Crucible Week 2: News, Meta Analysis & Winning Strategies

It’s worth the wait! The developers of two major MMOs have finally released the next league update for Path of Exile, which they released more than a decade ago. The very stable league update cycle has been the core of the developers’ marketing of Path of Exile and attracting a wider audience over time. In fact, they have done a great job so far, especially POE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League, which has attracted the most concurrent players on Steam. However, it must be noted that this league has been running for nearly ten months, and even though it has excellent game content, players are gradually getting tired of it. So when the developers finally announced that they would provide a new league for the original game, all players were excited and said that they would finally turn their attention back to the firstborn, because this is the first time that the update window has been so long since the league system was first introduced in 2013. According to the developers, Path of Exile 3.26 will have the theme Secrets of the Atlas and will be officially released on June 13th. In fact, when the name of this league appeared, many players were wondering whether this update would bring the long-awaited Atlas Expansion into the game? The specific content of this new league requires you to participate in GGG Live, which will start at 1 pm on June 5, so we can only guess that it will be introduced one by one, after all, now is the best time to launch this expansion. If you are interested in it, then follow this guide to find out! The Importance Of 3.26 As we all know, this developer announced that it would release a sequel with a completely different game style from the original in 2022, nearly 10 years after the release of Path of Exile. But unfortunately, this slogan has been shouted from 2022 to 2024. It was even announced that the official release of the early access version in November 2024 was delayed to December because of micro-transaction issues. During this process, many players who wanted to try new game content were fooled and gradually lost confidence in exploring POE 2. However, thanks to its long-term marketing, the sequel set a record for the number of concurrent online players on many gaming platforms as soon as it was released. In view of this, the developers assigned all the staff who should have worked on the original game to update the sequel, forcing Path of Exile to be robbed of a lot of attention by its sequel. However, as the negative reviews of POE 2 0.2.0 patch increased, the developers paid more and more attention to the development of the sequel and ignored the need to update the league in the original game, even though a new event was launched during the period. So in this case, where the players of both games have not been completely pleased, the developers can prove through the latest league update in Path of Exile 3.26 that many of their promises to players are entirely true. Among them, introducing this Atlas-focused expansion into the game would probably be the easiest to accomplish. Why Is Atlas The Key To This Expansion? It is worth affirming that the developers really want to make some substantial changes in this POE 3.26 update to satisfy the players. Whether it is to add in-game mechanisms or change some gameplay, it is very effective. But why is it speculated here that the focus of this new expansion is Atlas map? First of all, no matter which game manufacturer, developing and releasing a new expansion that includes the entire game content is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive task. For Path of Exile, most developers and innovators are still developing POE 2, and the in-game resources are not enough to support the development of this type of expansion. And as the end of POE 2’s early access is getting closer, players are more and more eager to have a game with a similar gameplay style and new things to explore as a replacement after it exits the game world. Therefore, if POE 3.26 really brings an excellent expansion of the Atlas map, players of the original and sequel can enjoy a smooth gaming experience. Another reason is to think from the developer’s perspective. This Atlas Expansion is sure to bring players so many interesting and challenging boss encounters, maps, and ways to farm POE Currency that players may explore it for months and gradually forget about the official release of the sequel. This could give the developers some time to polish POE 2 so that they can provide a long-polished and perhaps successful sequel to the players who still love this dark game in a few years, or even longer. Not only that, during this polishing process, the developers can still make a high profit from the original game with a large player base. Of course, this is just my unilateral speculation, and the specifics may need to wait for the developer to admit it. But who will admit it? In addition, from the trailer released by the developer for POE 3.26, Atlas and its secrets are mentioned many times, which is a very clumsy way of leaking. In general, no matter how high the developers’ expectations are for POE 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas, most players are still waiting to see. Although there is a lot of discussion in the player community and on social platforms about whether a prefect Atlas Expansion will be released in this update, the final information still needs to be learned from the live broadcast next month. I wish you a happy game!

In Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, players have gained a new way to obtain items and currency in the game easily, which is through shipping. Shipping allows you to exchange the resources you collect for currency and items. You just need to load the resources and crew onto the ship and then wait for the ship to return in real time with a full load of rewards in tow. However, every shipping comes with a certain risk, and if you don’t want to lose your crew and rewards, you must learn to manage these risks. This guide will break down the shipping mechanics in Settlers of Kalguur for you step by step, so that you don’t panic in the game. Shipments When you start to form your own settlement, you will have access to a dock with your own ships and crew. Each ship you send out is loaded with a cargo, a bunch of resources you want to trade. After the ship successfully returns, each of these resources will be exchanged for common rewards in the game, such as POE Currency, Uniques, Scarabs, etc. The type of reward you receive depends on the type of resources you ship and the port you’re shipping to. When you upgrade a port, you gain access to up to three ships that can make multiple voyages at once to increase your returns. This system is a great way to earn some passive rewards without having to farm, but rewards players who take the time to build up the town of Kingsmarch. Resources As part of Settlers of Kalguur, the townsfolk of Kingsmarch will generate trade resources, which you can then ship to other ports. Shipment Value The amount and quality of the rewards you receive from your shipments depends on Shipment Value of all of them. So, the rarer the resource, the better the reward. The value of each shipment depends not only on each resource but also on the destination. So be sure to keep these in mind when sending out your shipments. Dust While the resources you ship affect the value of a ship’s cargo, adding a resource called Thaumaturgic Dust will also multiply the value of that cargo, and the more dust you add to that cargo, the higher the multiplier. You can think of it as a buff item. The stats that are currently known are as follows. The value is multiplied by 1.5 when Dust is 10. When Dust is 55, the value is multiplied by 2. When Dust is 520, the value is multiplied by 2.5. When Dust is 8150, the value is multiplied by 3. Rewards Based On Traded Resources By trading specific resources, you will receive specific rewards. Each resource is associated with an item type, as follows: Crimson Iron - Armor Orichalcum - Weapons Petrified Amber - Jewlery Bismuth - Skill Gems Food - Currency Crew To start a shipment, you need to equip your ship with a Crew. When you deliver a batch of resources to a different port, your Crew will reduce the risk meter by a certain amount based on its trait level. Higher-level workers will allow you to deliver high-value cargo at a time with little or even zero risk. Crew that dies because of risk may be permanently killed, which is why you must plan carefully when choosing which crew to send. Risks In the game, as in real life, no voyage is smooth shipping, as you may encounter bad weather, pirates, or deep-sea creatures at sea. As the value of your cargo increases, the risk meter for that cargo will fill up. This meter represents the percentage chance that something will go wrong with your cargo, and the higher the percentage, the more serious the consequences if something goes wrong. Some risks can kill your crew or lose their cargo outright, so make sure to keep the risk low while balancing the ship’s rewards. Pirates If your ship is commandeered by a pirate captain, then your ship and crew will be taken hostage. When this happens, you have three options. You can try to save your crew by fighting the captain. If you defeat them, they will drop their boss loot when they rescue your crew from the pirates. Note that you only have one chance to defeat the captain, so if you die, the cargo is lost forever. Second, you can pay a ransom to the bandit. If you pay the ransom, you get your cargo and crew back, but you don’t get any loot from fighting the boss. If you can’t pay the ransom or fight the boss, you can always abandon your crew and cut your losses there. This can be a bit ruthless, but you must remember that protecting yourself is the most important thing. Likewise, this can also happen within the town of Kingsmarch, as the likelihood of being attacked by pirates increases as the town grows. Just like the pirates encountered at the cargo transport, they will also take your town workers hostage, with the same options listed above. Ports Each shipment is sent to a specific port for trading. Each port has different types of rewards that they send back every time you ship a shipment. As your port level in Kingsmarch increases, you will gain access to various ports where you can trade. Distance Each port has a distance from Kingsmarch, which determines how long it will take to ship to that port. As the shipping distance increases, the longer you will have to wait in real time before you can receive your reward. Port Quotas While you can trade different resources with ports, remember that in order to claim your reward, you must provide a certain amount of resources to the port to reach its quota before you can receive your reward. In particular, some Refined resources, such as Bars, will take up 5 times the original resource required. So if your quota for Hematite is 500, 50 Hematite Ingots will fill up your quota faster than 500 Ore. You can complete your quota with multiple shipments, but only shipments that complete your quota will earn you the extra rewards. Make sure to meet your quota at each port to fully optimize the rewards you receive when your shipment returns. Currently Available Port Areas Kalguur Karui That’s all you need to know about Shipping Mechanic in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur. I hope you can have fun with this new patch and build your Kingsmarch into a prosperous commercial town soon. If you are interested in other mechanics in Path of Exile 3.25, why not come to iGMeet Discord to learn from everyone's experience? In addition to learning more about the game here, you will also have the opportunity to earn POE Currency! Come and participate!

