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.