Piety or level 66-69 maps farming

I have a very low tolerance for grinding, running Piety more than 4-5 times bores me to death. So, what I did from 67 to 76 is:

Do I have lvl 66 maps?

a) if yes: transmute + alteration on the 66 map (I rarely have to use a second alteration, can do most map mods) and run it.

b) if no: run Piety until I get 2-3 level 66 maps.

This model has the advantage of being much less tedious and slowly building up your map pool, which should be your long-term goal.Running it leads to an accumulation of level 67 and 68 maps. When you have about three vertical columns in your stash full with lvl 67 maps, start doing 67 maps. At that point, your map pool should be sustainable.

I haven't tested this in the long run, if three full columns of X-level maps is not a sustainable base, I'd welcome any feedback.

Also, if a certain map boss gives you a lot of trouble, skip.
Dangerous lvl 66 bosses:
- dunes boss: spawns zombies which deal lots of chaos damage on death. If your pets can tank the chaos damage, he should be OK.
- dungeon map boss: a stronger version of Brutus
- orchard map boss: it's a devourer. Enough said. Hits like a truck from melee and range. Even if you're range DPS-ing him and your pets are tanking, he can hit you with a ranged attack at any point, be prepared to dodge it. It's a relatively slow-moving projectile.
- overgrown ruin boss: relatively heavy hits with Lightning Strike. Topaz flask + granite flask of iron will should make him manageable.

I'm no pro at PoE but i do Piety and map runs on a daily base. My IIR is about 45% and my minions/spectres at about 100%.

I did not documents my runs but a map run (66-69 mostly blue with 2 alterations) gets me to use 3-5 trip to town to sell rare, rainbows and dump quality stuff in my stash.

In any given map i droped at least 1 new map (often2)

For the xp factor maps will give you more: see chart below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApoQAq3DjDGGdFR3U2NUVkxhRmc2bUxzeWhkVThrdGc&usp=sharing#gid=2

Doing Piety runs gives me less loot,less ex but also less chances to die.

79 summoner with no so great gear.

Level 79 DW Duelist with average gear here.
To get to level 79, I mixed 6x maps with Catacomb runs, as I could do those easily. Their loots was usually better than the maps'. As for Piety, the runs are rather easy, but due to heavy desync and me finding them rather boring, I rarely do them.

Piety is easier. As for maps, do the ones with easy bosses, vendor all others.

Dunes is good so long as you have decent armor. The boss won't summon the zombies if you just stick to him. The poison zombies appear only when he uses his Leap Slam, and he only uses that if there's distance between you two.

Grotto is also nice. Just stack up on fire resists I think and its all good.

Dried Lake is nice. Just a big open circular area with an easy Rhoa boss.

Overgrown ruin also has an easy boss, stack on lightning resists.

Also tropical island.

If you can roll human population on these, it's even better. Only sparkmages will pose a threat, and they don't always spawn.

With low MF gear I can easily say that Piety is better for XP and maps are better for loot.

A blue level 66-67 map usually yields 2-3 trips to the merchant by the time its all over, Piety yields only 1. Some map bosses have the ability to one-shot me, or are extremely tiresome (Orchard boss I'm talking to you), while Piety I can do with my eyes closed, so there's that.

Also I'm taking into account full clears of the map and Lunaris 3 for comparison, if you all out rush to piety/the map boss things may be a bit different.



Hopefully at some point in the future we will have the ability to experience the entire game Acts 1-3 pre-set at your level, or at least 65+ for somewhat decent loot drops, as both maps and the Act 3 bosses can get a little old.

"

plasticeyes wrote:

what's interesting is that piety is not nearly as hard as nearly all the map bosses are.

IME the map drops are no better than piety's, but you have a much higher chance of losing 10%.

catacomb runs are level 67, what's the point of a 66 map, and having to run away from the blacksmith and his chaos spewing zombies ?

My laat 3 characters face tank any boss. Literally stand in bad and left click.
Try it. It's much safer lol

This is what I have learned from maps:

you run 66 - 69 just so you can get 70+ maps as drops. You do not run 66 - 69 for drops , you do not run 66 - 69 for exp , it is quite literally just to get to higher maps.

in most situations is is more economically sound to run bosses like piety and dominus until around level 80.

Level 80 is when the exp in pretty much everything before ilevel 70 has pretty much hit rock bottom.

then you want to start with level 70+ maps


so you have a choice run 66 - 69 maps to build your own 70+ foundation .. or just buy a bunch of 70 maps.

"

plasticeyes wrote:

what's interesting is that piety is not nearly as hard as nearly all the map bosses are.

IME the map drops are no better than piety's, but you have a much higher chance of losing 10%.

catacomb runs are level 67, what's the point of a 66 map, and having to run away from the blacksmith and his chaos spewing zombies ?

Who the heck runs away from him, or hillock, or the spider forest boss? Facetank for the win, and he never jumps. At least, that's what I do.

As to the whole: Which is better?

Here's what I have to say on the matter.

Piety runs are easy. She explodes into a mountain of loot.
Catacombs runs are similarly easy
Libary / Archives runs are easy

You aren't limited on the number of times you can port out. You can haul out anything, and everything you want, if you so choose.

I posted about this very same thing when they changed up PIety, and added dominus. Those low level maps, really don't have much purpose anymore. You have areas where you aren't confined to a set number of portals, that are comparable level, that you can grind away at. I have an 83 ST Scion, and since my map pool has dwindled, even I have resorted to speed PIety Runs, and Library / Archives / Catacombs runs as way of rebuilding my wealth, and getting maps that I can trade up.

The frustration to all of this, is that the mid to high 60's zones, and maps are just a really terrible place for items. They are high enough, to tease you into doing things with them, but they aren't high enough to actually be "crafting worthy", and due to the absolute RNG it can be a real PITA to find upgrades self found.

But, it is what you make of it really. I hear a lot of people hate on the Library / Archives. I'm assuming, they are squishy types. On my Scion, I just bulldoze the place, take any and every drop that I want, and go again. Piety, while a good distraction, just feels like it pales in comparison to speed running other zones.

Maybe it's because I take too long to get to piety. I like to kill everything. it's this weird "But what if THAT mob, drops that ONE item, that makes it ALL WORTH IT?"

I know, in reality, it doesn't matter. But it's just the way I think about it. Plus, the issue with piety is the run itself. Since you have to port out, you have to re-run it from the WP, which makes it less advantageous compared to running merveil, since there is an exit.

Just my 2 Alt Orbs woth of input.

"

Puunake wrote:

Maps for experience.
Piety for wealth.

This is correct.

Piety nets more wealth but after lvl 85 exp comes to a screeching halt.

I always find the best way to get exp is maps but you have to make sure that you roll monster pack size and/or more magic monsters. Just keep using alts until you roll one/them. Obviously if it's a very high level map then you can regal and chaos it if you like.

Hope this helps chief!