After you complete all the main campaigns in Path of Exile 2 Early Access and experience a beautiful cutscene, you will enter the most challenging and worthwhile endgame content in this game. Here, you will see a very large Atlas of Worlds with a lot of map nodes waiting for you to explore.
Among these maps provided to you, some are called unique maps, each of which has a unique special modifier that brings a unique experience. It is precisely because of these modifiers that they provide you with completely different goals, rewards, and character requirements.
When POE 2 Early Access was first released, there were only 3 unique maps in Atlas: Untainted Paradise, Moment of Zen, and Vaults of Kamasa. But patch 0.2.0, which entered the game with the latest Dawn of the Hunt league last month, brought players 5 new unique maps.
In order to allow all new and old exiles to find these unique maps smoothly in the game, and run them safely to obtain super rich loot, this guide will give you a detailed introduction to the location, exploration methods and strategies of the current 8 maps.
Hideouts
In theory, Hideouts nodes with different themes in the current game content also belong to the unique maps in POE 2, although their difference is only in appearance. They are displayed in Atlas as some nodes with blue icons on the top, and you can use the corresponding Waystones to unlock them.
It is highly recommended that you use some low-tier Waystones for it, because the explorable range in Hideouts is not very large, and the number of enemies is also very small. And after you clear it, its only use is to change it at any time when you talk to the in-game NPC Alva. So in general, it is not worth spending more POE 2 Currency to explore.
Untainted Paradise
Next, it is time to enter the specific introduction of the unique maps you can explore. First up is Untainted Paradise, which appeared on the first launch of POE 2. It is often located near the coastal areas of Atlas and has an orange icon at the top of the map node.
Note that you will not receive any loot from killing monsters in Untainted Paradise, but rather experience points, which are its unique feature.
While this is a disadvantage for players who run this map for the rich item rewards, it is very useful for players who want to farm a lot of XP in a simpler map to facilitate character leveling, especially after using some Waystones that increase the amount of experience gained.
Moment Of Zen
Compared to Untainted Paradise, Moment of Zen does not have a specific area to appear, but you can recognize it by the merchant pouch icon located at the top of the node. When you enter this unique map, you will meet Nameless Seer, a merchant who can sell you random Uniques, as shown in the icon.
Once you get a Unique from Nameless Seer, the rest of the POE 2 Items will be locked and you won’t be able to trade them. To get these locked items, you’ll need to find another Moment of Zen map in the Atlas.
While there are fewer enemies and monsters to kill here, the Moment of Zen map is well worth applying Waystones with modifiers that increase the quality and rarity of the loot, as it can significantly increase the level and quality of all the goods Nameless Seer offers you.
Vaults Of Kamasa
Some loyal exiles who explored the original and this sequel thought that the Reliquary Vault, where players could obtain specific Uniques, was added to the game when the developers added Vaults of Kamasa in patch 0.2.0, but this is not the case.
This unique map, which also has an orange icon at the top of the node, does not require you to provide a special unlocking material such as a Reliquary Vault Key to explore, and the loot it rewards you be completely random.
Again, there are no enemies to kill on this map. However, you can collect some very valuable loot by exploring and opening the different vaults. For this reason, it is very necessary to spend POE 2 Currency to maximize the modifiers in Waystones that increase the rarity and quantity of items contained in the map.
Fractured Lake
This is arguably the best unique map added in the 0.2.0 patch, as you’ll be in a lake with honeycomb-shaped granite on the surface, and the visual effect alone is enough to make players very excited.
Not only that, all Rare monsters here have exactly the same twin forms, and their number has also been greatly increased compared to regular maps, about 150%-300%. In this case, the possibility and amount of high-value loot you get from it will increase.
But it is worth noting that the loot you get after running Fractured Lake map will be hidden behind a Mirror, which may provide you with new Amulet and Ring bases, which can give you up to two additional prefix or suffix slots.
Silent Cave
Unlike the previous maps, Silent Cave contains a lot of crystalline Essence formations that you need to break, including some monsters that will attack you after this barrier is broken.
When you defeat all enemies wrapped in Essence in your sight, you will enter a highly challenging encounter with the imprisoned map boss. This boss is not an enemy exclusive to Silent Cave, but any boss on other maps, but you need to destroy Essence shell around it before you can fight it.
It is also worth noting that the difficulty of this boss encounter will increase with the number of Essences you destroy on the map, but the rewards will also increase accordingly, and the chance of dropping the highest rarity unique Essence will also be higher.
Castaway
In fact, Castaway has a very similar operating mechanism to Untainted Paradise: the drops you get here will only be POE 2 Gold, and the amount has increased by 500%-1,000% compared to other maps. Not only that, Buried Treasures contained in the map will also provide you with some gold.
This means that before you find that your build is not suitable for the current challenge or does not fit your play style and want to respond to your passive skill tree, you can go to Castaway to get a lot of gold needed for this operation.
Or if you want to go to Vendors to get more Uniques by gambling, you can also effectively farm gold on this map in advance!
Viridian Wildwood
Since Viridian Wildwood is the only map in POE 2 Early Access that is based on darkness, you’ll be shrouded in fog when you enter, and your light radius will decrease as you explore deeper. If your visible radius is too small, you’ll be forced to leave the map, along with all your loot.
But you can interact with Wisp clusters that are everywhere, and they’ll help you illuminate a large area around you. When you interact with several clusters in a row, POE 2 Orbs rewards offered by the map will increase.
On top of that, Omen Altars can also be generated in Viridian Wildwood, allowing you to effectively farm Omens, giving you more control over the process of crafting the gear you want.
Phaaryl Megalith
This is the final unique map in this guide and adds a new boss encounter pattern to the game. In it, you need to activate some Runed Monoliths to direct a beam to the center of the map, which opens a boss battle with ten consecutive upgrades.
While the battles in this map seem to be very challenging, the loot it can give you may make the encounter worthwhile: one or more of the Greater Rune of Alacrity, Greater Rune of Tithing, Greater Rune of Leadership, and Greater Rune of Nobility.
The above is a detailed introduction to all the unique maps that can be explored in the current POE 2 Dawn of the Hunt league, including their locations, operating mechanisms, and exploration strategies. I hope you can earn a lot of desired rewards and the best exploration experience during these wonderful mapping processes. I wish you a happy game!
