PoE 2 Campaign Problem: Why Players Feel Stuck Before the Real Game Begins?

Jonathan Rogers has finally provided an update on the long-standing shader loading and device removed issues in PoE2. In short, these two core problems that have plagued the community for nearly two years have been resolved.

Now, you only need to update to the latest Nvidia driver and download the latest Patch 0.5.4e for a significantly improved gaming experience. This lays a more stable foundation for future PoE 2 optimizations.

Next, EZG will explain what these issues were and why it took Path of Exile 2 team so long to resolve them.

What Is Device Removed Error?

Device Removed means your graphics driver has crashed. You might have encountered this while mapping: the game suddenly freezes and the screen goes black. Some players only freeze for a few seconds, while others freeze for longer. Then, you'll see a loading screen with a gear logo before returning to the game.

Furthermore, some players will notice a significant performance drop in PoE 2 shortly after re-entering the game. This is because shaders continue to load in the background, consuming your CPU resources. Even more annoyingly, this happens repeatedly when farming Path of Exile 2 Currency, and seems to have become more frequent after recent patches.

Why Was This Issue Hard to Fix?

The official engine programmers have been struggling with this issue for almost a year and a half. This problem has existed since the earliest versions of Path of Exile 2. However, it didn't occur as frequently back then. Long ago, this problem would directly cause the game to crash, but the developers couldn't reproduce it.

To gather more information, they began adding a lot of debugging information to the game, hoping to find the source of the problem. During their investigation, they discovered that this problem only affected Nvidia graphics cards and players using driver version 566.36 and later, and coincidentally, this driver was released before PoE2.

You might think: why not just contact Nvidia directly? It's not that simple. Nvidia will only help with the investigation if you can provide clear reproduction steps.

While it was ultimately determined to be a Nvidia driver issue affecting numerous high-level players, Nvidia initially didn't realize the problem's widespread nature because PoE 2 couldn't consistently reproduce it. Therefore, they had to try to fix it themselves.

How Did Developers Find the Cause?

This problem was incredibly frustrating; it occurred frequently but was extremely difficult to reproduce consistently. The only thing Path of Exile 2 team could do was manually play the game for several hours and wait for the problem to reappear. However, each crash occurred internally within the graphics driver, making it impossible to obtain any information about the crash.

So they could only keep trying to modify the engine, playing for 3 to 4 hours and observing if the crashes persisted. Since a proper solution wasn't visible, they decided to mitigate the crashes first. Afterward, when the graphics driver crashed, Path of Exile 2 would release all textures, shaders, and other resources, then reload the entire engine.

When you reload these resources again, the game wouldn't immediately crash, and this solution was already very effective. However, the team still hoped to find a correct solution. So they added numerous debugging options and metrics to the engine, developing a replay system.

This system could replay extended gameplay sessions of PoE 2 players to attempt to trigger crashes, just to make the problem reappear.

How Did Nvidia Fix the Crash Issue?

Finally, through the replay system and extensive work by the engine team, PoE2 team could finally reproduce the problem relatively stably. They found a computer capable of reproducing the problem and packed PC, monitor, mouse, and keyboard into a box and sent it to Nvidia.

About a month ago, Nvidia finally saw the problem firsthand and assigned a driver engineer to investigate. About two weeks ago, they discovered that increasing an internal parameter, shader heap size, could resolve the crash issue. This parameter can be adjusted specifically for PoE2.

A week later, we received the new Nvidia driver version 610.88. Test results show that the new driver has restored the crash rate to normal levels.

Why Are Shaders Rebuilding After Update?

Compiling shaders is affected by many factors, and different players encounter unique problems.

In Path of Exile 2, when you enter an area, the game prioritizes loading the shaders within the currently visible area, while monsters, bosses, skills, and effects that appear later on the map continue to be compiled in the background.

This was originally intended to reduce loading time, but in practice, shaders often fail to load in time. If the shader cache is full, new shaders cannot be saved, and the graphics card driver cannot properly clean up old shaders, leading to constant stuttering and performance degradation during gameplay.

