Path of Exile is a complicated game, and to help make it less complicated, you can use a variety of addons and tools to make the experience exactly the one you want. From loot filters to overlays to applications you should install, if you're new to Path of Exile or never used anything but the base game before, we've got a list of the best Path of Exile tools, programs, add-ons, mods, and more you should use.
Loot Filters in Path of Exile
This one's an absolute essential for all Path of Exile players. There's a lot of loot in the game, and it very, very quickly becomes hard to tell one apart from another when it drops on the ground. Plus, when you're deeper into the game, you'll probably be only wanting to pick up items of a certain rarity or value or higher and make things easy for yourself, considering the limited inventory space available.
The Neversink loot filter is the most popular filter in PoE, and you can customize it to your liking with different layouts, colors, and configurations. This is one of the very first things you should get installed for your PoE journey, if you don't want to be overwhelmed by loot, most especially later on in the game.
Related: Path of Exile Beginner's Guide to Trading: Buying
Trading Tools for Path of Exile
There are a variety of ways to upgrade your trading experience in Path of Exile. You can choose to simply load up a site like PoE Goods, search whatever you need, and then tab back into the game, but you can make this process of checking the value of goods, finding stuff for sale, and trading a lot easier.
First off, you can try setting up an AutoHotkey macro that'll allow you to set up keybinds to check the value of items in-game, see what's for sale, and check the PoE wiki at the press of a button. However, AutoHotkey scripts are somewhat limited in their functionality.
You can also download addons like PoE Awakened that will give you an onscreen interface you can interact with to check the value of items, search for them on sale, etctera. However, you can't directly trade through this tool, meaning you won't be able to copy any whispers for trading.
Related: Path of Exile Multiplayer Guide: Coop, PvP, Trading, and More Explained
Last, you can look at programs like the PoE Overlay. The PoE Overlay will let you do all the value checks and searching as the previous two tools, but you can also find your trades and copy your whisper into your game all from this tool. This is a one-stop shop to trading all in the context of the PoE client itself, meaning you'll never have to leave.
Path of Building
Path of Building is an excellent utility if you need help figuring out your build. This is an application you can download and install, and it works like an interactive skill tree. You can also set up skills, equip gear, and see all the readouts for DPS with your setup. If you're building a character in Path of Exile, you're going to need Path of Building.
There's also a similar tool, PoE Planner that you can use in the context of the Overwolf program that you use for the PoE Overlay, but it is limited in comparison to Path of Building, especially in terms of not listing all the stats that Path of Building does, so it's not a great replacement.
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Other Tools in Path of Exile
The above tools are the most popular additions to Path of Exile, but there are many, many more out there. To start, there are tons of other trading tools and build planner tools you can use to help you plan characters and buy and sell items, if you don't like the above, However, Path of Building is something you will inevitably need to use when building a character.
Your loot filter also isn't a set-and-forget style thing. As you progress through the game, you will want to adjust the loot filter's settings or maybe even use another filter, depending on what you're using. Depending on which stage of the game you're in, you'll be more or less interested in picking up items of a certain rarity. The later the stage, the fewer the items you'll want.
Related: Is Path of Exile Pay-to-Win?
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