Corrupted

Corrupted is a special modifier and item tag. Items and craftable objects with the Corrupted tag cannot be altered further through regular crafting methods, and cannot be reversed. The process of making something corrupted is referred to as corruption.

Sources of corrupted items

• Using a Vaal Orb on items, strongboxes, or other eligible objects will cause them to become corrupted and may also result in one of several unpredictable outcomes, dependent on base type or item class and item level.
• In Jiquani's Sanctum in Act 3, there's a Corruption Altar ("Paquate's Mechanism") that gives you a one-time use of corrupting an item.
• Corrupted strongboxes may contain corrupted items.
• Item rewards offered in the Trial of Chaos are typically corrupted.

Corruption enchantment modifiers

Corruption enchantments or Vaal enchantments are special enchantment modifiers from a pool dependent on the item's item class and item level. They are displayed in red, visually distinct from other enchantments. They do not replace existing enchantments. Similarly, adding enchantments such as by socketing runes or soul cores will not replace existing corruption enchantments.

Corruption outcomes

When an item is corrupted, or drops corrupted, one of the following outcomes will apply at random. The specific effect within each outcome may use a weight system dependent on item level and item class/base type.

Non-unique equipment

• No change.
• Reroll up to half of the item's explicit modifiers.
• Adds a special Vaal enchantment to the item, highlighted in red.
• Adds an item socket to martial weapons and armour, ignoring socket limits.

Unique equipment

• No change.
• Applies a modifier magnitude multiplier of 0.78x to 1.22x.
• Adds a special Vaal enchantment to the item, highlighted in red.
• Adds a item socket to martial weapons and armour, ignoring socket limits.

Gems

• No effect (other than adding the corrupted property).
• Add or subtract one level. Max level gems can exceed their normal maximum this way.
• Add or remove a socket.
• Add or subtract ?% quality.[confirmation needed] Corrupted gems can still be leveled using Uncut Gems of a higher base level.

Trinkets

• ?

Jewels

• ?

Waystones

• No change.
• Increase the Waystone's Tier by 1, randomizing its modifiers.
  • Note: this is the only way to obtain a Waystone (Tier 16), by corrupting a Waystone (Tier 15).

Special outcomes

It is currently unknown if certain unique items can be obtained as a result of corrupting certain item types.