MMOexp-The Illusion of Control: Why Crafting in POE Always Costs More
In Path of Exile, some crafts are worth bragging about. Others? They're stories of perseverance, pain, and watching your currency tab evaporate into the void POE currency. Today's case study is the latter-a mammoth attempt at crafting an amulet so powerful it borders on absurd: +4 to Level of All Skill Gems, +4 to Level of All Lightning Skill Gems, and (ideally) +4 Minimum Frenzy Charges.
This isn't just a "throw some essences and hope" project. It's a masterclass in PoE's most expensive crafting techniques-and a lesson in why, sometimes, you should just buy the finished item.
The Dream Amulet
The goal was simple in theory: create an amulet with the following stats:
+4 to Level of All Skill Gems
+4 to Level of All Lightning Skill Gems
+4 Minimum Frenzy Charges (optional but dreamy)
The base? A Focus amulet with a special property: -1 prefix and -2 suffixes. This matters because it fundamentally changes how you can roll mods.
Why? Because with those negative affix slots, you can't alt-spam for +2 to All Skill Gems. A magic item with -1 prefix and -2 suffixes has almost no mod space, meaning you have to chaos spam instead.
The base alone cost 380 Divines-unsplit. That "unsplit" part matters, but more on that shortly.
Step One: Isolating +2 to All Skill Gems
The first hurdle was isolating a +2 to All Skill Gems mod on a magic item so it could be imprinted. Without isolation, every future step would be a nightmare of RNG.
There were two approaches:
1.Split the item and pray the +2 lands alone with a suffix.
2.Anull off extra mods until the +2 was isolated.
3.Splitting has a roughly 12% total failure chance (ending with two prefixes), which forces you into risky 50/50 anulls. After talking to a few other crafters, the decision was to try the safer annul route.
It went like this:
Annul… lost the +2 (pain).
Chaos spam to get it back.
Annul again… failed.
Chaos spam again.
Eventually, success-the +2 to All Skill Gems was isolated.
Why Imprints Are Vital
Once the +2 was alone, an Imprint (via Craicic Chimeral beastcraft) locked in a "save point" for the item. If anything went wrong later, it could be reverted to this stage instantly. This was critical because the next steps involved heavy RNG and could brick the item.
Step Two: Getting +2 to All Lightning Skill Gems
The plan here was to use the "Cannot roll Attack Modifiers" bench craft and then Augment Lightning with the crafting bench. This guarantees adding +1 to All Lightning Skill Gems, but there's a 50/50 chance it removes the existing +2 to All Skill Gems in the process.
If it failed, the imprint would restore the +2 All Skill Gems base, and the process would be repeated.
Luckily, this step hit the jackpot on the first try-the amulet now had +2 All Skill Gems and +2 Lightning Skill Gems. That's +4 Lightning total already.
Step Three: Adding Minimum Frenzy Charges
The bench craft +2 Minimum Frenzy Charges was added. This wasn't the end goal-the aim was to double these values using the infamous Hinakora's Lock + Reflecting Mist combo.
The Expensive Part: Going for +8
Here's where the crafting became "rich exiles only" territory.
Hinakora's Lock lets you preview the result of the next craft.
Reflecting Mist duplicates the item with a stat multiplier between 1.5x and 2.1x (in 0.05 increments), creating two versions: one with positive rolls, one with negative rolls.
To turn +2 into +4, you need:
A multiplier of 2.0x or higher
Both relevant mods to roll positive
On paper, the odds are about 1 in 8 to 1 in 12. In practice? The RNG gods laugh at statistics.
Burning Through Currency Tabs
At the time, Hinakora's Locks cost 180 Divines each. The process was:
1.Apply Hinakora's Lock.
2.Use Reflecting Mist.
3.Check the previewed result.
4.If bad, use a currency to clear the lock and try again.
Attempts looked like this:
+2 / -2 / +2 → fail.
-4 / +4 / -4 → wrong combination.
+4 / +4 / -4 → almost perfect (just the wrong Frenzy roll).
Right mods, wrong multiplier → pain.
Repeat.
Breaking the Bank
Running out of currency wasn't the end. A mirror shard was sold for more Divines, buying a few more Locks. Each click was a gamble worth hundreds of Divines.
Finally-after countless failures-the magic moment arrived:
+4 All Skill Gems, +4 Lightning Skill Gems, -4 Minimum Frenzy Charges.
It wasn't the dream triple-positive roll, but it hit the most important parts: the +8 total to Lightning Skills.
Final Touch: Anointing Charisma
With the crafting ordeal over, the final step was anointing the amulet with Charisma (Opalescent + Gold + Gold Oils). This anoint gives a huge aura reservation boost, perfect for high-end builds running multiple auras.The Price of Ambition
Let's break down the cost:
Base Amulet: 380 Divines
Chaos spamming & annuls: ~10 Divines
Beast imprints: Several Divines each
Crafting bench costs: negligible in comparison
16 Hinakora's Locks: ~2.5 mirrors worth
Extra locks after selling items: ~0.5 mirror more
Oils for Charisma: minor cost
Total: Roughly 3 mirrors worth of investment.
Lessons Learned
The takeaway here is bittersweet. On one hand, the result was a monstrous amulet that could push a Lightning-based build to absurd damage levels. On the other, the market price made the crafting effort a financial disaster.
Pros of Crafting It Yourself:
You control every step.
The end product feels uniquely yours.
You gain deep knowledge of PoE's most complex crafting systems.
Cons:
Extreme RNG and cost variance.
The market might already have cheaper versions.
Emotional damage from losing 50/50s.
When to Attempt Crafts Like This
If you're considering a similar high-tier craft, ask yourself:
1.Can I afford to lose several mirrors worth of currency?
2.Is this item unavailable on the market in the exact form I want?
3.Do I enjoy the process more than the profit?
If the answer to (1) or (2) is "no," it's almost always better to buy the finished product. As today's story shows, even with great crafting knowledge, RNG can-and will-punish you POE divine orbs for sale.
Final Verdict
The +4/+4 amulet craft is one of the most expensive and volatile projects you can take on in Path of Exile 3.26. Between isolating mods, manipulating prefixes/suffixes, abusing imprints, and praying to Hinakora's Lock, every step is a potential sinkhole for your wealth.