Intro and preamble

Every four months, the Grinding Gear Games team behind path of exile releases new content, for example from 3.12 to 3.13. This since the game almost released in 2013. If you've just gotten to the game or if you took a hiatus, then there is a bunch of content that you potentially haven't. The purpose of this guide is to explain all the interesting content to do in the game, outside of the map system.

Note that this guide only incorporates the content core, that is to say the contents which are integrated in the game and not in league; because at the end of each league, the developers do the job of knowing how (and if) they should integrate the league system into the game. For example the Harvest or Bestiary league have changed a lot between their appearance in the league and their permanent addition to the game. This guide will therefore not contain 3.13 but will be added later. Please note, the deadlines may vary for the addition to the core of the game by the devs, and this is not necessarily done at the end of the season.

This guide is by nature extremely long, although I have summarized each activity. I strongly advise you to either read the activities that you do not know, or read the ones that are the most interesting, via the conclusion sentence of each part.

Abyss is a crack in the ground that you follow when you walk over the green dot on the map. This will mostly give a treasure with abyssal loot. These loots are quite interesting because the gems can be very powerful. In late map (level 70 +), you will potentially have a portal instead of the treasure. This portal will take you to an instance with a Stygian Spire or Ulaman or Amanamu abyss boss. The spiers are not really of interest but the Abyss bosses can on the other hand drop very interesting unique ones, especially if you have two Abyss sockets in them.

The interest of the abyss is quite even or double, because it takes a long time to access it and then have the chance to find the boss. So if you want to rush the maps, avoid doing them.

Interest of the instance: moderate, to avoid if you want speed map

Corrupted areas are the red portals you encounter in story mode and in map mode. Each zone can drop at the end a vaal gem as well as a fragment of sacrifice. Some are much rarer than others, so don't worry if you only find At Dusk sacrifices. Once you have the four fragments (Sacrifice At Dusk, Noon, Midnight, Dawn), you will be able to open the portal to Atziri via The Apex of Sacrifice; by putting the four pieces in your map device and in the right order (otherwise it doesn't work!). Once the few minions and sub-bosses are killed, you can face Atziri. The boss has a moderate difficulty, but be very careful when it multiplies to 4, one of the shapes will mirror and have a possibly fatal reflect if you hit it with direct damage.

Atziri will drop unique specifics, but also potentially a deadly shard. You will again have to collect the 4 (grievance, ignorance, rage, hope) to form the alluring abyss and go face Uber Atziri. This boss, on the other hand, is much more complicated, but the drops are also much more interesting. You will need a specific build or very well stuffed if you want to kill her.

Interest of the instance: moderate, almost none except for farming uber Atziri

Alva is one of the available masters, which you come across in story mode. Once you arrive in the map (and having previously invited it to your hideout), it will offer you daily missions of the same type as those in story mode. You will therefore have to clean up an instance quickly, the more enemies you kill the more bonus time you will have.

Each room has 2 architects, beware these are very important. You will have the opportunity to kill one of the two, the other disappearing after killing the first. The room will transform depending on the architect killed, either by increasing a level or by changing the style. Each room can be upgraded to level 3, where they are most interesting. Take for example the room containing cards or resources, but those containing season objectives (legion, breach for example) can also be interesting.

When you kill the creeps, be careful to take the stone of passage, allowing to open a passage. If possible, locate beforehand (before entering the instance) the door you want to open. If you have opened enough passages, you will be able to access the boss of the instance far north of the temple.

The temple is opened after 12 (4 x 3 missions) instances (successful or not), and has an average level of completed instances +10, capped at the highest instance. For example if I do 9 instances 71 and 3 80, the temple will be level 80.

The instance will be interesting if you have built your temple well, however beware of the chaos damage!

