How to fix item rarity

Hi everyone,

I’m a new Path of Exile player and have been enjoying the game immensely.

I’d like to share some ideas on improving item rarity in PoE 2. As many of you know, rarity stacking can feel mandatory for endgame currency and item progression. It also limits build variety—only top meta builds can afford to stack rarity—and amplifies the SSF vs. trading disparity.

Overall, I really like the idea of trading power for better drops, so I’d hate to see rarity removed form the game. Instead, here’s my suggestion:

Step 1:
Split Rarity into Multiple Categories

- Item Rarity. Increases the chance of finding higher-rarity equipment.
- Currency Rarity. Boosts drop rates for currency items.
- Endgame Rarity (Optional) – Improves drops of specialized endgame items (Essences, Omens, Distilled Emotions, etc.).

Make these affixes mutually exclusive. Each piece of gear can roll only one type of rarity, so you must choose which bonus to invest in.

Of course, they’d need balancing to keep them similarly valuable, but you could have unique items that grant multiple rarities or larger rolls at a trade-off.

Step 2:
Introduce a “Rarity Meter” for SSF and Trading

- You build this meter by killing monsters.
- You lose a portion of it whenever you trade.
- Bigger or more expensive trades result in a greater penalty.

This system encourages players to weigh the benefits of trading against the increased rarity from keeping the meter high. Maybe the best strategy is to do a bit of both at the right times.

Finally, once your rarity meter is high, you could unlock more specific drops tailored to your class or current gear setup. This would reward players for going a while without trading, making item drops feel more personalized.

Thanks for reading, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

bro what are you talking about

why introduce another random weird mechanic which is calculated in a weird way and base on some secondary stats on your equipment

nobody cares man, just remove it

just an idea, man...

Not sure why you got so offended by it.

I would like the rarity to stay in the game and become more interesting.
Some people want it removed or only affect item drops, which is not ideal solution for me, so I was thinking about a different solution.

try to solve a problem with simplicity and not adding more complexity to it

the game is complex enough as is, adding more layers of formulars and math is not "solving" anything, its just another layer of abusement and gamebreaking on top of the other

How would you improve rarity with simplicity, I'm curious?
Remove it from the game?

I disagree that every system should be simple and I don't see how this would cause more abusement or gamebreaking

"

Darktrentor#9788 wrote:

How would you improve rarity with simplicity, I'm curious?
Remove it from the game?

I disagree that every system should be simple and I don't see how this would cause more abusement or gamebreaking

Remove as item roll from rates, keep it on uniques with heavy downsides, add rarity gain per level (like 1,5%). Fixed. Rarity still in game, the higher level you get the better drops you have and you can build for it.

"

kuciol#0426 wrote:

"

Darktrentor#9788 wrote:

How would you improve rarity with simplicity, I'm curious?
Remove it from the game?

I disagree that every system should be simple and I don't see how this would cause more abusement or gamebreaking

Remove as item roll from rates, keep it on uniques with heavy downsides, add rarity gain per level (like 1,5%). Fixed. Rarity still in game, the higher level you get the better drops you have and you can build for it.

I see your point and like the simplicity of it. Thanks for the input.
However, I would still prefer to have rarity as trade of for power, and available as option for lower level characters.

Plus, this doesn't address the disparity between ssf and trading.

lets fix rarity with even bigger problematic system great suggestion my friend i know much easier way how to fix rarity ok hear me out this might sound complicated and crazy but just hear me out okay? ready?



DELETE ITEM RARITY

"

Darktrentor#9788 wrote:

I see your point and like the simplicity of it. Thanks for the input.
However, I would still prefer to have rarity as trade of for power, and available as option for lower level characters.

Plus, this doesn't address the disparity between ssf and trading.

SSF is optional challenge mode and as such is irrelevant for balancing.

"

Darktrentor#9788 wrote:

"

kuciol#0426 wrote:

"

Darktrentor#9788 wrote:

How would you improve rarity with simplicity, I'm curious?
Remove it from the game?

I disagree that every system should be simple and I don't see how this would cause more abusement or gamebreaking

Remove as item roll from rates, keep it on uniques with heavy downsides, add rarity gain per level (like 1,5%). Fixed. Rarity still in game, the higher level you get the better drops you have and you can build for it.

I see your point and like the simplicity of it. Thanks for the input.
However, I would still prefer to have rarity as trade of for power, and available as option for lower level characters.

Plus, this doesn't address the disparity between ssf and trading.

There's videos starting to pop up showing just how much yall have given into crowd mentality. It's looking like MF has huge diminishing returns past about 100. Just like in D2, a bit has a good impact, stacking a ton doesn't do much. Farming mob density is far, far better. Mf will probably end up proving to be a bogeyman.