Into Atlas: Mastering Early Endgame Survival in Path of Exile 3.28

Amidst much anticipation, Path of Exile has released version 3.28, finally bringing players the new league they've been dreaming of. After the initial excitement fades, many players have gained a clearer understanding of the new league's difficulty.

For newcomers, the basics of PoE are often overlooked, potentially hindering their progress. This guide will address any questions you may have, providing a thorough explanation below.

Following this guide, we'll focus on understanding the beginning and early endgame systems of Path of Exile: Atlas, as the game is not easy.

Getting Started

Once you successfully complete Act 10, defeat Kitava, and declare war over, prepare for new challenges. You'll be immediately teleported to Karui Shores. This is your new starting point. Continue north to the town hub, where Commander Kirac will be waiting for you with a Tier 1 Map.

Looking around, you'll find Map Device next to Kirac. As you're about to unlock the map, clicking the device will unfold Endgame Atlas before you. This is the endgame content of PoE.

Atlas serves as a progress tracking system in the game. All activities include farming and upgrading maps, unlocking more Atlas Passive Points, farming league mechanics, and finally, facing the challenges of Pinnacle and Uber bosses.

Note that your initial Atlas will be mostly empty, and your Atlas Passive Points and map completion will both be zero. Don't panic; these will gradually increase as you explore. You can easily obtain the first 100 of the 138 Atlas Passive Points by completing simple maps.

Step 1

Now, it's time to officially begin your adventure in PoE. First, you need to choose to complete a starting map. There are four starting maps located in the center of Atlas: Shrine in the upper left, Castle Ruins in the upper right, Volcano in the lower left, and Promenade in the lower right.

Regardless of which map you choose as your starting point, your ultimate goal is to collect all areas of Atlas to unlock new maps connected to them. Continuously unlock Atlas, increase your map level, and challenge the minimum Tier Map.

The names and layouts of the maps also remind you of their respective environments. Completing a map earns your Atlas Passive Points, provided you fulfill the requirements of each map. Maps are divided into tiers every five levels: White Maps, Yellow Maps, and Red Maps from levels 1 to 16. The higher the level, the more demanding the requirements.

There are also Unique Maps, such as Untainted Paradise, Mao Kun, Acton's Nightmare, etc. Note that they appear as Unique Waystones in different types of game content. You need to find the location and path of Unique Maps to use them, for example, by right-clicking your inventory.

A Gold Ring will appear around the map, indicating that the map has been successfully completed. Having more maps is key to continuing to explore Atlas. One way to do this is to find Commander Kirac, who sells maps. If you have a specific map in mind, you can refresh the list for 10,000 gold to get the map you want. Another way is to apply Atlas Passive Points to Map Drop Chance nodes in Atlas Passive Tree.

Step 2

Successfully reaching Tier 6 - 7 maps allows you to interact more closely with the early PoE endgame boss systems, involving Searing Exarch, Eater of Worlds, and Maven. Initially, you'll have to choose one of the three challenges. The friendly order is to start with Searing Exarch and then Maven.

While tackling Searing Exarch and Eater of Worlds, after killing a certain number of monsters, your choice will cause an explosion that spawns an Altar. It will give you two options; choose to accord to your needs.

In Tier 10 - 12 maps, defeating Exarch or Eater-influenced monsters will grant you an Invitation item, allowing you to encounter a mini-boss. Continue earning new Invitations, eventually challenging Searing Exarch and Eater of Worlds bosses.

You need to have Master see you defeat map bosses to continue Maven questline. Later in the game, challenging Maven will also become part of your quest.

Step 3

After successfully defeating numerous bosses, you'll be rewarded with a certain number of Voidstones, allowing you to unlock Tier 16 maps located around the four quadrants. Start bravely from the bottom-left quadrant. Completing Voidstone placement quest will upgrade your map, grant bonuses, and offer the chance to upgrade to Nightmare Maps.

If you want to enhance your map, you can do so by adding more modifiers and using Scarabs. The second method is more frequently used. Activate the map, complete Maven questline and a Nightmare Map, unlock all Scarab slots, enhance mechanics, and unlock the alluring Path of Exile Currency.

The third method is to apply boss influence, which will increase the number of monsters and alphas you encounter. Danger comes with opportunity. You can choose to Sealing Exarch influence first, as it will be more advantageous for you.

Don't forget that Atlas Passive Tree also enhances map enhancements. There are also special items, such as Delirium Orbs and Maven's Chisels. Although the highest map level is only Tier 16, some of the highest-level maps have an enhanced version with a glowing icon, also known as Tier 16.5 maps.

This concludes the detailed introduction to the basic endgame of the latest league in Path of Exile version 3.28. Use your wisdom and courage to embark on your own unique adventure in PoE.