2014.12.28 Multiple Maps

?? Tropical Island Map of Frost?
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - ???, maybe patches of frozen ground
Quantity: +29%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
1 Alteration
1 Augmentation
3 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Alchemy
1 Chaos
3 Scrap
1 Whetstone
2 Bauble


Maps Gained:
Arcade L67
Arsenal L67

I wrote down Spliiting Tropical Island Map of Balance, but that's still in my stash.  I would run this with the Duelist or some other character who deals nearly all damage as physical anyway.  Anyway, this was the first map run with my high level Scion after respecing.  Aside from an annoying desynch death, this was a very easy run with fantastic loot.


Shocking Arcade Map of Hordes
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Area has patches of shocking ground, increased pack size
Quantity: +12%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
3 Alteration
4 Chromatic
1 Chaos
3 Scrap
1 Whetstone
1 Regret


Maps Gained:
Thicket L67
Ghetto L68

This map was not easy, and I really shouldn't have expected it to be.  I was only level 65 at the start of the map, although I did ding level 66 before the end.  I came close to being killed several times, especially early in the map.  I got into trouble less often as I got used to the map.  It played a lot like the marketplace.  The area is a large square with a central area.  The boss occupies an alcove opposite the map entrance.  I was really expecting a Marcus statue as the map boss, but it was one of the banners from Solaris Temple.

There were a couple times that I was able to get my sparks into a narrow passage between buildings that was simply devastating.  There were also a few times where I could stand on one side of a wall and have sparks wander around to the other side to take out monsters who couldn't even see me.

I did die trying to do the Eleron mission, and normally it's an easy one of taking out three pillars in a corrupted holy site.  I desynched again, which makes that death particularly annoying.

Antagonists Orchard Map of Flames
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Rare monsters have a Nemesis mod, patches of burning ground
Quantity: +28% (+5% from Quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
3 Alteration
7 Jewlers
3 Chromatic
1 Chaos
3 Whetstone


Maps Gained:
Cemetary L67

This was a super easy run except for the boss, who I knew would be tough.  I've seen rankings where he rates out tougher than most higher level map bosses.  The devastating effect I got in narrow passages in the arcade map was magnified in the sections of the orchard with only one entrance.  Monsters died almost instantly in those.  I did die fighting the boss once.  I walked right into one of his big, slow moving projectiles which one shotted me.

After this run, I decided that I could run Grace instead of clarity and switched out two pieces of hybrid gear for pure evasion gear.  I gained over two hundred life for about one hundred energy shield.  Ironically, by the time I 4 socketed and 4 linked those two pieces, I had exactly the same socket combinations I started with.  A super easy upgrade.

Overall, I'm bummed about the two desynch deaths, the third death was totally my fault.  However, I got three Chaos orbs and for a net investment of two level 66 maps, I now have three 67's and a 68.  I think this self casting spark build is a winner.

12.27.2014 Multiple Maps

Deadly Dried Lakebed Map of Venom
Grivas - Standard
Mods - Monsters deal extra damage, monsters poison on hit
Quantity: +47% (13% from quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
3 Alteration
1 Augmentation
1 Jewelers
1 Fusing
1 Chromatic
1 Chance
2 Scrap
1 Whetstone


Maps Gained:
Tropical Island L66
Tropical Island L66

This was my first map run with a Duelist.  It didn't go very well.  There were devorours on the map.  I managed to kill all but one of them, but that one was a rare who had a ton of energy shield.  I couldn't make a dent in him.  Also, if there is anything that doesn't need to be more deadly or poison on hit, it's those blasted worms!

I finally got away from him and tried to run Vorichi's mission, but the rogue exile killed me.  This may have been the first map where I couldn't finish because of too many deaths.  I took note of my starting experience, and I died so many times, I only gained 4% of what I needed for the next level.

Ceremonial Tropical Island Map of Ice
Grivas - Standard
Mods - Area is filled with totems, patches of frozen ground
Quantity: +23%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
4 Alteration
1 Fusing
1 Alchemy
4 Scrap
3 Whetstone
1 Chisel


Maps Gained:
Arcade L67

This map went much better.  A full clear with no deaths.  This felt more like a proper introduction into maps for this character.  The currency drops were a bit odd, but it was still a profitable run.

Unwavering Tropical Island Map of Flames
Grivas - Standard
Mods - Monsters cannot be stunned, patches of burning ground
Quantity: +23%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
5 Transmutation
1 Alteration
2 Chromatic
1 Alchemy
3 Scrap
3 Whetstone
1 Chisel


Maps Gained:
Spider Lair L68

This map was even worse with devorours than the first one I played tonight.  I even tried picking up viper strike and Searing Bond.  I'll probably keep searing bond as a replacement for Decoy Totem.  If nothing else, it gives me a plan B for dealing with corrupting blood monsters.  Viper Strike didn't do as much raw DPS, but the stacking DoT effect makes up for that.  Especially against monsters and rogue exiles with large amounts of energy shield.

This was another map with a lot of deaths, but there were some good positives.  One being the level 68 map that dropped.  Another was a six socket Foxshed armour.  Maybe the most useful for this character was a ring with added physical damage on it.  It improved my resistances while upping my damage by about 10%.  The only drawback was that I had to use masters mods to add to all stats on two armour pieces.  It also upped my life a bit.  I also found a dragonbone rapier which was about a 2% damage upgrade after applying a master's crafting mod.

Despite these damage upgrades, I might run this character through the docks to level him up to level 64 or 65.  I'm right next to a life wheel, and I think that an extra five or ten percent increased life would be a big benefit before attempting any more maps.

12.??.2014 ?? Antagonists Tropical Island Map of Venom

Divided Attention - Standard
Mods - Rare monsters have a nemesis mod, monsters poison on hit
Quantity: +33% (5% from Vaal fragment enhancement)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Alteration
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
7 Transmutation
1 Alteration
3 Augmentation
2 Jewelers
1 Chromatic
1 Alchemy
2 Scrap
2 Whetstone
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Sewer L67

This character is designed to freeze things, and he had a fairly easy time of the map.  It's been a while since I ran it, and I don't remember much in particular about the run.  I'll have to do better, but this gets me up to date with blogging my map runs.  I'm confident that I didn't die during the run and this qualified as my Shadow running maps.

11.??.2014 ?? Dried Lakebed of Commanders

ICanUseABow - Standard
Mods - ??, monsters poison on hit
Quantity: +??%

Currency Expended:
??

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
7 Jewelers
5 Chromatic
2 Alchemy
1 Scrap
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Arsonal L67

So, I didn't take good notes on this, and it's about a month since I ran the map.  I obviously got good socket currency plus two alchemy orbs and a chisel, so it was a good run no mater what I spent on crafting the map.  The other thing I know for sure was that I didn't die running this map.  My ranger was level 65 at the time according to my notes.  The PoE website agrees, so I did much better getting this character into maps than the scion.  I'll have to do a better job blogging about getting these other characters runs recorded.

10.27.2014 Shocking Tropical Island Map of Venom

LadyBlaBla - Standard
Mods - Monsters deal extra damage as lightning damage, monsters poison on hit
Quantity: +28%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
2 Alteration
1 Augmentation
8 Jewelers
2 Chromatic
2 Scrap
1 Whetstone
1 Scouring

Maps Gained:
None

So, I ran my scion thorough this map thinking that the Tropical Island map is generally pretty mild.  I didn't have trouble with most of the map, but this map was inhabited by devourers.  The rare devourers brutalized me.  I ran this a month ago.  (I participated in NaNoWriMo, so I tried to avoid PoE in November.)  I don't recall much else except having great difficulty with the rare devourers and being able to everything else without much difficulty.  I believe the map boss was about half dead before I even realized I had reached the boss.

This was the first time I had to use every single portal to finish the map.  That's right, I died five times, but in the end I got a full clear.  That's good enough for me to claim I have a Scion of mapping level.  When the new leagues launch and everything gets a skill tree reset, I'll probably reroll this into a completely different Scion build.  I'm thinking some sort of two handed axe Spectral Throw build.  I'll have to look at the new tree, but I had one in mind that seemed viable for the current tree.

10.25.2014 Multiple Maps

I'm going to start making multiple map entries when I run more than one map in a single day, with possible exceptions for unique maps or very challenging mods.

Antagonist Cemetary Map of Exposure (Level 67)
FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Rare monsters have a Nemesis modifier, Players elemental resistance caps are reduced
Quantity: +42%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
5 Transmutation
5 Alteration
8 Chromatic
1 Chance

Maps Gained:
Dried Lakebed L66
Mountain Ledge L67

This was much more enjoyable than running around the cemetary cursed with Temporal Chains.  It was an easy run because of the monster composition of the map.  There were a lot of Vaal Fallen, who are slow.  They were usually dead by the time they plodded close enough to one of my totems to take a swing at it.

The loot was odd.  triple color, triple linked items were dropping like mad.  One would hope for more with a +42% IIQ roll, but this is clearly a gain in the map pool.  One thing I noticed during this run was that the boss is not a necromancer, instead, he Skeleton Archmage called Thunderskull.  He must not have been too difficult since I didn't even peg him as the map boss on my first cemetary run.  When checking the boss's name, I did see the observation that this can be a difficult boss with the Twinned modifier since between the two of them they can fill a room with sparks.

