2015.01.27 Emanant Grotto Map of Lightning

The Owl Slayer - Hardcore
Mods - Area inhabited by ranged monsters,
Quantity: +23%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Alteration
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
4 Alteration
3 Augmentation
1 Fusing


Maps Gained:
None

This is a new character I've been working on.  I intended it to be a Quill Rain, Cast on Critical Strike build.  I have a quill rain to use, but I vastly underestimated the amount of mana it takes to power that thing!  Since it's a low level bow, Mana Leech is essentially useless with it.  In the meantime, I've started using CoC with my normal attacking bow.

I do less damage up front with Split Arrow than I did with Ice Shot, but I get a bigger area of effect, and my shots still pierce.  On the whole, the AOE is comperable.  Even though I'm doing less damage up front, the critical strikes are more punishing.  All in all, I think the two setups are comparable.  I actually feel like I do a little more damage than I used to as long as I'm at medium range or closer.  The added projectile speed from Quill Rain would certainly help the Ethereal Knives I'm using as my CoC spell.

The monsters on this map, including the boss where no problem.  I did have one close call though.  I opened a strongbox that deatonated dead.  I thought I was far enough away, but a chain of exploding bodies nearly did me in.  I'm going to have to start carrying a Detonate Dead gem around with me when mapping.  I can't resist the lure of a strongbox, so I'm going to kill myself opening one sooner or later.  I'll probably last a bit longer in hard core mode if I have some way of clearing the bodies from near a strongbox.

The loot this run was awful, but I picked up a Groto map while I was testing out CoC in The Docks.  So I don't feel like I lost anything from this run.

One last thing, here is my skill tree.

2015.01.24 Multiple Maps

Burning Arcade Map of Fracturing
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Monsters deal extra damage as fire damage, Monsters Fracture
Quantity: +42%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
2 Alteration
1 Fusing
3 Chromatic
2 Chance
1 Chaos
3 Scrap
1 Whetstone
1 Regal
1 Scouring


Maps Gained:
None

I was sorely tempted to reroll this map.  This combination almost seems like a bad joke.  It was, without a doubt, very challenging.  While I only died once, there were several near deaths escaped by quick potion work, hasty retreats and more than a little luck.  I will have to say that long duration, piercing sparks are a good skill for the Fracturing mod.  When a monster dies, there is guaranteed to be a spark in the vicinity that has a chance to hit the fractured monsters again.  The one time I died, I was trying to keep a crew of summoned zombies, but I think I was better off spawning three zombies in between fights.  Once a fight started, I either trusted the sparks I was throwing about, or I was falling back to a safe distance.  I also probably could have used Vaal Spark a bit more because of the extra sould gathered from the fracturing monsters.  Between the Chaos, Regal, and Scouring, this was a good run currency wise, but I hate blanking on maps.  Especially when you have 42% IIQ.


Multifarious Grotto Map of Flames
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Increased monster variety, patches of burning ground
Quantity: +17%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

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


Maps Gained:
Dried Lakebed L66
Dungeon L66
Wharf L67

Except for taking a few bursts of damage when I wasn't being careful, this was an easy run.  The confined caverns are ideal for using Spark for offence.  This is another map I was tempted to re-roll because of the somewhat low quantity bonus.  However, I got good currency and three maps out of the run.  Of all the maps I ran this day, this was the most pleasant surprise when it came to loot.


Superior Deadly Dried Lakebed of Elemental Weakness
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Increased monster damage, player cursed with Elemental Weakness
Quantity: +54% (19% from quality)

Currency Expended:
?

Currency Gained:
4 Alteration
2 Augmentation
1 Jewlers
6 Chromatic
5 Scrap
1 Whetstone


Maps Gained:
Dried Lakebed L66


This was another fairly easy run.  It was also the most disappointing loot wise of the night.  This combination of map mods produces a good increase of item quantity, and with the near perfect quality of the map, I really expected a profitable run.  Combined with the two good runs earlier, it made for a good night of mapping.  However, individually it was a disapointment.  If I remember right, I got a few 19% quality maps to drop from a lockbox, so I rolled mods for some of them.  As such, I have no idea how much I spent modifying this map.