In the past, many players would manually delete Nvidia Shader Cache folder or clean up shader data before updating League, precisely because this issue severely affected the smoothness of PoE 2.

This optimization in Path of Exile 2 primarily reduces the size of shader files, making it less likely for the shader cache to reach its capacity limit quickly, thus reducing the probability of encountering loading anomalies again. When you install a new driver or download the new patch 0.5.4e, the old shaders will be cleared. The game needs to re-compile them.

Therefore, you may experience longer loading times or need to reload the first time you encounter certain mechanics; this is normal. Please be patient. Once all shaders have been regenerated, game performance will recover and will be significantly more stable than before.

If you want to learn more about the latest PoE 2 news, you can follow EZG Facebook. We also have limited-time giveaways where lucky players can receive a free Path of Exile 2 Currency.

This long battle over shader loading and device removal is finally over. Path of Exile 2 Engine Team can now focus its efforts on other performance optimizations, which is undoubtedly a very positive sign for players waiting for future major updates and the official release of PoE 2.

In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5 Endgame, rare Lineage Support Gems have become crucial for improving character strength and accumulating wealth. Among them, Garukhan's Resolve, with its powerful support effects and extremely low drop rate, has quickly become one of the most expensive drops in Return of the Ancients.

However, Garukhan's Resolve isn't an item you can simply obtain by grinding. You need to optimize your Waystone Modifier, Tablet configuration, and Master selection to maximize your chances of obtaining it.

This guide will detail the farming methods for Garukhan's Resolve in POE 2 Patch 0.5, helping you improve your efficiency in farming Garukhan's Resolve.

Sacred Reservoir Map

The fundamental way to obtain Garukhan's Resolve in POE 2 is by defeating boss Zahmir, the Blade Sovereign, in Sacred Reservoir; it has a chance to drop directly. Sacred Reservoir is a special Anomaly Map in Path of Exile 2. Unlike regular maps, it's not directly accessible; you must complete a specific mechanic to unlock it and challenge its boss.

When viewed in Map Device, Sacred Reservoir initially appears as Temporal Sandstorm, indicating the area is still blocked by a sandstorm. To enter the true Sacred Reservoir, you must first complete dispelling the sandstorm.

First, you need to travel to the relevant map area around Temporal Sandstorm in PoE 2 and find and activate three Temporal Tethers in the vicinity. Once all three Temporal Tethers are activated, the sandstorm will dissipate, and Temporal Sandstorm will transform into the accessible Sacred Reservoir Map.

Upon entering Sacred Reservoir, you will face the ultimate boss, Zahmir, the Blade Sovereign. He is an enhanced version of Azmadi, the Faridun Prince, the boss in PoE 2 quest Recruit the Maraketh Interlude. Zahmir retains Azmadi's core skill mechanics, but with significant improvements in health, damage, and overall combat pressure.

During the fight, you need to pay close attention to Zahmir's charged attacks and attack warnings. Most high-damage skills will show their attack range in advance; timely dodging is key to success. Attacking during the brief downtime after the boss uses skills can effectively reduce the difficulty of the fight and increase the chance of successfully defeating Zahmir and obtaining Garukhan's Resolve.

Waystone Modifier

In the early PoE 2 leagues, many players believed that Waystone Modifier had no effect on Lineage Support Gems. However, in Patch 0.5, EZG testing revealed that Waystone Drop Chance affects their drop rate.

Now, when farming Garukhan's Resolve, you should prepare Waystones with high affixes. Ideally, use 6 Mod Waystones and maximize Waystone Drop Chance. You can use Alchemy Orbs to convert regular Waystones into Rare Waystones, then use Exalted Orbs to add additional affixes, and finally use Corruption to further maximize Garukhan's Resolve gains.