Punishing Mountain Ledge Map of Exposure (Level 67)
FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters reflect physical damage, Players elemental resistance caps are reduced
Quantity: +48%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
1 Alteration
3 Augmentation
2 Jewelers
1 Chance
2 Scrap
2 Whetstone
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Dunes L66
Dunes L66
Magic Overgrown Ruin L66
Overgrown Ruin L66

This map surprised me a bit.  I was expecting a very straight shot leading to a Kuduku like totem boss.
Instead, path has a few loops in it so you kind of have to run laps around the different loops to find the map boss.  Once there, he turned out to be an ice themed skeleton, the somewhat like Chatters from the prison.  Neither of the level 67 map bosses I've fought so far seem as dangerous at the bosses from the Orchard or the Dungeon.  I'm half tempted to run a lower level map to see if it's just that this character has become much stronger than the other characters I'm mapping with, but I think I'll stick to exploring the higher level maps and hope that the bosses I encounter don't provide me with any nasty (or fatal) surprises.

The Punishing modifier is great for this character because the only physical damage I do comes from bear traps.  That's not getting reflected anywhere.  It's a great bonus to IIQ.  With that large bonus to IIQ, I was hoping to get at least 1 level 67 map, but four level 66 maps isn't bad.  I could trade the two dunes maps that dropped with one I already had stashed for a level 67, so I would say that 4 66's is not quite as good as a level 66 and a level 67, but still a slight improvement to the map pool.  I also found a Silverbranch unique bow.  It's low level, but still a unique.  I checked the forums, and the consensus seems to be that it's good for leveling with Poison Arrow since the poison damage only depends on the level of the gem.

10.23.2014 Anarchic Wharf Map of Champions (Level 67)

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Two rogue exiles inhabit the map, More magic monsters
Quantity: +17%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
7 Alteration
2 Augmentation
1 Fusing
4 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Scrap
2 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Thicket L67
Spider Lair L68

This was my second level 67 map, and I was expecting something like the docks, but I wasn't sure what the final boss of the map would be.  It ended up being one of the unique worms that fling chaos projectiles at you.  The map was much more linear than the docks though.  I was able to clear it very methodically.  The Rogue Exiles were good for lots of rare items, which probably figures into the large number of Alteration orbs gains from this map.

The interesting thing I learned during this map was that the rogue Exiles don't count against the number of monsters remaining.  When I got to the end of the map, I thought that the rogue exile guarding one of the strongboxes I opened must have counted against the level's count, however, even thought the remaining monster count was zero I was attacked by a rogue exile at the end of the map when I was just looking for any chests or boxes to open.  It wasn't a bad ambush because I was at least a little on my guard, even though I would have been more on my guard if I had known that the last monster was the Rouge Exile.  Thankfully none of the ones I faced on this map were the exceedingly deadly ones.  I also feel better about my map count in that I have seen one each of 66, 67 & 68 in the two level 67 maps I've run.  I'm hoping to see my first level 69 map soon, but the +2 maps don't drop all that often.

10.23.2014 Fecund Cemetary Map of Temporal Chains (Level 67)

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters have extra health, Player cursed with Temporal Chains
Quantity: +39%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
2 Alteration
2 Augmentation
2 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Alchemy
2 Chaos !!
2 Scrap
1 Scouring

Maps Gained:
Tropical Island L66

Even though this was my first level 67 map, it wasn't too bad, apart from the usual frustration of running a Temporal Chains map.  The loot from those is generally good, but they are so slow to run.  There was one time when I ran the wrong direction from some Beyond monsters that spawned, but this really wasn't that scary.  The boss was a necromancer, probably a bit like Sawbones from the Prison.  Not bad at all.

As one might expect from the cemetary name, this map is a lot like the Fellshrine Ruins.  The map boss is isolated down a staircase, so you don't have to worry about just bumping into him.  The zone is wide open, which might benefit some builds over others.  Getting a downgrade on the map with running a 67 and getting a 66 back was a new experience.  Since I had not run anything but level 66 maps before this one, any map drop meant I at least broke even.  However, getting two Chaos orbs to drop meant this was a fantastically profitable run.  All in all, a good experience for my first level 67 map.  The only reason I wouldn't call it great is the annoyance factor of Temporal Chains.

10.23.2014 Freezing Dunes Map of Elemental Weakness

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters deal extra cold damage, Player cursed with Elemental Weakness
Quantity: +29%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
1 Alteration
3 Augmentation
1 Fusing
1 Chromatic
1 Scrap

Maps Gained:
Magic Grotto (9% quality) L66
Orchard L66
Cemetary L67

I was very cautious on this map because of the elemental weakness curse.  I'm really on the lookout to find gear that would let me overcap resistances, but I haven't found anything.  I've been trying to craft a new weapon, but haven't had any luck.  As I was writing this, I realized I was probably going about the crafting incorrectly since I don't have any Regal Orbs.  At any rate, I don't remember having any especially close shaves, but when I did take a hit, it hurt.  I was very careful to makesure I never got close to the Blacksmith.  My totems took care of him while I kept my distance.

I saved a Vorici mission for when all the monsters were dead on the map, and it was one where you have to break into a locked box without killing the Rogue Exile guarding it.  I felt good about the way I kited the exile away from the chest so I could kill the other guards and get inside it.  I was successful and was on my way back to collect my reward when I disconnected.  I learned something interesting in that once you disconnect, you can't get back into a map instance.

So I didn't get credit for that mission, but I did at least have all my loot.  The Grotto map I got is nice, but the armored mod doesn't add all that much IIQ.  I haven't decided if I'll Augment it to add a mod or just go ahead and transmute it.  I also got some Lioneyes Paws boots.  I'm not sure I'd ever really use them, but maybe leveling something.  I mainly ran this map to run one last 66 before switching over to level 67 maps.  My currency gained on this run was pretty weak, but I got three maps, all of them nice so this was a very good run to finish up my level 66 runs on this character.  One last note, with this character at level 73, it is two levels higher than my highest level standard character!  I find that pretty amazing.

10.21.2014 Antagonist's Dried Lakebed of Elemental Weakness

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Rare monsters have an Nemesis modifier, Player cursed with Elemental Weakness
Quantity: +29%

Currency Expended:
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
3 Alteration
1 Augmentation
2 Chromatic
1 Scrap
1 Whetstone
1 Baubble
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Dungeon L66
Dunes L66
Mountain Ledge L67
Wharf L67

This is one of the maps I purchased, which had a single mod on it which I augmented.  This run wasn't too hard.  The things that hit me hard were the Devourers, but they have a low rate of fire.  I don't think they would have put me in danger unless I stood in one place and let several hit me at once.  Maps were dropping like crazy on this run.  I had three by the time I had to portal back to drop off loot for the 1st time and then got one more.

The Antagonist modifier scared me a bit, but it turned out not to be a problem.  There was one Storm Herald which spawned, but it was a Devourer.  So I got a break from the lightning storm when it went underground.

If I were a bit braver, I would run the Dungeon map next, but the boss fight in that one is just scarry.  I want to try running some level 67 maps, and that won't happen if I'm dead, so I'll probably run another Dunes.  I only have 5% left until I ding 73, which seems like a good time to switch up to the harder maps.

10.20.2014 Fleet Overgrown Ruin Map of Venom

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters fire two extra projectiles, players poisoned on hit.
Quantity: +39%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
3 Alteration
4 Augmentation
1 Jewelers
4 Chromatic
1 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Arsenal L67
Cemetary L67
Wharf L67

I crafted this map early on, and decided not to run it right away because the "Of Venom" scared me.  I should have been more afraid of the "Fleet".  More on that later.  I spawned some Beyond monsters early, which was probably OK because I'm pretty sure that one of those dropped one of the three maps I got this run.  It's always nice when one of those drops early.  It's even nicer when they keep dropping.  I feel like this run makes up for the lackluster loot on the quality Dunes map I ran previously.

The one embarasing thing about this run is that I had swapped my Flame Totem gem to my weapon for running on of the Forsaken Masters missions.  I'm only doing 2/3 of my maximum damage output when I do that, and I didn't notice until halfway through the map.  I did however drop some punishing Bear Traps on my foes.  I also passed up on the Armormaster's mission during this run.  His maps just scare me with the unkillable totems.

I took my Amathest flask with me, and I should have taken a Topaz flask with me for the map boss.  A group of Beyond monsters spawned in the final arena, and thankfully, I ran fast enough to leave the map boss behind.  After I killed off the Beyond monsters, I checked the number of monsters remaiing, and there was one left.  I figured my totems had killed the map boss while I was concentrating on the Beyond monsters, but no, the map boss was still alive.  Fortunately I reacted quickly when I saw he was the final monster on the map, because he could have easily killed me if I he had caught me napping.  I am going to keep running level 66 maps until I ding level 73, but then I think I'll move up to the level 67 maps.  I've never run one of those before, so it will be exciting.

10.19.2014 Splitting Dunes Map of Venom

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters fire two extra projectiles, players poisoned on hit.
Quantity: +52% (18% from quantity)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
1 Alteration
2 Augmentation
5 Chromatic
2 Scrap

Maps Gained:
Arsenal L67

While running this, I have decided that I really like the Dune map apart from the boss.  A character with a movement skill like Leap Slam or Lightning Warp can exploit the ledges to either flee or attack in relative safety, and the standard monsters aren't that scary.  My most recent death on this map came from standing in a ring of fire, so you can't blame that death, softcore thankfully, on anyone but me.

I am disapointed in the relatively lackluster haul from a map with over 50% IIQ.  Once again, I easily recouped my investment in the map and I did get a level 67 map to drop.  It just wasn't an exciting haul of loot.  I wanted all kinds of stuff to drop if I was going to run a map I consider extremely difficult.  I may have to re-evaluate if I can get a handle on killing The Blacksmith.

