PoE Loot Filter Guide

A huge part of Path of Exile is looting items off the ground. While you can loot every item that drops on the ground early on, especially during a league start, having a plethora of items on the screen may actually be detrimental to your overall efficiency.

If you want to sift through all of the items that you see and only leave the essential ones that you are actually going to loot, then you will need a loot filter for that.

In this article, we will tell you everything there is to know about loot filters. So, dear Exile, we invite you to read through this to completion. This is our comprehensive Path of Exile loot filter guide!

What is a Loot Filter?

A loot filter (or item filter) is a special file that, when loaded into Path of Exile, will prevent useless items from being shown on the screen.

Even though PoE does not have a loot filter by default, it is actually an integral part of the game, so much so that you cannot live without it.

Why You Need a Loot Filter

If you are a new PoE player, you are probably wondering why you need a loot filter in the first place. The main reason for using a loot filter is that it removes a lot of clutter on the screen.

You might think that having a boatload of items on the ground at one time is good, but that is actually not the case. You see, a plethora of stuff on the screen will result in performance issues no matter what platform you are using to play Path of Exile.

Here is an in-game screenshot without a loot filter enabled:

In contrast, this is a screenshot of a mapping session that has a loot filter turned on:

In addition, the vast majority of items that the monsters drop are useless, so you are better off leaving only the essentials. Fortunately, a loot filter can help you with that.

As you progress through the game, you will have gear that allows you to clear maps in a few minutes. Having a much stricter loot filter improves efficiency because the garbage items are filtered out.

Another reason why you should use a loot filter is that you can customize the sounds of certain items. You can even add icons and lights to tell you whether a particular item is valuable or not. The customization options will be discussed in greater detail soon, so do read the PoE loot filter guide until the end.

How to Create a Loot Filter

This is likely the information you are looking for. In this section, we will give all you need to know to create your own loot filter. Keep in mind that a loot filter can be customized in various ways and it does require a lot of time if you are to tinker with every setting.

So, it is important to note that we will only be discussing the essentials to give you an idea of how to use it properly. As you play the game, you will be acquainted with the essential items from the not-so-important ones.

Once you have reached that point, you can tweak the loot filter as you see fit.

Filterblade and Neversink Filters

The first thing that you are going to do is to head to Filterblade. This is a website that allows you to use Neversink's loot filters and customize it to your liking. What is awesome about this platform is that you can use any of the preset loot filters without any need for manual tweaking. Of course, if you would like to make any changes, you can do so from the website itself.

To create, customize, and save a loot filter, you have to authorize Filterblade to load up your account. You can do that by clicking "Sign in with PoE" on the upper-right corner of the screen. When you do, you will be presented with a screen similar to this:

Simply click on "Authorize" and you will be transported back to the Filterblade website.

Choose the Level of Strictness

As you can see from the image above, you can set the level of strictness for your loot filter. Here is a brief explanation of each one:

• Semi-Strict: The most ideal for beginners. This still hides some useless stuff, but all of the currencies, including the less desirable ones, will be shown.
• Strict: Also good for beginners, this filter is a bit strict when it comes to what it will show on the ground. If Semi-Strict is too lenient for you, choose this one instead
• Uber Strict/Uber Strict Plus: Only use these filters if you are already knowledgeable about the game. They are way too restrictive for new players as they filter out almost everything except for the most valuable stuff.

You can choose any of the options that were just mentioned. Whatever you do, never use the "Soft" or "Regular" strictness levels because these do not prevent junk from appearing on the screen.

Select Your Preferred Style

Once you have chosen the desired level of strictness, you can select any of the preset styles for your loot filter by clicking on the aptly named "Styles" button as shown in the image below:

The "Styles" menu presents you with a number of preset styles that you can use to customize the look of the items that you see in the game.

Although you can go with the normal preset, we recommend "Purple" or "Azurite" as both of these are pleasing to the eyes. You can choose whichever you prefer, of course. You can see how each preset style looks by looking at the overview just below the same page.

