3 Best Cold Themed Builds In POE 3.20

With Path of Exile 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas expansion now in full swing, its sequel seems to have been forgotten by players. But recently, Jonathan Rogers, the game director of both games, said they would be dedicating more time and energy to POE 2 for the remainder of the year, delaying Early Access period until the end of the year.

In fact, as soon as this interview came out, all players who are keen on Path of Exile series of games are very interested in it. If you missed the live or want to know the details directly instead of watching a video that lasts more than half an hour, we’ll take a look at exactly what changes the developer revealed in this interview will be making to the controversial Path of Exile 2, and how they’ll affect players in this guide.

New Trading System

This is a very important change that Rogers took the initiative to introduce at the beginning. Although he did not reveal important details about the trading system, he promised that the emergence of this system will make in-game transactions more convenient, especially for players who are new to POE 2 or who focus on casual.

In the process, he symbolically listed some possible contents, such as vendor NPCs in the player’s hideout that can trade items or POE 2 currency and a more concise way to list in-game goods; as well as cracking down on cheating behaviors such as false prices and ghost sellers that have appeared before.

In fact, the improvement of the trading system in the player community and major social media is not completely exciting, because before the official release of POE 2’s early access in December last year, the developers used the reason of improving in-game micro-transactions when delaying the release time.

Although it is not perfect at the beginning, the situation that players feel uncomfortable with the hideout trading interface and interactive screens that are exactly the same as the original should not occur.

On top of that, the developer team plans to launch the system at the end of 2025, that is, before the end of early access, which may disappoint players again, because this change should have been put on the agenda earlier, instead of being delayed.

Many Game Content Reworks

In addition to the most important trading system update, the game director said that each Ascendancy class in POE 2 will be reworked in the future, so that players can create more distinctive and powerful builds around them, which may be a very large project.

In addition, Passive Tree may also face a rework, especially the smaller wheel part, so that players can find their own activation path on this huge tree with many branches and make it more influential.

Rogers also said frankly that the developers have realized that the current game content lacks Strength/Intelligence hybrid section, so this part of the construction options may become the focus of subsequent developers.

From these statements, we can actually know that the developers really want to make the players’ combat rhythm and style in POE 2, a dark-style action role-playing game, faster and more flexible. So if you have enough POE 2 Currency, try to invest in those constructions with strong mobility and clearing capabilities at this stage.

Classes and builds that focus on melee attacks like Monk and Warrior may be better suited for endgame or higher-tier maps, while farming large amounts of experience and loot may require classes with high intelligence and strength stats like Ranger, Huntress, or Sorceress.

More Endgame Content

The developers also revealed that more content will be added to POE 2’s mid-tier endgame content in the second half of the year to bridge the gap between encounters such as Doryani’s Trial and bosses such as Arbiter of Ash, Zested, and King in the Mists.

Although Rogers said in the interview that the game’s content is balanced to make players’ progress more smoothly, in fact, this is likely another scam. In this balancing, there is only a small chance that the developers will make the most challenging encounters easier, and in most cases, they will directly increase the difficulty of all encounters.

This will cause more players to experience very severe death penalties in the game, and then spend more time and energy to farm better gear or more crafting materials to improve their build capabilities, thereby achieving the retention of some player groups.

Of course, this is just some speculation based on what the developers have done before, and there is no guarantee that they will do these things that will greatly damage the trust of players. In addition, the tower changes in the previous Dawn of the Hunt were not mentioned in this interview, so we still have to wait for the final information to be released.

New Patches & Other Improvements

In addition to the above update information that can be announced, there is some hidden information in some leaks or communities. For example, POE 0.3.0 patch is likely to be released around Friday, August 8, which is exactly four months after the release of 0.2.0, which is very consistent with the developer’s regular rhythm of releasing the latest patch.

Most importantly, this event just avoided the release of a major update of the same type game Last Epoch at the end of August, and the release of the new Season 10 of Diablo 4 in September, which may give players who linger on these similar games more time to try to get into the new 0.3.0 patch, thereby increasing the number of concurrent online players.

In addition, the developer is also collecting skill usage and frame data for each server in order to optimize the experience provided to players with the worst performance gaming devices, especially on those consoles that are about to be eliminated by the gaming market.

The above changes may be given priority to Softcore mode, while Hardcore mode tried by players who are keen to challenge more difficult game content is likely to be changed accordingly in the future because only 3%-4% of the player base is in it.

I need to remind you again that the changes and improvements to the game content provided in this guide are based on public interviews accepted by the current developers and some player community feedback, and cannot be regarded as the final result. But in general, I still hope that all players can have fun in POE 2, which has experienced a lot of trials and controversies!