Tablets

Ideally, you can equip three PoE 2 Tablets that increase Waystone drop chance. Each tablet can provide up to 40% improvement, and stacking three can significantly improve map loop efficiency.

If you want to further improve farming efficiency, consider using Unique Tablet Visions of Paradise. The biggest value of this tablet is that it allows you to repeatedly run discovered special maps, essentially giving you an extra boss drop chance.

However, this method carries risks, as the cost of Visions of Paradise in Return of the Ancients is approximately 5 Path of Exile 2 Divine Orbs, requiring you to calculate whether the extra map run is worthwhile.

If your goal is specifically to find hidden maps in PoE 2, Grand Projects Unique Tablet will be extremely helpful. It functions similarly to expanding Atlas's exploration range.

Using Grand Projects, you can skip Path of Exile 2 map connection restrictions and directly enter nearby unconnected areas. This allows for faster movement to more distant locations on Atlas, increasing the speed of discovering Sacred Reservoirs.

Master

Master selection is also crucial when farming Garukhan's Resolve in Path of Exile 2. You need to ensure you have a max-level Jado and complete his full Quest Line, as Untold Histories node provided by Jado offer a 35% increased chance to find Lineage Supports.

While it's not entirely confirmed whether this effect applies 100% to boss drop rates in PoE 2, it's currently the only Master Passive that directly affects Lineage Supports, so enabling it is recommended.

Additionally, Jado's other important node, Partial Translations, provides a 20% chance to double the effect of explicit modifiers on Tablets. This means your Waystone Drop Chance Tablet Modifier has a chance to be doubled.

If you want to find the hidden map Sacred Reservoir faster, you can also choose to use Doryani. Importantly, his Hidden Patterns effect has a 10% chance when completing a map to make new rare maps accessible. It functions similarly to Grand Projects, helping you unlock new areas in PoE 2 Atlas faster.

For more up-to-date PoE 2 guides, follow EZG Facebook. We also have limited-time giveaways where lucky players can receive free Path of Exile 2 Currency.

The most effective way to farm Garukhan's Resolve in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5 is to follow your own farming rhythm and look for Sacred Reservoir during exploration to increase the probability of it dropping on each map. As long as you optimize these details, even without investing a lot of time in farming, you will have a chance to obtain Garukhan's Resolve in daily endgame content.

Many players, after Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.4 update, exclaimed that it finally felt like an action RPG, but it was still far from being a successful PoE sequel.

One major issue was the increasing number of Runes available in the game, while the number of Rune slots on equipment remained comparatively low.

As a result, many weaker Runes were effectively left with little to no practical value. While this allowed casual players to improve their strength with less budget, it significantly limited the build potential for advanced players.

In fact, the problems introduced by Patch 0.5.4 went beyond this, and will be analyzed step by step below.

Lack of Innovation

This was the biggest criticism of Rune's system from the player community.

Many veteran Path of Exile 2 players believed that the charm of crafting in PoE 1 came from the unified enjoyment of randomness, risk, and the pursuit of the ultimate; while Runes system introduced in PoE 2 had fixed attributes, limited choice, and a nearly predictable final result.

From this perspective, Runes seem more like gems in Diablo 4 than a PoE Crafting system. Their primary use is filling gaps in gear and builds, rather than creating top-tier power.

This is also the biggest concern for high-end players in the endgame.

The current Runes system has narrowed the gear gap between players. Even ordinary gear can quickly reach maximum resistance, sufficient damage, and basic survivability and defense through Runes. This severely limits the potential for high-end players to build powerful gear.

Therefore, the biggest request from players is for Runes to complement Craft rather than replace it, while also receiving further optimization:

1. Add Rune combo effects

Combining two or three Runes should produce special effects, such as a Fire Rune + Critical Strike Rune = Burning Enhancement. This would transform Runes from simply filling attribute gaps into a tool for improving builds.

2. Increase the Number of Rare Runes

Currently, regular Runes in Path of Exile 2 are easy to obtain, and high-level Runes have limited value. Therefore, the introduction of more Unique Runes, Legendary Runes, and Boss-specific Runes would give endgame players the opportunity to pursue the ultimate experience.