2015.01.22 Multiple Maps

Chaining Dried Lake Map of Hordes
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Monsters projectiles chain, Increased monster pack size
Quantity: +29% (7% from quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

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


Maps Gained:
Grotto L66
Arcade L67
Arcade L67
Mountain Ledge L67
Mountain Ledge L67

This was a great combination of map mods.  I typically use zombies to slow monsters down so they eat more sparks.  However, with the chaining I didn't raise any for this map.  I got a ton of experience from the larger pack size.  The currency is pretty good, but the map drops were insane on this map!  I got a replacement 66 and 4 67's.  I couple of times I did summon a totem to help bring down a monster that was raising the undead.  Once I started getting hit by chained attacks while doing this, so I tired not to do that any more than I had to.  I also hit level 67 from running this map.


Antagonist Arsenal Map of Flames
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Rare monsters have a Nemesis mod, patches of burning ground
Quantity: +23%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

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

Maps Gained:
Mountain Ledge L67
Wharf L67

I've decided I don't really care for this map layout.  It seems to involve inevitable backtracking to clear it.  However, the map boss seems to be pretty easy, so I guess I can't complain.  I got another decent amount of currency from the run and added a map to my stash.  Also on the plus side, I got a legendary claw I had never seen before and a quality culling strike gem.  On the down side I died to a fracturing Porcupine Goliath rare monster.  I was sparking right in it's face, and I moused over it, sparking all the while to see what it's Nemesis mod was.  Still holding the spark key down, I said to myself that I probably shouldn't be standing near this thing when it dies, but I never stopped casting the spell.  So I totally deserved that death.


Overlords Mountain Ledge Map of Desecration
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Boss does increased damage while moving and attacking faster, patches of desecrated ground
Quantity: +22%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
2 Alteration
1 Augmentation
1 Fusing
6 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Whetstone

Maps Gained:
None

I do like this map layout.  It's very easy to clear it efficiently, and this map boss also seems pretty easy.  Unlike the first two map runs, there wasn't really anything notable about this run.  Certainly the worst with maps having blanked, but with the two earlier runs, that doesn't hurt the mapping for the night.  It was also the worst currency run, but I still probably shouldn't complain.

2015.01.19 Multiple Maps

Splitting Mountain Ledge Map of Temporal Chains
Flame Tank Mark I - Hardcore
Mods - Monsters fire extra projectiles, Player cursed with Temporal Chains
Quantity: +54% (9% from quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
5 Alteration
2 Augmentation
8 Jewelers
1 Chromatic
2 Scrap


Maps Gained:
Sewer L67
Mud Geyser L68

I took this slow and tried to stay back more than normal.  Other than getting off to a bit of a slow start because a large pack of skeleton archers kept taking out my totems with their splitting projectiles.  Other than that, it was a pretty standard run.  I did the two loops of the ledge, went into the boss's little offshoot path, and that was the end of the map.  I got everything you could ask for in terms of getting maps back from this run.


Fleet Cemetary Map of Temporal Chains
Flame Tank Mark I - Hardcore
Mods - Monsters move and attack faster, Player cursed with Temporal Chains
Quantity: +59% (9% from quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

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


Maps Gained:
Springs L68

This was another fantastic loot map.  Once again I had to take things slow.  Normally, this would be a really awful combination, but faster zombies are still pretty slow.  This would be a bad combination of mods if it were full of fast moving or charging monsters.  I think this might have been the first Springs map I've seen.

Deadly Sewer Map of Smothering
Flame Tank Mark I - Hardcore
Mods - Monsters do extra damage, Player recovers health, mana, and energy at half normal speed
Quantity: +47% (9% from quality)

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

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


Maps Gained:
None

Probably the worst run of the night in terms of loot, largely because of blanking on new maps.  Otherwise this is perfectly good haul.  I was pretty tired when I ran this, and I probably should not have risked it in a hardcore league.  I never went below half health, and I was good with my potions, but that kind of damage could have been dicy if I had been slow on the potion drinking.  This was my day to run 9% quality maps.  All in all, I ran three 67's and came back with a 67 and two 68's.  Still looking for my 1st L69 map.  I dinged level 76 on this run, which is my highest level by a good bit.  It's probably as much or more work got get to 80 as it was to go from 70 to 76.

