Champion Cuirass
Body Armour · Normal
Item level 82
Sockets 0/2
Artificer's Orb adds a socket
Prefixes 0/3
Suffixes 0/3
This craft
One common chest — Life, two resists, socket. Not a recipe.
- Life
- Two resists0/2
- Socket
- Fracture if keepersoptional
Lock the crafted slot
Lock Life here. Essence of the Body writes the crafted slot. Transmute leaves it empty.
CRAFTED SLOT
Orb of Transmutation
Used on a Normal item — one random Magic line. Crafted slot stays empty.
Verified
Currency — click to load the station
Transmute or Alchemy to leave Normal. Essence (Normal/Greater) needs Magic — Transmute first. Lesser Essence is the other white path and spends the crafted slot. Augment then Regal, or Essence as a targeted Regal. Spent orbs dim. Perfect on Rare. Greater and Perfect Transmute, Augment, and Regal are the same action with a higher-level band — Alchemy has no Greater or Perfect. Alloys are this league: used on Rare, same crafted slot as Essence. Arm Homogenising Coronation before a Regal — it consumes on apply. Alchemy and prefix/suffix Coronation Omens are contested and cannot arm. On Perfect or Corrupted Essence, arm Sinistral or Dextral Crystallisation to strip a prefix or a suffix instead of a random line. Essence is selected when an Essence is loaded.
Orbs
Orb of Transmutation
Greater Orb of Transmutation
Perfect Orb of Transmutation
Orb of Alchemy
Orb of Augmentation
Greater Orb of Augmentation
Perfect Orb of Augmentation
Regal Orb
Greater Regal Orb
Perfect Regal Orb
Essences
Enhancement
Grounding
Insulation
Ruin
Thawing
Body
Mind
Corrupted-tier (Vaal a Perfect Essence)
Delirium
Hysteria
Abyss
Breach
Alloys (Runes of Aldur)
Cyclonic Alloy
Expansive Alloy
Sovereign Alloy
Other essences
Abrasion
Alacrity
Battle
Command
Electricity
Flames
Haste
Ice
Opulence
Seeking
Sorcery
Infinite
Horror
Insanity
Other alloys
Adaptive Alloy
Celestial Alloy
Mystic Alloy
Prismatic Alloy
Protective Alloy
Runic Alloy
Swift Alloy
The Runebinder's Alloy
The Runefather's Alloy
Transcendent Alloy
Why this step
- Why EssencesVerified
- Most currency adds a random modifier. Essences guarantee a specific one. The roster is entirely new in PoE 2 — PoE 1 names like Greed and Hatred do not map over.
- Transmute, Alchemy, Augment, RegalVerified
- Orb of Transmutation: Normal → Magic, one random modifier. Orb of Alchemy: Normal → Rare, four random modifiers, skipping Magic. Orb of Augmentation: adds a second random on a 1-mod Magic. Regal Orb: Magic → Rare, one random. None of these write the crafted slot. Transmute (then optionally Augment) is how you prepare a white base for Essence. Alchemy skips straight to Rare — Perfect Essence can still write the crafted slot afterward. Lesser Essence is the other way off Normal — it spends the crafted slot immediately, so you Regal afterward instead of using another Essence.
- Regal and Alchemy OmensVerified
- Omen of Homogenising Coronation: the new Regal modifier shares a tag with one already on the item. Arm it before Apply — it consumes on that Regal. Sinistral and Dextral Coronation (prefix-only / suffix-only Regal) and Sinistral and Dextral Alchemy (max prefixes / max suffixes) are contested in this teacher and cannot arm. On a Perfect or Corrupted Essence, Omen of Sinistral or Dextral Crystallisation removes a prefix or a suffix instead of a random line, then the Essence writes the crafted slot.
- Greater and PerfectVerified
- Greater and Perfect Transmutation, Augmentation, and Regal are the same action as the base orb — the new modifier is forced into a higher level band. Perfect is the highest currency tier of that action. Orb of Alchemy has no Greater or Perfect variant. These are not Omens.
- Lesser, Essence, GreaterVerified
- Lesser: Normal → Magic, adds the guaranteed modifier — the alternative to Transmute. Essence: Magic → Rare, a targeted Regal — Transmute (and optional Augment) first. Greater: same as Essence, higher-level roll. 3 Lesser of one type reforge into 1 Essence; 3 Essence into 1 Greater. Reforging Bench →
- Perfect and CorruptedVerified
- Perfect Essence is used on a Rare. It removes one existing modifier at random and writes the guaranteed line into the crafted slot — a fix for a Rare that's almost right, not a starting point. Arm Sinistral or Dextral Crystallisation first to strip a prefix or a suffix instead of a random line. Corrupted-tier Essences come from Vaal-corrupting a Perfect Essence and work the same way with their own modifier pools.
