If you’re diving into Path of Exile 2 and wondering where your hard-earned currency should go, Essences are a great place to start. They’re often overlooked, but the right Essences can seriously boost your gear without the high cost of Exalted Orbs or Chaos Orbs. In this guide, we’ll break down which Essences are worth investing in, how they work with crafting, and why smart spending is key—especially if you plan to buy PoE 2 currency and want to make the most out of it.

Essences are powerful crafting tools that guarantee at least one specific modifier on a rare item. This makes them a beginner-friendly and reliable way to craft gear. The most popular—and valuable—Essences in PoE 2 right now are Essence of Greed, Essence of Wrath, Essence of Woe, and Essence of Zeal. Each of these adds stats that are core to many builds, like life, spell damage, or attack speed.

Let’s talk strategy. If you're using PoE 2 currency to upgrade gear, start by targeting base items with good item level and socket colors. Then, apply an Essence that suits your build. For example, if you're playing a caster, Essence of Woe is great because it guarantees increased spell damage. Want more survivability? Use Essence of Greed to guarantee a life roll. These are especially useful in early to mid-mapping when your gear isn’t perfect yet but you still need upgrades.

One pro tip: use Essences on items that have no influenced mods, as Essences will override all prefixes or suffixes depending on the tier. This gives you more control over the outcome. It's also a great way to prepare bases for future Chaos or Regal spam. And here’s the thing—if you're low on Essences or don’t want to farm them all, it’s totally fine to buy PoE 2 currency from trusted platforms like U4GM. Just make sure you’re spending it wisely.

Another trick: look out for Remnant of Corruption. This currency item corrupts an Essence monster and upgrades its drops to higher tiers. Use this on shrieking Essences to try for special “corrupted” versions that have exclusive modifiers, which can sometimes sell for a fortune or make amazing gear.

Smart players also know that flipping gear crafted with good Essences is a steady way to earn more PoE 2 currency. Just craft boots with Essence of Zeal for movement speed, or gloves with Essence of Insanity for attack speed, and sell them for profit.

At the end of the day, don’t let your stash fill up with unused Essences. Use them, combine them with crafting or sell them—just don’t waste them. Whether you're farming or you buy PoE 2 currency to save time, knowing how to use Essences efficiently will take your build to the next level. Happy crafting!