Are orbs of transmutation totally useless?

I'm currently in act 6 (act 3 cruel) and have 50 orbs of transmutations and 90 orbs of augmention. And I have no idea how to use them.
Always picking white items is not an option due to small inventory and lack of proper bases drop (I've used about 10 transmutes in total during the campaing).
So what's the point of them? Is it just another trash drop like scrolls of wisdom?

Useful rares/uniques are even rarer. I transmute/aug whatever items I can wear, hoping I get at least one high tier mod. If I get a high tier mod, I regal.

I'm level 68 and run with negative cold resist, lol.