In the complex economy of Path of Exile 2, currency farming is everything. Whether you're pushing your build to its absolute limit or just trying to get through the campaign faster, the amount of loot you pull from your maps has a huge impact on your progress and power. One stat that often sparks heated discussion is Item Rarity-specifically, how much it actually affects your loot, and whether chasing high percentages is worth the investment.

After running a detailed test comparing 0% and 100% Item Rarity in PoE 2, many players were left wondering-what happens if we go even further? So, I set out to test a whopping 200% Item Rarity under controlled conditions to see whether going all-in on rarity leads to meaningful increases in POE 2 Currency Orbs and valuable currency drops.

In this article, I'll break down the setup, the results, and offer some clear conclusions on where the true rarity "sweet spot" lies in Path of Exile 2.

Setting the Stage: Testing Methodology

Before diving into the numbers, let's talk about the testing conditions. For consistency, I used nearly identical setups across the 0%, 100%, and 200% rarity runs:

·Map Configuration: Each test was done on 30 maps, giving us a modest but sufficient sample size to make comparative observations. The maps featured:

·Two towers only (to reflect realistic, efficient farming)

·Six Tablets, including one Rayclass Besieged Bridge unique tablet for consistent breach monster density.

·Tablets rolled for increased quantity and rarity, plus a slight bump in rare monsters and breach density.

·Atlas Passive Tree: The Atlas was optimized for pack size and rare monster spawns, with key notables including:

·Rise and Interdimensional Soul for breaches

·Frantic Invasion and Crumbling Walls (limited in influence to avoid loot skew from rare over-performers)

·Explicit modifier bonuses and prioritization of breach nodes

·This setup was designed to mirror real gameplay scenarios-no juiced, ultra-optimized farming that only a niche group of players can replicate. Just solid, realistic mapping with good investment-to-effort ratio.

Achieving 200% Rarity: Gear and Ascendancy

To push my character to 200% Item Rarity, I used a combination of gear stat stacking and the Ritualist ascendancy, which naturally boosts item rarity. Here's how I hit 208%:

·Helmet: +46% rarity

·Boots: +23% rarity

·Rings: Two rings providing up to +32% each

·Gloves: +24% rarity

·Ascendancy Bonuses: Ritualist provides an additional boost

·If you're not playing a Ritualist, you can still reach similar levels by using an amulet with rarity or sacrificing one ring slot. This build wasn't a min-maxed rarity build-it was a practical one, something any dedicated player can reasonably achieve.

The Results: What Dropped with 200% Rarity?

Let's get to the good stuff-the loot. With 200% rarity across 30 maps, here's what I pulled in terms of currency:

·5 Divine Orbs

·5 Orb of Annulments

·64 Chaos Orbs

·258 Exalted Orbs

·128 Vaal Orbs

·85 Alchemy Orbs

·A variety of Breachstones and Simulacrum splinters

·And now, let's compare those results to the previous tests:

Divine Tier Currency

·0% Rarity: 4 Divines + 3 Annulments = 7 top-tier orbs

·100% Rarity: 4 Divines + 1 Annulment + 1 Perfect Jeweler = 6 top-tier orbs

·200% Rarity: 5 Divines + 5 Annulments = 10 top-tier orbs

Conclusion: 200% rarity showed a modest improvement in top-tier orbs. But it's worth noting that the difference between 7 and 10 could be chalked up to RNG. Still, 200% did show the highest total.

Chaos Orbs

·0% Rarity: 43 Chaos Orbs

·100% Rarity: 66 Chaos Orbs

·200% Rarity: 64 Chaos Orbs

Conclusion: There's a clear boost from 0% to 100%, but no further improvement at 200%. Chaos orbs appear to plateau once you cross the 100% threshold.

Exalted Orbs

·0% Rarity: Lower, unlisted

·100% Rarity: Higher than 0%

·200% Rarity: 258 Exalts, lower than the 100% test

·Conclusion: This is where RNG takes the wheel. The drop in Exalts at 200% may seem odd, but it suggests that rarity doesn't linearly improve all currency types-and might even shift drop patterns toward other currencies like Annulments or Alchemy orbs.

Other Observations

·Stellar Amulets: Dropped four during the 200% run, compared to just one in both 0% and 100% tests. However, Stellar Amulet drops are known to be highly RNG-dependent, and rarity doesn't seem to influence them significantly.

·Breachstones and Simulacrums: These drops were remarkably consistent across all three runs, reinforcing that certain mechanics like breach and tablet density matter more than rarity.Diminishing Returns: Is 200% Worth It?

After crunching the numbers and mapping out patterns, one thing became clear-Item Rarity has serious diminishing returns beyond 100%. Here's what we learned:

·0% → 100%: Noticeable improvement across the board-especially in Chaos Orbs and top-tier orbs.

·100% → 200%: Only slight gains in Divine/Annulment drops. Chaos, Exalts, and other currencies showed no consistent improvement.

·It appears that 100-120% Item Rarity is the current sweet spot for most players. You can reach this range with minimal gear sacrifices-perhaps a ring, helmet, and boots-and still maintain your build's power and mapping efficiency.

Recommendations for Your Build

If you're trying to optimize loot without compromising your build's integrity, here's the bottom line:

·Aim for 90-120% Item Rarity: This range provides most of the benefits without any extreme sacrifices.

·Avoid pushing to 200% unless your build can handle it: The returns are there, but they're not significant enough to justify the gear investment for most players.

·Prioritize pack size, quantity, and monster density: These modifiers seem to influence overall drop volume more consistently than rarity alone.

·Use Rarity selectively: Stack it on gear where you won't lose damage or defense-typically boots, rings, and helmets.

Final Thoughts: What's Next?

The 200% test yielded fascinating results, but it also raised more questions: What happens at 300%? 400%? Is there a cap where Divine Orbs start raining from the sky?

I'm considering pushing this test further in a future video-maybe even 400% Item Rarity just to see what happens. While these tests don't offer definitive answers due to RNG and sample size, they help sketch the contours of what's effective, more POE 2 Chaos Orbs and what's overkill.