3. Integration with Crafting System

PoE 2 changed the crafting system from a sophisticated crafting system in PoE 1 to a drop-based + Currency-based crafting system.

Many players now hope that Runes will not replace crafting, but rather be a part of it.

The recent releases of patch 0.5.4 and 0.5.4b, which updated Expedition mechanism, added Unique equipment and currency, and fixed Oath Rune bugs, received mixed but generally positive feedback from the player community.

Expedition Mechanism Bug Fixes

This is arguably one of the biggest changes in the recent Path of Exile 2 update.

Previously, Oath Rune Monsters were sometimes impossible to kill, preventing players from completing Expedition and severely impacting the game's progression. This issue had long plagued players, and this latest fix finally restores Expedition mechanics to normal.

However, some players still feel that the overall Expedition experience is lacking. Feedback mainly focuses on abnormal monster behavior, unstable quest triggering logic, and lingering issues with certain boss mechanics.

This means that while Expedition is now functioning correctly, there is still room for improvement compared to the fully featured game players expect.

More Balanced Combat Experience

In addition to bug fixes, Patch 0.5.4 also includes balance adjustments for some top-tier bosses, including reducing the resistances of some bosses.

Previously, some players reported that certain top-tier bosses were too difficult, especially in higher-level content. Excessive resistance led to prolonged battles and reduced the enjoyment of the challenge.

This adjustment makes boss battles more paced and allows more players to participate in the final challenge. The community generally believes this is a balancing direction that aligns with the current stage of the game's development.

Minor Optimizations

While PoE patch 0.5.4 didn't introduce a large number of new systems, some minor optimizations improved the overall player experience.

Even though these optimizations don't directly change gameplay, they reduce the need for manual egg hatching for players who spend long periods grinding, improving overall game smoothness.

Persistent Performance Issues

Despite the numerous fixes in patch 0.5.4, performance issues remain the most hotly debated topic among players. Some players reported that even on high-spec PCs, the game still experiences sudden crashes, stuttering, frame rate drops, and DX12 mode anomalies.

Especially after the hotfixes in 0.5.4c and 0.5.4d, some players reported fluctuating game stability, even experiencing consecutive crashes shortly after entering a map.

For an ARPG whose core gameplay revolves around long periods of grinding, stability issues directly impact player retention. Therefore, many players hope that GGG will prioritize performance optimization in future patches.

Don't want to miss the latest patch? Instead of just waiting, choose a more efficient method. Follow EZG Facebook to receive timely official updates and win free in-game resource giveaways.

New Events and Economic System in Focus

With Path of Exile 2 patch 0.5.4 stabilizing, players are turning their attention to the next update.

Players are showing strong anticipation for Patch 0.5.5, driven by the upcoming month-long event, a completely new economy system, and a series of major gameplay refinements.

Notably, after patch 0.5, the economic environment in Path of Exile 2 is significantly more stable than earlier updates. Some players even consider it the healthiest economic state in Early Access phase so far.

Specifically, besides large Expeditions, there are now many effective ways to acquire PoE 2 Currency, and Divine-to-Exalt ratio has dropped from 1:730 in previous weeks to around 1:450, a point that has satisfied most players.

Overall, Patch 0.5.4 makes PoE 2 more mature, but it still needs to address its fundamental issues.

With the subsequent Patch 0.5.5 and the later 1.0 official version under development, players still expect GGG to continue providing rapid feedback, allowing Path of Exile 2 to gradually become a significant title in the next generation of ARPGs.

Since Patch 0.5 was released, PoE 2 community has frequently seen players showcasing high-value bases and asking how to craft them. The goals are usually very high: to create a three-element weapon, a pure physical weapon, and achieve endgame stats like Tier 1 Critical Strike and Attack Speed.