Add Preset/Custom Soundpacks

Do you want to hear some custom sounds every time a valuable item drops on the ground? If so, you can add any of the preset soundpacks by heading to the "Modules" page as highlighted below:

The next page is a collection of different modules that alter the look and sound of item drops. Having said that, you only need to concern yourself with the sounds, so choose modules that have the word "soundpack" on them.

Once you have found one and would like to use that on your custom loot filter, simply click on the "Add" button and it will automatically be applied to your filter. After that, hit "Apply" at the bottom to save the changes.

Okay, what if there is a soundpack that you would like to use that is not found on the modules page? Well, you can add any custom soundpack that you want, though the process is a bit cumbersome. However, if you are hellbent on using your own, then read further.

The first thing that you want to do is load up a preset filter from the Filterblade website. After that, you need to get some sound files that are in "WAV" format. They are typically only one to three seconds in length, but you can use those that are longer than that. You can make your own sound files or download them from reputable sources.

Anyway, place the sound files in the Path of Exile folder (User/Documents/My Games/Path of Exile). These files should be unpacked so that the game can recognize them.

Go back to Filterblade, head to the "Customize" tab, and then select "Unique Items." Click any of the tiers with a check mark on them and then click on "Snd:" to add your custom sounds.

After that, click the drop-down menu, select "Custom," and then type the specific name of the sound file that you want to use (ex. soundfile1.wav). Do not forget to input the file extension as well. You can refer to the boxes highlighted in red below for some guidance.

When everything is set, you can click "Export to PoE" and save your loot filter.

Customize to Your Liking

Truth be told, you can select any of the presets mentioned above and use the resulting loot filter by downloading or exporting it to your Path of Exile account. However, the beauty of the Filterblade platform is that it allows you to customize your loot filter even further. You can do this by clicking on the “Customize” tab right next to the overview page.

You do not need to worry about customization at all if you are using the Semi-Strict loot filter. But, if you use the "Very Strict" and "Uber Strict/Uber Strict Plus" loot filters, then you may need to get yourself acquainted with the customization options available to you.

Let's say that you have chosen the "Uber Strict" loot filter. With this enabled in-game, some types of PoE Currency, such as Orb of Fusing, Chromatic Orb, and Orb of Regret, will be hidden.

So, if you do not like any of those currencies to be filtered out, you can click "Currency-Normal" and then "General Currency." In here, the currencies that are below the D Tier will be hidden.

If you still want to see Orbs of Regret while mapping, for example, you can click the E+ Tier followed by the "Show" button as well.

If there are specific items other than currencies that you would like the loot filter to show regardless of the strictness level, there is a handy search box at the right side of the page. Input the name of the item you want to show/hide and it will give you the results you are looking for.

How about unique items? Remember what we said earlier about sounds, lights, and icons? With Filterblade, you can customize these settings as you see fit.

Back to tweaking the Uber Strict loot filter, click on the "Unique Items" tab and you will see the different unique items that are placed in different tiers. The ones with a check mark beside them will be shown to you in the game and the ones that do not are hidden.

If there is a specific unique item that you want the loot filter to show despite being in the lower tiers, you can right-click on that item and select "Move to A Tier."

To customize the lights, sounds, and icons of unique items, simply click on the different tiers with a check mark, and on the right side, you will see three options for sound, icon, and lights (in that order).

As with the other entries in the "Customize" tab on the Filterblade website, the main gist is that the items that are in each category will be shown in the game if they have a check mark beside them. You can click on each individual category to see which ones are concealed and which ones are not.

Saving the Loot Filter

When you are satisfied with the changes, click the "Export to PoE" button on the upper-right corner of the screen. You will be asked to input a name for your loot filter. Besides that, select the platform that you want to use the loot filter on. By default, it is set to PC but you can change that to either Xbox or PlayStation if you play PoE on the said consoles.

Under "Workflow," be sure to check the load by default option. This is so that every time you visit Filterblade, the last saved loot filter will be loaded up automatically. Once you have set these parameters, click on "Sync or Download" to proceed to the next page.

Now you are ready to export the loot filter that you have painstakingly customized according to your preferences. You have two options here: You can either save the loot filter and have it synced up to your account, or download the loot filter and place it in the Path of Exile folder yourself.