However, I was quite pleased with how easily I handled the boss.  I mostly kept him just offscreen so that he was leaping into a totem when he used his zombie summoning attack.  The poison doesn't shred my totems like it did my summoner's minions.  I did spend a transmute and two alts to craft an Amathest flask, which I don't even think I popped during the run.  Maybe it scales up, but I wasn't inconvenienced by the Of Venom mod at all during this run.  The biggest gain I got was that I feel I can tackle another Venom map and don't feel bad at all about running Dunes maps with this character.

10.19.2014 Overlord's Tropical Island Map of Vulnerability

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Map boss attacks faster and does extra damage, play cursed with vulnerability
Quantity: +36%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Alteration

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
1 Alteration
2 Augmentation
5 Chromatic
2 Scrap

Maps Gained:
Crypt L66
Ghetto L68

The mods on this map scared me a bit, so I was super cautious.  The only thing that was frightening was when I realized that there were Devorourers on the map.  However, they always popped out of the ground into a field of totem fire and didn't last long.  No great currency gains like the previous map, but I still easily recouped my investment in modding the map.  Apart from some nice map drops, the only thing to report from this run is a copy of the unique gold amulet the Ignomon.

10.19.2014 Hexproof Dried Lake Map of Elemental Weakness

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters cannot be cursed, player cursed with Elemental Weakness
Quantity: +40% (from 5% quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
4 Alteration
3 Augmentation
1 Fusing
2 Chromatic
3 Chance
1 Alchemy
1 Chaos
2 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Dunes L66
Cemetary L67
Mountain Ledge L67

This map wasn't too hard, but it taught me that I really need to work on overcapping my elemental resistances.  When I checked to see how bad things were, I noticed that might lightning resistance was nearly normal, but that fire and cold were both less than 50%.  It didn't really hurt me because most of the attacks in the zone come from physical sources, but it could have been important.  If my resistances were all overcapped, then I could run the Elemental Weakness modifier as essentially free IIQ.

The really interesting thing about this run was that I ran into the Cartographer of the Forsaken Masters release for the 1st time.  She seems to only appear in maps, which is what I heard from a very high level player who I did some trading with.  Her mission has 6 portals, much like using a Map Device in the Eternal Laboratory would do.  I suppose it is essentially a map within a map.  It was also one higher level than the map I was running.  It wasn't too hard, except for one of the rogue exiles I faced.  It was one of the most dangerous in my opinion.  He throws traps and uses the Flameblast spell to do massive damage if you're standing in the wrong place when that spell detonates.  I was standing in the wrong place and took about 80% of my life in a single shot.  I discovered that you can use a portal scroll to get out of the mission and back into the map I started in.  I didn't go back to the map within the map.

Apart from the very high risk of dying to the rogue exile, I had already failed the mission.  It was timed at 5 minutes, and the zone was a huge area like that of the Sarn Slums.  I needed to kill about 75 corrupted monsters scattered all over the whole of the map, which would have taken far more clear speed than I possess at the moment.  I hope that the next time I run into Zara the Cartographer, she gives me a mission that isn't timed.  I would really love to be able to invite her to my hideout so that I can start running her daily missions.  It was still very worthwhile from a character experience, player experience, and loot standpoint to attempt her mission.  I got one of the level 67 maps and either the alchemy or chaos orb from the map within a map.  I also got a ring on this run that let me complete a chaos orb vendor recipe.

I'm more or less maintaining my stock of level 66 maps after buying 9, and I'm accumulating a nice supply of level 67 maps.  I think I'll run Dunes to test my strength before attempting any level 67 maps, but I'm progressing nicely.  I hope to ding level 72 on my next run.  Between the totem skill I'll finally be able to pick up and hopefully levelling my Flame Totem gem, I should really be pumping out more damage soon.  Assuming I remain alive of course.  This run did point out that a rogue exile or poor encounter with a powerful yellow could end this character's run at any point.

10.18.2014 Dried Lake Map

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - None (This map was mirrored when I bought it, so I couldn't modify it)
Quantity: +5% (from 5% quality)

Currency Expended:
None

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
1 Alteration
2 Jewelers
4 Chromatic
5 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Dunes L66
Arcade L67
Rare Wharf Map L67, +63% IIQ

This run should have been easy since I couldn't roll any map mods, but there weren't even any Skeletal Rhoas on the map.  Despite only having a 5% increase in item quantity, I got three map drops fairly quickly, and the last one to drop was the first rare map I've seen.  It reduces the players maximum resistances, and gives the monsters 4 extra projectiles.  I'm thinking that it would be borderline suicidal to attempt this map with anything other than an Arctic Armor character.  It doesn't matter how many streams of fire Void Bears are spitting at you if you reduce the fire damage coming in to zero.  On the other hand, getting shot gunned by 5 streams of fire without Arctic Armor and taking twice as much damage per stream as usual because of the map mods seems like it would be very fatal very quickly.

I might have to try to level some sort of Arctic Armor character once the Beyond League ends just so I can run this map.  It seems pretty cool.  I've never run anything with anything over about 45% IIQ as best I can recall, so I really want to have a character which could attempt it.  This character isn't the one though.  I really can't believe how much loot I got from such a small bonus.

10.18.2014 Twinned Crypt Map of Temporal Chains

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Two boss monsters, player cursed with Temporal Chains
Quantity: +33%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
1 Alteration
1 Fusing
7 Chromatic
2 Scrap
3 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Dunes L66
Splitting Mountain Ledge Map of Vulnerability L67

The twinned bosses weren't any problem, but there were a few times I had trouble getting out of a crowd after Beyond monsters spawned.  I was even having trouble moving around with Leap Slam.  One thing that has been working well is using a Detonate Dead gem to explode undead corpses when there is a necromancer nearby.  On top of not needing to defend myself against something I just killed a few seconds ago, without corpses to raise, the necromancers seem to spend more time standing in the fire of my the Flame Totems.  I don't think I mentioned that I started using a Tabula Rasa while leveling to 70 in The Catacombs.  It was over a 50% damage boost, and it's just gone up from there as various support gems level up.

I'm curious about running a Mountain Ledge map.  The Ledge is a fairly tame zone, and the map boss is probably something like Kuduku, but it might have Lightning Warp on top of Kuduku's normal lightning abilities.  That's a little scary.  However, the skeletons shooting multiple arrows at me when I'm cursed with vulnerability doesn't sound fun.  The bad thing about this run is that the level 66 map I got is another Dunes map.  I might give one a try when I hit level 72, I hit level 71 in the run after this one.  The Dunes are just a scary place in that you can easily end up with a zombie apocalypse situation fighting the map boss, The Blacksmith.

I did buy 9 maps off a guy, I probably overpaid, but I got a good deal on Chaos orbs from selling Alterations and I'm not saving up for some specific unique, so just throwing currency at my map pool isn't going to hurt me.  The other thing, I'm getting good currency out of these runs, so it's not like I just threw currency away on nothing.  It will just take time to recover my investment.

10.15.2014 Shocking Dried Lake Map of Hordes

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters deal extra lightning damage; increased pack size
Quantity: +12%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Alteration
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
3 Alteration
1 Augmentation
1 Jewlers
1 Chromatic
2 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Dunes L66 18% quality
Arcade L67
Cemetary L67

This was another very challenging run.  Right at the start, I summoned a pack of Beyond monsters, and one had the modifier which prevents allies from dying.  Right next to those was a rare monster which had a healing aura.  Between those two groups, it was hard to get a foothold on this map.  However, I did manage to clear out some room to work and got going.

One thing I realized during this map run was that this really is a dangerous map.  I had never considered it so, because the boss is similar to the one in the Mud Flats.  I still stand by that conclusion, however, I have reconsidered the danger posed by large groups of Skeletal Rhoas, especially when paired with Necromancers.  On the tropical island map, I speculated that Immortal Call when paired with Cast on Damage Taken might have saved me from several of the leaping monsters landing on me at once.  On this map, I think that combination of gems actually did save me from death on at least on occasion.

One interesting thing about this mission was that I got a forsaken master quest which involved not killing the target while breaking into that target's strongbox for information.  I had never seen that mission variant before, so that was cool.

Gaining an Arcade and Cemetary map along with another level 66 map made this a nice run loot-wise in a much different way than my previous two runs.  I just wish the quality level 66 map had been something other than Dunes.  The boss on that map is just awful with his ability to spawn endless hordes of zombies that decay into poison clouds when killed.

I'm going to try to kill Piety before running any more maps, but unless she drops something I can run, I either need to re-roll one of my existing maps, or buy or trade ones that are easier to run.  For example, as a blood magic totem user, I simply can't run a stasis map.

10.14.2014 Fleet Tropical Island Map of Power

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters move and attack faster and gain power charges every 20 seconds
Quantity: +38%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
6 Transmutation
5 Alteration
1 Augmentation
21 Jewlers (Wow Again!!)
2 Fusing
2 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Vaal
5 Scrap
2 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Arsenal L67
Vaal Puramid L68

I have to start out by saying that this was an absolutely fantastic run.  The loot gained was awesome, the challenge level was just right, and I didn't have any close shaves.  On top of everything listed above, one of the Beyond monsters spawned with the Inner Treasure modifier.  It dropped a Death's Harp bow, which is an excellent weapon for leveling with an archery based character.

The most dangerous monsters were the leapers which use Arctic Breath.  A single one could hit for 40-50% of my health, so if I had stayed in one spot when a group launched for me, I probably would have died.  Maybe Immortal Call would have saved me, but I wouldn't want to count on it.  Like I said earlier, the chalenge level seemed to be just right with active play.

I got another set of 3 six socket items in an improbable string of luck.  Two of them came out of a mirrored strongbox.  These last two runs have really upped my supply of Jewlers orbs.  I also got two nice rare pieces of armor that I can craft, with my stash of jewlers orbs, to replace old pieces of armor and get a nice life boost.