Bases with extremely rare affixes like +5 skill level are indeed tempting. Their low spawn rate and high value lead many players to immediately think: this must be crafted around that affix.

However, this is precisely where high-end crafting is most prone to pitfalls. A rare affix doesn't necessarily mean it's suitable as a fracture target.

Many people fail at crafting not because of bad luck, but because they narrowed their options from the very first step of choosing their base.

Skill Selection

In Patch 0.5, if your goal is to build a Critical Strike weapon, but your currency budget doesn't reach Mirror-tier, then prioritizing Critical Strike Chance is recommended.

The reason is that while skill level affixes are very powerful, they offer almost no room for adjustment during crafting. Once you get a +5 skill base, all subsequent actions revolve around that affix. If undesirable attribute combinations arise later, dealing with them becomes extremely difficult.

Critical Strike Chance is different. It's also a core attribute for weapons, but the crafting path is more flexible. Many high-end weapons are planned around Critical Strike Chance because it provides a significant damage boost and is easier to combine with other keyword affixes.

Of course, this doesn't mean that a +5 skill fracture is always the wrong choice. If your goal is apparent, such as deciding to build a specific Mirror-tier weapon, and your currency is sufficient to cover the significant costs of failure, then keeping +5 skill is perfectly reasonable.

Many players have Mirror-tier base gear but attempt to craft it with the budget of a typical endgame item. The risks of these two approaches are vastly different, so it's no surprise that crafting with this purely gambling method results in failed attempts.

Item Level

Many players making their first attempt at high-value crafting in Return of the Ancients make a very common mistake: focusing only on the affix name and ignoring the affix level.

In PoE 2 crafting system, Item Level determines many hidden relationships, the most important of which is the nerfing mechanism.

Simply put, during crafting, affixes with lower Item Levels are more likely to be nerfed.

For example: Suppose you want to craft a bow with Tier 1 Critical Strike Chance, Tier 1 Projectiles, and High Damage affixes. On the surface, these attributes seem like endgame choices, but their Item Levels might be completely different.

If the Item Level of a T1 Critical Strike Chance is only 73, while T1 projectiles and other high-level affixes reach 81 or 82, then Critical Strike Chance is actually in a precarious position. During subsequent crafting, if other higher-level affixes are added, it may become the lowest-level attribute, thus affecting the final result.

This is why many experienced players thoroughly research all target affixes before investing a large amount of currency.

Weight

Besides Item Level, Weight is also essential to understand in Return of the Ancients crafting.

Many PoE 2 players wonder why they use a large amount of Path of Exile 2 Currency but still can't get the desired attribute.

The answer usually lies in Weight. Affix Weight determines its probability of appearing. The higher Weight, the easier it is to randomly obtain; the lower Weight, the harder it is to obtain.

For example, if you want to craft a weapon with Tier 1 physical damage, Tier 1 critical strike, and skill level, but the system keeps giving you attributes like life, agility, and mana regeneration, this is perfectly normal. This is because these attributes often have higher weight and are more likely to enter the random pool.

Mirror Weapon

A common misconception in PoE 2 community is that many players use the standards of a Mirror weapon to judge their regular endgame gear.

Mirror-tier crafting pursues the ultimate, requiring consideration of every detail, including perfect fracture, a base quality of 30, top-tier affix combinations, and the tiny probability of a perfect result.

However, if your goal is simply to craft a powerful weapon that can complete Return of the Ancients endgame content, then there's absolutely no need to push all standards to Mirror-tier.

If you're really aiming for that last bit of improvement and investing heavily in maximizing base quality and high-risk crafting, the returns are often less than ideal, sometimes even worse than simply getting a good weapon from the market.

Route Planning

In PoE 2 Patch 0.5, before crafting high-value gear, it's best to take the time to clarify your goals.

You need to know which affixes you ultimately want, which attributes are acceptable, and which should be discarded if they appear. Also, confirm the weight and item level of these affixes to determine if they affect each other.

Additionally, you need to know: does the failed crafted item have market value?