2015.01.11 Twinned Grotto Map of Hordes

Servant of a Frozen Fire - Standard
Mods - Two Map Bosses, Larger Pack Size
Quantity: +6%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
6 Transmutation
4 Alteration
-1 Augmentation
1 Jewelers
4 Chromatic
1 Chance
3 Scrap


Maps Gained:
Superior (9%) Cemetery L67

I watched a video of a Glacial Cascade Crit build, and thought it looked fun.  Unfortunately, I don't have a leveled Glacial Cascade gem.  So I'm still using Freezing Pulse with a skill tree aimed at Glacial Cascade.  The sad thing is that I still significantly upgraded my damage doing this.  I did lose a few hundred health, so this build is even more of a glass cannon than before in some respects.  However, in other respects, I kill things faster, so I don't need to absorb as much damage.

Even though this was an easy run, I picked a Grotto map because I knew my skill tree didn't really fit well with my gear and gems.  Running Arctic Armour, the bosses weren't scary and the Grotto map is generally pretty mild to start with.  I'm supper happy getting a nice map out of a proof of concept run.

I'm not sure I'm going to play this character much until I get yet another respec.  I've just got a skill tree that doesn't fit my gems.  I think I'll pass the Glacial Cascade gem around to make sure it keeps levelling and concentrate on other characters.  I'll probably still use this one for master missions though.

2015.01.01 Multiple Maps

Anarchic Tropical Island Map of Commanders
Flame Tank Mark I - Hardcore
Mods - Two Rogue Exiles added to the map, more rare monsters
Quantity: +18%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
3 Alteration
1 Augmentation
7 Jewelers
5 Chromatic
1 Whetstone


Maps Gained:
Thicket L67

This was super easy, and it should have been, but this was the 1st time I had used this character in 1.3 after needing to respec.  I have to say that the playstyle doesn't change at all.  This was a super easy run, and I got some nice currency and picked up a higher level map.  I also got the unique Slitherpinch.  No complaints.

Twinned Dunes Map of Endurance
Flame Tank Mark I - Hardcore
Mods - Two map bosses, Monsters gain endurance charges over time.
Quantity: +21%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
2 Transmutation
2 Alteration
3 Augmentation
7 Jewelers
4 Chromatic
1 Chance
3 Scrap


Maps Gained:
Mountain Ledge L67

The Dunes map tends to be easy if you can handle the boss.  The dual totems can handle the boss without problems.  The only other thing which can cause problems are Devourers.  This map didn't have any, so it was easy like you would expect.  I got some decent loot off the two bosses, but nothing especially memorable.

Chaining Mountain Ledge Map of Hordes
Flame Tank Mark I - Hardcore
Mods - Monster projectiles chain, increased pack size
Quantity: +18%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation
1 Augmentation

Currency Gained:
3 Transmutation
2 Alteration
3 Jewelers
3 Chromatic
1 Whetstone
1 Chisel


Maps Gained:
Arsenal L67

This map actually turned out to be very dangerous.  I wasn't thinking about projectiles chaining off my totems when I started out.  Lots of skeletal mages sometimes posed a problem with keeping my totems alive, but their shots move so slowly, they were no real danger to me.  However, the exploting porcupine quills were another matter.  I know one time I looked up after several porcupines died at the same time and I got blasted with several at once that my health was down to about 25%.  That easily could have been a RIP.  I think I'll be re-rolling the of chaining mod in the future.  Other than the porcupines, the map was very easy.  I even did a master mission for the duelist master.  Other than picking up the chisel and another level 67 map, the only notable find was a Fork gem with 9% quality.


