Patch 0.4's boot crafting loop is weirdly simple once you stop fighting it, but it'll still chew through your stash if you rush. I ended up treating it like a little assembly line: prep the base, do the corruption gamble, then only keep what the market actually wants. If you're short on mats, you'll feel the squeeze fast, so I always tell friends to sort their PoE 2 Currency plan first and craft with a budget in mind, not vibes.
1) Start With a Base That Can Win
People love cutting corners here, and it shows in the results. Grab a top-end boot base you'd actually wear in maps, like Daggerfoot Shoes, and make sure it's item level 82+. That iLvl matters because it opens the door to the best movement speed tier, and without that you're basically crafting "almost" boots. Before you do anything spicy, add your socket(s) and push quality to max. Once the item gets corrupted, that window slams shut, and it's way too easy to kick yourself later.
2) The Omen Setup
This part looks like a meme until you see a good reveal. Put Omen of Putrefaction in your inventory, then use a Preserved Rib on the prepped boots. The Omen gets consumed and the item flips into that corrupted state with up to six unrevealed desecrated mods, wiping whatever was there. It's not "crafting" the old way. It's more like paying for a shot at a premium corruption-style outcome, and you've gotta be OK with some bricks along the way.
3) Reveal Rules That Keep You Profitable
Go to the Well of Souls and reveal like you mean it. First, hunt for 35% increased Movement Speed; if that doesn't show, I'm already thinking "sell cheap or move on." After speed, I care about Maximum Life and strong defensive scaling like % Evasion or Energy Shield, depending on what the base leans into. I'm not saying attributes are useless, but Dex/Int rolls usually don't carry the price unless the rest is cracked. For suffixes, item rarity can push value, and high-tier resistances are still the bread and butter because everyone's fixing caps somewhere.
If you stick to that filter and don't get emotionally attached to "close enough" outcomes, the method feels steadier than most patch fads. You'll have dry streaks, sure, but you'll also hit runs where one pair pays for ten attempts. Price check like a hawk, list fast, and don't be afraid to stop when the market cools; that's how I've kept it consistent without panic-spending, even when I'm tempted to poe 2 currency buy just to keep rolling.