Top 3 Currency/Crafting Materials Farming Strategies For The Start Of POE 3.23 SSF
I'm here to share my expertise on 3 lucrative POE Currency and crafting material farming strategies for the start of the Solo Self-Found (SSF) of Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction League.
These strategies are versatile and don't demand any particular prerequisites, making them suitable for any build.
3. Essence Farming
The very first and most important thing you need to know about Essences is that unlike other league mechanics, Essences do not scale with map tier.
Their rewards will be the same whether killed in a Tier 1 or Tier 16 map. This makes Essences an extremely strong option for league start currency farming.
Corrupting Essences
The next thing you need to be aware of is the mechanic behind corrupting Essences using the Remnant of Corruption.
This special Essence will corrupt other Essences that trap monsters, modifying them unpredictably. It will either randomize the Essences, upgrade them into a higher tier, or do nothing.
It's essential to know on which Essences to use this Remnant of Corruption. There are four in particular that you want to be aware of and corrupt whenever you can because they could potentially yield a very profitable and strong reward. They are as follows:
- Screaming Essence of Dread may corrupt into an Essence of Delirium.
- Screaming Essence of Envy may corrupt into an Essence of Horror.
- Screaming Essence of Misery may corrupt into an Essence of Hysteria.
- Screaming Essence of Scorn may corrupt into an Essence of Insanity.
Now, I will talk about the actual farming strategies, including how to run Essences in your maps and important Atlas nodes to take if you wish to do this method.
Running Essence Maps
Actually running the maps is very easy and simply consists of using white maps to run through them as fast as possible until you encounter an Essence monster.
Then, check if it needs to be corrupted if it has any of the 4 Essences mentioned previously.
Then, activate the monster, kill it, and collect the Essences. Repeat this until you've cleared out all the Essence monsters in a map, then repeat the whole process in another map. It's that simple.
Essence Atlas Nodes
As for the Atlas nodes, here are important ones that you would want to pick up to maximize the efficiency of this farming strategy:
- Amplified Energies
- Crystal Resonance
- Remnant of Corruption Essence Chance
- Proliflic Essence
- Crystal Lattice
- Imprisoned Monster Additional Essence Chance
If you would like to see where one of these is on the atlas, simply write the name of the node into the search bar in the Atlas itself.
Recommended Maps
Lastly, I'll talk a bit about which maps you want to be running.
Although this is mostly preference, you definitely want to run the right maps to ensure it's as fast and as easy as it can be. Picking an easy map layout could prove to be beneficial, so look out for maps such as:
- Strand Map
- Atoll Map
- Jungle Valley Map
A side note for an Atoll map: The Essences in that map tend to spawn near the center, making them easy to track down. So basically, run the map in a figure 8.
2. Blight Farming
Blight is a bit of a tower defense game and that's why it's great for any build. You're mostly relying on correct tower placements in chokeholds and selecting the correct type of tower for the enemies that you are facing.
Upon completing a Blighted map, you'll have a multitude of chests that spawn from the Tendrils that the enemies were coming from. They have different types of rewards, but there will always be at least one guaranteed Blight chest reward.
Blighted maps do scale with map tiers, and in higher tier maps, you'll have a chance of encountering a Blight boss, which will work the same as other Blight monsters following a set path along a Tendril but will be much tougher to kill and reward you with an extra chest at the end.
Since the chests at the end of a Blight map are random apart from one, the rewards will vary. But at the same time, since there are so many chests when you really get into Blight, you'll have a high chance of receiving something useful to you and your build, whether that's raw currency, gems, POE Items, uniques, oils, Divination Cards, etc.
Blight Multipliers
Another important aspect of Blight is understanding how multipliers work with Blight. They don't work as you may think.
Increased item quantity does not directly increase the loot quantity from Blight chests. Since these are the main source of loot, that means this multiplier isn't a priority whatsoever. However, it does affect generic loot dropping from Blighted Monsters themselves.
Similarly, increased item rarity does not affect Blighted chest rewards, either. It affects Blighted Monsters' loot but not chests. Increased pack size multiplies the number of monsters spawning from each Tendril, affecting loot from Blighted Monsters but not chests.
Blight Scarabs
Scarabs are a great way to guarantee a Blighted map. There are 4 types of Blight-related Scarabs, each with progressively increased profitability and difficulty. Some rarer Scarabs can be challenging to complete.
