Path of Exile 2 gearing guide for beginners: When and how to modify gear

Path of Exile 2 can be a daunting ARPG to chew on, especially for someone's first foray into the genre. Many aspects of the game are new to even veterans of the series, and the amount of content packed into the first few hours of gameplay can be overwhelming.

Like almost every other ARPG before it, Path of Exile 2's gameplay loop heavily relies on character progression and incremental upgrades toward the best possible build. Gearing happens to be a significant portion of that goal, one that has a lot of moving parts and much to learn about.

In this guide, we look at when and how to modify gear in Path of Exile 2.

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When should you upgrade your gear?

There is no right or wrong time to upgrade your gear in Path of Exile 2. That said, the method of upgradation could affect your in-game experience, which is something to take note of if you're a novice ARPG player.

Pick up every item you can fit in your bags (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

To safely upgrade your gear, you must first understand your progression, upgrade path, and the likely mods to look for in items. For example, a spellcaster's general choice of mods should be Spell Damage and Cast Speed, +# to Levels of Cold/Lightning/Fire Spell Skill gems (# representing the numeric value which can range from 1 to 5), Maximum Mana, and so on.

These items are not readily available so you must make do with what you can get your hands on. The first order of business is to fill all of the gear slots with Magic items: this makes your early game slightly easier in Path of Exile 2. At this point, look to safely level up and get some early damage from skill levels.

As the campaign progresses, rare enemies become relatively common: they should be hunted for rare items and high amounts of gold. It is likely that the rare items will not fit your build given the breadth of item bases in Path of Exile 2 and potential affixes.

Therefore, it is best to equip armor with a life or energy shield roll, and a few defensive affixes, such as elemental resistances. For weapons, casters have it relatively easier, as getting Gem levels on any piece of item is a win-win scenario. Beyond that, getting any generic Spell damage and Cast Speed on weapons is ideal.

If you enjoy melee, be on the lookout for weapons with high base damage and attack speed. This way, your DPS output stays topped up and your skills stay up to date.

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How to modify your gear in Path of Exile 2

As mentioned, this depends on the available resources. You can use many crafting currencies in Path of Exile 2, such as Orbs of Transmutation and Augmentation, Regal and Exalted Orbs, and even Essences to upgrade your gear.

Use the Salvage Bench to get access to currencies (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

Early on, you will need to obtain gear from monster and boss drops, as may not have either currency to craft or gold to purchase items from vendors. As you disenchant and salvage your gear, the currencies will slowly accrue.

Path of Exile 2's monsters and bosses drop crafting currencies, which should be spent expeditiously on gear upgrades. One such currency type is Runes, which can be slotted in gear pieces to alleviate some affix pressure.

Essence is another currency type that appears early during the campaign. It can be obtained from enemies, so try to kill as many as possible. Once in possession, you can use this currency on normal and magic items (based on the tier) to guarantee one or two mods.

In Path of Exile 2, Trading is another effective way to upgrade gear, should you have the requisite currencies that the buyer is asking for. Try to go for items with high life values and good resistance rolls to stay capped.

Essences like these are extremely helpful for crafting projects (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

Later, particularly during the endgame, you will acquire various currencies of different league content, such as Distilled Emotions from Delirium and Catalysts and Breach Rings from Breach. These are all part of the gearing process, as your character begins to climb the ladder.

For example, a Breach Ring is currently the strongest piece of jewelry in the game, as it can gain quality, increasing the maximum value of the affixes. Distilled Emotions are a massive power upgrade, as these currencies allow you to anoint a Passive Skill Tree Notable on your amulet, which provides its full effects at all times.

In the endgame, you can obtain higher tiers of rare items that have the potential to roll even higher-value affixes, making these extremely valuable for personal gear progression or trading.

Furthermore, the Expedition vendor Rog offers an alternate crafting method where you can buy items from him and then reroll affixes by spending the league's currency. This method of crafting, known as 'Rogcrafting' in the community, is a great way to hasten the endgame progression by obtaining good gear.

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Regarding gearing and the general idea of gear progression, there are no concrete solutions or guaranteed methods to generate items with every desirable affix. However, keep your eyes open and use all available tools mentioned above to stay on top of your progress.