Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2's Dawn of the Hunt update brought a mountain of new content. New Ascendancies, a fresh class, over a hundred PoE 2 Unique and Support Gems, and a complete rework of parts of the endgame. Even though the launch was a little rough around the edges, nobody can deny how much new stuff hit the game all at once. Among all the changes, one new feature stands out for being both hilarious and painful: Ventor's Contraption, a Unique Strongbox that introduces pure gambling to PoE 2's world.

Path of Exile has always had some form of gambling, from loot boxes for cosmetics to risky gear rolls like Ventor's Gamble. Now, PoE 2 takes that spirit even further with Ventor's Contraption. It lets you spend in-game Gold for random rewards, but every time you open it, the price skyrockets.

How Ventor's Contraption Works
The first time you open Ventor's Contraption, it asks for around 200 Gold. The next time it demands around 2,000. Then 20,000. Then 200,000. You get the idea. Every spin makes your wallet cry harder. The thing is, the rewards are not guaranteed to get better just because you are throwing more money at it.

You can get something amazing like a Level 20 Spirit Gem Skill right on your first try, or you can spend millions and walk away with a single Scroll of Wisdom. The odds do not improve just because you are paying more. The whole idea is pure randomness, true to the spirit of real gambling, but it definitely feels brutal when the numbers start getting high.

Is It Worth It?
For most players, the first few tries are the sweet spot. Spending a few hundred or a few thousand Gold for a shot at something good is fun and relatively safe. Pushing past that into six-digit or even seven-digit territory almost always ends badly.

Unlike buying random PoE 2 items from Alva, where you might get something useful even if the odds are bad, Ventor's Contraption feels much harsher. It is very possible to spend all your Gold and walk away with nothing worth mentioning.

How It Could Be Better
Gold is not easy to stockpile in Path of Exile 2. Prices are high for everything from basic vendor items to respeccing your build. Because of that, it would have been nice if Ventor's Contraption offered a scaling system where bigger bets gave better odds. Another cool idea would have been letting players gamble however much Gold they wanted instead of preset amounts. That way players could manage their own risk rather than being locked into huge jumps.

Even with its flaws, Ventor's Contraption brings a bit of humor into the dark and grim world of Wraeclast. Sometimes you walk away with a jackpot. Other times you pay two million Gold for a magic belt you will vendor immediately. That chaos is kind of the point, but players hoping for a smart way to spend their hard-earned Gold will probably want to stop after the first few rolls.