You probably must have noticed Breach, it's the purple hands that spawn a whole bunch of very nice enemies. If you are lucky and manage to kill enough creeps, the domain boss will appear, once damaged or defeated, you can drop splinters for him. After 100 splinters for a domain, you can open a portal via the map generator of your hideout to go and kill the boss. Each zone has a fixed level, but you can improve the breachstone to raise that level as well as the loot and experience. In the field of the boss, you will have a limited time to go to the end, so remember to have clear speed to reach the end portal and go kill the boss.

Here are the different bosses and areas you can face:

• Xoph
• Tulle fabric
• esh
• Uul Netol
• chayula

Interest of the instance: mainly for XP

Cassia is the lady who sings in your cards and in story mode. It is not a master but you will meet it randomly. Each time, she will open portals sending creeps, and you can build towers to help you deal with those waves. Once finished, you can open the chests and collect anoint oils or blight cards (rarer). The oils will allow you to craft rings and amulets, amulet being the most interesting because it allows you to unlock a passive. It is therefore essential on your endgame stuff to have an anointed amulet with a passive granted to your build. You can also add the rings to improve the damage of your towers (it does not take a craft affix). Note that some mobs are immune to one type of damage, you have the icon above the portal in the middle-bottom of your player interface.

Blight maps are quite difficult but extremely lucrative, on the other hand think of having an adequate filter!

The interesting tours are:

• Meteor tower or flame thrower (max fire level tower), allowing large damage at very long range (meteor) or short (flame thrower)
• Ice tower, allowing a freeze in AoE
• Tower of up, to improve your existing towers
• Summoning turn to save time

For the blights, I advise you to spam the meteor towers, they will end up clean by themselves (beware of immune however).

Interest of the instance: always to be done

A portal where you see your reflection, and that's the cataclysm. Délirum is an extremely complicated but ultra profitable instance. If you go through the portal, a mist will spread over the whole map and specific monsters will appear from everywhere (they hit severely). You will also notice at the bottom left of your interface, an icon with a rising gauge. The more creeps you kill, the more this gauge fills up. Once full, it starts again from zero but indicates the number "1" next to the icon. This corresponds to the loot stacks you will have when you get out of the mist (or if you decide to skip it with the arrows at the bottom right). This can be very interesting if you have the sign of chaos, corresponding to currencies, or the sign of maps for example.

The mock is an instance that can be accessed once you have 300 mock splinters. It consists of 20 delirium-like waves that get harder and harder. The loots are considerable but the difficulty level too, so be very careful to be good endgame stuff if you want to do it. Otherwise, you can always trade your splinters for chaos to make money.

Interest of the instance: always do if you can

Delve (or mine), is a real alternative to maps. You will be able to farm endgame objects and level in this instance. It consists of following a cart that lights us up to go deeper and deeper into the mine. Note that if you move away from the cart in the right direction (i.e. the direction the cart is heading), it will accelerate to follow you. So you can dash / speed the instances in the mine. Be careful on the other hand if you move away in another direction, this one will stop and you will start to take stacks of darkness. It is interesting to move away to break the walls and collect the loots. To do this, use flares and dynamites, remember to always have enough to go on a mission.

To be able to mine, you need sulphite, this resource can be acquired through the missions of Niko, a master. You collect azurites allowing you to improve your resistance, light and number of flares / dynamites.

You will be able to encounter Corrupted, Abyss and Delve areas with super cool drop rates. In addition, deep in the mine (devle 200+), you may encounter bosses from Vaal, Delve and Abyss. These can drop considerably if you manage to kill them, but appear randomly. They are however clearly indicated on the mine map.

Interest of the instance: to do if you want to push, or for xp

Difficult to miss the sweet voice of Einhar and his critters, it's another master offering daily quests. The principle is simple, kill beasts for Einhar and you will find them in your bestiary. Each creature thus captured will be able to be then useful for crafting. The crafts are very numerous and quite practical. You will also be able by capturing a certain type of enemy to access the boss and drop unique items. Here are the four bosses you can face:

• Craiceann
• farrul
• Fenumus
• Saqawal

I recommend this instance if you want to craft or play solo-self found, you also have the full details of beasts and crafts here.