I've been experimenting with various farming strategies in Path Of Exile 3.24 new league, and today, I stumbled upon a new method that works very well. This strategy is truly remarkable, and everything you obtain will be in the form of Chaos Orbs. While the initial investment is quite high, once you make your first set of investments, the profits keep rolling in. How It Works This farm works by forcing strongboxes to spawn a specific monster from the Allflames, and this monster is from the Allflame Ember of Manifested Wealth. If you don’t know, this Allflame monster pack drops a lot of Chaos Orbs and even Exalted Orbs frequently, and this is what we’re going to be farming. We’ll be combining so many strongboxes and the chance to open strongboxes again, as the Allflame monsters do appear in strongboxes. They aren’t always guaranteed to be in them, but the chance of them being there is very high, and this is actually how we keep our profits up. Farming Investments Now, for the investments, the primary item to acquire is the Allflame Ember of Manifested Wealth. This component is undoubtedly pivotal, and I suggest focusing on the Yellow Maps for optimal results. Monster levels ranging from 68 to 78 tend to be more affordable. However, if you seek one with a level of 79 or higher, expect a significantly higher price, potentially around 100K. Therefore, prioritize those under Level 78, as they are more budget-friendly. When it comes to scarabs, prioritize acquiring the Ambush Scarab of Hidden Compartments, which provides a 50% chance for the strongboxes in the area to be openable again. Additionally, consider obtaining the Ambush Scarab, which adds 5 extra strongboxes. This investment is crucial for maximizing profits. If you already have 4 slots, consider investing in either the Domination Scarab for additional shrines or the Scarab of Monstrous Lineage, which boosts magic pack size. Both options yield similar results, and while it's uncertain whether they affect outcomes, I prefer prioritizing shrines. The last part of the investment is our Map Device, and we’ll be using the Ambush Map Device for another 5 additional strongboxes. Atlas Tree For our tree, getting more map nodes, trying to get the Monstrous Treasure and Shrine nodes. Then grab Tamper-Proof and Secret Compartment. Once we get that, we also want to grab these Shrine nodes, as well as the Quality for Atlas tree. Lastly, grabbed all the strongbox nodes. It doesn’t really matter which strongboxes we get, we just want any of them. Take additional Shrine nodes, cover to Shrine the last Invasive Adversaries, and then Remarkable Relics. So, I’m just trying to get as many shrines, boxes, and effects of stuff on our maps. Avoid Rituals Avoid engaging in rituals for farming, as killing monsters in rituals, especially the manifested wealth, doesn't yield any drops despite their appearance. Additionally, refrain from using more than one Allflame, particularly if it drops currency like Tainted Currency or Abyss Jewels. Using multiple Allflames can decrease the appearance rate of Manifested Wealth monsters in the strongboxes. Harvest Here's the breakdown: we can obtain 1,446 Chaos Orbs, 54 Exalted Orbs, and 44 Vaal Orbs. Now, let's delve into 25 maps using the Manifested Wealth strategy. You can acquire them at 175 chaos per set. Considering the price change, I gained 94 chaos per map, totaling 7,000 chaos across 25 maps, with a profit of 2,300. The investment will hover around 4,000 to 5,000. This strategy is remarkably simple. You don't need an overpowering character. You're essentially dispatching harmless creatures with minimal risk to your character.