If you choose the latter option, a zip file will be downloaded that contains the loot filter, as well as the sound files that are necessary for the preset soundpacks to work (assuming you have applied one in the customize page).

Extract the contents of the zip file into a folder as shown in the image below:

The next thing that you are going to do is to head to the User/Documents/My Games/Path of Exile folder. Place all of the extracted files here and then load up the game. Alternatively, you can fire up the PoE client, go to the settings menu, and under the "Game" tab, click on the folder icon to instantly open the said folder up.

How to Use a PoE Loot Filter

So, you have downloaded your loot filter and extracted it to the Path of Exile folder, what should you do now? Well, all you really need to do at this point is to run the game and go to the options menu.

From there, select the "Game" tab and you should see the words "Item Filter" followed by a drop-down menu. Click on it and you will see the loot filters that you have placed inside the aforementioned folder.

You can place as many item filters as you like in the folder that was just specified. Additionally, you can change whatever loot filter you have active at any time; just head to the options menu and use the drop-down to select your preferred filter.

Item Filters from PoE Website

The loot filter that you can customize in Filterblade is already pretty good. However, you do have the option of using the item filters created by PoE content creators, as well as other players who have made their loot filters available to the public.

You can look at the popular item filters from the official Path of Exile website if you want to. Take note that the way you save the filters from the site is different from the ones you get from Filterblade.

To use an item filter from the official Path of Exile website, you can go to this page and search for the one that you like from the list.

Once you have found one that you would like to use, click on the entry with the underlined filter name. Doing so will lead you to the page where you can save the filter to your Path of Exile account.

Let's say that you want to use Pohx's loot filter for Righteous Fire builds. On the right-hand corner of the site, you will find the "Copy" button. As the name implies, this option will allow you to copy the loot filter to your profile.

On the next page, you can rename the loot filter and select the platform you are playing Path of Exile on. You can provide a brief description of the filter as well, though this is just optional. Once you are done, simply scroll to the bottom of the page and hit submit.

After hitting the submit button, you are going to see your collection of item filters from the PoE official website.

Now, how exactly do you use item filters from the said platform? Well, unlike the loot filters you have downloaded manually from Filterblade which you can set before logging in, the ones from the PoE website can only be loaded if you are actually logged into the game. You will know if it is from the official site by the filter's blue-colored font as shown below:

Summary

From Filterblade

1. Go to Filterblade website and select the preferred strictness level (Semi-strict or Strict for beginners; Very Strict or Uber Strict/Plus for advanced players)
2. Choose your desired styles and modules if you want (you can check how they look by scrolling down the "Filter Overview" found on the same page)
3. Go to the "Customize" tab and select the items that you want to show/hide (if any)
4. Click "Export to PoE" to save your loot filter to your PoE account or to your PC
5. If you choose to download the filter to your PC, extract its contents, and place the files inside the Path of Exile folder (User/Documents/My Games/Path of Exile)
6. Fire up the game and head to the options menu
7. Under the "Game" tab, click the drop-down menu right beside "Item Filter" and select your preferred loot filter. Hit the "Save" button and that’s it!

From PoE Website

1. Head to the PoE website and choose your desired item filter from the list
2. On the next page, click on the "Copy" button located at the top-right corner of the screen
3. After that, input the filter name and select the platform you want to use the item filter on (default PC)
4. When you are done, hit the submit button at the bottom of the page
5. Run the Path of Exile client and log into the game
6. Press Esc (on PC) -> Options -> Game -> Item Filter
7. Select your preferred item filter from the list and click "Save"

Final Thoughts

Loot filters are an important part of your Path of Exile journey. Without them, you will see a bunch of useless stuff on the screen that may actually hamper your efficiency.

We recommend that you use Filterblade to download your loot filters because you can customize them at any time. However, getting item filters from the official website is not bad at all.

If you are customizing your own loot filter, just make sure to edit it every time a new league starts.

Congratulations! You have made it this far. We hope that you have found our PoE loot filter guide helpful. Don't forget to bookmark this page for future reference!

With all of that said, good luck on your adventures in Wraeclast, Exile!