If a failed, unsatisfactory semi-finished item can still be sold for currency, your crafting risk is greatly reduced. However, if it can only be discarded after failure, then it's a high-risk gamble.

If you want to know more about the latest PoE 2 updates, follow EZG Facebook. Participate in our Player's Choice Giveaways for a chance to be one of the lucky winners and win free prizes to help you craft powerful endgame gear!

Crafting gear in PoE 2 is a resource management game. Checking affix data and calculating costs more often can prevent a huge waste.

The fun of crafting gear lies in creating exceptional items, but a truly stable crafting method is always built on planning and understanding the mechanics.

Currently, Frostbolt Gemling Legionnaire build has become one of the most powerful endgame builds in Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients. This build fully utilizes the unique Ascendancy mechanics of Gemling Legionnaire, especially its unparalleled ability to enhance skill gems.

This build doesn't use Frostbolt as its primary damage source, but rather transforms it into a high-speed critical strike output system, triggering powerful secondary spells, especially Comet, through Cast on Critical support gem.

This article will teach you how to build Frostbolt Gemling Legionnaire BD in Path of Exile 2 patch 0.5.0. Let's take a look.

About Frostbolt Gemling Legionnaire

In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, the core concept of this build is synergy. Frostbolt can be continuously cast as a rapidly firing projectile, applying freeze and debuffs to enemies while generating critical strikes, powering Cast on Critical engine.

Each critical hit builds energy for the trigger gem. Once enough energy is available, it automatically unleashes Comet, one of the highest-damage spells in the game, requiring no player intervention.

Mercenary's Gemling Legionnaire ascendancy is the core of this build. Several key ascendancy nodes make it perfectly suited for the spell-triggered Frostbolt Gemling Legionnaire build.

For example, Advanced Thaumaturgy provides a significant quality bonus to all skill gems, while Gem Studded offers excellent flexibility, allowing the use of two identical gems in different skills.

Core Skills

Frostbolt is the core skill of Frostbolt Gemling Legionnaire build. When linked with Shock, it applies Shock status effect on critical hits, further increasing damage taken by enemies. Frost Mastery enhances Frost damage output and provides additional Frost stacks.

In addition, Deliberation provides a powerful critical strike multiplier, making each Frostbolt hit more likely to build up energy for Cast on Critical proc. Other support skills, such as Ricochet and Elemental Focus, further enhance projectile properties and raw damage output.

Comet is the primary damage source for this build, dealing devastating Frost damage to a wide area of enemies. When procted via Critical Strike, it creates a satisfying rhythm: Frostbolt combos interspersed with massive comet explosions enough to clear the entire screen, helping you easily win in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0.

Support Gems

Cast on Critical support gem is also a core gem for this build. When linked to Comet skill and placed in enough slots, it automatically casts Comet whenever a critical strike reaches the energy threshold, maximizing Comet damage while reducing the energy required to proc.

Powered by Verisium provides additional damage bonuses. Boundless Energy provides a significant damage bonus when at high energy levels. Pinpoint Critical support increases the critical strike chance of Comet skill. Efficiency and Cooldown Recovery gems reduce the mana cost and cooldown of critical strikes.

Gearing Priorities

Offensive Stats

Weapon selection typically favors staves with +4 to all lightning or frost spell abilities, 80% + spell damage, and 20% + cast speed. The extra frost damage is crucial for reliably freezing enemies. Focusers or staves that provide extra aura power can turn the tide of battle.

Critical strike chance and critical strike multiplier are also critical. In POE 2 Patch 0.5.0, this build typically aims for 55-60% spell critical strike chance and 350% + critical strike multiplier. Maligaro's Virtuosity Fine Bracers can be used to allow this build to ignore penalties for critical strike damage from other sources.

Amulets should provide +3 to all spell skills and +5% quality to all skills. Rings should prioritize stacking casting speed (20% or more) and elemental resistances, with spell damage and skill level as secondary attributes.