Blight Atlas Nodes
Regarding the Atlas nodes, here are important ones to maximize the efficiency of this farming strategy.
- Spores on the Wind
- Immune Response
- Mycelial Swarm
- Epidemiology
- Fungal Bloom
- Sturdy Construction
- Distilled Fungus
- Blightspawn
- Cassia's Pride
Blight Towers
Lastly, I'll talk about recommended maps for Blight and my preferred tower choices.
For towers, I usually stick to a few trusted ones that work most of the time. Tower choices depend on the current league, map, build, and monsters' resistances. However, some towers generally work well for many scenarios.
Firstly, we have Chilling Towers III or a Freezebolt Tower. The difference is that the Chilling Tower slows enemies, affects more targets and deals moderate damage whereas the Freezebolt Tower shoots a piercing projectile, which freezes enemies, and deal high damage.
The choice between the two lies on how much resources you currently have to spend and what the map layout is.
Usually, if I can afford it, I would go for the upgraded version - the Freezebolt Tower. But if the map is quite open, affecting more enemies with a Chilling Tower could prove to be more useful.
I like to pair these towers with a Seismic Tower level 3 for maximum crowd control. Seismic Towers deal low damage but always stun enemies. And they repeat multiple times, where at level 3 of the tower, they will slam the ground 7 times in a row, stunning enemies each time. Pairing both of these towers works great for choke points, which is their main objective.
Next up for some damage, I recommend going with the Meteor Tower. It reigns fiery meteors from the sky and is one of the best, if not the number one best damaging tower for monsters. Spreading a few of these around to cover as much area as possible is beneficial.
Also Read: 5 Most Recommended League Starters For POE 3.23 Affliction League
Pair the Scout Tower with the Meteor Tower as it deals high amounts of damage and works as a distraction, holding enemies off for a bit longer. The Scout Tower spawns 10 flying minions that fight the Blighted Monsters heading towards you.
Lastly, a very important tower to place across your run is the Empowering Tower level 3. It improves the effectiveness of other towers nearby, so placing it strategically is crucial. Prioritize improving your crowd control towers first to secure those choke points. Then, if you have enough resources, improve your damage and towers by 100%.
The most important thing to remember, though, is that each one of these towers will be ineffective against Blighted Monsters of the same type. Each Blighted map you run is going to have monsters that are resistant to some of the elements of your towers.
So, you want to make sure you carefully read what monsters are resistant to before starting the map and plan ahead. This way, you don't miserably fail.
If you can see that the monsters are resistant to chill or frost, then do not put down those chilling or freezing towers, as you are simply wasting your time.
Recommended Maps
Now, to quickly finish off this section, I will talk about with what maps I recommend.
I would say to try and go for the maps that have an enclosed layout. Enclosed maps will have more choke points for you to shut down and control compared to open maps. Enclosed maps also mean fewer Tendrils, which means fewer chests but also more chances for Blight chest rewards.
Some maps I recommend are:
- Core Map
- Toxic Sewer Map
- Waste Pool Map
3. Heist Farming
I will be talking about Heist farming, assuming that you already know the basics behind this whole mechanic.
Heist Benefits
First of all, Heist drops an absurd amount of raw currency, which straight off the bat is a big positive on a league start. Not to mention the fact that through Heist, you can get a 5-link very early on and maybe even a 6-link and some other useful equipment, such as talismans or uniques.
Heist can also be comfortably run before even finishing the campaign as a replacement, for example, grinding Blood Aqueducts. If you're looking to get into Heist early on in the league, then you should just focus on leveling up and gearing the Rogues that accompany you in the Contracts and just doing as many Contracts and Blueprints as you can. This way, you are going to be gathering a large amount of raw currency, Divination Cards, and uniques. By the time you're past league start, you'll have a solid foundation for Heist and will be able to run some more advanced methods for some rare and expensive uniques, other items, and raw Divine Orbs.
You need to look at Heist as more of a long-term investment because you really need to level up and gear the Rogues and have a decent understanding of how Heists, Grand Heists, Blueprints, and Contracts work to really maximize your profit throughout. With that being said, though, your efforts will be greatly rewarded.
A lot of people simply don't want to go through all that, and therefore, so-called "Heisters" (people that run Heist a lot) are actually in demand for things that are only available in Heist.