Interest of the instance: mainly for craft

If you've been to the Harvest League, you can forget everything you know about it: ') The changes made during the integration into the core of the game are colossal. Here are the new activities of the league:

• Gardens can only be found randomly in your maps.
• Inside you will find several flower beds, they are arranged in pairs and you will have to choose one or the other according to the crafting options offered by each.
• Once the monsters are killed, you can use the crafts immediately or keep up to 10 in your crafting bench for later.
• You will also have a chance to find the avatar of the grove in the high level maps.

These instances are therefore to be carried out if you wish to craft, the options offered are often interesting, so don't be deprived of them! Remember to put your craft workbench in your hideout once it is collected (after the first time you do the grove quest).

Interest of the instance: to do

To reach Heist, you must use a rogue marker each time. This will open a portal to the port. Consider putting your marker and contract storage in your hideout. You can then launch contracts (heist) or blueprint (large heist), in order to get loot and experience. You will have to choose one (heist) or several (grand heist) rogues to accompany you. Each rogue can level up their Expertise levels and will gain experience at the end of a successful contract. You can also have him equip specific items and each contract will require a specific level of expertise.

Once in the instance, you will have to collect as much loot as possible while avoiding reaching the maximum alert level, which triggers a countdown (Lockdown), you will then have a certain time to reach the room. main chest to do your quest / heist. Be careful, if you take the object of the mission / heist, you will automatically be in Lockdown, all the chests will be inaccessible and you will have to escape from where you entered.

The rogues markers allow you to launch contracts (the rogues and the price of transport!), But also to unlock the blueprints to launch large Heists.

Interest of the instance: loot, experience and a good alternative to maps

Another master and not the least, allowing you to have new craft affixes on your items. These are extremely powerful and useful for any type of build. In addition, when you interact with an enemy at the end of each encounter, you will gain a large bundle of xp.

The goal is ultimately to recover information (intelligence in English) on the hideouts of union members. There are four of them, and each interaction linked to one will earn you intelligence for it. Here are the four types:

• Fortification: break the door to kill the boss
• Transportation: stop the bandwagon
• Intervention: assassinate the assassins
• Research: Kill enemies before evidence is destroyed

You will have three such encounters per mission. After completing a mission, you will therefore be able to gain intelligence in a type of landmark. For example, complete a fortress and decide to jail the union member, he will earn intelligence for the union mark. Once you've collected enough intelligence, go see Jun to open a portal. These give a lot of loot and experience, so always remember to do them!

These four "sub-benchmarks" will allow you to recover intelligence for the Mastermind boss, who on the other hand will be much harder to fall but also with more loot! Note that the instance is in xp tripled, while the sub-references in xp doubled.

You can arrange syndicates via interactions, and place them so as to have optimized loots. If you want to know how to do it, I advise you to read the information carefully Immortal Syndicate. If, however, you do not want to poke the documentation, here is the method I recommend. It is not optimized in terms of loot, but is nevertheless very fast and efficient.

• Kill union members first to maximize their level: the levels are indicated by a star on their portrait.
• Avoid questioning, which causes the union member to lose a level, so choose bargain instead (attention bargain does not bring intelligence)

In the end, these instances will bring you craft supplies, a lot of experience and loot!

Interest of the instance: always to be done

Legion offers you monoliths in a rather rare and random way in your maps. You can retrieve splinters to open the instance offered by this mode. You will need 4 packs of 100 different splinters in order to open the portals to the realm of Eternal Conflict. If you manage to complete the instance, you will unlock a 5th slot for your map device, and will be able to try the true final Legion instance with 5 packs of 100 splinters. Be careful, these are rare and expensive to exchange but will allow you to add a slot to your map device. Here are the possible splinters:

• Timeless Eternal Empire Splinter
• Timeless Karui Splinter
• Timeless Maraketh Splinter
• Timeless Templar Splinter
• Timeless Vaal Splinter

The interest of this mode is limited, because it will take you a long time to recover the splinters, or coins to buy those which you miss. Knowing that some are much rarer than others! Note also that this league has added the incubator system, which you can put on your items and which will drop an item after a number of enemies killed; but there is no link between incubators and splinters.