I'm close to hitting level 69 with this character.  If I don't get some more level 66 maps to drop, I think I feel pretty good about heading for Piety at that level.  I don't feel quite as confident about running into Kole, but I can run away from him.

10.12.2014 Hexproof Overgrown Ruin of Endurance

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters are immune to curses and gain endurance charges every 20 seconds
Quantity: +33%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Alteration

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
3 Alteration
2 Augmentation
22 Jewlers (Wow !!)
1 Chromatic
1 Regret
3 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Wharf L67

This run went much better than my first visit to an Overgrown Ruin map.  The Hexproof modified didn't slow me down nearly as much as Enfeeblement.  The crazy thing about this map run was the number of 6 socket items that dropped.  I got three of them!  That made this a hugely profitable run.

I thought I was going to blank on maps, but one of the monsters in the final section of the map dropped the Wharf map.  The only real difficulty came in the boss's little arena area.  There was a totem that provided immortality, so I couldn't make any progress until I managed to get that thing brought down.  The map boss hits crazy hard with his lightning strike attack.  I will strongly consider bringing a topaz flask with me if I get to run another Overgrown Ruin map.

I'm a little bit torn on what to do with some of the other maps I've rolled.  For example, I'm not sure I want to run a Fleet Overgrown Ruin Map of Venom even if it does have +39% IIQ.  I've only spent 1 transmutation on that one, I may re-roll.  It's not like I'm going to have a hardcore, CI character any time soon to tackle that one.  I've survived 3 map runs, but the middle one was almost too much for me.  I would rather be cautious with my mods even if it means going back to running the library or catacombs, or even Piety runs, or god forbid, buying level 66 maps from other players, than to kill myself trying something too difficult.

10.12.2014 Grounded Overgrown Ruin of Enfeeblement

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Monsters have 75% increased lightning resistance, Player cursed with Enfeeblement
Quantity: +26%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Alteration
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
4 Alteration
1 Augmentation
1 Jewlers
1 Fusing
2 Chromatic
1 Vaal
1 Scrap

Maps Gained:
None

This run was much harder than what I bargained for.  The enfeeblement didn't really hurt my ability to kill normal monsters.  The Flame Totems wore them down, it just took a little while longer than usual.  The two map mods hurt me more than I was expecting.  In hindsight, I should have swapped in an Added Chaos gem for Added Lightning since I didn't really get a lot of benefit from that gem on this map.

I also realized as soon as I entered the map, that I had never run an Overgrown Ruin before.  It looks and plays a lot like the Temple of Sins.  There are three main levels and the boss is on a fourth level which is somewhat arena like.  The different floors made it easy to tell that you had cleared a floor before moving on.

One time, I had to move on without clearing a floor because opening a strongbox led to the summoning of a unique Beyond monster.  It was way stronger than I could deal with safely so I kited it in a loop then went down the stairs without going back.  As one might expect from a Sins themed map, the final boss was much like Fidelitas.  I didn't try to engage him directly, but was able to keep him focused on my totems and out of the line of fire of the boss's Lightning Strike.

I think I'm going to give this map another try tonight, but will not be running Enfeeblement again any time soon.  I'm bummed about not getting a map drop, but the currency gained was good, and as hard as the run was, just coming out alive is a victory.  I also picked up a 2nd Redbeak legendary item, so if I every got anything that would let me run a low life build, in theory, I could do so.

10.11.2014 Overlord's Grotto Map of Commanders

FlameTankMarkI - Beyond
Mods - Map boss moves and attacks faster, more magic monsters
Quantity: +14%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
4 Alteration
4 Augmentation
2 Chromatic
1 Scrap
1 Whetstone
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Overgrown Ruin L66
Tropical Island L66

Yes, this is my first hard core map completion, and it was in a challenge league to boot.  In some ways the challenge league is a bit easier in that you can find a group to take down Dominus at the end of cruel.  However, I've been playing solo for the most part.  The grotto map has once again been confirmed as an easy map for me.  I did have a few issues with beyond monsters, but for the most part it was a smooth run.  The overlord's modifier really didn't seem to matter, and the large numbers of magic monsters were good for my experience.

I don't know that Flame Totems are any stronger or faster than Searing Bond totems, but I think I'm having more fun with the Flame Totems.  They just feel a bit more active somehow.  I did pick up the enduring cry gem I got from the Facebreaker Scion, and I feel a lot better about my character's tankiness with a few endurance charges up.

Thrilled to get two map drops from my first Beyond map run.  I'm going to try one of the Overgrown Ruin maps next.  Hopefully the boss isn't too hard.  This was a profitable run, but I really want to be able to sell a few Chaos Orb recipies soon.  I've got a lot of inventory space tied up with things I can't quite use.  I also found a nice chest armor upgrade if I could get a bit more cold resistance from somewhere else.

10.05.2014 Burning Tropical Island Map of Temporal Chains

Servant of a Frozen Fire- Standard
Mods - Monsters do extra fire damage and player is cursed with Temporal Chains
Quantity: +27%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
5 Alteration
2 Chromatic
9 Scrap
5 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Cemetary L67

This run wasn't really hard, but it was tiresome because of how slowly Temporal Chains makes you move.  All things considered, the Tropical Island maps are pretty mild.  Even with my casting speed reduced, I didn't have any problems killing monsters.  However, I did miss a lot on my first pass through the map.  So I had to double back hugging the edges of the zone to get down to a remaining monster count that I was comfortable leaving the map.  Temporal Chains is just always annoying.  I've seen people in videos talk about how they just re-roll this on low level maps because of the clear speed.  The burning modifier is no trouble whatsoever for an Arctic Armor character.

The loot was a little odd.  I found an Artisan's Strongbox, as evidenced by the large numbers of Scrap and Whetstone.  The nice thing about the map that dropped was that it dropped with 18% quality.  That should be a nice one to run once I build up my pool of level 67 maps a bit more.  I also suffered an unexpected death when my sister asked me to help with getting clothes out of the dryer.  I thought I had cleared the area around my character sufficiently, but I guess I hadn't because when I got back to the computer, I was dead.  At least it was standard, and I still gained experience despite this mishap.

In news unrelated to this run, I have a dual Flame Totem marauder in the Beyond League to level 65.  I'm going to run the Solaris Temple tonight.  Barring an untimely death, I should be able to run maps with him in a hardcore league soon.  I'll probably grind out an extra level or two on top of what I get from just progressing through Act III Merciless, but without a doubt (and even if I have to do it after being booted back to standard) that will be the next character of mine going into The Eternal Laboratory.

10.03.2014 Burning Orchard Map of Frenzy

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters do extra fire damage and move and attack faster
Quantity: +27%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
2 Alteration
2 Augmentation
1 Alchemy
2 Scrap
2 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Tropical Island L66

Orchard maps are typically pretty easy except for the boss at the end.  The biggest thing I did on this run was replace the Determination aura with Discipline to drop armor for energy shield, which gets converted into extra mana.  That let me level my clarity gem, which let me keep Arctic Armor up almost all the time.  I did have use Lightning Warp for mobility, but I didn't really miss the standard armor while running Arctic Armour.

I had been ready to retire this build as unworkable, but between gearing and the free respec at the start of the Rampage and Beyond leagues this character really turned around.  I did have a few close calls against the map boss, but somehow I managed not to die while fighting it.  I was hoping for a really profitable run when a map and an Alchemy orb dropped early on, but after a Prismatic Twilight unique dropped, nothing else interesting came from the run.  At least it was a cheap map to craft since I wasn't worried about taking extra fire damage while running Arctic Armor.

9.24.2014 Fleet Tropical Island Map of Smothering

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters move and attack faster, half speed life or mana regeneration
Quantity: +43%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
2 Alteration
2 Augmentation
4 Chromatic
1 Alchemy
2 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
None

I did get overwhelmed by monsters at one point and suffered a death, but otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful run.  I was expecting good things with a 43% increase to item quantity, but this loot was really anaemic for the size of the bonus.  At least I didn't spend much modding the map.  The half speed regen was a lot easier to deal with than no regen, but I did have to swap gems around again to leech mana.  The biggest improvement over the previous run was "muling" in a reduced mana gem.  I'm not sure a merciless quest reward counts as muling really, but having that let me nearly double my mana pool and level my Clarity gem.

I wanted to cover the economics of mapping in this post.  I found 28 maps out in the world between Standard and Ambush leagues, and I have now run 28 maps.  I now have:

• 18 Level 66 maps
• 12 Level 67 maps
• 3 Level 68 maps

At the rate I'm going, I would eventually run out of Level 66 maps, but, in Theory at least, I should be able to start doing Piety runs at some point.  She drops level 66 maps 50% of the time, so there is a reliable way to farm those.  They will also just drop out in the world.  I got lucky with a rare Cartographer's lockbox which provided nearly a third of my initial map pool.

The more important part is that the size of my overall map pool has increased 15%, and the composition of the map pool is 45% higher level maps.  I'm pretty happy with the build up of my map pool.  I guess my next goal should be to get up to about 20 Level 67 maps and see how running those changes the composition of my map pool.

9.19.2014 Burning Dunes Map of Stasis

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters do extra fire damage, no life or mana regeneration
Quantity: +42%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
4 Alteration
1 Augmentation
4 Chromatic
2 Chance
3 Scrap
1 Whetstone
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Dried Lake Map L66
Thicket Map L67

This was my first stasis map, and while initially painful, it was a good learning experience.  The first thing I learned, which in hindsight should have been obvious, was that Clarity is useless on stasis maps.  I had swapped gems around so that I could use Mana Leech with Arc.  However, the slightest amount of firing Arc into too few monsters and I was out of mana.  The second thing was that one mana flasks were not enough.  Three may have been overkill, but there were times when after a large fight I needed to restock on zombies.  In those cases being able to burn through my existing mana then get it all back with a chug on the potion bottle worked very well to keep my undead army fully staffed.

