Using Omens — Pinning Currency Outcomes to a Direction
Ritual’s contribution to crafting is Omens. Where other currency adds and removes modifiers directly, an Omen is a consumable that reshapes the outcome of the next currency item you use — making an Exalted Orb add only a suffix, or a Chaos Orb remove only your worst modifier. And the place you buy Omens is Ritual content.
How Omens are used
You don’t apply an Omen to an item directly. You activate it first, then it’s consumed when you use the matching currency.
- Right-click the Omen in your inventory to activate it.
- The activated Omen stays in your inventory and is consumed the moment you use the corresponding currency, changing its result.
- For example, prime a suffix Exaltation Omen and then use an Exalted Orb — that Exalt adds only a suffix.
Related Omens can be active at the same time. For instance, activating both the Omen of Sinistral Annulment and the Omen of Greater Annulment makes a single Orb of Annulment remove two prefixes. But activating an unrelated Omen can deactivate the one you already had active, so it’s safest to work one combination at a time.
Crafting-relevant Omens
It’s easiest to read Omens by “which currency they change, and how.” One naming rule helps: Sinistral means prefixes, Dextral means suffixes.
Exalted Orb
| Omen | Effect |
|---|---|
| Omen of Sinistral Exaltation | Next Exalted Orb adds only a prefix |
| Omen of Dextral Exaltation | Next Exalted Orb adds only a suffix |
| Omen of Greater Exaltation | Next Exalted Orb adds two modifiers |
| Omen of Homogenising Exaltation | Next Exalted Orb adds a modifier of the same type as one already on the item |
| Omen of Catalysing Exaltation | Next Exalted Orb consumes the item’s catalyst quality to raise the chance of that modifier type |
These let you fill the slot you want. If your suffixes are good and you want one more prefix, use Sinistral Exaltation; to stay within one element group, use Homogenising Exaltation.
Chaos Orb
| Omen | Effect |
|---|---|
| Omen of Whittling | Next Chaos Orb removes the lowest-level modifier |
| Omen of Sinistral Erasure | Next Chaos Orb removes only a prefix |
| Omen of Dextral Erasure | Next Chaos Orb removes only a suffix |
A Chaos Orb removes one modifier and adds a new one. The Omen of Whittling fixes what gets removed to your least valuable (lowest-level) modifier, so a good modifier isn’t lost by accident.
Orb of Annulment
| Omen | Effect |
|---|---|
| Omen of Sinistral Annulment | Next Annulment removes only a prefix |
| Omen of Dextral Annulment | Next Annulment removes only a suffix |
| Omen of Greater Annulment | Next Annulment removes two modifiers |
Annulment normally removes a random modifier, which is hard to control; these Omens narrow the removal to prefixes or suffixes. As noted above, pairing a Sinistral/Dextral Annulment with Greater Annulment clears two modifiers of the same side at once.
Other currency
| Omen | Currency | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Omen of Sinistral Coronation / Dextral Coronation | Regal Orb | Adds only a prefix / suffix |
| Omen of Sinistral Alchemy / Dextral Alchemy | Orb of Alchemy | Maximum prefixes / suffixes |
| Omen of the Blessed | Divine Orb | Rerolls implicit modifiers only |
| Omen of Sanctification | Divine Orb | Sanctifies a rare (biases values upward) |
| Omen of Corruption | Vaal Orb | Outcome always changes (no “no change”) |
| Omen of Chance | Orb of Chance | Does not destroy the item |
| Omen of the Ancients | Orb of Chance | Upgrades to a random Unique of the same class |
| Omen of Sinistral Crystallisation / Dextral Crystallisation | Perfect/Corrupted Essence | Removes only a prefix / suffix |
| Omen of Sinistral Necromancy / Dextral Necromancy | Desecration (Abyss craft) | Adds only a prefix / suffix |
The Omen of the Blessed is especially handy. A Divine Orb normally rerolls all modifier values, but with this Omen it rerolls only the implicit, so you can tune the implicit without touching well-rolled affixes.
Practical examples
- One more suffix on a nearly-finished rare: Dextral Exaltation → Exalted Orb. Even with full prefixes, it lands on a suffix.
- Remove just the bad modifier: Whittling → Chaos Orb. It targets the lowest-level modifier.
- Clear two prefixes at once: Sinistral Annulment + Greater Annulment → one Orb of Annulment.
- Touch up only the implicit: Omen of the Blessed → Divine Orb. Affixes are preserved.
Omens don’t remove randomness — they fix the direction. They pay off most in the finishing stage, once your affixes are largely in place.
Where Omens come from
Mostly Ritual rewards. In 0.5 the Ritual reward window is filled with nothing but unique items and Omens, which effectively turns Ritual into the shop you buy Omens from. A few Desecration-related Omens also appear rarely in chests deep in the Abyss.
Earning Tribute and choosing what to spend it on — deferring, rerolling, offering to the King — is covered in Ritual Tribute and Choosing Rewards.