While leveling up in Path of Exile, you will be able to choose from dozens of weapons and armor pieces that drop throughout the world, as well as purchase valuable pieces from vendors. For the most part, these weapons and armor are typical, with some being better than others.

From time to time, though, you may encounter Corrupted gear in Path of Exile. Corruption is something that can affect certain gear, so you'll want to know exactly what it does. In this guide, you can learn all about the Corruption modifier as well as how it will affect your game.

What Is Corruption?

Corruption is a modifier that prevents your items from being modified further. In the image above, you can see a Nitrate Greater Mana Flask that has the Corrupted modifier on it. If we were to  POE Exalted Orbs use something like an Orb of Alteration on it, it would not work. This means that once an item is corrupted, its properties are permanently fixed, and you cannot use currency items to change its modifiers, sockets, or links.

How Items Become Corrupted

Items become corrupted through the use of a Vaal Orb, a currency item that adds a random modifier to an item and has a chance to corrupt it. Vaal Orbs can be found throughout the game, and their use is always a gamble. When you use a Vaal Orb on an item, one of several outcomes can occur:

Add a Corrupted Modifier: The item gains a random corrupted modifier, which can either be beneficial or detrimental.

Change Implicit Modifiers: The implicit modifier of the item can be changed to a different implicit, often from a pool of powerful implicit modifiers.

Modify Sockets: The number of sockets, their links, or their colors can be altered.

Brick the Item: The item can become corrupted without gaining any positive benefits, effectively rendering it useless for its intended purpose.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Corrupted Items

While the inability to further modify corrupted items might seem like a significant drawback, corrupted items can have powerful benefits that make them worth the risk. Understanding both the advantages and disadvantages is key to deciding whether to corrupt an item.

Benefits

Powerful Implicit Modifiers: Corrupted items can gain new implicit modifiers that are often more powerful than their original implicit modifiers. These can include increased attributes, resistance bonuses, or additional damage.

Unique Corruption-Exclusive Modifiers: Some corrupted modifiers are only available through corruption and can significantly enhance an item's power. These modifiers can range from additional elemental damage to  Path Of Exile Currency unique skill enhancements.

Special Interactions with Certain Builds: Some builds and unique items interact specifically with corrupted gear, granting additional bonuses or enabling powerful synergies.

Drawbacks

Inability to Modify Further: Once an item is corrupted, you cannot use currency items to change its properties. This means no further crafting, socket color changes, or adjustments to links.

Risk of Negative Outcomes: Corruption is inherently risky. The item could gain a detrimental modifier or become useless.

Limited Trade Value: Corrupted items often have a lower trade value because they cannot be further modified, making them less desirable to other players.

How to Corrupt Items Safely

Given the risks involved, it's essential to approach corruption strategically. Here are some tips to help you corrupt items more safely:

Corrupt Uniques with Care: Unique items can be incredibly powerful when corrupted, but the risk is high. Only corrupt unique items if the potential benefits outweigh the potential loss.

Use High-Quality Bases: Start with high-quality items to ensure that even if the corruption doesn’t provide a massive benefit, the item remains useful.

Consider the Build: Corrupt items that synergize well with your build. For example, if your build benefits greatly from specific implicit modifiers, the risk might be worth it.

Have Backups: If you're corrupting a critical piece of gear, ensure you have backups. This mitigates the impact of a negative outcome.

Focus on Implicits: Corrupting items to change their implicit modifiers can yield significant benefits. This is often less risky than hoping for a beneficial corrupted modifier.

Special Corruption Cases

Certain items and situations in Path of Exile have unique interactions with corruption that are worth noting:

Corrupted Maps

Maps can also be corrupted using Vaal Orbs. When a map is corrupted, it can gain increased quantity and rarity of items found, additional monster packs, or even transform into a different map. Corrupting maps can be an effective way to increase the challenge and rewards of your mapping sessions, but it also comes with the risk of making the map more difficult or less desirable.

Corrupted Gems

Vaal Orbs can be used on skill gems to create Vaal skill gems, which provide powerful alternate versions of regular skills. These Vaal skills often have devastating effects and can significantly enhance your character's capabilities in combat. However, once corrupted, skill gems cannot be leveled up further, so it's best to corrupt them at max level.

Corrupted Essences

Essences can be used to guarantee specific outcomes when crafting, but corrupting them with a Vaal Orb can yield unique and powerful results. Corrupted essences can be used in high-risk, high-reward crafting strategies.

Conclusion

Corruption in Path of Exile introduces a high-risk, high-reward mechanic that can greatly influence your gameplay experience. By understanding how corruption works and strategically approaching when and how to use Vaal Orbs, you can maximize the benefits while minimizing the risks. Whether you're looking to enhance your gear, create powerful Vaal skills, or take on more challenging maps, corruption offers a wealth of opportunities for brave and adventurous exiles.

As you continue your journey through Wraeclast, remember that corruption is not just a tool for power but a test of your willingness to gamble with the forces that shape the world. With knowledge and strategy, you can harness this mechanic to forge a path to greatness, wielding gear that reflects both your courage and cunning.