Path of Exile (PoE) is a complex and rewarding action RPG, known for its deep skill systems, challenging content, and strong economy. Among the various ways to progress in PoE, farming maps for profit is a major aspect of the game, and in Path of Exile 2, this strategy remains incredibly effective. Whether you’re a seasoned player or new to the game, understanding the intricacies of map farming, the importance of scarabs, and how to optimize your map farming for profit is crucial. This guide will walk you through a strategy for making a substantial amount of POE 2 Currency, divines, and other valuable currency items with minimal effort.
Setting Up for Profit: Key Items and Mods for Your Map Farming Setup
Before diving into the map farming process, it’s important to understand the setup you’ll need to maximize your profits.
Idols and Modifiers: The Foundation of Your Strategy
The core of this strategy lies in your choice of Idols. These small items provide powerful mods that enhance your farming experience. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2×2 Idols with “Explosive Modifiers”: These are crucial to maximizing the number of monsters that spawn, directly increasing the amount of loot you get from each map. Aim for idols with 3% increased effect per mod (2% is acceptable if necessary).
- 1×3 Idols with “Pack Size”: For more monsters to appear in your maps, you’ll need idols that increase pack size. Specifically, you should focus on idols with the “Pack Size while affected by For the Brave” and “Expensive Modifier Effect”. These idols are essential for scaling the number of monsters in each map, thereby increasing your chances for rare drops and currency.
- 1×1 Idols with “Influence Monster Pack Size” and “Chance for Tier 1–15 Maps to Become One Tier Higher”: These will help you increase your map level, making it easier to encounter high-value content like high-tier rewards and monsters.
- Singular Focus Idols: Singular Focus adds specific targeted effects that further increase the effectiveness of your farming strategy.
By combining the right idols, you’ll increase your map’s difficulty and reward potential significantly. These idols will help boost monster density, making each map more lucrative.
Scarabs: Farming Powerhouses for Increased Loot
Scarabs are a cornerstone of Path of Exile’s economy, and using them correctly can amplify the loot you receive from your maps. The goal is to use scarabs that increase pack size, enhance map rewards, and boost the overall quantity of loot. Here are the scarabs you need:
- Crapfy Scarab of Corruption: This scarab is essential for corrupting your maps and adding extra content for increased rewards.
- Cartography Scarab of Multitude: By increasing the number of monsters that spawn on your map, this scarab significantly boosts your loot potential.
- Cartography Scarab of Escalation: This adds even more escalation to your map by increasing monster pack size. The combination of these three scarabs results in a high loot yield from each map.
The Scarab Setup for Tier 17 Maps
For Tier 17 maps, you should roll your maps to have at least 100% increased quantity and as much pack size as possible. This means using modifiers like “100% more maps” on your map crafting and adding Delirium for extra loot opportunities. Delirium might not always be necessary, but it’s a powerful modifier that can elevate your profits.
For Tier 16 maps, the budget setup works well by swapping out some scarabs and idol effects. Use the Influencing Scarab of the Hordes and the Influencing Scarab of the Elder in place of the more expensive Bloodlines scarab. Quality won’t matter much in this setup, as you’ll be focusing on efficiency.
Efficient Farming: How to Farm Maps and Gold
Once your setup is ready, it’s time to start farming. The process is relatively simple and doesn’t require you to engage in complex mechanics like rogue exiles, bosses, or expeditions. Instead, focus on clearing as many monsters as possible while ensuring that the map remains efficient and enjoyable.
Choosing Your Map Tier
- Tier 17 Maps: These are high-level maps that provide the most substantial rewards. If you can handle these maps efficiently, they are your best bet for farming high-value loot.
- Tier 16 Maps (Budget Setup): If you’re not ready to tackle Tier 17 maps yet, you can start with Tier 16 maps, which are more manageable and still offer great rewards.
Focus on Monsters, Not Mechanics
The key to making the most profit in PoE’s map farming is simple: kill monsters. Avoid wasting time on complicated mechanics like Rogue Exiles, bosses, or any optional league mechanics unless they involve high monster density (like Breach or Legion). Instead, just focus on clearing out the monster packs as quickly as possible to maximize the rewards from loot drops, including gold, scarabs, and maps.
Maximizing Loot with Breach and Legion Mechanics
While you should ignore most league mechanics, Breach and Legion are exceptions. Both of these mechanics add large quantities of monsters, increasing your chances of valuable loot drops. If you encounter these mechanics in your map, take full advantage by clearing them quickly.
In addition to this, Rituals with heavy monster spawns are worth doing. Rituals allow you to farm multiple rewards from a single encounter, so if you see a ton of monsters during one of these encounters, don’t hesitate to take part.
Optimizing Map Duplication and Quant Boost
Another effective way to increase your rewards is to use map duplication and quantity boosting mods. Map Duplication significantly increases the number of maps that drop, while Quantity mods ensure that you’ll receive more loot from each monster pack. These mods synergize well with the scarabs and idols you’ve chosen, giving you the maximum return on each map.
How Much Profit Can You Expect?
The true beauty of this map farming strategy is how little time it requires and how much you can earn. After completing several maps, you’ll see the amount of Path of Exile 2 Currency, scarabs, and maps accumulating quickly.
From a recent map farming session, a player managed to farm 326 maps in just 5 maps (plus one half map) with a highly efficient setup. The result? A massive payout of around 600,000 gold with more than 1,000 gold per map. The total profit from these maps (excluding scarabs and other loot) was about 18.1 divines after investing a modest amount into the setup. The total time spent was around 8 hours, with a profit of 22.6 divines per hour, which is an impressive rate for relatively minimal effort.
Profit Breakdown Example
- Maps Cost: 80c per Tier 17 map x 5 maps = 400c
- Scarabs: 20c for 5 maps (1c each for 4 scarabs) + 150c for Bloodlines scarabs
- Total Investment: 570c
By selling the maps for 15 maps per divine, the total returns were about 21.7 divines from the 326 maps, yielding a profit of 18.1 divines after subtracting the initial investment.
Time vs. Reward: How Fast Can You Farm?
If you have a mediocre build, you may take longer to complete each map. A standard 6-minute map could be completed in around 30 minutes for 5 maps, giving you an hourly rate of 36.2 divines. Even if you are a slower player or prefer a more casual playstyle, the gold and rewards per map will still make this farming method highly efficient.
Conclusion
The Path of Exile 2 economy is vast, and understanding how to farm maps for profit is one of the most efficient ways to progress and make currency. By combining the right idols, scarabs, and crafting methods, you can maximize your map farming results with minimal effort. Whether you’re focusing on Chaos Orbs, divines, or just gathering a variety of maps and scarabs, this strategy allows you to reap significant rewards without needing to spend hours grinding on complex league mechanics or bosses. With a bit of investment in your map farming setup, you can see returns that rival even the most intensive farming methods.