That doesn't mean that Heist is not profitable early on as it definitely is. Even though you don't have a very specific farming method or goal, it's still worth running with the benefits I've just mentioned.
Heist will always be more efficient with a fast movement speed character. So, I even more so recommend Heist if you're running a fast league start build.
Best Heist Contracts
If you want to know which Contracts are the most expensive and what to look out for in particular, then it would be Deception Contracts.
These make it so that once you trigger the final alarm and have to escape, all the doors on the way back will be open for you, so you can just blitz to the exit instead of opening multiple doors and fighting waves of monsters, potentially risking death.
Heist Atlas Nodes
As for Atlas nodes, here are important ones that you would want to pick up to maximize the efficiency of Heist:
- Secret Stash
- The Finer Arts
- No Honour Among Thieves
- Casing the Joint
- Friends in High Places
- Heist Smuggler's Cache Chance
Then, is my list of what I recommend doing as a strategy for league start, and it is personally what I'll be doing regardless of what build I choose. I have run these choices many times before, and let me tell you, they do not disappoint if you put the time. But as always, remember to choose whatever you find the most fun because at the end of the day, what matters most is not efficiency or wealth but simply joy.
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In Path of Exile Patch 3.27 Keepers of the Flame update that will arrive on October 31st, the most notable change was undoubtedly the complete rework of Shadow's Assassin Ascendancy.
This update aims to fundamentally reshape Assassin, replacing most of the existing passives with new nodes that offer different or more powerful effects. Even the nodes that are retained have undergone balance adjustments to improve their usability.
Preliminary analysis suggests that these changes are expected to elevate Ascendancy from a niche pick to a top choice, boasting both exceptional DPS and robust survivability. Let's take a look at the changes.
Critical Strike And Poison
Assassin's core role has always revolved around critical hits and poison. This rework strengthens this feature while also making its builds smoother and more powerful.
Critical Strike
The brand-new Assassination Style Notable is the cornerstone of this new power system, providing massive Critical Hit Chance and Damage Bonus bonuses, and allowing players to make meaningful choices between two powerful child nodes:
1. Knife In The Back
This option enhances your initial attack, granting 100% additional Critical Strike Chance against enemies that are not at low health. More importantly, it provides an amazing 100% additional Critical Strike Multiplier against low-health enemies.
This is essentially equivalent to having a built-in finishing move, allowing you to eliminate tough enemies at an astonishing speed, further enhancing efficiency.
2. For The Jugular
This option reverses the logic above, providing 100% extra Critical Strike Chance against low-health enemies, ensuring you can land consistent critical hits on dangerous, dying enemies.
Meanwhile, the 100% bonus Critical Strike Multiplier applies to enemies that are not low on health, allowing you to unleash devastating opening attacks and quickly reduce enemies to low health.
This flexibility allows players to make relative adjustments according to their needs – whether it's quickly cultivating the map or focusing on boss battles.
Poison
The poison build has also received a revolutionary update. Although Toxic Delivery node's poison damage from critical hits has been reduced from 25% to 20%, it has gained extremely valuable utility.
The previous conditional critical strike chance bonus has been replaced by a new mechanic: each 4-second poison effect you apply will grant you an extension of the poison duration, up to a maximum of 100%. This significantly increases damage uptime, especially against bosses with long phases.
In addition, the new effect of restoring 0.5% health for each poisoned enemy killed provides players with a stable and considerable health recovery in dense groups of monsters.
Crucially, the new node Infused Toxins, located after Toxic Delivery, now allows all attack damage to inflict poison. This design makes poison builds smoother than ever before.
Survival And Functionality Enhancements
The main weakness of Assassins lies in their relatively weak defenses compared to other Ascendancy instances. Path of Exile Patch 3.27 updates directly addresses this issue by adding several powerful survival-oriented nodes.
Shadowed Blood
This is a landmark defensive node that converts 40% of Physical Damage into Recouped as Life, a capability that fundamentally changes Assassin's resilience against physical damage.
Unaffected by Damaging Ailments is also a great advantage. For example, it grants immunity to Bleeding, Poison, and Ignite effects. This single point provides significant recovery and damage reduction, allowing Assassins to confront enemies who unleash these effects head-on.
Opportunistic
This node has been significantly enhanced and now provides 35% damage reduction when there are at least two Rare or Unique Enemies nearby. This is an extremely powerful defensive bonus, making Assassins surprisingly resilient in the most dangerous situations.