Otherworldly Arsenal Map of Hordes
Flame Tank Mark I - Hardcore
Mods - Killing monsters can summon monsters from Beyond, increased pack size
Quantity: +16%

Currency Expended:
1 Transmutation

Currency Gained:
4 Transmutation
5 Alteration
2 Augmentation
1 Jewelers
1 Fusing
3 Chromatic
1 Chance
1 Alchemy
3 Scrap
1 Vaal
1 Blessed

Maps Gained:
Mud Geyser L68
Superior Cemetary L67
Superior Mountail Ledge L67
Superior Sewer L67
Superior Sewer L67
Superior Thicket L67
Superior Dungeon L66
Superior Overgrown Ruin L66

If it isn't obvious from the loot distribution, I found a Cartographer's Lockbox.  When I transmuted the lockbox, I got increased item quality of 9%.  I wasn't sure how many maps I would get, but I liked the idea of 9% quantity, so I kept that.  If I come across another lockbox, I might try using an Alchemy Orb on it.  The Mug Geyser map dropped before I found the lockbox, so it was already a good run map wise.  The Cartographer's box made this my most insanely profitable map run ever.  This will hopefully let be build up a pool of the level 68 maps by running quality 67's.  Throwing a Vaal and Blessed Orb in on top of the rest is just icing on the cake.

In terms of how the Arsenal map played, it was a lot like the warehouse district.  It felt a little maze like, but I must have explored thoroughly because there was only a monster or two left after I took out the boss.  The boss was a large fire calling golem similar to the one found in the Crematorium.  At first the possible presence of Beyond monsters made me think about rerolling this mod, but since I leveled this character in the Beyond League, I decided to run it.  I'm certainly glad I did.

2014.12.31 Multiple Maps

2014.12.31 Splitting Tropical Island Map of Balance
Servant of a Burning Fire - Standard
Mods - Monsters fire extra projectiles, player has Elemental Equilibrium
Quantity: +42% (15% from quality)

Currency Expended:
Not sure, I think this dropped with quality and then I modded it, but I'm just not sure.

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


Maps Gained:
Antagonists Grotto Map of Venom L66
Thicket L67

Now, I actually did run this map.  When I respeced this character, I picked up Elemental Equilibrium.  So this is an even better character for this map than a mostly physical damage character.  I made a strange build with this one.  I picked up armor, fire damage, endurance charges and life using Molten Shell as one of my main damage abilities.  The other ability I use for damage is Flame Strike linked to Mana Leech.  I also use Ice Nova linked with Curse on Hit to apply flamibility and triger Elemental Equlibrium.  Molten Shell mostly one shots normal monsters.  It's an interesting play style as it has little to fear from physical damage, but really struggles with fast moving enimies that deal pure elemental damage.  The biggest danger is probably to myself from reflect mobs.  I can see where it would be possible to one shot myself.  I have a Searing Bond gem as a method of dealing damage to monsters this build is not good at dealing with.

The loot was decent, and I can't complain about getting a level 67 map along with one that is all ready to run.  I always like seeing Alchemy and Chaos orbs in the loot list, but a Chisel and a Fusing aren't bad.  The extra projectiles really wasn't a problem.  In fact, it often helped trigger Molten Shell more quickly.  I did have to run from the boss to refill potions, but I haven't died with this build as it is very tanky.  That was the first time where pure physical damage threatened to overwhelm me.  I usually kite this map boss around and wear him down, so I was a bit surprised at how hard he hit even through all my armour and endurance charges.

2014.12.28 Shocking Arcade Map of Hordes
Lady Bla Bla - Standard
Mods - Rare monsters have a Nemesis mod; Monsters poison on hit
Quantity: +28%

Currency Expended:
None

Currency Gained:
1 Transmutation
2 Alteration
3 Augmentation
3 Chromatic


Maps Gained:
Grotto L66

This map was pretty easy.  The boss fight was slow since it wouldn't trigger Molten Shell for burst damage.  I ended up wearing it down with Searing Bond and hitting with Flame Strike when I could.  Even though the fight was slow, it wasn't really hard.  The loot gained was pretty minimal, but I didn't spend anything on this map and I got a non-magical grotto map back.  All in all, nothing to complain about.

Well, that's my mapping for 2014.  I may have to cut back some to try to get some non Path of Exile stuff done in 2015, but as long as there are new builds to try out, I see myself playing this game for a long time.