This comes up often enough in Path of Exile that it deserves a straight answer rather than a thread to scroll through.

Short answer

The direct answer is above the fold; the reasoning underneath is there for when the direct answer does not fit your situation.

  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Expect one number in every guide to be out of date; the method is what matters.

Path of Exile assumes you will read a spreadsheet eventually, and most of its depth is genuinely there. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Path of Exile. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively.

The practical answer

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Why it works this way

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Prefer the in-game option over an external tool when both exist.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.

Worth knowing alongside this

The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Everything below is framed around the current state of Path of Exile rather than a launch-week impression. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Path of Exile is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

What to do instead

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over.

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

When the usual advice fails

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.

Where people go wrong

  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.

PoE FAQ

Is this still accurate after the latest Path of Exile update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

Is there a faster method?

Sometimes, at the cost of reliability. Where that trade exists it is described rather than recommended blindly.

Work through it in the order above and or path of exile 2 stops being a question you have to look up again.