- One crafted slotVerified
- As of 0.5, Essences (Lesser through Greater, plus Perfect and Corrupted) and Alloys all write into the same slot. A second Essence on this item is blocked. Start a new base — there is no Scouring.
- Alloys (this league)Verified
- Runic Alloys are Runes of Aldur currency. Used on a Rare — they remove one random modifier and write a guaranteed line into the same crafted slot as Essence. They are not a second slot. Act 2 Farrow unlocks the recipes. The roster is league-tied. Runes of Aldur →
- Where they dropVerified
- Imprisoned Essence Monsters in maps and the campaign. Right-click three times to empower before the kill for a better drop. A Vaal Orb on an unopened monster can reroll its type.
Read this lesson
Why this lesson matters
Most currency in Path of Exile 2 adds a *random* modifier. Essences are one of the few tools that guarantee a *specific* one. That reliability makes them the natural starting point for most crafts — they're usually how you lock in the one stat your build actually needs before letting semi-random currency fill in the rest.
Essences are a completely new roster in PoE 2. If you're carrying Path of Exile 1 essence names in your head — Essence of Greed, Essence of Hatred, and so on — none of them map over. Treat this as a fresh system, not a reskin.
The three normal tiers
Essences come in three normal strength tiers, and they all do the same basic thing at increasing power:
- Lesser Essence — used on a Normal item, upgrades it straight to Magic and adds the Essence's guaranteed modifier.
- Essence (the "Normal" tier, no prefix) — used on a Magic item, upgrades it to Rare and adds the guaranteed modifier — functionally a targeted Regal Orb.
- Greater Essence — same as the Normal tier, but the guaranteed modifier rolls at a higher level.
You can tier essences up at the Reforging Bench: 3 Lesser Essences of the same type combine into 1 Normal Essence, and 3 Normal into 1 Greater. See Exchanges for how the Reforging Bench works in general.
Perfect and Corrupted tiers — a different mechanic
Perfect-tier Essences work differently from the three tiers above, and it matters:
- Perfect Essence — used on a Rare item (not Magic). Removes one existing modifier at random and replaces it with the Essence's guaranteed modifier. This is your tool for fixing a Rare that's *almost* right but has one bad line.
- Corrupted-tier Essences — six types: Essence of Delirium, Essence of Horror, Essence of Hysteria, Essence of Insanity, Essence of the Abyss, and Essence of the Breach. These aren't obtained directly; you get them by Vaal-corrupting a Perfect Essence. They behave like Perfect Essences (remove-one, add-guaranteed) but with their own modifier pools.
The 19 essence types
All 19 are new names for PoE 2 — none of these existed in PoE 1:
| Essence | Essence | Essence |
|---|---|---|
| Body | Mind | Enhancement |
| Abrasion | Flames | Ice |
| Electricity | Insulation | Thawing |
| Grounding | Ruin | Battle |
| Sorcery | Haste | Alacrity |
| Seeking | Opulence | Infinite |
| Command |
Each one guarantees a different modifier line (life, mana, a resistance, a damage type, and so on) — check the Essence's own tooltip in-game for the exact modifier and its level requirements, since that's the kind of granular, frequently-rebalanced number this page won't try to freeze in place.
The single-crafted-slot rule applies here
As of patch 0.5, an item can only carry one guaranteed "crafted" modifier at a time, and Essences (Lesser through Greater, plus Perfect and Corrupted) all write into that same slot — alongside this league's Alloys. You cannot stack two Essence-guaranteed modifiers on one item by using two different Essences in sequence, even though that reportedly worked in earlier PoE2 patches. See How Crafting Works for the full rule and how it interacts with Desecration's separate slot.
Obtaining Essences
Essences drop from Imprisoned Essence Monsters — special monsters found in maps and the campaign, encased until you interact with them. Right-clicking one three times "empowers" it (making it tougher but guaranteeing a better essence drop) before you kill it; killing it immediately without empowering still drops an essence, just a less favorable one. A Vaal Orb can also be used on an unopened Essence monster to reroll its type or free it without a fight.
Practical tips
- Reach for a Normal or Greater Essence when you want to guarantee your build's single most important modifier before spending anything else — it's your one reliable slot, so use it deliberately.
- Reach for a Perfect Essence when a Rare is otherwise good but has one modifier you specifically want gone and replaced — it's a precision tool, not a starting point.
- Don't try to stack multiple Essence-guaranteed mods on one item; the single-crafted-slot rule blocks it as of this patch, whatever an older guide might say.
- If you're farming for a specific Essence type, empowering Imprisoned Essence Monsters (the 3x right-click) before the kill improves your odds — don't skip it if you have time.
Sources: poe2wiki.net — Category: Essences · Mobalytics — PoE 2 Essences Guide · Game8 — List of Essences