Forbidden Rites went live on 4 September with patch 0.5.5, and we're now in week two of a fresh economy. Everything in circulation was found in the last fortnight, which is why prices are still moving daily - and why this is the best window in the league to farm: the currency you drop now is worth more, relative to gear, than it will be in October. This guide covers what 0.5.5 changed and how each change pays.

What changed in 0.5.5 that matters for currency

Four things, straight from the patch notes:

  • Ritual is in every campaign area. Campaign Rituals are retuned to hand out crafting currency and general gear rather than the endgame's Unique-heavy table, so you're being paid orbs from Act 1.
  • Boss Rituals chain. Twice per Act and once per Interlude there's a cluster of Ritual Effigies on the World Map. Beat the boss in one and it's carried into the next Ritual in the cluster as part of an escalating series of boss waves. Finish the chain and you spend the tribute you've banked on Unique items.
  • Trial of Chaos is a currency run now. Its completion rewards "now consist of only Currency and Soul Cores" - corrupted items are gone from the outcome table - and there's a reward chest at the end of every room, so a death no longer wipes the run's loot.
  • Expedition went core. Farrow, Dannig and the Runes of Aldur content are on the Atlas as a permanent mechanic, including in Standard.

Skill gems and Ascendancies weren't rebalanced in this patch, so any build you trusted last league still works. The changes are all in what you're paid for.

How Ritual pays

The mechanic itself hasn't changed: kill the monsters around a Ritual Effigy, activate it, and the monsters you killed are revived inside the circle. Killing them again earns Tribute. When the Ritual ends you spend Tribute in the reward window - buy an item outright, or defer it, which locks it at a reduced price for a later Ritual in the same area. Tribute can't be traded, stashed or carried between areas, so the question in every Ritual is "spend or defer", never "save".

What 0.5.5 added on top:

  • Party members earn their own Tribute and get their own limited selection of rewards - a real change for group play, though the party's rewards can't be rerolled.
  • Extra Ritual Tablets add an extra Altar to a map where possible, and increase the Azmeri Wisps collected in the Wildwood. Two tablets on a good map is now the standard play.
  • Royal Lenience is a new Notable on the Ritual Atlas passives: Tribute you've already offered to the King in the Mists can be used to defer items, at 500% increased cost. It's an emergency button - it stops you rerolling into an expensive item you can't afford to defer - not a farming strategy.
  • Sacred Blooms can drop as a Ritual reward (this league only) and add the Viridian Wildwood to a cluster of maps. Wisps you collect there make the map's monsters more dangerous and more rewarding when you leave.

The practical loop for maps: roll waystones for pack size, rare monsters and extra monsters rather than for quantity - more monsters in the circle is more Tribute - use two tablets, and defer anything expensive until a later altar in the same map has topped you up.

Campaign Rituals: a currency head start

This is the new part, and it's aimed at exactly the player reading this in week two. Every campaign area now hides a Ritual, retuned to pay orbs and gear appropriate to your level. Do every one on the way through: they're a few minutes each, and they're the difference between arriving at maps with a stack of Exalts and arriving with nothing.

The boss clusters are worth more than they look. Each fight in the chain is harder than the last because the previous bosses come back, but the payout is at the end - Tribute spent on Uniques - and skipping a cluster costs you nothing you already had. If your character can handle the chain, it's the best-value fight in the campaign.

Trial of Chaos as a farm

The rework turns the Trial from something most players avoided into a repeatable currency run. Rewards are currency and Soul Cores only; there's a chest per room, so a death keeps what you've earned; and the modifiers and reward quality carry over when you continue a run, so you can choose harder rooms for better loot. The elite monsters that spawn are now "more dangerous, but more rewarding". If your build is comfortable in it, it's the most predictable orb income in 0.5.5.

Expedition

Runes of Aldur's Expedition content is now core: explosives, remnants, Dannig and Farrow's logbooks. Its value is the artifacts you trade at the vendors and the logbook areas. It's slower per hour than Ritual for raw orbs but pays in a different kind of loot, and it's on every Atlas now.

Turning drops into Divines

Whatever you farm, most of what hits the ground is Exalted Orbs and lesser currency. The money is in converting it:

  • Sell in bulk on the Currency Exchange. Don't list twenty Exalts at a time on the trade site. The in-game exchange takes a stack and gives you Divines at the going ratio with no whispering.
  • Sell early. The ratio between Exalts and Divines moves fastest in a league's first fortnight, and gear prices fall as the league matures. The same stack of Exalts buys more gear this week than it will in a month - see why the economy is fresh again.
  • Know what you're holding. A Fracturing Orb, a Perfect Jeweller's or a Hinekora's Lock in a stash tab is worth a lot of Exalts. If you don't know what an orb does or what it's for, the currency guide is one page.
  • Price the league's end in. Forbidden Rites ends when 1.0 launches on 11 December. Anything you're saving for "next league" won't carry into the same economy.

Quick checklist

  • Do every campaign Ritual; finish the boss chains if your build can
  • In maps: roll for pack size and rares, two Ritual Tablets, defer expensive rewards
  • Run the Trial of Chaos for predictable currency - it's currency and Soul Cores only now
  • Bulk-sell Exalts on the Currency Exchange; don't drip-feed the trade site
  • Sell early in the league, not late
  • Take Royal Lenience for safety, not for income

FAQ

Is it still worth starting a character in week two? Yes. The campaign Rituals mean a fresh character banks orbs from Act 1, and gear is cheaper now than it was on day two. The league runs until 11 December.


Does Tribute carry between maps? No. It's local to the area. Spend it or defer it; there's no third option.


Can my party share Tribute? Each party member earns their own Tribute in 0.5.5 and gets their own selection of rewards. Those party rewards can't be rerolled.


What's the best single farm? For raw currency, a Ritual map with two tablets, rolled for monster count. For predictability, the Trial of Chaos. For Uniques, the campaign boss chains and the endgame Rituals that kept the Unique table.


Are prices in this guide? No - a rate written on 12 September would be wrong by the 19th. The product pages carry live prices.

Rather skip the farm? Every orb in this guide is on the Path of Exile 2 page, delivered by trade in Forbidden Rites. The currency guide explains what each one does.