Path of Exile 2's 0.5 patch, Return of the Ancients, arrives on May 29, 2026, and it brings one of the most anticipated additions to the game's crafting - the Ezomyte Runesmithing system. For players who have been waiting for deeper itemization tools, this expansion delivers a full suite of new mechanics centered around runes, runeforging, and a brand-new defensive resource called Runic Ward. Combined with 100 new runes and currencies, this system is set to change how players approach gear progression from the campaign all the way through endgame.
What Are the New Crafting Runes and the Ezomyte Runesmithing System?
The Ezomyte Runesmithing system is a new crafting mechanic introduced in the Runes of Aldur league alongside the Return of the Ancients expansion. It allows players to create currency items and runes based on symbols inscribed on a tome, and as you progress through the game, you can inscribe more symbols to produce more valuable items. This system is tied to a new NPC, a blacksmith named Farrow, who aims to bring back the lost art of Runesmithing. Alongside this, a secondary system called Runeforging lets you add Runic Ward - a new defensive stat - to your armor using a currency called Verisium.
Below, we'll cover exactly how both of these systems work, what Runic Ward does and how to use it, the new crafting runes and their best applications, and a few other related topics worth knowing before league start.
How The Ezomyte Runesmithing Works in PoE 2 0.5?
Meeting Farrow in Clearfell
Upon meeting Farrow in Clearfell, a blacksmith who aims to bring back the art of Runesmithing, you will unlock this new crafting system. After saving the blacksmith, you gain access to a large runestone that serves as the crafting interface.
The Basic Mechanic
Runesmithing allows you to create currency or runes based on the symbols you have on a tome. You select what item you want to produce, and the system will revive undead monsters nearby with different augments. You must defeat these empowered enemies that spawn, which will allow you to claim your chosen item.
Scaling Difficulty and Rewards
Using more symbols will spawn more waves of empowered enemies. These enemies can have really deadly mods, especially in the endgame. With high levels, there will be a lot more difficult recipes, but also much better rewards.
Guaranteed Crafting From Early On
If you know the recipes, you can guarantee yourself an Orb of Augmentation right from the get-go in the campaign. This actually will make campaign runs a lot smoother. It's a simple loop — summon more monsters, fight them, and get loot.
Finding New Recipes
To get more recipes for the stone, you need to find runestones scattered throughout the world. Previously, these stones only served to summon bosses, but now they feed directly into the Runesmithing system and open up deeper crafting options.
The Deepest Secret
Most importantly, you will unlock the deepest secret of this system after finishing the associated quest line. Overall, it's a nice addition and fun league mechanic — pretty easy, simple, rewarding, and enjoyable.
How The Runeforging Works in PoE 2 0.5?
While Runesmithing gives you new items and currencies, Runeforging is a separate but related system focused on empowering your existing gear.
Verisium - The New Currency
As you go through areas, you can pick up Verisium. This is a new currency used specifically in Runeforging. It can empower different armors by adding Runic Ward to them.
How Armor Runeforging Works
Runeforging is a crafting system that allows you to add Runic Ward to your armor pieces. By spending Verisium, you can apply this new defensive stat to any eligible armor slot, giving your character an additional layer of survivability.
Unique Runeforging
Upon discovering a hidden area in Act 3 — a mystic refuge deep in the jungle — Runeforging can also be applied to Uniques. This greatly enhances their current stats, enabling you to upgrade any leveling Unique to be viable in the endgame.
There are two ways to think about Unique Runeforging:
Low-level uniques: You can alter a low-level unique and bring it up into the endgame, making it a lot more playable later in the game.
Endgame uniques: You can take a really powerful unique in the endgame and see what kind of crazy results you can achieve with it.
This system adds a significant amount of depth to how players interact with unique items throughout progression.
PoE 2 0.5 Runic Ward Crafting & Use
Runic Ward is the most surprising addition in this expansion, introducing what amounts to a cheat-death mechanic, something Grinding Gear Games has historically avoided.
What Is Runic Ward?
Ward is a new stat that can be treated as a second lifeline. When your Health and Energy Shield are depleted, your character will use Ward until you recover Health. If your Ward is also depleted, your character will die.
How to Get Runic Ward
You obtain Runic Ward by augmenting your equipment through the Runeforging system. Every single armor piece, including uniques, can receive Runic Ward via Verisium crafting.
Runic Ward as a Skill Resource
Here is where things get really interesting. Similar to Mana, Ward can also be used by several new skill and support gems as its resource cost. Instead of using Ward purely as a defensive buffer, you may choose to spend it on powerful new abilities — creating a meaningful trade-off between survivability and offensive capability.
How It Plays in Practice
There are multiple ways to use Runic Ward in your build:
Defensive approach: Keep your Runic Ward intact as a safety net for when your Health and Energy Shield are depleted.
Offensive approach: Spend Runic Ward to cast new Calguran skills and support gems that don't require mana.
Hybrid approach: Build enough Ward to sustain both some skill usage and still have a buffer for emergencies.
This mechanic really came out of left field and does not sound like something Grinding Gear Games normally does, which makes it all the more exciting to experiment with.
PoE 2 0.5 New Crafting Runes (How To Use the Runes, Best Runes To Use)
Beyond Runesmithing and Runeforging, the expansion introduces 100 new runes and currencies that greatly expand your crafting options.
What Are the New Runes?
There are basically loads of new currency items that can affect your weapons and armors. These runes provide new affixes that you can apply to your gear — mods that you couldn't normally get through other crafting methods. The options are almost endless.
How To Use Runes
Runes function similarly to other PoE 2 currency items. You apply them directly to your equipment to add specific modifiers. Some runes come from the Runesmithing system, while others drop from empowered enemies or are acquired through the league mechanic's quest line.
Calguran Spells and Support Gems
The new skill gems tied to this system are called Calguran spells. These gems have no color and do not have attribute requirements. This makes it possible to slot them into various builds regardless of class.
For example, Triskelion Cascade is one such skill — it looks amazing and uses Runic Ward instead of Mana as its cost. There's also a bunch of support gems from the Calgurans that offer further build customization.
Best Runes To Use
While the full list of 100 runes won't be available until patch notes drop (the Friday before league launch), here's what we know so far about the most impactful rune types:
Alloy Runes: These provide new affixes that you can apply to your gear that you couldn't normally get. They open up modifier pools that don't exist in the base game.
Ward-Building Runes: Runes that add Runic Ward to your armor are going to be valuable for any build that wants to use Calguran skills or simply wants more defensive layering.
Recipe-Based Runes: Learning specific Runesmithing recipes early allows you to guarantee yourself useful crafting currency during the campaign, smoothing out the leveling process considerably.
The coolest part is that the new Calguran skills won't require any resource, any attribute, and you can use them on any class. They do not use mana, they use Runic Ward that you get by augmenting your equipment. Customization of builds this season will be pretty fun.
With the addition of 100 new runes and the Runeforging system, the crafting depth in PoE 2 takes a major step forward. For a game that didn't have a ton of crafting options previously, this expansion fills a gap that many players have been requesting since early access launch.
More confirmed information about the new crafting system will be updated here later, stay tuned!
