Quote from Guest on January 2, 2026, 3:08 PM

Among the many complex systems inPOE 1 Currency, the **Crafting Bench** stands as a beacon of deterministic power amidst a sea of randomness. Unlocked through **Forsaken Masters** quests and housed in your hideout, this bench is not merely a convenience—it is an essential strategic tool. It allows players to add specific, guaranteed modifiers to their gear for a known cost, transforming near-perfect items into finished masterpieces and providing crucial flexibility in meeting build requirements. Mastering the bench's capabilities is a fundamental step from being a casual player to becoming a competent gear forger.

The core function of the bench is simple yet profound: you can permanently add a crafted modifier to an item, provided it has an open affix slot. These crafted mods are unlocked gradually by completing **Forsaken Masters** missions and discovering their associated **veiled** mods. Early-game crafts might offer basic life or resistance boosts, while endgame unlocks include powerful options like "+ to maximum life" or "increased critical strike chance." This system provides a reliable safety net. If you find a rare weapon with high physical damage and attack speed but no life leech, you can simply craft "Life Gained for each Enemy Hit" onto it, solving a critical need. For new players, this is an invaluable way to cap their elemental resistances.

The strategic depth, however, lies in its interaction with other crafting methods. The bench is often used in conjunction with more random currencies like **Chaos Orbs** or **Fossils**. A common advanced technique is "blocking." Before using an expensive **Exalted Orb** to add a random mod, a player might first craft a common, undesirable modifier from the bench. This "blocks" that mod family from being selected by the Exalted Orb, slightly increasing the odds of hitting a desired outcome. The bench also serves as a crucial finishing tool for items created through meta-crafts like "Prefixes Cannot Be Changed," allowing for precise, final touches.

The **Crafting Bench** embodies Path of Exile's philosophy of offering tools to mitigate, but never eliminate, RNG. The **Forsaken Masters**—Elreon, Haku, Catarina, Vagan, and Tora—are your guides to this controlled power. By leveling them through missions, you expand your crafting lexicon, giving you more answers to gear-related problems. It turns the frustrating experience of finding an item that is *almost* perfect into an opportunity for a guaranteed upgrade. In an economy where items are often valued based on their potential rather than their current state, the bench is the key that unlocks that potential, ensuring that a player's progression is always supported by a minimum standard of reliable, customizable power.