In Path of Exile 3.24, Harbinger in SSF proves useful for several reasons, particularly for farming currency. It adds numerous monsters to the maps, and acquiring scarabs is relatively straightforward. This strategy is not overly complex to execute, and the investment required is minimal and can effectively complement other strategies. Strategy Overview The idea of this strategy is incredibly straightforward: we aim to maximize the number of Harbingers in the map, buff them as much as possible. Despite its simplicity, it's a fun strategy. Harbingers can also spawn as a map modifier, resulting in some completely ludicrous maps filled with blue Harbingers. They drop many hard-to-get currency orbs like Exalted Orbs, Orb of Annulment, Ancient Orbs, and even Fracturing Orbs, which are incredibly rare. You can use all the Ancient Orbs on unique belts in SSF. On average, you can take 3 to 4 Ancient Orbs per map, plus an Orb of Annulment and maybe an Exalted Orb. To give you an idea of the loot that is in Tier 16 maps, with perhaps on average 80% map quantity, but that map quantity doesn't actually affect the results. You would maybe think that Harbingers drop the Beachhead map or the Landing Divination Card, which can be traded for the Beachhead. Harbinger Scarabs For scarabs, I'm typically using 2 regular Harbinger Scarabs for 6 additional Harbingers, then one Harbinger Scarab of Discernment to increase their currency to be rare and drop one type. This means you either get a ton of the currency that you want or you don't get anything at all. But it saves you a lot of clicking. The fourth scarab is the Harbinger Scarab of Regency, giving us a 50% chance for a Harbinger boss. The total chance of this is now 75% thanks to the passive tree. Sometimes, you will have enough of the Harbinger Scarab of Warhoards, which doubles the currency that you're getting, which is obviously amazing. Atlas Tree Setup Let's talk about the atlas passive tree. First, we definitely choose the Harbinger nodes. First Wave gives a 25% chance for a more powerful Harbinger. Unspeakable Offensive makes them spawn their monsters much faster and speeds up the mechanic. Then you can take Rogues, as they drop tons of loot, and combined with the increased item quantity from Unrelenting Torment. I’m skipping shrines entirely on this strategy. The Harbinger isn’t all that difficult. It’s a lot easier than Essence monsters or Rogues, so we can do without the shrines and spend those points elsewhere. I recommend running the Searing Exarch influence as it provides a steady stream of currency and scarabs, which is useful in SSF. Running the league nodes for more corpses, more Allflame, and more buffs and debuffs on the monster packs. These synergize once more because the extra quantity and rarity modifiers are amazing in your maps. But also, we're playing the Necropolis League, and that means you should engage with the league mechanic. To sustain, scarabs are crucial, so you can prioritize acquiring most scarab nodes on the Atlas tree. However, opt out of certain nodes that enhance map modifier effects. While these nodes don't boost map rewards, they make maps overly challenging and less enjoyable, which is unnecessary. Final Thought I found a few pros of this strategy. The scarabs are fairly easy to find, and it works with a lot of combinations of Harbinger scarabs, so you can run this with whatever you want. You’re not really bound to one specific scarab. You can mix and match, and everything will basically just work. The loot is very consistent, and it’s also loot that you otherwise cannot get, like Fracturing Orbs. However, there are also some cons too. The first is that the maps take quite a long time to complete with the Harbinger. You still have to wait quite a while before all the monsters show up. The second con is that the mechanics don't really interact with many other strategies, as the monsters despawn on death, and seemingly they're not affected at all by the Allflames. And the Harbinger currency isn't affected by item quantity or item rarity, so you have very few ways to juice the rewards.