Patch 0.4 didn't magically turn Expedition into a slot machine that spits out perfect gear, but the Abyss crafting nerfs did nudge the value back toward Expedition a bit. In practice, you'll feel it most when you stop chasing the "one lucky vendor craft" dream and start treating it like a steady pipeline for good Magic bases and usable PoE 2 Currency drops. You grab the right blue item, pull it out, and finish it yourself with Essences, Desecrated Currency, or Perfect Exalts. That's the consistent route. If a Rare shows up with four or five genuinely strong mods, sure, keep it. Just don't plan your whole session around that happening.
Gold Loop That Actually Works
If you're short on funds, Gwennen ends up being your simple, repeatable gold engine. The routine's straightforward: stack Gwennen Currency and Exotic Coinage, buy out the Rare weapons, then sell them straight back for gold. It's not exciting, but it pays. The only catch is you can't go brain-off. Every so often you'll see a Magic weapon with a nasty high % Physical roll or something that's quietly valuable, like big spell level mods. Those are the ones you list and flip. And because the in-game search box is cramped, you'll need little tricks—pull tier names from poe2db and use weird fragments that only match one mod name, so you can spot "Merciless" without typing the whole thing.
Playing the NPC Crafting Like a Human
The Expedition NPCs aren't just vending items, they're offering risk. Dannig helps you convert your expedition pieces, Tujen's usually your jewelry angle, Gwennen's weapons, and Rog handles armor with those step-by-step "craft" choices. The biggest habit to build is knowing when to stop. If the item looks dead after two or three moves, dump it. Vendor it and move on. When you hit great prefixes, that's when you slow down and play defense. Protect what you hit, then fish for a suffix reroll or a clean fill. You'll brick plenty, but that's better than sinking five more clicks into a lost cause.
Bows, Bases, and One Easy Mistake
Bows are still the headline. Check every single one. When you find a Magic bow with a chunky % Physical roll—think 130% or higher—don't rush to slam it into Rare. Take it out of the window first, then use a Greater Essence of Abrasion for the flat Phys. It's a small sequencing thing, but it's where a lot of value comes from on martial weapons, and bows feel like the cleanest payoff. Gemini bases in particular can be real money. Quarterstaves and maces can sell too, they just sit longer. And if you've got a "good but not amazing" piece clogging a tab, a Vaal Orb is a fair hail-mary. Either it turns into something spicy, or it becomes someone else's problem.
Selling Smart When You're Not Rich
What keeps you afloat isn't one miracle craft, it's lots of small wins: good blue bases, quick flips, and not wasting time on junk. Price the obvious winners fast, and don't be afraid to undercut just to keep your stash moving. If you want to speed up progression without spending all night in the trade trenches, some players also top up essentials through U4GM for buying game currency or items, then use that breathing room to focus on running Expeditions and hunting those premium Magic rolls.