A Short, Written Guide to Rolling T15 Maps and Getting More Out of Each Map

Hi there!

I just got a root canal and I'm going to distract myself from life by summarizing what I've learned over the last few days researching on Youtube and experimenting with my maps.

Usual disclaimer applies - I am not an expert, I am not level 100, and I am not in the top 0.001% of POE players. I am certain there are more advanced, more complicated strategies that work for better builds than mine, or builds that can handle a wider variety of affixes.

But I think in this case I might be able to help you out because some of those higher end strats are out of my reach.

Part One: Let's roll some fucking maps.

First off, it's important to talk about suffixes on maps.

There are a ton of free suffixes. "Monsters are armored", "Monsters have +50% resistance", "Monsters are Evasive", the stun threshold shit, the ailment threshold shit, etc, etc. Our goal is to create maps that are full of easy suffixes and juicy prefixes.

So here's what we're going to do:

• Start with a pile of T15 maps. Ideally you want these to either be white or rare. If you are merging up from T14s, remember that a map will be the LOWEST rarity of the ones you combined. So for example, 1 white + 2 blue T14s = 1 white T15, which is better than blue for our purposes.

• All of your white T15s get an alch to start.

• All of your blue T15s get an aug if needed, then a regal.

• All of your yellow T15s get identified (duh, but let's be thorough here.)

At this point, you have a pile of maps which are all rare and all have either 3 mods, 4 mods, or a random number of mods up to 6 from the identified yellows.

Now we are going to sort these maps into 6 piles. Look at a map, and then put it in one of the piles. Note, I have arranged these piles from "worst" to "best". In any situation where a map could go in multiple piles, it always goes to the worst pile.

I suggest sorting your maps, and then doing the instructions - but I'm going to include the instructions with each pile just so you can understand what we're doing. That said - if your kneejerk response to exalting a map is "no way José, I ain't got that kinda cash" you can still follow the sorting process to make your life less shitty.

Also note, when you exalt a map, it may shift piles. Again, always sort worst to best. I don't care how much rarity is on a map if you're going to die in that map it's not a good map:

• Pile 1:

Maps with a suffix that fucking kills you. -60% regeneration. -15% max resists. "Monsters deal 40% more damage" AND another monster damage affix. Burning ground. Whatever - anything with a mod that fucking kills you goes in pile 1.

Do nothing with these maps. They are trash. You can throw them in a tab to sell them or vaal them and hope they change if you want. Never, ever, ever run a map in this category unless you just leveled up, are desperate, and don't care if you die.

This is a pile 1 map for me.. I will also include an example of the kind of map that can tempt you to break this rule. Don't. Just don't.

• Pile 2:

Maps that have scary suffixes but that are completable maps. So like for me, that would be 1x Monsters Deal 40% More Damage As X, plus Shocked Ground or something like that. It's hard, but if I play carefully I'm fine.

If these maps already have 3 suffixes, you can exalt them if you want. I don't unless I'm out of better maps. If these maps have any open suffixes, never exalt them, the odds of adding another bad mod and moving it down to pile 1 are high.

This is a pile 2 map for me. Note that this one I actually exalted 2x because it rolled with the 3 suffixes. I happened to exalt into rarity, which makes this a good but somewhat scary map for me. This map would have been in pile 1 for me until I swapped to an anti-stun charm specifically so I could run this suffix a few days ago.

• Pile 3:

Maps that have 3 prefixes already, did not roll any rarity or quant on the map, and have no suffixes that you actually have to pay attention to.

Do not exalt these maps. The odds of moving them into a shittier pile are high.

This is a pile 3 map for me.

• Pile 4:

Maps that have 3 suffixes that are mostly not scary or not scary at all, and have open prefixes.

Exalt these until they either go into Pile 2-3 or improve into a better pile.

I didn't have any pile 4 maps sitting around, but I rolled up a few so I can give this example. This is a great example of a pile 4 map. It can only get better. With all 3 suffixes blocked, exalting this is pure upside, and if I happen to hit rarity/quant on the exalt, I will have created a bonkers map.

• Pile 5:

Maps that have at most 1 scary suffix and have item rarity or item quantity on the map.

If these have 3 suffixes already, exalt them to max out prefixes. If they have open suffixes, I would hesitate to exalt and might just leave them in this pile as is.

I just finished using up all my examples of this kind of map, but this is sort of close. Not a perfect example because prefixes are full - but say for example it was missing the magic monster prefix. I still wouldn't exalt this, because I don't want to hit either of the open suffix slots with a potential brick. I'll just run this map as is.

• Pile 6:

Maps that have 0 scary suffixes and have item rarity or item quantity on the map.

Again, if these are full on suffixes, exalt to max them out. If you have open suffixes, I would be very hesitant to exalt these.

We'll just use the map from Pile 4 as an example of this. I almost stopped writing this post to go run this map right fucking now.

Part Two: Now what?

When you run a map, it's important to figure out how good a node is. This will help you decide what pile of map to use. Let's look at some examples:

• Example 1

A travel node to path toward a new group of towers, without good stuff. Like this. I need to run this map so I can get to the tower behind it. The map is effected by 2 precursor towers already (that's the 22% quant), but neither of the towers actually gave it a breach, so the map is wasted. The only reason I'm running this map at all is to get to the tower. If I could path around it instead I would, but I don't want to "waste" the corruption above it, I want to try to give THAT node breach using the tower. So, we have to go thru here.

This gets a pile 2 map. If you're feeling really adventurous and just leveled up, you can even throw a juicy pile 1 map in here. No harm, no foul. If you die, the only thing the map loses is the 22% quant.

• Example 2

A moderately juiced node with a mid layout, or a great layout without much juice. This, for example This map breaks my fucking heart. It's got five towers hitting it, it's got breach, it's got a fucking map boss, it's irradiated. It's beautiful. I want to love it. But it's fucking Crypt. Yuck.

This gets a pile 3 or 5 map, but not a good pile 5 map. Like I'd throw a 20% quant + 20% rarity in here, but I would never use a 100% rarity map on this kind of node. You can use a pile 2 map here if you want, especially if the pile 2 has a lot of rarity on it, but be prepared to be very sad if you fuck up. Never, ever, ever use a Pile 1 map here.

• Example 3

A pretty damn juiced node but not perfect. Example here. Amazing juice, decent layout, no map boss but +2 map level. A very good but not perfect node.

This gets a pile 6 map, or the best pile 5 map you have.

• Example 4

A truly god tier node. I don't have any examples of these on my map, but like, imagine an Example 3 node but it also has a map boss. This node is irradiated, it's corrupted, it has a map boss, it has your preferred mechanic, it has a good layout, and it has a shitload of towers gangbanging it.

Go buy a T16 map. I'm fucking serious. Search for one with at least 80% rarity and mods your build can handle, pay the 20 exalts, and run the map properly at T16.

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I hope this helps someone out. If you've got tips re: rolling maps in the comments, help me out!

EDIT: I am so sorry if you clicked on this before I finished fixing all the formatting. Wow that was ugly.