Using Your Currency Orbs Early Game

[Flushing]

I have been reading a lot of "loot sucks" posts since the early access release, and it seems clear that PoE2 Early Access is the first experience many have with PoE.

I just wanted to give some early game advice for Act 1 through 3 normal, which will hopefully help those with frustrations.

First, like PoE1, currency orbs are central to all itemization. This applies across the board to all loot acquisition such as: drops, vendors, and trade with players. You will always have to use currency orbs to mod your items whether they are Normal, Magic, or Rare.

I originally thought this was obvious to all, but it's clear that many posters simply won't use currency orbs because they don't understand the 6 Affix Tiered system, or they were misinformed by PoE vets that they should save all currency orbs until endgame and even then just use them to trade with other players.

This is wrong because the availability of Transmutation Orbs through Exalts are much higher than in PoE, you're crippling yourself until endgame if you don't avail yourself of them, and we're encouraged to use them early in the early access to generate feedback.

1. From Act 1 to Act 3 normal, you should make liberal use of Orbs of Transmutation and Augmentation to craft Magic Items (Blue) from Normal Items (white) in order to create a Magic item with 2 good affixes for your build. Or, buy Blue items with 2 good affixes from town vendors. In my case for weapons for warrior, I look for Increased Physical Damage (flat increase) and increased Attack Speed.

2. Once you get a good 2 Affixed Blue you should apply Artificers Orbs, Armorer's Scraps, Blacksmith's Whetstones, and Runes to that Blue. These currencies are rarer than Transmutes and Augments but are frequent enough for you to use just on Magic Items or Rares that you identify as Keepers. These currencies are very strong because they will give you guaranteed bonuses (no RNG). By way of Example, I will shop for a Blue Weapon that has at least 80% increased physical damage affix. I can increase that to 120% with 2 runes.

3. At this point, taking things further requires the use of more valuable currency. I think it's worth it to use regal orbs on high tier affix blues, and exalts drop at a much higher frequency than in PoE1.

Below are my crafting results in early game, these weapons carried me:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3391159801

I used exalts on both, for my offhand weapon the results were 3 amazing affixes out of 4:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3392492763

I will 2-slot it for an additional +40% increased physical damage and improve weapon quality to 20% for even more flat damage.

Again, I don't think you have to engage in rare crafting in acts 1 through 3 normal, but if you have a solid blue with 2 great affixes, 20% quality, and 2 slots, slamming a regal at the very least isn't going to hurt you and neither will slamming 3 exalts into it.

The point is don't use regals, and definitely don't use exalts, on just anything.

In short, the secret to success starts at obtaining and crafting up the best blue items and not engaging in rare crafting until you have the best blues. That's largely self-explanatory but missed by many.

Furthermore, Vendors will almost always carry blue with 2 affixes that are important for your build. These cost a negligible amount of gold and you can craft them up. Frequently check item vendors each time you level up because they reset their inventory, which scales with you.