Deathmarked
This new node is a top-tier, practical damage-boosting tool that automatically triggers a level 30 Assassin's Mark when dealing critical hits to Rare or Unique Enemies, a huge improvement to the experience.
It eliminates the need for manual mark application, simplifying the process and ensuring key bosses are always marked. Its additional benefit - making your mark ability mana-free and preventing marked enemies from dodging attacks - further enhances accuracy against highly evasive opponents.
Other Mechanics
This rework also introduced some mechanisms, opening up entirely new build possibilities:
Unstable Infusion
Its chance of gaining energy charges on non-critical hits is increased to 30%, and the chance of gaining energy charges on critical hits is increased to 15%, making it more stable to maintain critical hit charges. This, in turn, leads to more stable Critical Hit Chance and Damage Bonus.
Mystical Infusion
This node is revolutionary for hybrid playstyles. It makes Base Spell Critical Strike Chance of spells equivalent to the critical strike chance of Main Hand Weapon, which means that some critical strike-dependent playstyles are no longer entirely reliant on specific high-critical-strike spells or daggers.
This allows players to creatively use high critical strike rate weapons to drive spell critical strike effects.
In conclusion, Assassin rework in Path of Exile Patch 3.27 is not a simple numerical adjustment, but a complete overhaul of the concept. It retains the core characteristics of the class while solving its previous weaknesses.
The updates clearly show that Assassin is no longer a single-function class, but a versatile, powerful, and robust top-tier option. Get ready to shine in Keepers of the Flame release!
Since its stable release, nearly every league in Path of Exile 1 has had a unique theme and core league mechanics that complement it. Combined with old changes, all new leagues offer an upgraded gameplay experience based on the existing PoE experience.
After the livestream, the core gameplay of 3.27 Keepers of the Flame league, which launches on October 31, 2025, was finally revealed, along with all the new changes and content.
Interestingly, 3.27 Keepers challenge leagues not only introduce a new story but are also essentially an extension of the established Breach mechanic. Below, we'll provide a detailed introduction to the core mechanics and other key changes to 3.27 league.
What Is Breach?
To fully experience Keepers challenge leagues, you first need to have a detailed understanding of Breach mechanic itself, not just how to earn rewards from it.
Breach was introduced as early as 2016 with the eponymous PoE 1 league and has since been retained in the base game. After years of refinement and adjustments, it has now become a mature endgame feature.
Regular Breaches spawn randomly on the game map and can be identified by a hand icon within a purple circle. Approaching them triggers a Breach and begins clearing the monsters spawned within. Each Breach lasts for at least 30 seconds, extending up to 60 seconds.
Note that to claim PoE currency dropped, you must kill breach monsters. Furthermore, enemies spawned by Vaal Breach do not drop XP or other items.
Breach In Keepers Of The Flame Challenge League
In fact, not only are the mechanics closely related, but 3.27 league itself can be considered a sequel to 2.5.0 Breach League.
In this new league, the evil Breachlords plan to expand their influence in Wraeclast. To combat them, Ailith has created Order of Keepers of the Flame. Your goal is to join Ailith in destroying all Breach monsters.
Upon entering Mud Flats area, you'll find it overrun by Breach monsters attempting to establish their lair. Ailith's fire powers are effective against them, provided you can help her fend off their attacks.
If you encounter an Unstable Breach caused by the massive Breach Hand, more monsters will emerge, requiring you to quickly defeat them to ensure Ailith can safely clear them with her fire.
After Breach stabilizes, Vruun, Marshal of Xesht, will appear as a boss. You must defeat him to permanently seal Breach and claim your rewards.
What Is Genesis Tree?
As your collaboration with Ailith deepens, she will eventually lead you to Monastery of Keepers, where you can unlock Genesis Tree. Think of it as a specialized Mastery Tree, where you invest points to earn rewards and special Grafts.
Grafts are a new way of granting buffs. By fusing breach hands with your character, you gain access to a variety of new active and passive skills, with up to 16 Grafts to choose from.
Once these Breach hands are implanted, you can collect Graftblood from defeating Breach monsters in battle. This Graftblood can then be invested in Genesis Tree to accelerate its growth, unlocking more rewards.
Grafts not only grant additional skills, but also modify your gear. However, grafted gear cannot be modified or reset with standard currency. Fortunately, Genesis Tree itself offers a very good node investment.
