Vaal Orb

Vaal Orbs are a currency item that will corrupt an item, causing unpredictable and possibly powerful results. Once an item is corrupted, its stats no longer be modified by any other currency. This includes restoring imprints from an Eternal Orb. Although, you can still craft sockets and links at a Crafting Bench by using a Vaal Orb in addition to the requirements.

Obtaining

Vaal Orbs are uncommon currency items that can be dropped by slain monsters, chests, and destructible containers. They also drop from Arcanist's Strongboxes. Vaal Orbs have an increased drop rate in Vaal side areas. Vaal Orbs can be farmed by placing a sacrifice fragment in the map device, and completing the Vaal side areas.

Effects of Vaal Orbs

Vaal Orbs always entail a risk: they can greatly improve an item but they can also change it for the worse. Only one of the effects listed for each type of item below may happen.

Equipment

• No effect (other than adding the corrupted property).
• Change one or more sockets to white sockets. This has a 1/4 chance of occurring, with a 1/10 chance for each additional socket (1/40 for two, up to 1/400000 for 6 white sockets).
  • This event can most likely even occur when the equipment has no sockets and will have the identical phenotype to "no effect". The assumption comes from the Altar of Corruption where the white socket achievement could be obtained from jewellery.
• Reroll the item into a rare item with randomized sockets, links and six random affixes. If this result is chosen, there is a one in thirty-six chance the item will have the maximum number of sockets and links. "Also, it's not a 1/36 chance to 6-link, it's 1/144 chance to 6-link (because 75% of the time it picks another option)". An item with "prefixes cannot be changed" or "suffixes cannot be changed" will retain those mods, similar to using a chaos orb.
• Change the implicit to a special Vaal Implicit, or adds a Vaal implicit if the item has no implicit by default.
• Transforms certain unique items into a different unique item. It is not known how this outcome affects the chances of the other outcomes. At equal weighting the chance for transformation would be in the below cases at 20%.
  • Tear of Purity -> Blood of Corruption
  • Voll's Vision -> Malachai's Vision

Maps

• No effect (other than adding the corrupted property).
• Reroll the item with random affixes. Rare maps will have 4-6 affixes.
  • When a map is rerolled this way, it has about a 50% chance to have its map tier increased by one and consequently its map base changed to a suitable map (picked from the same atlas quadrant).
    • When a tier 15 map gains a tier, it has about a 50% chance to become a level 83 Vaal Temple Map (i.e. about 1/16 chance in total).
    • When a Shaped or Elder Map gains a tier, it will become a Shaped or Elder (respectively) Map base of one tier higher, even if that map isn't unlocked on the player's Atlas.
• Reroll the map into a rare item with exactly eight random affixes, retaining the map base.
• Unidentify the item, retaining its affixes and quantity bonus. Unidentified magic or rare maps receive a 30% bonus quantity.

In addition to these effects, all bosses of corrupted maps have a chance to drop Sacrifice Vaal Fragments or Vaal Skill Gems.

Gems

• No effect (other than adding the corrupted property).
• Add or subtract one level. Max level gems can exceed their normal maximum this way. A corrupted gem at the normal maximum will not continue to gain experience.
• Add or subtract 1-20 quality. Gems can have up to 23% quality this way.
• Change the gem to its corresponding Vaal Gem.

Jewels

• No effect (other than adding the corrupted property).
• Add a special Vaal implicit mod.
• Turn it into a rare jewel with the same base item.
• Turn it into a Vaal-exclusive unique jewel with the same base item.

Strongboxes

When using Vaal Orbs on a Strongbox some or all of the items within the Strongbox will become corrupted. Note that unidentified items cannot be corrupted.

Flasks

Flasks cannot be corrupted.