Once I had mana management down, I could even throw down a Summon Skeletons totem down at the start of a fight and have all my mana back by the end of the fight.  One of the things I mentioned earlier was not firing Arc into a small group of monsters.  Three seemed to be the magic number where I would leech more mana back than I spent.  It makes me wonder if I should swap gems around so that I could use mana leech all the time and run a second aura.  I would lose some DPS by either giving up Faster Casting or the + to gem level from my wand, but I realized during this map run that the zombies dish out some pretty serious damage at this point.

I did suffer one death on this map, but I wasn't paying attention and stood on some burning ground for too long.  By the time I realized it and took evasive manuvers I was at the point where I could easily be one shotted, and I was.  I also burned up some of my currency that I could have gained on this map by crafting mana flasks on the fly.  However, getting two map drops, with one being a higher level map, makes up for any mistakes like that in my book.  Even though I died once, I was able to level during this run.  I've got one more energy shield node to pick up, then I can grab some more minion and lightning damage nodes.  The other thing I could do would be to run down to pick up Ghost Reaver and use a Life Leech gem.  While that would greatly enhance my survivability, it's 5-6 nodes away, so I feel like I can get more bang for my buck by leveling things that immediately boost either my or my minions DPS.

9.12.2014 Molten Dunes Map of Temporal Chains

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters have increased cold resistance, player movement and attack speed reduced
Quantity: +35%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
7 Alteration
1 Fusing
3 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Alchemy
1 Scrap
1 Blessed

Maps Gained:
Cemetery Map L67

Running a temporal chains map is always a slow process, but with my army of minions dealing damage wasn't a problem.  In fact, the temporal chains slowed the casting speed of Arc down to the point where I didn't run out of mana.  However, running from one side of the map to the other to do a quest for a Forsaken Master wasn't much fun.  Nevertheless, this was a fairly easy run.  The gearing changes I made to get to 4K ES make a big difference in terms of the panic factor that can occur if something does get past the army of minions to target Yarmilla herself.

The only problem I had was that I didn't go into an easy zone or use my Desecrate gem to raise a full pack of zombies before I started the map.  I had to run around like a fool until my skeleton totems could do enough damage that I could get a few zombies raised.

Once again, I'm convinced that I'm not going to be running a dunes map with a non CI character any time soon.  That just makes dealing with the putrid army of zombies the map boss summons from the sands a non factor instead of becoming a major obstacle.  The map mod of increased cold resistance wasn't a problem either.  I don't do any cold damage with this character.

I would have liked it if this had been a two map run with the relatively large item quantity bonus Temporal Chains gives, but I had never seen a Cemetery Map drop before, so that's pretty cool.  I meant do do a look at the "economics of mapping run one run back, which would have been my 25th map run.  Since I didn't do that, I think I'll comment on my map pool after two more runs.  I've found 28 level 66 maps in Sarn or the last part of Act II Merciless.  For example, one time the Vaal Oversoul dropped a map.  That would be enough runs to exhaust my map pool if I didn't have a single map drop on any run.

9.3.2014 Feral Grotto Map of Exposure

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - More animals, player maximum resistances reduced
Quantity: +42%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
4 Alteration
3 Augmentation
9 Jewlers
2 Fusing
4 Chromatic
8 Scrap
4 Whetstone
1 Baubble
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Wharf Map L67

I crafted this map back before I had characters strong enough to run maps.  I waited a while to run it, but I decided to give it a try with Yarmilla after taking advantage of the Forsakem Masters respec.  I gained a bit of energy shield and I also, without realizing it, picked up one more pack of additional minions than I had before.  I can really summon a crowd now, 8 zombies and 12 skeletons plus the 2 spectres any summoner needs.  I lost a little mana regen though.  I can't keep up a steady stream of Arc blasts going into the monsters, so upping my mana regen will be what I concentrate on as I level up a bit and continue to look for gear.  If I have enough mana to level clarity again, that would help too.

Once again, Grotto maps strike me as the easiest to run.  The boss doesn't do anything scary and the mobs are all pretty straightforward to deal with.  I should probably use Yarmilla to run the rest of the Dunes maps I have in my stash.  I stuck with Chaos Inoculation when I respeced, and I got my Energy Shield up to 4K by replacing some gear.  She's probably the best character I have for dealing with the hundreds of rotting zombies that get summoned by the boss of that map.

It didn't feel especially profitible when I ran it because of the lack of any Alchemy of Chaos orbs dropping.  For that matter, not even a chance orb dropped.  However, I got much more than what I spent modding the map back, and I got a level 67 map also.  With the relatively high item quantity, more than one map drop would have been nice, but I guess every run can't drop multiple maps.  It was a higher level map, so that was nice.

8.28.2014 Hexproof Dungeon of Champions

Servant of a Burning Fire - Standard
Mods - Monsters can't be cursed, more magic monsters
Quantity: +21%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
2 Alteration
8 Chromatic
1 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
None

So, this was an anaemic run loot wise, although I did decide a few yellows were stash worthy.  The bigger news was that I used the Forgotten Master's respec to make this character more of what I had in mind to start with.  The change to the cold to fire support gem helps too.  I went back to leveling my quality gem in an off-hand slot.  I think I created a bit of a glass cannon though.  I'm going to really have to work on armor and life on gear.  I'm hoping that leveling up with the forgotten masters will help out in this regard.

I noticed this at first when I was just testing the character out on the docks.  I opened a lockbox guarded by a rogue exile.  I don't remember the name, but she summoned minions and had minion instability.  I think I blew myself up by killing them at point blank range more than she did me in.

Then in the dungeon, I realized that I was just getting hammered by monsters.  It helped when I switched out a gem for life leach.  Actually, that helps a lot.  With the increased damage I do through respeccing, I leach a lot with a blast of GMP Freezing Pulse.  I'm not sure if it's the most efficient use of Freezing Pulse to convert all the damage to fire with Avatar of Fire and Cold to Fire, but it is fun.  I added the 2nd part of my original plan, which was Eldrich Battery with the respec, and I'm still kind of mana hungry.  I certainly don't have enough mana and mana regen to run around with Arctic Armor up.  I'm hoping that will get better as I continue to level Clarity and a Reduced Mana gem.  Anyway, this character is a lot more fun to play after respeccing, so I'll continue to run him through maps.  I can also still run Piety with this character for two more skill points.  I think there is a health and mana node next to my current skill tree, so I want to pick those up or maybe a mana regen node if I don't have to travel out of the way for it.

The bright spot was the map the Master Hunter gave me.  I had to kill 25 high hitpoint bears, and I was able to mow them down with my blasts of frozen fire.  I didn't die once in there, thanks to some timely potion chugging, but also thanks to the large amount of life I was leaching.  There must be a rule that prevents you from gaining two levels with a master on a single mission because I jumped from never having met the hunter to being 1 XP shy of hitting level 2 with her.

The last thing I noticed about the dungeon map is that it is a lot tougher with the redesigned Brutus fight.  In the Act I prison, the redesign made the fight seem a lot less cheezy.  I usually dealt with Brutus by pilliar dancing before the fight changes.  Now it is a lot less laggy and just feels better in the prison.  Brutus just wiped the floor with me in this dungeon run.  There are spikes coming out of the floor that nearly fill the entire room, and it fealt like the boss had hundreds of skeletons surrounding him.  I know I lost XP between RIPing to the boss and rogue exile before I ever went into the Eternal Lab.

8.20.2014 Anarchic Tropical Island Map of Vulnerability

Servant of a Burning Fire - Standard
Mods - Two rogue exiles on the map, player cursed with vulnerability
Quantity: +40%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
7 Alteration
2 Augmentation
1 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Scrap
3 Whetstone
1 Chisel
1 Regret

Maps Gained:
Mud Geyser Map L68

This was the first Tropical Island map that I've played.  It was a bit challenging with the two rogue exiles.  The first one wasn't too bad, but then I fought one with life regen.  That made fighting him a whole lot harder.  Nothing special for +40% quantity, but one of the exiles dropped the Mud Geyser map.  That's a nice upgrade that makes up for the lackluster drops in currency.  The other thing that was nice was a Blackgleam quiver dropped.

The map itself was probably the easiest to navigate in terms of making sure nothing was missed since it's two straight shots connected by a cave entrance.  Typical kind of stuff you fight in the forests in act II of the main game.

The one thing I can't really judge was the toughness of the map's boss.  He looked like a giant ape, but when I encountered him, its AI couldn't seem to decide if it should attack me or run back to attack my Searing Bond totem.  It just sat there until it burned up.

This was the first map I had run with Servant of a Burning Fire after Forsaken Masters launched.  I had to respec the templar, and I forgot to pick up Elemental Equilibrium when I did so.  So I was missing out on a big chunk of my damage for burning down boss and other high life hostiles.  I also saw in the patch notes that Searing Bond had recieved an 18% nerf across the board.  Even between those two disadvantages, I had no trouble, other than the aforementioned discussion of rogue exiles, clearing the map.

8.10.2014 Fleet Dungeon Map of Lightning

Servant of a Burning Fire - Standard
Mods - Monsters move and attack faster, Patches of Shocking Ground
Quantity: +54% (20% Quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Chisel

Currency Gained:
5 Transmutation
4 Alteration
1 Jewelers
1 Fusing
3 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Scrap
2 Whetstone
1 Scouring

Maps Gained:
None

This was just a disappointing run.  First of all, I used a Cartographer's Chisel on this.  Not because it is a good idea to use a chisel on a level 66 map, but because I had never used that currency before.  It was also +15% quality coming out of a lockbox, so I didn't feel too bad about it.  Or at least I didn't feel bad until I blanked on maps this run.  That's kind of depressing because this is the highest item quantity I've ever run with.