The new mercenary mechanism is introduced in Path Of Exile 3.26 Mercenaries of Trarthus league, allowing players to challenge and recruit mercenaries as their allies to start a new challenge journey together.

These mercenaries will join you when you play the game and help you kill enemies and collect loot. Therefore, in your exploration process, please do not underestimate the power of these mercenaries. Proper equipment can greatly speed up your game progress.

Here, we are going to introduce a completely support build, but please note that the power of this build itself is not the point at all, because our purpose is to use it to enhance the mercenaries in POE 3.26! This is Defiance Banner Champion.

The highlight of this build is that we do not output damage ourselves, but fully support the mercenaries and make them the main output. In this way, we can see a large number of enemies turn into ashes in front of our eyes while ensuring our own survivability, and enjoy the fun of POE currency falling like raindrops.

Skills

For this build setting, let’s take a look at its core skills first.

Destructive Link

Let’s start with Destructive Link. This is a skill gem that allows the player to link with a mercenary ally, giving the ally the critical strike chance of our main-hand attacks. But using this gem also has certain risks, if the linked mercenary dies, we personally will die. And this skill is usually used in support characters to enable a build based on critical strikes.

So, Destructive Link skill will connect us to the mercenary, transferring our critical strike chance to them. For example, when we use Trypanon Two Hand Mace, it can provide 100% critical strike chance, and the mercenary will inherit this critical strike chance.

In addition, we can also combine it with Marylene’s Fallacy Lapis Amulet, which can greatly increase the critical strike multiplier, but reduce the critical strike chance.

Since our mercenary gains our critical strike chance instead of their own critical strike chance, this not only allows them to avoid disadvantages, but also gain all the benefits!

Defiance Banner

The next skill is Defiance Banner. This is a defensive aura skill that increases movement speed and spell suppression, and reduces all incoming damage. We also gain elemental resistance through Rallying Icon passive skill.

What’s special about this skill is that it consumes all accumulated Valour stacks to enhance the effect, and its effectiveness scales with Valour consumed. So, even if the stats of Defiance Banner skill look mediocre, the more Valour you consume, the stronger its effect becomes.

So, how do you get Valour Normally, Valour is obtained through melee attacks, but since we don’t attack actively, we can make up for it by using Banner Mastery, which provides 5 Valour every time Warcries are used.

Secondly, I also automatically use General’s Cry, a Warcry skill that summons Mirage Warriors from nearby corpses to attack enemies. These Mirages will imitate the player’s attacks, making it a powerful skill for map exploration and boss battles. Because it has a short cooldown, it allows us to obtain a stable Valour.

We also use Bannerman passive, which keeps the banner effect for 3 seconds after leaving the banner area. Combined with Champion’s Inspirational passive, we can recover some Valour when leaving the banner area.

Finally, with Perfidy body armor, we get 50% more Valour, and it only takes 3 seconds to fully recover, so it lasts.

Pyroclast Mines

The last major skill is Pyroclast Mines. This mine grants an aura when it lands, causing enemies to take additional fire damage. So, if you are willing to invest more in the gem level and aura effect of Pyroclast Mines, it can even deal an additional 4,000-5,000 fire damage.

Gear

For our weapon equipment selection, in the early game, we will use Trypanon Mace because it has a 100% critical strike rate. After that, you can switch to a high crit wand, and with Ungil’s Harmony Amulet, you can maintain 100% crit rate.

March of the Legion unique boots are also a good choice, focusing on mods that increase the aura gem level by +5, which can enhance the effects of Defiance Banner and Pyroclast Mines.

Finally, the chest armor, as we said before, Perfidy can provide continuous Valour generation when mapping, so it is definitely our best choice. And the rest of the equipment just needs to use some rare items.

Mercenary Settings

Now let’s talk about the mercenary settings. My mercenaries use Ice-based bows because they not only have a long range and clear the field quickly, but also don’t cast strange spells to disrupt your plans.

But since mercenaries don’t have a passive skill tree, they seriously lack the ability to increase damage and penetration, so we can only solve this problem through equipment.

And the best source of damage is The Taming Prismatic Ring, which can increase the enemy’s elemental damage for each ailment effect, which is a huge multiplier.

For armor, we use Shroud of the Lightless, which provides elemental penetration for each Abyss Jewel.

It is worth noting that since this armor only has 2 jewel sockets, for gloves and boots, we need to look for items with multiple Abyss jewel sockets. When we stack more Abyss Jewels, they will increase more damage and penetration. More importantly, Abyss Jewel can also increase some life and mana for the mercenary.

In short, this Defiance Banner Champion may not have much highlights on its own, which is why it has been forgotten in the previous challenge league, but in POE 3.26, with the support of the mercenary allies, this will become your best support build choice!

