Path of Exile 2 Runeforging Guide: Quick Overview
If you are jumping into the Runes of Aldur league in Path of Exile 2 (Patch 0.5), getting a grip on Runeforging is mandatory. It is a massive system, but here is the fast-track breakdown of what you need to know:
Armor Runeforging: Spend Verisium to add a Runic Ward to any piece of armor.
Unique Runeforging: Upgrade your low-level unique items so they actually hold up in the endgame.
Runic Ward: A brand-new defensive resource that acts as a secondary health pool or powers specific Kalguuran skills.
Alloys: Currency items that replace standard item modifiers with guaranteed, targeted crafted mods.
Remnants: Random map encounters that act as crafting stations for runes and currency.
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Unlocking Runeforging in PoE 2
Runeforging in the Runes of Aldur league blends armor and weapon upgrades with a massive variety of new runes sourced from Remnants. You unlock these mechanics gradually as you play through the main campaign and help Farrow research this ancient art.
Here is exactly when and where you unlock each piece of the puzzle:
Before upgrading your gear, you need to understand the core materials driving this system:
Remnants: Crafting stations that randomly spawn in your maps. By defeating packs of empowered monsters, you craft specific runes or currency items from a rotating list.
Verisium: The primary resource for Runeforging. You first discover it in Act 1 inside a dungeon beneath the Tree of Souls. Later, it drops from monsters spawned during Remnant encounters.
Alloys: Unlocked in Act 2, these currency items replace item modifiers with specific targeted mods. They also drop from Remnants.
Runic Ward: The new defensive resource used as a second health pool or to cast Kalguuran skills.
Armor Runeforging
The very first mechanic you unlock in Act 1 gives you the ability to upgrade any piece of armor by giving it Runic Ward.
During Act 1, Farrow hands you a side quest to locate three sights containing Runestones. The final one is in the Orham Farmlands. Once found, Farrow asks you to meet him at the Grelwood. You will open a secret passage into the Lost Catacombs under the Tree of Souls. Inside, you find the Runic Vault, which introduces Verisium and unlocks the Verisium Anvil at the Clearfel Camp.
Because Farrow’s tasks are side quests, you will need to backtrack to older zones or step off the main campaign path to get this done.
Once you have the Verisium Anvil, you can reforge any non-Unique armor (including shields, gloves, boots, and helmets). Gear that is level 55 and above will sacrifice a portion of its base defense stats to gain Runic Ward. Gear below level 55 gets Runic Ward completely free without any downside.
Here is what it looks like on a low-level item:
This low-level upgrade costs 20 Verisium. You lose absolutely nothing. However, look at what happens when you runeforge a high-level item like the Austere Garb:
Upgrading this high-level armor costs 470 Verisium. You lose some Evasion Rating and Energy Shield, but you gain a massive chunk of Runic Ward in return.
What is Runic Ward?
If you are confused about how Runic Ward actually works, here is the official description:
"Runic Ward is a last line of protection, absorbing fatal damage instead of your Life. If you take damage that would cause your Life to reach 0 while you have Runic Ward, you will drop to 1 Life, and your Runic Ward will take the remaining damage. You will still die if you do not have enough Runic Ward to absorb the remaining damage. Runic Ward does not protect against Life loss that is not caused by taking damage. Runic Ward constantly regenerates at a default rate of 5% per second. Monsters can also have Runic Ward. While a monster has Runic Ward, it cannot be Culled."
Note on Culling: Culling Strikes kill Normal enemies at 35% life, Magic at 20%, Rare at 10%, and Unique at 5%. These thresholds check before the hit damage applies. If an enemy has Runic Ward, they cannot be culled.
You can also add Runic Ward directly to your gear using Ward Runes, which drop from Remnants.
Slotting a Lesser Ward Rune early in Act 1 is generally a waste of an augment slot. Having 15 Runic Ward is almost never enough to save you from a fatal hit early on. Ward Runes truly shine later in the game when you are running Kalguuran Skills and need to aggressively stack your Runic Ward pool.
Kalguuran Skills
Runic Ward serves a dual purpose. Beyond defense, it acts as the casting resource for the new Kalguuran Skills.
In Patch 0.5, there are 23 active and 8 support gems crafted entirely from Remnants. These skills consume Runic Ward instead of Mana. A great perk about Kalguuran skill gems is that they have zero attribute requirements or color restrictions, meaning they are completely independent of your character's Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence.
Alloys: Targeted Crafting
After finishing Farrow’s quest in Act 2, you unlock Alloys. You have to track down three runic markers located in Keth, The Bone Pits, and Deshar. Use the caravan route to travel to the Skull of the Titan, clear out the Runic Vault, and interact with the runic object. Once done, Alloys will start dropping from Remnants.
Alloys function similarly to traditional crafting orbs, but they allow you to directly craft a guaranteed modifier onto a rare item. Many of these modifiers are entirely unique to the Runes of Aldur league.
Here is the complete list of all 13 new Alloy currency items:
To use an Alloy, simply apply it to a Rare item. It removes one random modifier and replaces it with the guaranteed mod tied to that specific Alloy and item type.
Heads Up: An item can only hold one crafted modifier at a time. Using an Alloy overwrites any existing Essence mod on that gear, so plan accordingly.
Unique Runeforging
Reaching Act 3 unlocks Unique Verisium Runeforging. This mechanic is highly valuable because it lets you upgrade the base type of low-level Unique weapons and armor (anything that drops below level 55). Weapons gain a serious damage boost, and armors gain higher base defenses plus Runic Ward.
To unlock it, progress Farrow’s "The Runeseeker" quest in Act 3. Find three runic stones in the Jungle Ruins, Venom Crypts, and The Azak Bog. Once clicked, head to the Infested Barrens, enter the Mystic Refuge, clear the zone, and talk to Farrow. This fully upgrades your Verisium Anvil to support Unique items.
Here is how Unique Runeforging scales an item:
The basic Runeforged version simply adds Runic Ward, making the unique durable while keeping the level requirement low. But, if you use a "Crest" currency item during the process, you add an entirely new modifier to the unique.
There are four types of Crests:
Medved’s Crest of the Circle
Vorana’s Crest of the Scythe
Uhtred’s Crest of the Chalice
Olroth’s Crest of the Sun
Aldur’s Legacy Runes
If you have a stash full of unused uniques, you can destroy them using an Aldur’s Legacy rune. This creates a new rune that absorbs some properties from the destroyed unique. Socket this new rune into any item of the same type to transfer those unique properties.
Ancient Runes
Ancient Runes are powerful, weapon-specific runes that unlock after finishing Farrow’s Act 4 quest. Currently, there are 13 Ancient Runes, covering one for every weapon type in the game.
To find these in Act 4, locate four map scraps to unlock Plunder’s Point. Finish the Expedition-style encounter, head into the Deserted Post, and interact with the final object to unlock Runic Inscriptions. After that, Ancient Runes will begin showing up in your Remnant encounters.
