Current state: what works and potential changes.

I will try to say as good as possible what I think is in a well spot and what potential changes can be applied (other variants are welcome, of course) to some aspects that are not that endorsed.

Crafting
In its current state, clearly, there are limited options when it comes to crafting. Crafting bench not being available in game removes a bit of deterministic aspects when it comes to this process, so players have to rely on other things:

Runes & Talismans:
- good early game (campaign heavy) to fix resistances issues, or getting some other defenses (armor, evasion, energy shield, or a hybrid combination), and in a decent spot towards the endgame, having options to push for a bit of QoL/boost in offense (and its characteristics attached to it);
- I feel like adding more runes (not too many, of course), but with a unique mechanism behind them that would enable or, at least, diminish the necessary work for making a build viable (passive tree pathing, required unique items, and some other things); or straight possibility of exploring new interesting interactions; (whole paragraph to be strictly considered for endgame)
- regarding point above, I do consider that such a thing (if added) should be weighted in a way, not necessarily extremely rare, but tied to certain unique bosses pool drop, and possibly limited to maximum 1 usage (socketable only in 1 place and only 1 time); Not saying to be on the same level as what some unique jewels (for example) offer in Path of Exile 1 (dissolution, melding, watchers, and so on), but more of a middle ground between what runes are now and what jewels in first game can enable;

Essences:
- since they work completely different than in first game, I think that the issue with crafting with those is more because of the mod weights on items, since they no longer add "of the essence", which would be a guaranteed mod, but rather choose from between a suffix and prefix who shares same tag;
- I am not really sure if the mod added by an essence is more favorable than one added by an exalt orb (for instance) weight wise, but if it is not the case, I am inclined to think that making essences have an improved chance to land on a higher tier mod will make them more "desired";
- think how in Path of Exile 1, depending on tier of essence, you could land in a specific range, that's what I wanted to say by point above, maybe essence having the mechanism to ignore some lower tier mods would be interesting;

Omens:
- I consider them being in a decent/good spot currently;
- as of now, I don't know if the functionality of the omen regarding Rogue Exiles has been discussed, but is not working as intended, basically it will "force" a Rogue Exile to spawn upon entering map, but the ally won't be present to aid the Rogue Exile (sorry in advance if its fixed in 0.2g and I wasn't aware);
- don't really know (up to debate) if Hinekora's Lock has any place in Path of Exile 2, but probably will be a deadly combo with omens (for high end crafting, or bis items);

Basic currency:
- removal of alteration orbs and scouring makes it a bit harder to land desired mods on a magic item, and then crafting from there, therefore you would need to make use of more bases and transmute/augment them until you land something that's good for you; works in a way, but it requires some time to be invested (if the route to craft is chosen and not straight up using trading);
- at present, I would say that maybe some other omens that would interact with lower currency to make the outcome a bit more deterministic will work, although is a band-aid and not really an optimal solution (this area requires a lot more wisdom to be meaningful) (and overlaps a bit with what I said about essences);

Build viability
- I stand firm that creativity should be rewarded when it comes to how you make your build, and the decisions behind what pathing you choose to have "consequences", otherwise it wouldn't really fit into what means to design something;
- this is more tied to certain skills and classes (and their ascendancies) having a way better time (easier) reaching certain degrees of power in contrast to others. Makes sense for classes to excel in particular areas, but when a very big percentage of player base opts for a certain class (ascendancy) there, clearly, are some underlying issues with the others: be it "not strong enough" base skills, issues with sustaining the build (mana/life/energy, or other forms) due to how gems scale in terms of requirements & resources spending;
- I am not suggesting to nerf said overpowered classes/ascendancies to a point where they fall behind others, or buff the others to tremendous heights, but more of a middle ground; It is important to have some ascendancies very good at end game (and specific content related to that stage of game), while others having a great time during campaign/early endgame, mapping and then hitting a wall (which could be break with extreme investment, but that's not the point), but definitely not just one who it's good at basically anything with a very low entry point, it makes the other classes unworthy to even give them a try, because what's the point?

Loot:
- since we will have to see the upcoming changes with 0.2g, it's hard to say if it will be enough to appeal to the vast majority of players;
- buffing base loot is always a double-edged sword, you do it too much you end up with a false feeling of being rich, since items (crafted) will increase heavily in price, while some chase unique items will decrease, and others skyrocket if said content that drop them is not run enough and is a very limited amount (how it happened with Affliction League and the items that you could obtain from running Sanctum);

Note:
What I suggested is up to debate, anyone is free to say if it's a good approach, or a bad one. Some changes apply more to a long-term scenario, while others to a short one (more like a band-aid), and therefore requires a better design. Even what I thought of should have been more detailed (on point), but will be tiresome to read.

It's a lot more to discuss, but I chose to lay my opinion on certain aspects that have a bigger impact on player base, and leave what's left for another time.