Adding to the depression are an anemic loot haul and a careless death to the map boss.  I had him down to a sliver of health and dropped my guard.  About a second and a half later I had RIPed.  The only good thing to come out of this run was a Cybil's Paw unique item.

The rest of the run wasn't too bad.  The only monsters I found dangerous were the Undying Alchemists.  With extra attack speed they could create large poison clouds quickly.  Standing in those drains your health in a hurry.  Other than that and the careless death, this would have been an easy run for Servant of a Burning Fire.  I even felt like I moved systematically through the dungeon clearing areas, so I guess that was a minor plus as well.

8.5.2014 Mirrored Orchard Map of Ice

Servant of a Burning Fire - Standard
Mods - Monsters reflect elemental damage, Patches of Frozen Ground
Quantity: +29%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
6 Alteration
3 Augmentation
1 Fusing
1 Chromatic
4 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Dungeon (L66)
Tropical Island (L66)

I probably shouldn't have started this run.  I was really tired, and I was almost falling asleep at the keyboard while I played.  If this had been any other character other than Servant of a Burning Fire, there would have been several deaths.  I was very slow reacting to monster attacks, but just throw down a few Searing Bond totems and everything dies.  I woke up a bit for the boss fight, and I got through the giant worm without a death.  I'm pretty sure that's my first run of this map where I didn't die at least once in the map.  I'm sure that's a sign that Searing Bond is OP.

I have two indicators of how sleepy I was durning the map which only re-enforce my belief that skill is OP.  The first is that I don't even remember picking up two maps.  I do recall seeing one, but at some point I was checking my inventory and saw that I had picked up a second map without realizing it.  Normally, I'm all ready to pounce on a map drop.  The second is that I leveled during this run, and I didn't even bother allocating the skill point until I logged in tonight to see what my loot lookled like.  I got a few decent yellows and swapped some gear around to max out my resistances.  The fact that I'm surviving mapping without having capped resists in yet one more sign this build is OP, or at least much, much stronger than all my previous builds.

7.30.2014 Grounded Grotto Map of Exposure

Servant of a Frozen Fire - Standard
Mods - Monsters resist electricity, Players have maximum resistances reduced
Quantity: +38%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
5 Transmutation
2 Alteration
1 Fusing
2 Chromatic
1 Chance
4 Scrap
1 Whetstone
2 Chisel

Maps Gained:
Orchard (L66)

This is a pretty good set of map mods for this servant, well, either servant actually.  Neither does electricity damage.  Before I ran this map I respeced quite a bit spending several Regret orbs to pick up the projectile speed notable from the Ranger tree.  Using Freezing Pulse where it does more damage up close, the extra speed helps.  I also ended up switching from a Remote Mine to a Skeleton totem as my secondary attack, but more on that later.

Since I knew I wasn't going to have as much resistance as usual, I made sure to rebalance my resistances from rings.  I know, shame on me for not having maxed out my resists before ever considering running maps.  In addition to the respecing, I finally got an upgrade that lets me do more spell damage on a staff than the one I used for thirty or forty levels.  I've been trying to find an upgrade, but just couldn't for the longest time.  I was really hoping to chance a Maelstrom staff into a unique that is good for cold spells, but I'll take what I can get.

Anyway, the extra elemental damage I was taking wasn't bad once I got used to it.  It was a pretty typical run, although my kill speed was definitely improved with the weapon upgrade and respecing.  About midway through the map though, a rogue exile gave me all I could handle.  I don't remember his name, but he's the one who leap slams about and uses double strike.  I was trying to use a portal scroll as I retreated from him to refill flasks, but he chased me all the way back to the map instance.  I tried a skeleton totem instead of remote mine just to try to get something spamming extra targets out there for him to leap slam onto.  I ended up having to leave to refill potions a second time, but eventually I wore the rogue down, triggering molten shell a few times helped.  I decided I liked the skeletons well enough to just stick with that setup.

Other than the rogue, nothing gave me troubles.  I couldn't quite face roll the map boss, but with Arctic Armour she was just barely making my health dip over time.  I was able to sip on my flasks every now and again and take her down without much trouble.

On the loot side, I was hoping for more than one map, with an IIQ of 38%, but I didn't blank, so all is well. I also got 2 chisels, which isn't bad either.  One last improvement to this character's gear was that I discovered how nice quality is on the Cold to Fire support gem.  I had a 6% quality one in my stash, and when I tried it out I actually got a very slight damage boost out of it over the one I had been leveling for a long time.  I also
realized that I haven't run Piety yet with this character.  My mana is a bit low after my respecing, so I'm
thinking I might actually pick up Eldrich Battery with the two skill points I would get from killing her.  That keystone along with Avatar of Fire were integral to this character's build, but with the build not coming together as well as I would have wanted, I never did pick either one up.  I think I can use the extra mana now though.

7.24.2014 Mirrored Dungeon Map of Power

Servant of a Burning Fire - Standard
Mods - Monsters reflect elemental damage, Monsters gain power charges over time
Quantity: +33%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
6 Alteration
1 Augmentation
9 Jewlers
1 Fusing
2 Chromatic
1 Alchemy
3 Scrap

Maps Gained:
Arsenal (L67)
Thicket (L67)

I finished up clearing out my stash tabs from the Ambush league, so I felt like I should run a map to celebrate.  I also had one more dungeon map than would fit in the space I'm using in the stash tab for maps which made the decision of which map to run fairly easy.  This was my first dungeon map, and I have to say I liked it.

One thing which was cool was the music which plays throughout the level.  It the music from the Brutus fight, and hearing it the entire level makes everything seem exciting even if you're clearing areas easily.  The dungeon map looks a lot like the prison, but the pattern of rooms reminded me more of the layout of the crematorium.  It seemed more labyrinthine than the prison, so it was harder to tell if you had fully cleared a section of the map.

Servant of a Burning Fire is so ridiculously easy to play, I don't have a good feel for the difficulty the map boss, Brutus (like you would expect from the music) would present to my other high level characters.  Servant emptied his health bar quickly resulting in an explosion of yellow items on the ground.  I'm running increased item rarity on Searing Bond, and I think the amount of loot gained reflects this.  On top of the currency, I scored two higher level maps, so this was a very nice run loot wise.

Overall, my first impression of the Dungeon map is quite positive.  The crypt has an easier layout to navigate and similar monsters, but the music gives this map great atmosphere.  This map is similar to the orchard in that the map boss has his own room, but Brutus didn't give me nearly as much trouble as the worm boss on Orchard has.

7.23.2014 Unwavering Orchard Map of Champions

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters cannot be stunned, More magic monsters
Quantity: +15%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
2 Alteration
2 Augmentation
1 Jewlers
1 Chromatic
2 Scrap
3 Whetstone
1 Scouring

Maps Gained:
None

Another cheap map, so I guess the currency gained is fine.  However, it was a blank run on maps, so that's always a bit disappointing.  Now that I've run a few of them, maps of Champions don't seem to be great for getting new maps, although I guess if one does drop you have a better chance of getting a higher level map.

My main goal when running this map was not to die, but the boss killed me twice.  Once he popped up right from under me and I couldn't get away fast enough.  The second death I felt cheated on.  I guess I popped Frost Wall a hair too slowly, but it certainly looked like the big slow moving shot went straight through the wall to hit me.  So those two deaths made this run kind of a bummer as well.  I did level before I died, so I didn't lose as much XP as I could have from the deaths.

Other than the two deaths against the boss, I thought this was a pretty typical run.  Nothing really interesting dropped, and I didn't have many close calls in the main portion of the level.  I'm still considering the worm boss on this map the most dangerous of the level 66 map bosses I've seen.  I'd like to run another map tonight, but I promised myself I wouldn't run one until I finished my stash tab clean up.

7.19.2014 Burning Crypt Map of Hordes

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters deal extra fire damage, Increased pack size
Quantity: +12%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
3 Alteration
3 Augmentation
3 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Scrap
2 Whetstone
1 Blessed

Maps Gained:
Dungeon (L66)
Orchard (L66)

I had cleaned out 5 remove only stash tabs, and decided that I deserved to run a map for doing that.  I grabbed one and decided that I'd give the extra fire damage a try.  As a summoner, I've got lots of other things on the map to absorb damage other than me, so I thought this was one I should be able to do.  I have fire resistance, so I wouldn't be taking the full force of the added damage, and the minions will explode when they get low on life, so it's not a disaster if they get hammered on.  The low quantity mod is a little scary, but with the increased pack size it tends to work out.

The first thing I decided is that I need to invest in a desecrate gem, because picking up minions in Docks hit a snag when there was a storm herald that shredded all my zombies while I was looking for good spectre corpses.  On try two, I got my minions and headed over to the Eternal Laboratory.

This was really a very easy and low stress run.  The first pack of monsters I encountered dropped a Dungeon map, so knowing you aren't going to blank a run from the get-go is fun.  The few times I took hits, I could see the effect of extra damage, but since I usually had a wall of undead between me and the crypt dwellers.

The map boss and tougher rare monsters would wipe me out of zombies, and I did have to summon new spectres a few times, but they held up pretty well against the extra damage they were taking.  I really didn't notice when I was losing zombies because my skeleton totem was doing so well.  A few times I would start to move into unexplored areas, only to realize I was several zombies down and that I better back track to raise new ones.