Interest of the instance: very limited

Added a long time ago, Navali offers you the prophecy system. For a silver coin, you will unlock a random prophecy. Some are very passable "discover a lightning storm" (increasing your% drop on a map), others on the other hand will be very useful "do 6 linked hunts with a jeweler orb". Since this mechanic is linked to luck, there is not necessarily an interest in spending time on your prophecies. However, you can buy the ones that interest you, if for example you do the lab with "two enchantments instead of one at the end of the lab". I still advise you to always have 6 prophecies once you reach the maps, they will come true "by itself" as you play.

Interest of the proceedings: limited

Instance a little less known by its price and its situational side. To achieve it you will need the four keys Volkuur, Inya, Eber and Yriel insert in your map device. You will have a portal to the pale council, which is not necessarily very complicated to kill. To collect these keys, you can fulfill the related prophecies, but I recommend that you exchange them directly with players.

The only really interesting point (in addition to the potential loots), is the craft which allows you to place several craft mods on an object. Note that you can alternatively go to players who offer crafting services if you want to avoid making this instance.

Interest of the instance: only if the "multi craft" craft is needed

Destroyed by the Conquerors (and not by us poor players who killed them over and over again ^^), these bosses are still accessible. To find the shaper or the elder, you will have to recover the 4 respective fragments of these. They will be in maps specific to each and tier 14+. By killing the Shaper or the Elder, you will recover other fragments allowing access to the Uber Elder. If you manage to kill the Elder without the Shaper dying, you can drop the Watcher's eye unique jewel which, depending on its affixes can cost a hundred exalted. The Elder version of the jewel will have 2 mods, while that of the Uber Elder 3. Obviously, the Uber Elder is one of the most difficult bosses in the game, you will need equipment and training before seeing it. moan under your feet!

Here are the fragments and associated cards for the Shaper:

• Chimera
• Phoenix
• minautor
• Hydra

Here are the fragments and associated cards for the Elder:

• Purifier
• Constrictor
• Enslavement
• Eradication

And for the Uber Elder:

• Fragment of Knowledge (drop shaper only)
• Fragment of Shape (drop shaper only)
• Fragment of Terror (drop elder only)
• Fragment of Emptiness (drop elder only)

The interests are multiple but situational: league completion, potential drop, build power test, if you've never done the Uber Elder, he's the coolest boss in the game!

Interest of the instance: situational, but to be done at least once in his exile's life!

You probably must have seen the green balls on the creeps in some areas. This corresponds to a type of body piece that you must collect and give to Tane. The advantage is that this operation is done by itself, and you can click on the button at the bottom right of your interface to make it appear. Then communicate with him and put a type of organ in each slot. Each organ will give an associated buff and loot, and will take the form of the enemy initially owning the organ. So pay attention to your combinations!

There is a crucial point if you want to achieve the final instance, an organ will necessarily be possessed by the boss of the map and you must put this one in the offering to Tane. You have to load the bar on the right to the max and kill the shapeshifter. This will give you an organ to store in your safe. Once an organ of each type is collected, go to Tane's lab (speaking to him through your Hideout, invite him in if you haven't already). Once in his lab, click on the offering at the bottom of the steps and put an organ corresponding to each slot.

Loots are quite numerous but first require a lot of organ farm work.

Interest of the instance: little interest

With this guide you should have all the keys to not be lost in the immensity of the activities offered by Path of Exile! I will of course update this guide with future additions to the game, and if you have any questions or an instance that is unclear, please let me know!

By Alchemists, January 2021