Defensive Stats

In Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients, stacking energy shields is the primary goal. Ultimate gear should have chest armor with over 600 energy shields and a helmet with over 300. Elemental resistances must reach the 75% cap. While chaos resistance is a secondary attribute, it shouldn't be ignored.

In addition, Spirit management is crucial. A Darkness Enthroned belt with Fox Idol socketed provides a significant skill quality bonus and additional Spirit. You can also choose a staff with +200 Spirit and Purge skill, providing both a defensive aura and free elemental resistances.

Effigy of Cruelty is also worth mentioning. It applies a Critical Weakness debuff to enemies, making your critical hit cycle more stable, and significantly increasing skill critical hit rate even when fighting bosses.

These gears may consume a lot of currency. If you're short on funds, you can buy Path of Exile 2 Currency from EZG.com, which provides the fastest and safest way to acquire it.

Progression Path

Since Gemling Legionnaire's power heavily relies on high-level gems and specific equipment, upgrading this build is quite challenging. New players are advised to start with a more direct grenade or crossbow build, and then transition to the endgame Frostbolt spells.

The priority of Ascendancy talent points is generally as follows: first, choose Advanced Thaumaturgy for quality bonuses; then, Implanted Gems to increase skill levels; next, Gem Studded to enhance the flexibility of support gems; and finally, Thaumaturgical Infusion for maximum resistance.

Once you acquire the necessary legendary items, Maligaro's Virtuosity Fine Bracers, Darkness Enthroned, and a high-quality amulet, Frostbolt Gemling Legionnaire Build can truly unleash its power, capable of handling all endgame content, including pinnacle bosses and 200% fog-of-war maps.

This concludes the article on how to build Frostbolt Gemling Legionnaire in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0. If you'd like to know more, follow EZG Facebook; We also occasional giveaways to help you quickly accumulate resources.

Following the above steps, you'll surely be able to create the perfect build for yourself in Return of the Ancients. Keep up the good work, and best of luck!

In PoE 2, Voices have consistently been one of the most sought-after top-tier drops. The greatest value of this Rare Unique Jewel lies in its ability to grant players additional Jewel Sockets in the passive tree, with significant price differences between varying Socket quantities.

However, after over 400 Simulacrum tests in Patch 0.5, I discovered that the biggest problem with Voices Farming isn't the returns, but its uncertainty.

It's not a stable strategy where "if you farm enough times, you're guaranteed a drop." You might obtain many Voices within dozens of runs, or you might have hundreds of runs with absolutely no results.

Therefore, before starting Voices Farming, the most important thing isn't calculating theoretical returns, but understanding how this strategy actually works and whether you can accept its randomness.

The Core Process of Voices Farming

To conduct Voices Farming, you first need to find a Mirror Encounter in Atlas map of PoE 2 Patch 0.5. After finding Mirror map, you need to enhance it with Tablets and Waystones to reach at least 100% Delirium. Only when this condition is met can you place Simulacrum on the map to begin the challenge.

Currently, I recommend PoE 2 players use a Delirium Tablet with a Delirium Encounter that increases the spawn rate of Unique Boss, combined with a Breach Tablet and an Irradiated Tablet.

While the exact mechanics are unclear a Mirror can usually be found within two or three maps, much faster than simply stacking Delirium Tablets.

This optimization is crucial for long-term farming, as the time spent searching for a Mirror also affects overall rewards.

Atlas and Waystone Selection

In Return of the Ancient, this Voices Farm setup recommends using Doryani Atlas configuration, with Evolutionary Pressure, Disengaged Safeties, and Improved Calibration being the core choices.

The last slot can be adjusted based on personal needs; for example, Volatile Connection or Stitch Flesh can be used.

Regarding Waystones, many PoE 2 players believe that T16 is inherently superior to T15, arguing that higher map levels should yield higher rewards. However, actual test results did not significantly support this view.

