Detailed Atlas Mechanics

If we use a shaper's orb to upgrade a map and then use the recipe to un-shape the map,do we get the shaper's orb back to use it again?
Since they're quest rewards it would suck to just lose it for a bad decision or a wrong click.

Can you please give MTXs some love? I have 8 full MTX tabs with no way to sort them...

My new guardian armor sets are scattered all over :(

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guggelhupf wrote:

oh, you have to beat T15 Core to get to the Phoenix. nice ... so 90% of all builds will never have a chance to fight against the Phoenix... i loled ... bladefall here i come

Or you could hope for a carto strongbox in one of the other nearby maps and alt spam till +chest level (if this still works).

I'm really hoping they add a way to "uncomplete" maps.

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SaiyanZ wrote:

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Woodcutta wrote:

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SaiyanZ wrote:

They just need to inform us on how that part will work. Many people are assuming that if you skip T1 to T10 and just buy T11+ then no T2 to T10 will ever drop. I think it will work like how they mentioned legacy maps in Standard will work. i.e. unlocking every tier on the path leading up to that map so you will end up with at least one map unlocked of each tier.

Not sure exactly though (in Standard) how they will unlock maps leading up to a high tier because some maps have several paths to them. I guess they would unlock every path to that map but who knows.

They have informed us on how this part will work. If you trade for a map, say tier 10, and complete it then that map will unlock on your Atlas. If that is the only map you have unlocked and you continue running that map, ONLY maps connected to that tier 10 and tier 1 maps can drop from that map.

They also mentioned that if you play a legacy map in Standard then all maps leading up to it will be unlocked. I don't see why they would enable that feature for only legacy maps. They could have just said that the corresponding tier map is unlocked but not lower tiers. Since they mentioned it, I think the same thing will apply for all maps where you don't have any path leading up to them from T1.

Edit: If my assumption is true, then buying a high tier map like Gorge and running it is probably the worst thing you can do if you want to control the path to it. The path unlocked might be an RNG single path with bad layouts or several paths with lots of bad layout maps in the mix. Better to climb up from T1 choosing exactly the maps you want in your pool.

Yes, legacy maps in standard are being treated differently as they clearly stated in their post. Legacy are being treated one way and new maps are being treated another way. There is no confusion. I don't understand how there could be.

The rules are neat, in all but 1 area. 3-For-1 Vendor.
The rule should be similar to the map drops. But more NPC like.

Something like this.
Rule1: Recipe creates a map adjacent maps you have completed, higher tier.
Rule2: If rule 1 is not completed, the recipe creates a map with a higher tier of a random adjacent map.

This would allow us to choose a path for our maps to travel, when picking up drops.

Chris already replied to why one shouldn't just buy some t13+ and have nothing low tier dropping with "a. You'll miss the bonus from completing the atlas and b. It's a game" so i'm sure if the maps in between would unlock like in standard-legacy he would have stated so.
Hitting act 4 merciless and chill in poe trade sounds like a plan for many players.
This patch will indeed bring a new mechanic to mapping.
Skipping 80% of them.
Edit:
I think eventualy they will nerf the quantity bonus from completed maps so i think i'll just buy one of each map,run them and skip all bosses except t12+
This way atlas stays locked for the most part but still i can go farm some t5-9 for new characters.
Nothing forbids maps dropping in non completed areas.

I've had some time to mesh through the content of this post, and listened to the rants of PT and some of the comments on reddit.

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Chris wrote:

Map Drops
For the most part, the map drop system works the same as before. The new rule is that the maps that can drop are from the following groups:

Maps you've previously completed in this league (including on other characters).
Maps that are connected to the one you're playing on the Atlas.
Tier 1 maps.

When a map drops, its tier is entirely unchanged by the choice of which maps you have unlocked so far. Unlocking more maps doesn't change how many of a specific tier you receive (but increases the number of different maps that you see at that tier).

This is confusing and the source I think of most of the argumentation. If you can negate tiers by skipping to specific maps, it is extremely exploitive. You could even potentially simply skip the maps that you run for maps by avoiding killing map bosses (the completion feature). If you can negate specific tiers of maps dropping by doing this and traversing the Atlas itself, or by purchasing maps, this is broken.

If on the other hand, you get your tier that isn't connected with a tier 1 map, it is far less exploitive, and if you are denied a map drop because you don't have the tier unlocked, even more so.

As far as people tailoring their mapping experience by limiting the availability of maps, I don't honestly care. That is their choice, and one of the design points of the Atlas. I personally intend to complete the Atlas as much as possible, because I enjoy running varied maps, rather than the same ones over and over again, for the sake of efficiency.

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Chris wrote:

Shaper's Orbs
Shaper's Orbs are reward items that upgrade maps of specific tiers to Shaped versions of those maps, which are five tiers higher.

There are fifteen available, and they are distributed among specific maps in the Atlas (one at each of map tiers 6-12, two at tier 13, and three each at tiers 14 and 15). Earning the 1% cumulative map quantity bonus mentioned above earns you the Shaper's Orb from that map, if it has one.

Generally you earn a tier X Shaper's Orb from completing a tier X+5 map. For example, if you complete a tier 15 map that has a Shaper's Orb as the reward, then you'll receive a tier 10 Shaper's Orb, allowing you to upgrade a tier 10 map of your choice to tier 15.

Shaper's Orbs are essentially quest items, in that they are non-tradeable. You can respec the decision to upgrade a map by trading 20 Cartographer's Chisels and 5 Orbs of Regret to a vendor. This is intentionally an expensive operation.

When a map on the Atlas has been Shaped, it doesn't change any of the existing maps you own. However, Shaped versions of that map will now start dropping. Unshaped versions will not drop for you any more. These Shaped maps are five tiers higher than their regular Unshaped counterparts. They can be traded to other players. Like the rest of the Atlas, map Shaping is shared between all your characters in the league.

All items (including the new base types) dropped in these Shaped maps are five item levels higher than they would otherwise be.

All of that said and you haven't answered what I consider to be the most important questions about Shaped maps.

Can shaped maps drop from the lower tiered variant of the base map?
Can shaped maps drop from adjacent maps?
Are shaped maps considered from their base tier from dropping, or the shaped tier for being further along in the Atlas?
Can uniques of shaped maps drop with the higher tier?
Can uniques of shaped maps be chanced with orbs to the higher tier?

Do we get the shaper's orb back after the recipe to use it again or is it gone?

My body is ready !