Why GGG needs to add PoE2 Crafting Bench ASAP

Hey, exiles! Patch 0.2, Dawn of the Hunt, hit on April 4, 2025, and while Path of Exile 2 shines in many ways, crafting's a dumpster fire. Since 0.1.1b, Divine Orbs have soared past 100 Exalted Orbs, bases feel like throwaways, and crafting's a brutal RNG slog. The culprits? No PoE 2 crafting bench, no scouring orbs, and a currency famine that kills hope. We're diving deep into every flaw, unpacking the chaos, and showing how a crafting bench could turn it around—complete with a mechanics rundown. Let's get into it!  

PoE 2 crafting feels like pre-beta PoE 1—transmute, regal, exalt, cross your fingers. Fail? That's it—no redo, no finesse. PoE 1 grew into a beast with essences, fossils, and meta-crafting, all built on solid foundations. PoE 2 ripped those out, leaving a hollow shell where control's a distant memory.  

Past vs. Present: In 2013 PoE 1, a regal'd three-stat ring was basic but workable. PoE 2 in 2025? You're lucky to get two mods before it's trash—no tools to fight back.  

Fail Spiral: Transmute a base—mana regen. Regal—+10 strength. Exalt—useless tier-three mod. No PoE 2 crafting bench, no scour—it's a dead end every step.

PoE 1's crafting bench, launched August 2014, was a game-changer—clunky with Masters, sure, but brilliant. It scaled from newbie-friendly resist caps to pro-level meta-crafts like “prefixes cannot be changed.” PoE 2 ditched it, and crafting's paying the price—no safety net, no strategy.  

Basics: Add flat life (+50), resists (+30 fire), or attributes (+20 strength)—fixed gaps fast, cost a few chaos orbs.  

Blocking: Craft mana (+50) on a chest—exalt can't roll it again, boosting DPS odds. Fill suffixes (e.g., +10 Dexterity) to force a prefix slam.  

Meta-Crafting: “Prefixes cannot be changed” (2 divines)—lock half your item, scour the rest, slam again. “Can have up to three crafted mods” (big cost, big reward)—stack custom stats. “Cannot roll attack mods”—force caster gear.

PoE 2 Contrast: No bench means no blocks—exalt a chest, get mana, cry. Omens (“suffixes can't change,” 11 divines) are rare, solo-use, and weak—no combo power like PoE 1's bench.  

Impact: Without a PoE 2 crafting bench, you're not crafting—you're just rolling a RNG dice blind. Bases die, trade takes over.

GGG cut scouring orbs to make ground loot matter—nice theory, total flop. In PoE 1, scour reset bad rolls—lock prefixes, wipe suffixes, retry. PoE 2's one-way rarity (normal → magic → rare) is a straitjacket—fail once, and that base is toast.  

GGG's Vision: ID a rare, regal if it's decent—bases should pop. Without scour, a bad transmute kills it—20% quality, two sockets, one chance, junked.  

Hard Truth: Bases matter less. No reset means explicit mods dominate—trade-site rares crush ground drops.  

Essence Block: Speed essence—nice. Greater life essence—trash roll? No scour, no second shot—stuck forever.  

Economy Blow: No salvage means more trade reliance—Divines spike, loot's a punchline.

Crafting thrives on currency—PoE 2's got none. Exalts flood maps (20-40 per T15), but divines, essences, and omens are ghosts. PoE 1 had chaos, alterations, fossils—fuel for the grind. Here, you're starved, and every craft's a cliff.  

Essence Rarity: Level 89, zero greater essences—56 exalts on trade if you're rich. Normal essences? Barely there—good luck forcing phys mods.  

Omen Scarcity: Two omens total—one sold for 20 exalts, none craft-worthy. “Suffixes can't change”? 11 divines vs. PoE 1's 2—rare and gutless.  

Expedition Bust: Rog crafts—five steps, all luck. Gloves: reroll suffixes—junk. Boots: add strength—meh. No depth, no juice—just a tease.  

Crafting Death: Transmute, regal, exalt—each a fail point. No scour, no bench, no currency = crafting's a corpse.

No PoE 2 crafting bench or scouring torches the economy. Post-0.1.1b, Divines hit 100+ exalts (up from 20-30)—rare, no sinks. Exalts are dirt-cheap with no bench to burn 'em. Players hoard divines for trade, not crafting, inflating them further. Newbies farm 1 exalt; gear costs 10 divines—math doesn't add up.  

No Sink, No Balance: PoE 1's bench ate divines—meta-crafting was a currency shredder. PoE 2? Nothing spends 'em—top dogs stack, rest starve.  

Trade Reigns: 50 exalts on RNG vs. 5 for a trade-site rare—why craft? Ground loot's dead when bases can't be fixed.

GGG's cautious—Harvest's overcontrol broke PoE 1. But this barren system's a dud. Here's how to revive crafting in Patch 0.2, step by step:  

Mechanics: Start with basics—+50 life (1 chaos), +30 resist (2 chaos). Mid-tier: block mods (e.g., +50 mana, 5 chaos) for slam odds. Late-game: “prefixes cannot be changed” (2 divines), “three crafted mods” (5 divines)—sinks currency, rewards skill.  

Why: Gives newbies a lifeline, vets a playground—eases trade reliance, balances divines.

Scouring Orbs: Reset rarity—normal → rare → normal. Bad regal? Scour, retry—bases live again.  

More Currency: Boost essence, omen, alteration drops. Spam-crafting beats “transmute and quit”—fuel the fire.  

Mod Pool Fix: Sparse tags now—add variety so control isn't a cheat code. Balance depth, not despair.

Crafting's PoE's heart—turn junk into glory, feel like a genius. Patch 0.2's system? A joyless RNG pit—fail, fail, trade. A PoE 2 crafting bench and scouring could save it—newbies cap resists, pros chase perfection, economy breathes. Right now, it's bleak—loot's a joke, crafting's a chore, and divines taunt us from the elite's stash. GGG can turn this around—bring back the tools, make it sing. What's your stance—am I right, or is this mess secretly brilliant?  

Patch 0.2's crafting crisis rolls on—keep an eye on MMOJUGG for more as it unfolds!