Orb of Chance vs Buying Uniques: What’s More Efficient for Budget Players

For budget-conscious players in Path of Exile 2 as of 2025, the choice between using Orbs of Chance and simply buying unique items is a matter of weighing risk, efficiency, and financial control.

Chancing for uniques with Orbs of Chance is essentially gambling. The Orb of Chance can upgrade a normal (white) item base into a unique, but the chance for this to occur—especially for the most desired items—is extremely low. Most attempts yield only magic or rare items rather than uniques. The more coveted the unique (Headhunter, Astramentis), the rarer its chance outcome, pushing the number of Orb attempts required into the hundreds, if not thousands. Each orb carries a tangible value in the game’s currency market, currently around 10–13 Exalted Orbs in bulk trades in 2025.

For the average player on a limited budget, this gambling aspect can quickly lead to disappointment. The economics are stark: unless the base targeted has more than one high-value unique, most failed attempts are pure currency loss. For example, chancing a Stellar Amulet for the insanely rare Astramentis is risky because you’re likely to “delete” valuable bases and orbs with no return. Only a select few bases are worth repeatedly chancing, and even then, the chance of success is low and the cost per attempt high. For every successful big win, there are countless losses.

By contrast, buying uniques directly from other players or via market boards is far more predictable and cost-effective for budget players. The market price of most uniques, even relatively rare ones, is determined by supply, demand, and historical drop rates. Most uniques cost less to purchase outright than what a player would spend attempting to create one with Orbs of Chance. In addition, selling your Orbs of Chance outright for known currency (such as Exalted Orbs or Divine Orbs) is a guaranteed way to avoid losses and gives you the flexibility to buy precisely what you need—or even to buy poe 2 currency when you need to top up your crafting pool quickly. In fact, guides explicitly state the only safe, risk-free way to profit from Orbs of Chance is simply to sell them on the market.

There is a psychological appeal to “gambling” for your own unique, and in Solo Self Found modes (where trading isn’t an option), chancing can be the best or only strategy. However, for most budget-oriented players, direct purchase is the superior choice the vast majority of the time. The only situations where using Orbs of Chance makes sense are when you’re after quirky, build-enabling uniques with low market supply, or if you’re simply seeking the thrill.

For those with tight resources, hunting for cheap poe 2 currency deals on trade forums can stretch every orb further—but generally, buying uniques and selling Orbs of Chance remains the most efficient path for budget players.