As players progress through the current leagues in Path of Exile 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas expansion, the extremely rare crafting materials available to them will become increasingly rare, increasing the cost of acquiring these items through player-to-player trading and trading websites.

Fracturing Orbs are a good example of this, which can be used on rare items with more than 4 modifiers to destroy a random explicit modifier and lock it in place so that it cannot be affected by other POE currencies.

Once you have a rare item with a high-quality modifier, you can use this orb to fix it so that you can always enjoy the high-quality benefits or powerful effects it brings, thus achieving a better game experience.

In the current game content, the only place and method to farm large amounts of Fracturing Orbs is Harbinger. In view of this, this guide will introduce you to how to effectively farm Harbinger in POE 3.26, including Scarabs, Atlas passive skill nodes and map settings that can be used in your build.

Strategy Overview

First of all, since it is farming Harbinger, the strategy theme provided here is to maximize the number of Harbinger you have on the map you explore.

However, it should be noted that Harbinger, as the monster you need to fight, is not affected by the affixes on Waystones you use when activating the map that increases the quality or quantity of the monster.

In addition, Harbinger itself will provide you with other currency fragments in addition to Fracturing Orbs, such as Annulment Shard and Ancient Shard, which can provide you with higher profits. However, it is not recommended that you collect Chaos Shard, Transmutation Shard and Alteration Shard because they are a waste of time.

Scarab

For Harbinger farming, Scarabs you choose should be related to this type of monster, such as Harbinger Scarab of Warhoards, which will help you drop double the currency Shards, including Fracturing Orbs.

In addition, Harbinger Scarab of Regency is also a very good choice, which will make Harbinger in this area have a 50% chance of being replaced by a more powerful Harbinger Boss, thereby increasing the number of Fracturing Orbs dropped and the quality of other loot.

The last and most important option is Harbinger Scarab, which can bring you the buff of adding three additional Harbingers, which is very useful. However, it should be noted that more monsters to challenge means that your build requirements will increase, so please spend enough POE currency before farming to enhance your character’s offensive and defensive capabilities.

Or Harbinger Scarab of Obelisks, which can also provide you with additional currency Shards after your battle with Harbinger is over. Some players will focus on other loot in other battles, so Scarab of Monstrous Lineage, which increases the size of magic packs, is also an excellent choice.

Map Settings

While the spawn rate and rarity of Harbingers are not changed by the affixes on Waystones, you can still choose to farm maps with higher monster packs, such as Mesa Map, which can keep the pack size above 30.

However, please note that although Tier 17 maps have higher monster pack sizes and additional rewards, it is not recommended to farm Harbingers in them if your build is not enough to allow you to successfully complete the challenges and battles in these top maps.

Because many Tier 15/16 maps contain Harbingers that are already very profitable due to the influence of the build options you have equipped, you should do your best.

Atlas Passive Skill Tree

Similarly, in the huge POE passive skill tree, you also need to pay attention to those related to Harbinger. First and foremost are the ones that reduce Harbinger’s cooldown and spawn rate, such as Additional Harbinger Chance and Ominous Arrival.

Of course, your ultimate goal is to farm more Fracturing Orbs, so passive skill nodes that can increase your currency fragments are also very necessary, such as Additional Harbinger Shards, Unspeakable Offensive, etc.

Or Map Modifier Effect node is also worth activating. Although Harbinger cannot be affected by the display modifiers on the map, this node can greatly increase the quantity and quality of other loot you can obtain during exploration, such as items, crafting materials, and PoE currency.

Is This Strategy Cost Less?

In fact, the cost of entire builds option and the map you set are not that less, because Harbinger Scarab of Regency is worth 8 POE Chaos Orbs in the game, but it should be reminded that it can be used from the early stage of your game to the endgame stage, so it is relatively affordable overall.

If you don’t want to invest too much in the early game, you can remove Harbinger Scarab of Obelisks from your build and instead add Harbinger Scarab, which can increase the number of Harbinger spawns. This strategy will make your challenge more difficult, but more profitable.

These are the specific strategies for farming Harbinger to get more Fracturing Orbs that can be used to reduce crafting costs, based on the latest patch in the current Path of Exile 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas expansion and some player feedback. Hopefully, you can complete farming this type of enemy and currency faster with the help of this build setup, and get more high-quality affixes for rare items to use. Have fun playing!

Exiles, in Path of Exile 3.26, the developers fixed a bug that only counted Ore Deposit Encounters completed in Delirium Maps, but now even encounters created by Delirium Mirrors are counted.

This means we can now fill up Delirium reward bar faster and win a ton of loot. So now is definitely the best time to farm Delirium!

What Are The Advantages Of Running This Strategy?

