Summary
-
In Path of Exile 2, damaged items cannot be changed, which increases the risk of changing items.
-
Sockets in PoE 2 vary with gear size, do not determine Gem links, but are used for runes instead.
-
Incorporating the ability to change runes in PoE 2 would improve the end game and reduce frustration.
There are many ways to Path of Exile 2 players to get the most out of their loot and purchased items, with options to craft from multiple orbs and other in-game sources. For example, players can dramatically change their items with corruption, meaning either Vaal Orbs or other means, since a corrupted item can change several properties – often stone or remain the same, although there is a chance that it will improve with new affixes. Specification is key Path of Exile 2 as much as it is in other action RPGs and looting games, and runes play a big role in this.
Unlike its predecessor, Path of Exile 2Jams and sockets work very differently and are not necessarily tied to gear. Sockets are still added to weapons and armor as they would in the original game, but they are limited to one or two depending on the size of the item (two for two-handed weapons and body armor, one for helmets, gloves, boots, and one-handed weapons). However, sockets do not determine how many links a given Skill Gem can have in it Path of Exile 2but rather they are used for runes to give additional stats to items. The problem is that runes cannot currently be changed even on non-corrupted items.
Family
One Path of Exile 2 feature is one step forward, two steps back
Path of Exile 2 adds a quality of life feature that PoE doesn't have, but it should take things to the next level instead.
Why Path of Exile 2 should change its rune system
Once inserted into an outlet, Path of Exile 2s Runes cannot be removed or altered in any way, which may not seem like too much of a problem at first. In fact, the best runes tend to be iron runes on weapons to increase how much physical damage they deal or runes that add elemental resistance, like desert, ice, and storm runes. However, this is not a rule of thumb, and there are other optimal choices based on a given build or item.
One could argue that making Runes unremovable increases the difficulty of the game and it provides a healthy cycle of items, which may well be true, but it can also be frustrating. For example, players may need to use Path of Exile 2s trading system to find a good item for their builds, unless they are playing Solo Self-Found. Not all items sold on the official website come with empty Rune slots, and not being able to change them means that a given item may no longer be optimal as a result.
How runes can affect Path of Exile 2's endgame
Then advancement to Path of Exile 2s endgame gives players a total of -60% to their resistance, having all the correct runes on one's armor pieces can be crucial to staying at or above the cap, which is 75%. Given that one's items will most likely change over the course of their adventure into Wraeclast, swapping runes on existing gear or items purchased from other players would provide a much needed quality of life feature that would make this choice less punishing.
This result would also allow players who find better runes as they progress into the game to feel more rewarded by their find instead of having to deal with the fact that their current gear might not even be able to use their new loot. Additionally, GGG doesn't even need to make rune replacement a feature that gives players back their current ones, instead allowing them to simply destroy the current rune by replacing it. Path of Exile 2s classes and Ascendants all work differently, so it's only natural that they might need different runes.
Giving players the ability to remove existing ones and replace them wouldn't remove the game's difficulty from underfoot, and would simply be a quality-of-life addition that doesn't make the current system feel inherently punitive. Still, it's unclear what GGG has in store at the moment, and Path of Exile 2s updates change the game a little each time, so such a feature could become a reality.