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

Short answer

Do the simple thing first. It is correct more often than the complicated thing people recommend instead.

  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Give a method one honest attempt before deciding it does not work.

Path of Exile assumes you will read a spreadsheet eventually, and most of its depth is genuinely there. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively.

Worth knowing alongside this

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Everything below is framed around the current state of Path of Exile rather than a launch-week impression.

The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Path of Exile. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.

Why it works this way

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Keep a save or backup from before you start — it costs nothing and occasionally saves an evening.

When the usual advice fails

Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.

What to do instead

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

The practical answer

Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Where people go wrong

  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.

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.

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Work through it in the order above and return of the ancients stops being a question you have to look up again.