can add Modifiers to their Magic and Rare equipment with the Orb of Augmentation and the Exalted Orb.

An Orb of Augmentation will add a Modifier to any Magic item, up to a maximum of 2x Modifiers
Exalted Orbs will add a Modifier to any Rare item, up to a maximum of 6x Modifiers

When you add your second modifier to a Magic item, you can only add more Modifiers by upgrading it to a Rare item with a Regal Orb, which grants 3x modifiers. From there, use Exalted Orbs to add new modifiers to your Rare equipment.