Path of Exile Engineer's Orb Wiki & Tips

What is Engineer's Orb in POE?

Engineer's Orb is an important currency item in the popular action role-playing game, Path of Exile. It plays a crucial role in crafting and enhancing items, allowing players to modify their equipment to suit their desired gameplay style.  In the vast world of Wraeclast, where Path of Exile is set, players go on epic adventures battling hordes of enemies and powerful bosses. Along the way, they acquire a wide array of equipment such as weapons, armor, and accessories. However, not all items that drop will be suitable for a player's build or meet their requirements. That's where crafting comes into play, and Engineer's Orb is a valuable tool for this purpose.

Usage: How Does Engineer's Orb Work in POE?

The primary function of an Engineer's Orb is to manipulate sockets on an item. Sockets in Path of Exile represent slots where skill gems can be inserted. Skill gems contain various active skills and support gems that enhance those skills in various ways. The arrangement of sockets and links between them can greatly impact a player's build and playstyle. By using an Engineer's Orb, players can alter the socket arrangement to their liking.

• One significant use of Engineer's Orbs is to increase the number of sockets on an item. Every piece of equipment has a maximum number of sockets it can have based on its type. For example, a helmet can have a maximum of four sockets, while a two-handed weapon can have up to six sockets. By using an Engineer's Orb, players can attempt to add additional sockets to their items, providing more opportunities for skill gem customization.

• In addition to increasing socket numbers, Engineer's Orbs can also be used to manipulate the links between sockets. Socket links determine which sockets are connected, enabling players to create powerful gem combinations. By activating support gems that reinforce a primary skill gem, players can significantly amplify their damage output or survivability. Engineer's Orbs allow players to rework these connections, enabling them to experiment and optimize their gem setups.

• Another remarkable aspect of Engineer's Orbs is their ability to change the color of sockets. Skill gems in Path of Exile have different attribute requirements, and the color of sockets determines which types of gems can be placed in them. The three primary colors are red, blue, and green, representing strength, intelligence, and dexterity, respectively. By using an Engineer's Orb, players can attempt to change the color of a socket to one that aligns better with the attribute requirements of their desired skill gems.

How to Farm Engineer's Orb in POE?

• Run high tier Blight maps with lots ofBeyond mobs. These have a decent drop rate for all rare orbs.

• Farm Maven invitations, especially for endgame bosses. Invitations have 0.1-0.3% drop rate per encounter.

• Camp and run Core Malachai, bringing Scarabs/Map device bonuses for extra drops. Core bosses are a solid source.

• Chain Delirium mirror fractured maps in high tiers. Deli orbs from Metamorph also boost orb drops here.

• Run high quant boosted Legion encounters, especially 5-ways. Legion mobs frequently drop orbs.

• Sell Delirium orb sets on TFT to generate currency and buy Engineer's from others.

• Use Alva missions in high tier maps. Incursion bosses and Rooftop chests can drop good orbs.

• When in groups, prioritize Beyond bosses, Perandus chests, and Legion generals for increased drops.

• Engage in MF culling services for others running the above content for finds.

How to Create an Infused Engineer's Orb?

Here are the steps to create an Infused Engineer's Orb in Path of Exile:

• Obtain a regular Engineer's Orb, which can drop from endgame content like Maven Invites, Uber Elder, etc. at a very low rate.

• Use a Corpus Research altar at maps with the Pure Infusion passive allocated. This will add the Infused modifier to the orb.

• To activate Infused, you need to have 20 stacks of Infused mods on maps from running maps with Blood Crux's. Each map run grants 1-2 stacks.

• With 20 stacks, activate the altar and offer the Engineer's Orb. There is a chance it will become Infused.

• An Infused Engineer's Orb has the added power to also reroll fractured sockets on top of the regular deterministic rolls.

• Fractured sockets keep their links but reroll colors when an item is modified. Infused Engineer's lets control this.

• However, Infused Orbs are even rarer than regular, so will be very expensive to acquire and use casually for most players.

How to Use Engineer's Orb POE?

• Select a body armor, shield, or two-handed weapon as the target item. Engineer's Orbs can only be used on these base item types.

• Right click the Engineer's Orb in your inventory then left click on the target item. This will open the socket manipulation window.

• In the window, you can see the minimum and maximum number of sockets allowed for that item base. Use the up/down buttons to select the number you want within this range.

• Then use the color buttons to select the colors of each socket slot. You can choose any combination as long as it doesn't exceed the total socket count.

• Once your desired setup is configured, click the "Re-roll Sockets" button to finalize it. The item's sockets will be re-rolled completely as selected.

• The re-rolled sockets will have an orange text color to indicate they were changed deterministically and cannot be altered by other orbs.

• Any existing links on the item will be broken in the process. You may want to use a Jeweller's Orb first if links need to be preserved.

Engineer's Orb - What Strongboxes are the Best to Use?

• Armorer's/Weapon Crusher strongboxes - These have a chance to drop body armor and weapon base types that Engineer's Orbs can be used on. Good for obtaining desirable bases.

• Corroded/Aberrant fossils add common sockets/links - Useful for getting started crafting jewelry, especially corrupted rare amulets for a 6L.

• Gemcutter's/Blacksmith's - Can drop lots of jewels/armors/weapons including 6 sockets. Good bulk source.

• Tempestuous - Has great quant and item pool includes all types. High chance for multiple bases/orbs etc.

• Machinarium - Can drop many high level bases. Worth opening in high maps.

• Rogue's markers - Give currency including Engineer's orbs. 5-ways arePeak Elder markers especially.

• Cartographer's/Surveyor's - For chance at maps as currency side drops. Map bases useless but bonus to opening.

• Scarab boosted Delirium/Blight boxes - Can have multiple sources of orbs including rare ones rolled by scarabs.