No great loot, although I get get a Blessed orb.  However, that's OK since I didn't spend much crafting this map.  In fact, the only way I could have spent less was that if it had dropped as a blue and I only had a Wisdom scroll invested in it.  Now that I've blogged about this run, I guess it's back to stash tab clearing.

7.15.2014 Ceremonial Grotto Map of Enfeeblement

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Lots of Totems, The Player Is Cursed with Enfeeble
Quantity: +30%

Currency Expended:
Unknown (I crafted this before I started tracking how much currency I used on maps.)

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
2 Alteration
1 Augmentation
5 Chromatic
1 Scrap
2 Whetstone
1 Baubble

Maps Gained:
Arcade (L67)

This run with Yarmilla confirms my view that the Grotto map is the easiest to run of the maps I've tried so far.  She doesn't deal nearly as much damage as Servant of a Burning Fire, but she breazed through this map as well.  The map boss and some of the tougher yellow monsters would kill my spectres and zombies, but I was able to keep those monsters contained with a skeleton totem.  

The map mods didn't cause me any trouble either.  The only totem which was an issue is the one that prevents allies from being killed, but I could reach them with arc, so I really didn't need to alter my core combat plan to deal with them.  Likewise, Enfeeble didn't slow me down either because I've taken the passive nodes to apply the shocked condition 20% of the time ( Yarmilla leveled during this run.).  I'm mainly using Arc to apply shock stacks to monsters so that my minions can kill them; it doesn't cause much inconvenience to dish out less damage.

The only downside to this run was that the loot was a little underwhelming.  I only got one map, but it was a level 67.  I've done better with a lower quantity bonus, but I've also blanked with a higher bonus.  I really didn't get that much currency for a pretty decent quantity bonus though.  I did keep a few of the rare items, so I guess upgrading my pool of gear to pick from isn't a bad thing.  I also got one of the new Ball Lightning skill gems.  That's probably what I was most excited about after the arcade map.

I would like to have run a few more maps than what I've been able to recently, but I'm also consolidating inventory since the end of the last set of 4 month leagues.  Probably the best discovery I've had durning this process was that a level 35 one handed mace in the inventory out damages things 10-15 levels higher with over +75% increased physical damage (IPD).  The lower level mace has IPD, plus a flat physical damage bonus, plus an attack speed bonus.  It's really an ideal leveling weapon for a 1 handed mace wielder.  Now that I've got this blog post written, I think I'll try to clear out another stash tab or two before bed.

7.5.2014 Mirrored Grotto Map of Commanders

Servant of a Burning Fire - Ambush
Mods - Monsters reflect elemental damage, More magic monsters
Quantity: +21%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
4 Alteration
1 Augmentation
1 Fusing
2 Chromatic
1 Chance
4 Scrap
2 Whetstone
1 Blessed
1 Regret

Maps Gained:
Tropical Island (L66)
Mountain Ledge (L67)

This was the second map I've run with Servant of a Burning Fire and the 1st Grotto map I've run.  I have to say, I found the grotto map much to my liking.  It looks like one of Merveil's caverns, and there will be several monsters drawn from than theme.  At least on this run, there were fire based Undying Alchemists.  They make good spectres while they last, and since they aren't very tanky, they aren't too hard to take down yourself.  I was tired when I ran this map, but still managed to clear it without suffering any RIPs.

The boss is like Merveil's daughter who uses Rain of Fire, so between her and the alchemists, a ruby flask would probably be a good idea if you were feeling a little iffy about running a Grotto map.  Armed with some extra fire resistance, I think this might be the easiest of the map types I've come across so far.  The bosses for Dunes or Orchard maps would be the most difficult, in my opinion, of the maps I've tried so far.  The bosses for Crypt or Dried Lake would be somewhere in the middle.

This was a good run loot wise.  This is in a large part due to being able to run the mirrored mod and not needing to alter a map after the initial roll.  Having the extra magic monsters helped with being able to pick up another level 67 map.  Since I've been keeping track of these runs, I should figure out what the ability to keep a map pool up is looking like.  We're in between 4 month leagues right now, so it seems like a good time to check on that.  It also means I need to merge stash tabs.  I'll be selling a lot of gear over the next few days.  I know the rotating leagues are a key part of GGG's plans for this game, but merging loot when one of the 4 month leagues end is not much fun.

7.1.2014 Mirrored Orchard Map of Temporal Chains

Servant of a Burning Fire - Ambush
Mods - Monsters reflect elemental damage, Players cursed with Temporal Chains
Quantity: +45%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
5 Alteration
6 Augmentation
1 Fusing
3 Chromatic
1 Alchemy
1 Chaos
1 Bauble

Maps Gained:
Mountain Ledge (L67)

I was worried I wasn't going to be able to run a map with this character before the end of the Ambush league, but I cleared Gravicius and Kole without any problems, so I went ahead and tried to tackle Piety.  From previous experience with Yarmilla, Piety caused me more problems than either of those two did.  However, I was able to take her down fairly easily with this character.  I even went back to kill her a 2nd time just to prove to myself it wasn't a fluke.  I was rushing to see if I could clear the 3rd level fast enough to keep the 2nd level from resetting, so I suffered a death on the way to Piety, but didn't have any particular problems with her.  Based on that, I decided that this servant was ready for mapping at only level 62, 4 levels ahead of Yarmilla and 7 ahead of the Frozen Servant.

I'll go ahead an link a skill tree for the first run with a new toon:
  Servant of a Burning Fire passive tree

I've upped the already considerable damage output of Searing Bond by switching from a +1 gem level to a +2 gem level scepter and taking the Elemental Equlibrium keystone.  I toss traps linked to Ice Nova to inflict vulnerability to fire on monsters.  I'm doing about 4K tooltip DPS, and I've never seen any numbers remotely close to that on any of my other characters.

I wouldn't even consider running a map with these mods using Servant of a Frozen Fire.  It might be possible with Yarmilla, but the slower casting time of Arc would probably be annoying, and the reflect would be dangerous for a CI character.  The mods didn't slow this character down at all.  Sure, I was trudging across the map, but Searing Bond pumps out just as much damage as it would without Temporal Chain afflicting me.

I think the only thing I could have done better on this run was to take a page from Yarmilla's book and use a Frost Wall gem when fighting the map boss.  He did kill me twice.  His big, slow, incredibly punishing projectile attack one shotted me, and I died once while there were still a large number of mobs on the map when you first enter the sectioned off area.  I could have also been better about keeping endurance charges and molten shell up to try to help my defenses.  Still, I'm pretty happy to be able to run maps at such a low level.

I was a little disappointed to only get one map drop at +45% IIQ, but it was a level 67 map, so the disappointment is minor.  Looking at the currency gained vs. currency expended, I can't complain at all.  With a single Transmutation Orb, I got a map I could run and a higher level of item quantity than I've ever had before.  I really noticed the IIQ when the boss exploded into a pile of rare items.  I'm probably not going to get another run in before Ambush ends, but I had fun on this map even if I was moving in slow motion.

6.24.2014 Incombustible Orchard Map Lightning

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters have extra fire resistance, Patches of shocking ground
Quantity: +19%

Currency Expended:
7 Alteration
2 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
4 Alteration
1 Augmentation
4 Chromatic
1 Chance
3 Scrap
1 Bauble

Maps Gained:
Crypt (L66)
Tropical Island (L66)
Ghetto (L68)

First of all, this run made up for blanking 3 runs in a row with map drops!  More on that later.

This run was harder than my first venture into an Orchard map.  I still suffered two deaths, but I didn't have much trouble with the boss this time.  The map started with a mod on it, but given how hard the map boss hits, I was picky about avoiding anything that would deal out extra damage or give everything on the map extra projectiles.  As such, this was an expensive run for a level 66 map in terms of dumping a fair amount of currency into it.

I think there were three factors leading to my deaths clearing the main section of the map.  I had plowed through the 1st orchard map so easily, I was over confident and charged in front of my minions.  Second, while there were typical statues and porcupine beast in this map, there were also puncture inducing dogs.  Those things are dangerous, especially when standing on shocking ground, which would be the 3rd factor.

I balanced this out by improving my strategy for dealing with the section of the map containing the boss.  I didn't move after coming up the stairs until I cleared the initial wave that pounces on you after entering the small section of the map.  With the crowd greatly reduced, I was more cautious while trying to locate the boss.  Once the boss burst out of the ground, he could clear a group of six zombies with a single blast.  I ran down the stairs a few times to bring more zombies back with me, but in the end I don't think that was the key to the fight.

The first thing I noticed was that by using statue spectres raised from the map, I had two nearly immortal minions.  I don't know how may hit points those things have, but they seem to have no trouble staying alive, even when fighting rare monsters or the map boss.  The second improvement in my strategy was keeping a wall of ice between me and the map boss.  That greatly cut down of the amount of running away that I needed to do.  I would have leveled easily without the deaths, and probably would have with even a single death.  Still, the experience was pretty good, about a quarter of a level.

6.23.2014 Incombustible Orchard Map of Commanders

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters have extra fire resistance, More magic monsters
Quantity: +11%

Currency Expended:
None

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
1 Alteration
2 Augmentation
1 Fusing
2 Chromatic
1 Chance
2 Scrap
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
None

So, I blanked another run on maps, but I did gain the legendary item Geofri's Crest.  The links need improvement, but it's a solid item in terms of providing all 4 resists and a boost to gems in it.  Other than that, the loot gained this map was pretty feeble.  I'm pretty sure this is the highest level legenday I've seen, so that's pretty cool even if it is a solid item and not a build changing one.  I'm pretty sure I actually did use some currency to improve this map, but I did it back before I was keeping track.  However, given how little currency I got from this run, I'm glad I don't know what I used to roll the mods on this map.