To help you maximize your gains, we’re going to introduce you to an affordable and easy-to-pickup Delirium farming strategy. My strategy is mainly for players who may only have an hour or two of game time at a time, because it’s easy to pick up and still profitable, and these strategies have a low investment cost in case the server keeps rolling back. After all, you don’t want to finish farming only to lose 3-4 POE Divine Orbs because of a direct loot price rollback.

We’ve actually tried a similar strategy in previous leagues, but the reason we’re sharing it with POE 3.26 expansion is entirely because the price of Delirium Orbs on Currency Exchanges has started to rise, and almost every mapping player needs them for the matches they want to play. So, farming Delirium is now completely profitable!

On top of that, Cluster Jewels also remain in high demand, and many common Clusters can still be sold for 10-20 Chaos Orbs.

So, this Delirium strategy is definitely worth a try, not only because it’s fast and simple, but also because the dropped loot is sold very quickly and conveniently on Exchange, which is again suitable for those who have limited game time or don’t want to interact with external websites.

Preparation

Now, you need a suitable character build to complete Delirium farming effectively. But in the early stages of the league, if you want to farm more and you already have four Voidstones, it’s important to find a speed build that allows you to quickly get in and out of the map, because our main profit comes from the loot at the end of the map. So, the more maps you run, the more POE Currency profit you make.

In fact, we averaged about 2-3 minutes per map, so in about an hour and fifteen minutes, we completed 30 maps, including rolling the map and storing the loot. Then, it took us about 10 minutes to sell all the loot. This means that in just an hour and a half, we can harvest more than ten Divines with this strategy!

We need to make a disclaimer, however, because of different prices on different servers and the fact that you are still subject to RNG during the farming process, the final profit may vary. But this strategy is definitely simple and profitable.

How To Run?

Now, let’s discuss how to effectively complete this strategy and why they can make good and sustained profits in Secrets of the Atlas expansion.

First, we’re going to run Strand map, because it’s both linear and long, which means you’ll get more Splinters and Delirium Orbs as you get to the end.

We’re only going to use one Scarab in this strategy, which is a Delirium Scarab of Mania, which costs about one Chaos Orb each, and they basically double the speed at which your Delirium reward meter fills up in the area.

But it does also make it harder to farm the map later on, so if you find it too tricky, just abandon Scarab, but you’ll probably lose a few Divine Orbs worth of loot per hour. But even if you abandon it completely, it’s still a profitable strategy.

So in this strategy, we’re going to pick the easiest Atlas tree to give us decent rewards and not slow down our mapping.

Then we’re basically going to do two things. The first is to stop the fog from disappearing any faster. This fog marks the beginning of the Delirium fight, and the player will fight waves of increasingly difficult monsters in the fog. So, running through the fog is essential to maximizing your rewards, because the monsters in the fog will drop Delirium-specific loot, including Simulacrum Splinters.

So, if the fog dissipates slowly, you will never have a problem running out of Delirium. I need to warn you though, if you do this as well, you may get extra rewards at the end, but it will get harder and harder as you get to the later stages of the map.

The second thing is to not interact with any of the main mechanics when you are doing this strategy, except for your mercenaries. Because for every Strongbox you open or every Breach or Legion you open, it will pause the timer and give you more chances to escape the fog. But we want to stay on these maps as much as possible to maximize our gains.

Of course, you can run any map you want, but Strand map is really suitable for running this strategy, not only is it simple but the loot you can get is also more.

At the beginning of the map, there will be a Delirium Mirror, you need to go through it to start your Strand mapping, and kill everything in your way.

Delirium Mists fight offers seven tiers of rewards that are tied to the number of Delirium Mists on the map and the number of monsters killed in the map. Each tier of rewards increases in difficulty and potentially leads to a bigger reward.

Once you have cleared the mist, you can get seven tiers of rewards. You can then choose to end Delirium at any time, collect your loot, leave and repeat the setup.

However, once you get seven tiers of rewards, it will be difficult to get more without investing in additional content. So if you have killed a lot of things on the map and still have no more loot, it is recommended that you run straight to the boss and kill him. Most of the remaining loot will come from the last Delirium explosion, except for some rewards you may get from the altar.

Finally, if you find that this strategy is too difficult, drop Delirium Scarab of Mania and see how things go. Doing this will make things much easier, especially as you get closer to the boss.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, a simple and easy Delirium strategy that requires no thought, you just blast away for an hour and then sell your loot in 10 minutes for 10-20 POE Divine Orbs! It feels really good.

This strategy works really fast and requires very little input on the map, so even if it’s not the most exciting farming strategy in the game right now, it will give you satisfying gains in the shortest amount of time in the early stages of a league.