In Path of Exile 2, Blacksmith's Whetstone plays a pivotal role in weapon enhancement by increasing the quality of martial weapons, which directly boosts their base physical damage. This quality improvement is multiplicative, meaning that raising a weapon’s quality by up to 20% significantly amplifies the weapon’s damage output and overall effectiveness in combat. Because the base damage is the foundation for many damage modifiers, enhancing quality with Blacksmith’s Whetstones makes all related damage bonuses more potent, thereby maximizing the weapon’s potential.

Blacksmith’s Whetstones can be applied to any martial weapon that has less than 20% quality, regardless of the weapon’s rarity. This means even normal (white) weapons can be upgraded, but it is most beneficial to use whetstones on rare or unique weapons with strong affixes or special effects, such as Quill Rain or Pillar of the Caged God, to maximize the impact of the quality increase.

Obtaining Blacksmith’s Whetstones involves several methods. They commonly drop from monsters and chests throughout the game, with increased drop rates from Act 3 onward on Cruel difficulty and in the endgame. Additionally, players can salvage weapons that already have quality using the Salvage Bench, which is unlocked early in Act One by completing the “Finding the Forge” quest. Salvaging quality weapons yields Blacksmith’s Whetstones, making it a reliable way to accumulate them. One popular tactic among advanced players is to buy poe 2 currency in bulk to streamline the process of purchasing salvageable weapons from vendors, ensuring a steady supply of whetstones.

Because quality weapons can be rare drops, a common strategy is to farm gold and purchase quality weapons from vendors—using the vendor search function to filter for quality items—then salvage those weapons for whetstones.

Blacksmith’s Whetstones cannot be crafted and are relatively rare early in the game, so it is advisable to save them until reaching higher difficulty levels when upgrading weapons becomes critical to survive tougher encounters. Applying whetstones incrementally increases weapon quality by about 2% to 4% per use, up to the 20% cap. This gradual improvement requires strategic management of whetstones to ensure the best weapons receive full upgrades.

Beyond simply boosting damage, higher quality weapons synergize well with various skills and passive abilities that scale off base weapon damage, enhancing overall character power. For example, skills that benefit from increased physical damage or attack speed gain more from weapons with maxed quality, making whetstones an essential component of crafting mastery and weapon optimization.

To gain an edge without heavy grinding, some players consider looking into cheap poe 2 currency deals to accelerate their gearing process. Blacksmith’s Whetstones are a fundamental currency item in Path of Exile 2 that enable players to maximize their martial weapons’ quality, thereby increasing base damage and enhancing the effectiveness of damage modifiers. Through a combination of monster drops, salvaging, and vendor purchases, players can efficiently gather whetstones and strategically apply them to their best weapons, ensuring their arsenal remains sharp and lethal as they progress through the game’s challenging content.