How To Complete Keepers Challenge League?
Based on the core mechanics described above, you can choose to complete 3.27 league in standard, hardcore, or solo self-found modes, depending on your ability.
These three modes share the same core mechanics, but you can create private leagues and add mods to enrich the gameplay, customizing your own Keepers challenge league.
Keepers Challenge League includes 40 new challenges and 8 Ruthless Keepers Challenges. Completing a certain number of challenges in both challenge modes gives you a chance to receive pieces of Keeper of the Flame Armor Set, a 3.27 league-exclusive reward.
In addition, starting with Challenge 19, every three challenges you complete will earn you pieces of Keeper Totem Pole decoration.
The completed totem pole will then remain permanently in your hideout, representing the number of challenges you've completed during 3.27 league.
New Bloodlines System
In addition to utilizing Genesis Tree, Keepers of the Flame League introduces another new mechanic: Bloodlines. Think of them as secondary Ascendancy classes that can be enhanced by allocating Ascendancy passive skill points.
Reliably, there are no restrictions on the use of Bloodlines; as long as you earn a Bloodline by killing an endgame boss, you can pair it with any Ascendancy class you already own. A total of 10 Bloodlines are available.
It's important to note that Bloodlines and Ascendancy classes share the same passive skill points, so it's crucial to carefully consider your needs when allocating them to ensure each skill point is maximized.
Asynchronous Trade Finally Launches
Ever since the initial leaks of 3.27 league, many players have been eager for Path of Exile to implement asynchronous trade or other similar mechanisms in this league, aligning it with PoE 2 and making the game's trading system more convenient.
So, once 3.27 league launches, as long as you've unlocked Act 6, you can visit Faustus in Lioneye's Watch and have him manage your Merchant's Tabs. This way, other players can automatically trade with you even when you're offline.
If you acquired Premium Stash Tabs before 3.26 league launched, you can unlock asynchronous trade using Mercant's Tab Upgrade tool on the game's official website. If you already have Merchant's Tabs unlocked in PoE 2, you can use them directly in 3.27 league.
The new content we've introduced here focuses primarily on mechanics and gameplay, but Keepers of the Flame will also bring many more subtle changes, such as new gems. Once the league launches, you can explore it in depth!
As development on the second game stabilizes, Path of Exile 1 league updates have returned to their normal frequency. Previously announced to begin on October 31st, 3.27 league recently released a trailer and detailed a range of new features.
Named Keepers of the Flame, this league will feature both gameplay changes and new content, focusing on gameplay and other details that impact your gaming experience. We'll explain these changes below.
What Changes Will The Heist Mechanic Undergo?
As you know, Path of Exile 1 will continue to improve and enhance the well-received mechanics and gameplay of the previous leagues as it updates, ensuring they continue to serve you well. This is one of the main reasons the game's scale continues to grow.
The heist mechanic, introduced in 3.12 league, has undoubtedly become a core component of the game, featuring complex entry and completion mechanisms, and, of course, rich rewards.
Unfortunately, with the introduction of new mechanics, more and more players believe that the rewards are far less valuable than the effort required to complete the early Heist missions, ultimately leading to a decline in both participation and appreciation for the mechanic.
To address this, starting with 3.27 league, rogues available in heist missions will automatically start at the highest level, allowing you to farm loot directly in heist locations, eliminating the need to slowly level up rogues by completing contracts from scratch.
Of course, streamlining the system will lower the barrier to entry and difficulty of obtaining rare heist rewards. This may result in a reduction in the amount of PoE currency dropped and a lower drop rate for rare gear or gems to achieve balance.
But honestly, the impact of this balancing act is negligible compared to the redundant upfront work, as you can simply complete Heist missions more frequently to earn loot when you have the time.
At the same time, the improved efficiency of the heist system will also increase the circulation of currency in the game's trading market, making some rare items more accessible and making the trading system more meaningful.
It's worth noting that while the mercenary mechanic from 3.26 leaguewas very popular, it will not be carried over to the base game for now due to a slight imbalance in power and potential incompatibility with Path of Exile after the launch of 3.27 league.
However, the developers have stated that they are generally satisfied with the design of the mercenary mechanic in 3.26 league, so do not rule out the possibility of its return in a future League after a redesign.