The only plus side to this map run was that it was a pretty easy.  I didn't have any trouble with the large number of magic monsters on the map.  In terms of how the map plays, it is similar to the imperial gardens from Act 3, but it's devided into two areas.  The map boss was in a small area up a staircase.

This was the first time I had run an Orchard Map, so I didn't realize how small the second area would be.  The boss fight spoiled the easy run with two deaths.  However, once I realized that the wyrm I was fighting was the map boss, I was able to get to safety every time it hit me.  The boss could two shot me easily, but once I realized how dangerous he was, I was able to finish the fight against him without additional deaths.  Despite the two deaths, I still gained 4 bars to the next level.

6.14.2014 Skeletal Crypt Map of Power

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Area populated by skeletons, monsters gain power charges
Quantity: +23%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
5 Alteration
2 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
2 Alteration
1 Augmentation
8 Jewelers
6 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Alchemy
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
None

While I mainly did this to test my clear speed and compare Yarmilla to Servant of a Frozen Fire, I'm kind of bummed that I've blanked two runs in a row getting new maps.  I feel like I've had good item quantity increases, but I just haven't received maps from the RNG.

What I did learn is that Yarmilla clears maps much faster than Servant of a Frozen Fire.  Based on this run and the prior Dunes run I would say that Servant is tankier, but Yarmilla has much better offence.  Since she's usually hiding behind a wall of minions, her tankiness isn't that much of an issue.  It was dicey, but I even killed a storm herald with her on this run. Granted, it was minion instability that did most of the damage, but I still brought it down without taking an RIP.  She's also several level lower than Servant of a Frozen Fire.

This was really a pretty unremarkable run other than the Storm Herald with one exception.  I didn't even realize that I was fighting the map boss until I noticed that I was losing a few zombies inside a room where they were fighting.  I summoned more and threw Conductivity on The Pagan Bishop.  When he died, he dropped the unique dusk blade Ephemeral Edge.  I don't have the dexterity to wield it, and it would cut my damage substantially, but it would be a large boost to ES.  I may give it a try by specing into a +30 dex node or if I get a dex boosting item, but otherwise I'm not sure what sort of character would use this thing.  I guess that the ES boost might offset the life lost to the item while leveling.

Taking all this into consideration, I may retire Servant of a Frozen Fire.  My converted damage idea just never came together the way I wanted.  He would probably be just fine with a Taran's Shiver unique, but that's a lot of currency.  Maybe I can get Servant of a Burning Fire leveled up enough to run a few maps before the end of Ambush League.

6.11.2014 Fleet Dunes Map of Ice

Yarmilla - Standard
Mods - Monsters move and attack faster, patches of frozen ground
Quantity: +34%

Currency Expended:
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
6 Alteration
3 Augmentation
1 Fusing
4 Chromatic
1 Scrap
1 Whetstone
1 Chisel

Maps Gained:
None

So, this was my first map run with a character other than Servant of a Frozen Fire, and it went well with one exception, devourers.  More on those later.  It seems like I should link a skill tree for a new cartographer character.

Yarmilla Skill Tree

I don't know what it was, but all of the sudden I started doing very well with this character.  I don't know if it was some build tweaking, gear changes (I've vastly improved my resistance since the piety run), or play style, but I had no trouble with running the catacombs to try to gear up.  While I did have one death to the Blacksmith, it was much easier to deal with him on this character than it was with Servant of a Frozen Fire.  A large part of that is that Yarmilla has taken CI, so the poison clouds released by all the putrid zombies the Blacksmith calls from the sands don't really threaten this character.  In some ways, they just provide more enemies for Arc to bounce through.

My ES is a bit lite so the Blacksmith's leap slam is quite threatening, and the poison clouds do shred my minions.  I think I may have to deviate from my planned build a bit to help my survivability when my minions are being hammered.  I've got some gear upgrades which would let me up my ES quite a bit, but I lose strength and can't use my shield.  So I see a +30 strength node in my near future.

The other thing is that Servant of a Frozen Fire was level 69 when I ran my first map with him.  Yarmilla is only level 66.  There is no way I would have even considered putting him into the Eternal Laboratory before then.  I had a crypt map drop while leveling Yarmilla, so I'll have to roll some mods on it and see how Yarmilla's clear speed compares with Servant of a Frozen Fire's.  I might run her through the Imperial Garden and the Library to pick up a skill gem from the quest there.  I don't know that any of the gems I might choose would help Yarmilla, but they do open up special builds quite a bit.

Back to the devourers.  Several times they popped out of the ground, and I was dead.  I heard someone on a Youtube video talking about devourer death this weekend, and I certainly experienced it.  As long as too many didn't pop up at once, or they all didn't pop up right under my feet, I could usually get away to let my ES recharge, and then kill them easily with Arc while they were swarmed by minions.  However, because of all the deaths, I only gained one bar on my way to the next level.  Still, it was much less painful than my 1st experience in a Dunes map.

6.06.2014 Unwavering Dried Lake Map of Hordes

Servant of a Frozen Fire - Ambush
Mods - Monsters cannot be stunned, Increased pack Size
Quantity: +12%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
2 Alteration

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
4 Alteration
2 Augmentation
3 Chromatic
1 Alchemy
1 Chaos
4 Scrap
2 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
Crypt (L66)
Dunes (L66)

Much like the last run, I had been working on other characters between this map and the last one I posted.  I remembered to apply my auras, but that's about the only thing that went smoothly at the start.  I wasn't using all my skills effectively and the large pack size caused my some trouble at first.  I probably should have burned a portal and run out to regroup, but I died early on.  I had just leveled, so that wasn't much of a penalty.  I died later to some undead rhoas that stunned me while I was trying to run down a necromancer.  However, even with that 2nd death, I still gained about a quarter of a level because of all the mobs on the map.

Once I got used to running this character again things went pretty well.  The wide open nature of this zone can be a problem, I almost missed a strongbox clearing the map.  The low level currency was a net gain just because I didn't need to spend much on the map.  To have an alch and a chaos drop on top of that is great.  Then there were the two map drops, so it's always nice to grow the map pool.  Finally, I got Windscream boots on this run.  Those add an extra curse, so that would either free up a few skill points for a Hex Master, or allow one to run three curses.  However, reading up on it, I'm not sure 3 curses is really worthwhile.  That's a lot of effort to get those cast.

In terms of where this character is going, I started using mine as a way to get some extra damage out in situations where I can't effectively stand in place and Freeze Pulse.  I'm using Ice Nova with a Cold to Fire gem right night for the theme of the character, however, I think Ice Spear with LMP would be more useful.  I'd like to try that since it would have more range and would crit often leading to the frozen/burning combination that gave this character his name.

Mostly the mine has been used on bosses, but it was helpful in one map that had blackguard archmages casting Lighting Thorns.  I want to try to make it more useful, and I think using a projectile skill rather than and AOE would help in that regard.  My other option would be to try to link things in with the Raise Spectre gem I'm using, but I don't have minion passives.  The spectres have mostly been to provide some sort of distraction.  However, I do think that changing the gems I use for spectres on the summoner witch will help her get into mapping.  I want to work on improving her gear next week.

My Next Explorer?

I've been leveling a dual totem Templar, ServantOfABurningFire, and I have to say, it's disgustingly effective.

PassiveTree

Normally I putter around and fiddle with equipment while leveling, but as soon as I got the Ancestral keystone, I haven't looked back with this character.  Searing Bond just burns everything in its path.  I got through normal in about seven and a half hours.  I know that's nothing for hard core racers, but that's probably half the time I normally spend.  I made the switch to two totems when I hit the waypoint under the Vaal pyramid.

The Oversoul went down quickly, although I did eat a Vaal Smash when I was standing a bit too close.  The only death I've had was to Marceus the Defaced in normal.  I guess my totems didn't really have the life to stand up to his lightning strike at the time.  I didn't have any trouble with him in cruel.  Finishing up normal, I had to bypass the lightning trapper in the Scepter of God, but Dominius was no problem.  I got off to a bit of a slow start dealing with the cyclone guy and the GMP fireball guy.  After that, once I figured out I needed to set my totems to destroy the spark totems of the Blackguard Archmage the fight was a breeze.  I didn't even return to town to refill potions.

Cruel didn't really slow me down much.  I flew through everything and finished off Dominius last night at level 50!  I did have to go back to town once to refill potions when I couldn't clear a bleed stack, but I've really struggled with Dominius on characters between level 55 and 60.  In fact, I paid someone to get me past Dominus in Cruel with ServantOfAFrozenFire.  It makes me wonder if the Searing Bond is overly powerful, or if the offence in my other build has been weak.

I'm either going to keep leveling ServantOfABurningFire, or use a summoner witch.

PassiveTree

I haven't played with the new summoner skills, like desecrate, and I may spec back into Minion instability.  I'll either decide my build was misguided or that Searing Bond is OP if I work on the Witch next.

UPDATE:
I was able to take down Gravisius and Kole without any danger using minions, so I think I'll try running some maps with this character.  I did respec out of two points on my passive tree to regain Minion Instability and to get a little closer to Ghost Reaver.  I also set up a spell totem for my secondary attack.  I tried swapping totems doing a docks run, and it worked will to swap over to a firestorm totem while I'm at the maximum number of skeletons.  The only drawback is that my map pool is only 4 in standard.  No cartographer's lockboxes to boost my pool in that league, yet.

UPDATED UPDATE:
I killed Piety with the summoner, but it was a humbling, grinding sort of kill.  It also taught me that my resistances sucked.  I'll have to correct that before I try running maps with her.