Grinding Gear Games has unveiled Path of Exile 2 in early access, featuring a variety of mechanics, systems, and enhancements across the board. Staying true to tradition, some elements have remained unchanged, such as the ability to identify rare items using scrolls.
Even though a similar system, portal scrolls, has been streamlined, you still get to use identify scrolls to view the stats of loot and equip it on the go. However, there’s an NPC that simplifies the process significantly. Here’s how to identify items for free in Path of Exile 2.
Learn how to complete Sorrow Among Stones in Path of Exile 2
To unlock the ability to identify items for free, you must first reanimate a specific NPC. This is part of the main questline during Act 1 of the game, branching from The Mysterious Shade, and it involves a series of objectives.
Once you have defeated Ervig, the Fallen Druid, you can gain access to a new area after the Grim Tangle. There, you will encounter Lachlann the Lost, who gives you the Sorrow Among Stones quest. In classic ARPG fashion, your task is to explore a cemetery, searching for two separate dungeons. The enemies in this area may be quite aggressive, so pace yourself and try not to draw everyone’s attention by rushing around.
Essentially, you’ll need to navigate through both dungeons and defeat the bosses at the end of each: Draven the Eternal Praetor and Asinia, the Praetor’s Consort. As you may surmise from their names, these enemies are familiar with each other—to the extent that they will call upon each other for assistance during their respective battles. This means that Draven will join in during Asinia’s encounter to assist her and vice versa. For Draven, be wary of his series of melee attacks. Try to stay mobile and avoid the edges of the arena; otherwise, you might be cornered in a location from which you cannot escape easily. Asinia’s battle is more complex, as she will periodically summon a trap and follow up with a deadly attack inside it. To escape it, you can either dodge it before it lands or attack the walls to break free if you become ensnared. Once you have finished, return to the starting point of the area to speak to Lachlann. After you open the gate, you can choose to summon him inside. As it should be quite evident, Lachlann is the final boss of this quest. The fight is relatively straightforward, but watch out for his area attacks, as you will be significantly slowed if you walk over them. Maneuvering around the grave can help with this, as unusual as it may seem. Defeat him to acquire Count Lachlann’s Ring. Head back to the camp HQ (remember, you can use time portals free of charge) and deliver it to Una. This concludes both Sorrow Among Stones and The Mysterious Shade simultaneously. After you have completed The Mysterious Shade in Path of Exile 2, The Hooded One will appear as an NPC in the base camp, standing beside the stash. Aside from story-related conversations, you can interact with them to identify items. In gratitude for resurrecting them, The Hooded One will identify items for you.
Discover how to identify items for free in Path of Exile 2