Atlas Passive Tree Optimizations
As the primary way to enhance your character and builds in the game, Atlas Passive Tree has been undergoing continuous updates and adjustments.
You can earn a total of 132 passive points to invest in your Atlas Passive Tree, but it's inevitable that you'll need to reset part of your Atlas tree layout.
In League 3.26, which has yet to conclude, resetting your Atlas tree is only possible by consuming Orbs of Unmaking. While earning this currency isn't difficult, the flexibility you have in resetting it is very limited.
Keepers of the Flame League will implement changes to address this issue. In 3.27, you'll be able to directly refund all passive points you've invested using gold, and this mechanic will be applied to the rest of Path of Exile's regular passive tree.
This change will give you more choice and freedom when customizing your character's passive skill clusters, eliminating the need to worry about cumbersome resets that distract from building your passive skill system.
A More Balanced Class And Combat Experience
Maintaining a balanced experience across classes is a constant challenge in any ARPG with multiple classes. It's inherently impossible to make all classes play and power levels identical, requiring constant adjustments based on league content.
Thankfully, unlike PoE 2, PoE 1's class system has stabilized, making adjustments relatively easy and drastic. However, the likelihood of new classes being added is practically zero - at least not in 3.27 league.
On the other hand, combat experience is closely tied to systems like skill gems and support gems, and PoE frequently adds and updates these to fine-tune the overall combat experience.
We expect to reveal more about this update after 3.27 league livestream on October 23rd, as it will likely be related to the new gameplay features of the new league.
Will The Main Story Be Updated?
While storytelling isn't a hallmark of Path of Exile series, the game did generate significant buzz within the community around the release of 3.26 league, building on Secrets of the Atlas plot.
Based on the content released so far, Keepers of the Flame League doesn't appear to be planning to replicate this approach, but the possibility of updating the main story in a new expansion cannot be ruled out.
However, even if 3.27 releases a new story chapter, its primary purpose will likely be to set the stage for more significant plot twists later on, rather than bringing any major news, otherwise the development team would have already revealed it.
Changes To The Trading System
As one of the ways you acquire items and gear in PoE, the usability of the trading system significantly impacts the gameplay experience. A high-quality marketplace allows players to efficiently circulate currency and unused items, driving game development.
To this end, 3.27 league will feature adjustments to the trading system, including changes to the tabs and the loot drop rate adjustments we mentioned when introducing the heist mechanic.
The above is our overall prediction based on 3.27 league trailer and other information revealed by the development team. We expect a full reveal of the league's content after the livestream. So be sure to tune in! You'll have a chance to win Twitch Drops!
Patch 0.3.1 has been live for a few weeks now. As a beta update for patch 0.4.0, the main selling point of 0.3.1 was to test potential game changes before the next major update and, based on player feedback, to try to fix some bugs before the start of the new league.
Honestly, I think patch 0.3.1 was quite successful, but there are still many areas in the endgame that need to be fixed before the release of 0.4.0, which is what we will discuss here.
Patch 0.4.0 Release Date Speculation
The release date for Path of Exile 2 patch 0.4.0 has not yet been officially announced, but based on the developers' previously stated four-month league cycle, we can expect it to be released in late December 2025, with the possibility of it being pushed back to January 2026.
Since Patch 0.3.0, The Third Edict, was released on August 29, 2025, and given the developers' usual Friday release schedule, 0.4.0 will probably go live on January 2, 2026.
In any case, based on the updates in Patch 0.3.1 and player feedback, we'll discuss the much-needed changes to the endgame in the next League.
Delirium Mechanics
For this first section, we'll of course be discussing the changes to the endgame mechanics, especially the current Delirium, which absolutely destroys your FPS and turns the game into a complete mess.
For us, at least, the biggest positive change in Patch 0.3.1 was the removal of Delirium's incessant humming music. Honestly, I wish it had carried over to PoE 3.27.
Unfortunately, the visuals in Path of Exile 2's Delirium are just as terrible. The constant fog caused by Delirium Mirror turns the world into a gray haze and cuts our FPS in half or a third. However, the goal is to kill enemies in the fog, and there's a reward counter that determines the number of Distilled Emotions you'll receive after the fog clears.
These Emotions are currency for character enhancement and can also be used for crafting and upgrades. By killing monsters, especially those unique to Delirium encounters, you can increase the amount of Distilled Emotions dropped at the end of the encounter, and potentially even higher-level Simulacrum Splinters.
