For completionists aiming to farm all 12 Artificer’s Orbs in Path of Exile 2, having a clear strategy and knowing the key locations is essential. These orbs are crucial for adding rune sockets to your weapons and armor, greatly enhancing build customization and mid-game progression.

The campaign offers up to 12 Artificer’s Orbs, primarily obtained through quest rewards and fixed chests across Acts 1 to 3. While the location of the elusive 12th orb is still under investigation, the known 11 provide a solid roadmap for orb farming.

Act 1:

Mud Burrow: Complete the “Slay the Devourer” quest and turn it in to Renly for an Artificer’s Orb (Cruel difficulty only).

Ogham Village: Behind Renly’s Tools, a Blacksmith’s Chest contains an Artificer’s Orb and a Blank Rune needed to unlock the Salvage Bench—a core tool for crafting and salvaging socketed gear.

Act 2:

Mawdun Quarry: Beyond the main checkpoint lies the Faridun War Cache, which houses an Artificer’s Orb.

The Unremembered (Deshar area): Loot a skeleton corpse to find another orb.

Act 3:

Venom Crypts: Complete the Slitering Dead quest and return to Servi to receive an Artificer’s Orb.

Molten Vault: Defeating Mektul, the Forgemaster during the Treasures of Utzaal quest grants you another orb and access to the Reforging Bench, expanding your crafting capabilities.

These six campaign sources are mirrored in Cruel difficulty, effectively doubling your count to 12 (once the final location is discovered), making the full campaign orb set achievable across both difficulties.

Supplementing with Salvaging and Farming

Beyond fixed orb locations, you can craft Artificer’s Orbs by salvaging socketed gear at the Salvage Bench. This process yields Artificer’s Shards, and 10 shards combine to form one orb. If you're short on shards or missed quest rewards, this is a consistent fallback method.

For those wanting to accelerate the process, many players opt to buy poe 2 currency from trusted sources to acquire crafting materials faster—especially when planning to min-max socket layouts for endgame content.

Efficient Farming Spots

To improve your orb yield, farm high-density zones with frequent socketed drops and chests. Notable areas include:

Act 1: Mausoleum of the Praetor

Act 2: The Lost City

Act 3: Venom Crypts and Jungle Ruins

Use the instance manager to reset these areas and run them repeatedly without waiting for natural resets. This technique significantly speeds up farming, whether you're looking for shards or just filling out your Artificer’s Orb collection.

For completionists, the best approach combines collecting the known 11 fixed orbs, farming efficient monster-dense zones, and salvaging unwanted gear. If you're chasing socket perfection early or scaling up quickly, you might also consider investing in cheap poe 2 currency to obtain orbs and gear upgrades ahead of the curve.

Stay tuned to community forums and wikis for the confirmed location of the 12th Artificer’s Orb, and enjoy a fully socketed build as you master the intricate crafting systems of Path of Exile 2.