Path of Exile 2: How Players Printed Divine Orbs and Shook the Economy

Recently, Path of Exile 2 players uncovered one of the most lucrative farming methods seen so far: a Vaal Temple strategy in Holten during the Interlude that allowed some players to generate tens of raw Divine Orbs in a single run. What truly shocked the community wasn't just the payout-it was the speed, efficiency, and repeatability of the method.

By abusing instance resets and Temple destabilization mechanics, players were effectively "printing" Path of Exile 2 Currency at a pace rarely seen in an ARPG economy. While some praised it as clever optimization, others viewed it as a clear exploit that threatened balance.

Let's break down how the Holten Vaal Temple farm worked, why it was so profitable, and what it meant for the Path of Exile 2 economy.

How the Vaal Temple System Works in Path of Exile 2

The Vaal Temple in Path of Exile 2 is designed as a semi-customizable dungeon system that rewards strategic planning and progression.

Core Mechanics

·Vaal Temple entrances appear throughout campaign and endgame zones.

·Nearby Vaal crystals must be charged by killing monsters.

·Once fully charged, a portal opens.

·Inside, players use a console to build their own dungeon layout.

Players can select:

·Room types

·Reward categories

·Modifiers

·Layout paths

Each completed Temple run normally grants one charge toward opening it again. After a run, part of the Temple destabilizes, deleting specific rooms to prevent infinite reuse. This ensures players must reinvest time and resources to rebuild profitable layouts.

However, the destabilization system depends heavily on how rooms are connected, and that's where things went wrong.

How the Holten Temple Farm Exploit Worked

The Holten farm centered around two key mechanics:

1. Strategic room placement

2. Instance resetting near a conveniently placed Temple entrance

Partial Room Deletion Abuse

When players stacked rooms into corners or connected them in straight-line chains, the destabilization system sometimes failed to fully wipe high-value rooms, especially if the Temple Architect remained alive.

Instead of fully resetting the Temple, only part of the layout would be deleted. This allowed players to preserve the most profitable reward rooms while discarding low-value ones.

Holten's Unique Advantage

The exploit became especially powerful in Holten during the Interlude because:

·The Vaal Temple entrance spawned seconds away from the zone's starting point.

·Charging the Temple required minimal travel time.

·Players could quickly exit and create a new instance.

The loop looked like this:

1. Enter Holten

2. Quickly charge the Temple

3. Run the optimized Vaal Temple

4. Exit

5. Reset the instance

6. Repeat

Because downtime was nearly eliminated, players could chain high-value Temple runs back-to-back.

A fully optimized Temple already drops significant Path of Exile 2 Currency, including Divine Orbs. Repeating it rapidly led to extraordinary profits-some reports suggested tens or even hundreds of Divines per hour under perfect conditions.

While Grinding Gear Games has reportedly addressed the exploit, previously constructed, fully optimized Temples can still be run, just at a much slower pace.

Economic Impact: Divine Inflation and Item Price Spikes

Unsurprisingly, this farming method had immediate consequences for the in-game economy.

Divine-to-Exalt Ratio Shift

As Divine Orbs flooded the market:

·The Divine-to-Exalt exchange ratio shifted sharply.

·Divine-based pricing inflated rapidly.

·High-demand meta items increased in cost.

Players who stockpiled Divines during the exploit phase began aggressively purchasing top-tier Path of Exile 2 Items, accelerating inflation.

Gear Inflation vs. Playability

It's important to distinguish between luxury inflation and baseline viability.

While mirror-tier or best-in-slot gear rose in price, the majority of functional endgame builds remained affordable. Path of Exile 2 does not require ultra-expensive uniques to clear high-tier content.

Items like Temporalis may be powerful, but they are not mandatory for success. Inflation primarily impacted min-maxing players chasing perfect rolls, not average players mapping or progressing through endgame content.

You Don't Need Perfect Gear to Clear Endgame

One of the biggest misconceptions following the Holten exploit was that casual players would be "priced out" of the game.

In reality:

·Many endgame builds remain viable within a 10-15 Divine budget.

·Slightly imperfect rolls often provide nearly identical performance.

·Spending five Divines on a perfect roll rarely offers five times the power of a one-Divine alternative.

For example:

·A Cast on Crit Comet Sorceress can comfortably clear high-tier maps without premium gear.

·A Walking Calamity Druid performs efficiently on moderate investment.

Unless you're the primary damage carry in a coordinated six-player juiced map group, marginal upgrades often have diminishing returns.

Smart gearing decisions matter more than inflated price tags.

Trading, Farming, and Smart Currency Strategy

The Holten Vaal Temple incident highlighted how quickly farming innovations can reshape the Path of Exile 2 economy. However, it also reinforced an important truth: there are always alternative paths to progression.

Players can still accumulate Path of Exile 2 Currency through:

·Efficient map farming

·Crafting and flipping

·Boss rushing

·League mechanic optimization

Some players also choose to accelerate progression by buying POE2 Items through trading platforms. While not for everyone, buying specific upgrades can reduce grind time and allow players to focus on gameplay rather than currency farming loops.

Ultimately, whether farming, trading, crafting, or selectively purchasing gear, diversification remains the safest long-term strategy in a volatile economy.

Lessons from the Holten Temple Farm

The Holten exploit will likely be remembered as one of the first major economic shakeups in Path of Exile 2.

It demonstrated:

·How dungeon layout systems can be min-maxed beyond intended limits

·How instance resetting can amplify reward loops

·How quickly the Divine Orb supply can influence market prices

Most importantly, it highlighted the adaptability of the Path of Exile 2 player base. Within days, players optimized, exploited, debated, and analyzed the system from every angle.

Final Thoughts

While the Holten Vaal Temple farm has been addressed, its ripple effects on Path of Exile 2 Currency and item pricing remain part of the game's evolving economic history.

For most players, the key takeaway is simple: you don't need mountains of Divine Orbs or mirror-tier Path of Exile 2 Items to succeed. The game remains flexible, builds diversity, and efficient progression is still accessible through smart play.

Whether you're mapping efficiently, trading strategically, or selectively upgrading your gear, Path of Exile 2 offers multiple paths topower withoutt requiring you to chase economic extremes.