What's more, in PoE 2, Distilled Emotions, in addition to providing Delirium, also provide a significant bonus to the spawn rate of rare monsters in the map. This is effectively double dipping, meaning that if you don't use Distilled Emotions on every map, you're missing out on a very powerful loot multiplier. So, there's almost no reason not to use Emotions.
The problem is Delirium Mirror has always been criticized for its high difficulty, as it makes monsters more powerful while adding new, powerful monsters, and the challenge increases the further away from Mirror you are. Because of the extremely high difficulty and the fog's tendency to cause enemies to deal more damage and take less, players find these encounters frustrating and overly painful.
This would all be fine if Delirium Mirror itself provided some valuable PoE 2 currency, but since it only provides Distilled Emotions, why not just farm Simulacrum instead? It's not only easier to obtain, but also more cost-effective.
Simply put, in PoE 2, Delirium Mirror only provides Emotions and Simulacrum Splinters, but there have always been better ways to obtain both, making Delirium Mirror's existence essentially pointless.
Delirium Mirror is the only mechanic still wearing these special handcuffs. So, in Patch 0.4.0, either the Delirium Mirror reward needs to be buffed, or Emotions reward needs to be nerfed, or both.
Map Rolling Mechanics
On the other hand, Path of Exile 2's map rolling mechanics can be quite frustrating. The high-risk modifiers, the wide variance in map outcomes, and the poor layout of many maps make play throughs too long or too difficult, making them unpleasant.
Currently, map rolls in the game are polarized. Some map rolls with high-risk modifiers, such as a large number of monsters dealing increased damage, shock effects on hit, or a very high freeze chance, can make a map impossible to play, depending on the player's build.
Some map rolls may contain beneficial modifiers that are friendly to new players, but these offer little to no tangible benefit. Some of these junk items and minimal currency drops make the risk and effort seem meaningless.
Because of the wide variation in modifiers and the varying number of beneficial and harmful modifier effects, the differences between maps can be significant, often leading players to waste significant amounts of money and time trying to find a manageable map.
Furthermore, poor map layouts are a significant contributing factor to players' perceived endgame experience being so poor. Many maps not only feature narrow, winding paths and numerous obstacles, making navigation cumbersome but also increasing the chances of being cornered by monsters.
The combination of larger maps and slower movement speed modifiers means that even completing a single map can take a long time, which many players find tedious and uninspiring.
More importantly, the high-risk, low-reward nature of many maps, coupled with harsh death penalties, makes the game feel punishing rather than rewarding success. Some players feel that the current endgame map system is less rewarding and engaging than Path of Exile 1.
Atlas Passive Skill Tree
The next issue is the skill tree, which is currently quite confusing. This is because the new map system in patch 0.3.0 adds one to three additional items to each map. Unfortunately, these additional items can be anything: Essence, Breach, or other strongboxes.
This new randomized item system overrides the effects of many passive nodes, which in turn increases the chances of spawning the same item type. Furthermore, because of exploits and overwrite mechanics, numerous Atlas passive nodes, such as Essence, Strongboxes, and Rogue Exiles, appear to be bugged and not functioning as intended, rendering many nodes useless.
Furthermore, the cost of certain bosses required for Atlas progression and the single-portal nature of Atlas progression make Atlas Points prohibitively expensive for average players, leading to frustration.
To unlock new Atlas Points, players must defeat bosses like King in the Mists, which costs approximately six PoE 2 Divine Orbs per attempt.
Since these bosses only have a single portal, if the player dies, they lose the portal fee, Atlas progression, and the opportunity to unlock that specific point. This makes the process particularly challenging for average players who may not have the gear or skills to guarantee victory on their first try.
Thus, the 0.4.0 patch's changes to the passive tree are urgently needed. These are fundamental changes that will directly impact players' ability to earn loot, currency, and waystones, making the endgame more interesting and meaningful.
Regardless, as of update 0.3.1, Path of Exile 2's endgame setup in patch 0.4.0 still needs a major overhaul, but this also proves we're getting closer to the full game's release.
If you want to gain an advantage in patch 0.4.0, you need to prepare now. Not only will you need to learn new build strategies and explore Atlas settings, but having enough currency is essential for everything. However, there's a shortcut: you can buy cheap PoE 2 Currency on POECurrency.com platform for a better gaming experience! Good luck!