In the first 300 tests of Return of the Ancient, T16 Effectiveness Waystones were primarily used. The subsequent 97 tests switched to T15, incorporating a mix of Rarity and Effectiveness. The difference in rewards between the two was very limited.

T16 might indeed offer slightly higher single-map rewards, but the problem is the higher cost, greater difficulty in setup, and more significant losses upon failure.

If the goal is long-term stable operation, T15 is actually more comfortable. For ordinary players, reducing costs and improving cycle stability are often more important than pursuing a slight extra benefit.

Effectiveness and Rarity

During testing, the author found that Rarity does have a significant impact on Diamond drops.

In Patch 0.5, using Effectiveness configuration for the first 300 runs yielded 12 Diamonds. However, after adding Rarity for the last 97 runs, an additional 14 Diamonds were obtained.

Although the sample size is not huge, the difference is sufficient to illustrate the point.

If your goal is simply to acquire PoE 2 Currency through Voices Farming, then Effectiveness remains the better choice. However, if your objective is to farm Voices long-term, a mixed configuration of Rarity and Effectiveness is recommended.

The reason is simple: Voices have an extremely low drop rate, while Diamonds are the most stable source of high-value rewards besides Voices. Therefore, long-term farming isn't about ensuring high single-run rewards, but about ensuring the farm can continue operating.

Simulacrum Rewards

In Simulacrum reward selection, Boss rewards should always be the top priority, as Bosses are not only the primary source of income but also a significant source of Voices-related drops.

If you have other options later, consider Additional Rewards, and only consider Additional Mobs as a last resort.

In actual testing, while Additional Rewards and Additional Mobs appear to increase earnings, the actual perceived improvement is not significant. Therefore, long-term farming requires not just ensuring high single-run yields, but also ensuring sustainable operation.

Simulacrum's Greatest Danger: Count Geonor

Many players, when first running Simulacrum in Patch 0.5, find that the regular monsters aren't as dangerous as they initially imagined.

The real obstacle affecting the stability of the run is Count Geonor.

Count Geonor is so fearsome because it not only has extremely high health but also possesses a dangerous Slow effect. Its health is roughly twice that of other bosses, and once Slow hits a player, their movement ability is significantly reduced.

The most dangerous situation is when Count Geonor applies the slow effect and other bosses simultaneously approach. Unable to hurry, it's easy to be surrounded by multiple bosses and die instantly.

Therefore, when you see Count Geonor appear in Simulacrum, don't greedily hunt other monsters or continue clearing smaller mobs. PoE 2 players need to deal with Count Geonor immediately.

Three Misconceptions

The first misconception is that exceeding 100% Delirium increases Voices drop rate.

Currently, Return of the Ancient testing has found no evidence that higher Delirium increases the probability of Voices or special rewards. Therefore, it's unnecessary to invest heavily in pursuing higher Delirium.

The second misconception is that some PoE 2 players believe Voices drop rate in Patch 0.5 is approximately 1/100 or 1/150.

The biggest problem with this statement is that it easily creates false expectations.

Voices are not a guaranteed drop that will appear after a certain number of runs. Each Simulacrum is an independent probability event; you might get many Voices on your first run, or you might have hundreds of runs without any results.

The third misconception is that the more you run, the higher the drop rate will be on the next run.

In Patch 0.5, PoE 2 doesn't record how many times you've failed, nor does it increase the probability of your next attempt just because you've invested a lot of time. Whether you've tried 5 times, 50 times, or 400 times, it's all a separate check in Return of the Ancient.

If you want to know more about the latest PoE 2 updates, follow EZG Facebook. Participate in our Player's Choice Giveaways for a chance to be one of the lucky winners and win free prizes to help you quickly build your character!

Voices Farming is one of the most exciting and brutal Farms in PoE 2 Patch 0.5. It has extremely high-value objectives, but it also requires players to accept a high degree of uncertainty.

If you enjoy pushing your limits and want to acquire a piece of Divine Orbs gear worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, then this strategy is worth trying.