In Path of Exile 2, Transmutation Shards are among the most common yet essential PoE 2 Currency  fragments. While they may seem unremarkable at first, their role in crafting, upgrading gear, and sustaining your economy makes them worth collecting in large quantities. Understanding where and how to farm them efficiently will help keep your crafting operations running smoothly.

Transmutation Shards drop when you sell low-tier magic items (blue rarity) to vendors, or occasionally when such items are destroyed in combat. Once you collect 20 shards, they combine into a full Orb of Transmutation, which upgrades normal (white) items into magic items. Even though Transmutation Orbs are easy to come by, having a steady supply prevents crafting bottlenecks.

Magic monsters have a higher chance of dropping magic items, which in turn can be sold for shards. Campaign zones and maps with high monster density—particularly those influenced by modifiers that increase magic monster presence—are excellent shard sources. Look for modifiers like “Increased Magic Monster Packs” on maps.

The most consistent way to obtain shards is through vendor recipes.Selling any blue item yields 1–2 shards.Occasionally, identified magic items with good rolls may be worth keeping or selling to players rather than vendoring immediately.Instead of selling items one by one during a run, use your stash to save them up and turn in large batches to minimize downtime.

Strongboxes, especially Artisan’s and Armorer’s types, are excellent shard farms. These often drop multiple magic items in one go. Running maps with the “increased strongbox spawn” modifier accelerates your shard income.

Without a good loot filter, farming shards can be tedious. Set your filter to highlight low-value magic items in early progression but hide them once you have more efficient currency farming methods. In the early campaign, every shard counts; later on, you can prioritize higher-value drops.

While Transmutation Shards may be considered a low-tier PoE 2 Currency buy , in Path of Exile 2 they form the foundation for early crafting and gearing. By focusing on high-density magic monster zones, using vendor recipes efficiently, and capitalizing on league mechanics, you can ensure a constant flow of shards without slowing down your main progression.