Is it RNG or me?

I've built four characters to 80+ in four different leagues, most recently in the Incursion league. Currently I'm having difficulty maintaining even tier 3 maps. Now... it has been a league or two since I played, but I don't recall this being a problem so early. I remember it being pretty easy until tier 5 or 6. I've been using Orbs of Transformation on all my maps, I can't afford to use Orbs of Alchemy on them, and I don't remember that being a recommend policy anyway. So, is this a case of RNG just being mean to me? Am I forgetting something? Maybe it has always been difficult to do this and my memory is failing me?

You are barely investing anything into maps and that's why RNG can hit you hard very easily even early on. It's very hard to not get your invested currency back on average unless you're very inefficient about it.
Try to at least add Augments or reroll them with a couple Alterations for packsize and higher quantity or desirable affixes for additional monsters.

Also don't forget about Zana and her daily. She should help you unlock most of T1-6, maybe even T7 fairly easily.

By augments you mean the added modifiers in the map device? If so, that would seem to be risky considering the cost -- am I really going to get my 2 or 3 chaos back on each map?

No, I'm talking about Orb of Augment and Orb of Alteration. You're talking about Sacrifice Fragments probably and that's something you add at the very end of your mapping journey.

The other thing is that you should get 2 or 3 Chaos each map even with really low investment. You might not get it back in the form of Chaos Orbs but in different currency and you can always trade with other players to get the currency you need for mapping.

well i never understand the logic behind "i dont have enough currency to alch my maps" ... then buy a bundle or farm 30 mins blood adequat for 1-3 cards sell vs chaos -> alch and you have probably around 20 alchs in that time
and then start to alch all your maps from the get to go ....




i did it and peaked at 25 ex in currency ( with 2 chars with 90 / 92 ) but again i do alch all my white maps ( well dont run those anymore )
alch + vaal all my yellow maps

and chisel + alch + vaal all my red maps (+ x sac frags for T14+ maps )

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KillerKrug wrote:

well i never understand the logic behind "i dont have enough currency to alch my maps" ... then buy a bundle or farm 30 mins blood adequat for 1-3 cards sell vs chaos -> alch and you have probably around 20 alchs in that time and then start to alch all your maps from the get to go ....

I very much appreciate this type of direct, easily applicable advice. Unfortunately, either it is outdated or my poor RNG is consistent for an least an hour. An hour of The Blood Aqueduct yielded precisely two "The Carrion Crow", worth an Orb of Alteration each.

I did also find a Unique Jewel which looks to be worth about one Orb of Alchemy, but I assume I'm as likely to find that anywhere else.

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Mr_Tact wrote:

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KillerKrug wrote:

well i never understand the logic behind "i dont have enough currency to alch my maps" ... then buy a bundle or farm 30 mins blood adequat for 1-3 cards sell vs chaos -> alch and you have probably around 20 alchs in that time and then start to alch all your maps from the get to go ....

I very much appreciate this type of direct, easily applicable advice. Unfortunately, either it is outdated or my poor RNG is consistent for an least an hour. An hour of The Blood Aqueduct yielded precisely two "The Carrion Crow", worth an Orb of Alteration each.

I did also find a Unique Jewel which looks to be worth about one Orb of Alchemy, but I assume I'm as likely to find that anywhere else.

so you wanna say you didnt found in the whole 1 hour of farming... not a single 6 socket item / no chaos orb / no alch orb or other currency ? well then yes your RNG is rly bad... otherwise

each 6 socket item = 2 fuse = 1 chaos = 2-3 alch
1 chaos = 2-3 alch
huminty card 2 chaos = 4-6 alch

and so on ... i serious doubt you found "nothing" in that 1 hour the huminity card is a nice add when you find it but you should make more money with rar currency drops



worst case scenario you didnt found a single card / 6 socket item / other currency ... you still can make money with the 2 chaos recipe ...

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Scarletsword wrote:

No, I'm talking about Orb of Augment and Orb of Alteration. You're talking about Sacrifice Fragments probably and that's something you add at the very end of your mapping journey.

The other thing is that you should get 2 or 3 Chaos each map even with really low investment. You might not get it back in the form of Chaos Orbs but in different currency and you can always trade with other players to get the currency you need for mapping.

Let me make sure I understand what you are saying. You think I should get 2-3 Chaos worth of stuff out of every map?

Well, taking a fresh look at exchange rates, I could believe 1-2 Chaos per map.

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Mr_Tact wrote:

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Scarletsword wrote:

No, I'm talking about Orb of Augment and Orb of Alteration. You're talking about Sacrifice Fragments probably and that's something you add at the very end of your mapping journey.

The other thing is that you should get 2 or 3 Chaos each map even with really low investment. You might not get it back in the form of Chaos Orbs but in different currency and you can always trade with other players to get the currency you need for mapping.

Let me make sure I understand what you are saying. You think I should get 2-3 Chaos worth of stuff out of every map?

Well, taking a fresh look at exchange rates, I could believe 1-2 Chaos per map.

Yes, I'd even increase that amount if you're running maps with desirable divination cards.

If you are really having that much trouble getting started, do the chaos recipe, with unid rares. You should be able to make 20c/hour in aqueducts just with that recipe. 10c/hour if you are horribly slow.