Maps for Dummies?

I have only recently completed all acts and started with maps. Though I have played this game for years off and on I never actually got into maps so I have little knowledge of how it all works. I had assumed after all my time ignoring my crappy loot on the ground I would finally start seeing some good loot now that I'm doing some maps but the loot has been awful/non-existent. I see far better loot doing Heists that are 10 levels below me. That being said I'm probably doing it all wrong.

I see there are different map locations, different tiers, different map qualities and different levels (maybe other things).

I'm currently 76 and I just been upgrading white maps to magic quality and running those but so far the rewards are abysmal so I'm not sure what the point is. I did one rare quality map and it was a lot harder but the reward wasn't much better. I'm just not sure what I should be focusing on and how it correlates to my character level and my skill (or lack thereof).

I know there is probably a lot more to it but can anyone provide a really quick and dirty overview of how it works and how I should view progression into it? Do I try to match the map level to my character level or do the different tiers or quality levels correlate to my character level or what?

You progress the atlas to get to higher tier maps, end game bosses and to increase map returns from awakened levels and atlas passives.
A guide

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Nubatack wrote:

You progress the atlas to get to higher tier maps, end game bosses and to increase map returns from awakened levels and atlas passives.
A guide

Thanks for the link. That looks to have some good info but like a lot of things I find regarding PoE it assumes a certain level of knowledge. It makes references to things I don't quite understand which is why I wanted a more basic quick and dirty "dummy" version.

For instance, my knowledge consists of this; I get random map pieces while playing. I put them into the map device and it makes a map I can clear. That's all I understand. The map device has 4 slots I think...are you supposed to put multiple map pieces in there? Some maps are labeled T1 or T3 etc..what is the significance of that and how is that different from the map levels? What relevance does that have to my character level or the loot?

How do all these things correlate to my character level? Should I just vendor maps that are lower tier or lower level or clear them even though they don't seem to drop much loot? These are the basic mechanics I'm not really getting.

You only need to put 1 map to the device.
Higher tier map is higher lvl zone.
You can put in sacrifice fragments or scarabs to the device with a map to get more stuff in your map.

Google what you don't understand, like "Map vs character lvl poe". First result is this. Read through comments see what people say. If the atlas guide is too complicated google "Mapping for noobs poe" and you will see more beginner friendly guides like this one. Don't understand a word or mechanic in a guide - google it, most likely someone already asked that and got an answer that you can find. "Why run higher tier maps poe" - bam, an answer

I will add that the acts are just a tutorial on basic game mechanics. The atlas is at the core of what PoE is, and atlas mechanics are somewhat complex as a result.

That just means that you shouldn't expect to watch one video and understand everything. Once you've watched several, done some additional mapping, found a citadel or two, spawned a conqueror or two, etc, you'll have more specific questions that people can easily answer in a sentence or two.

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GreyLensman wrote:

I will add that the acts are just a tutorial on basic game mechanics. The atlas is at the core of what PoE is, and atlas mechanics are somewhat complex as a result.

That just means that you shouldn't expect to watch one video and understand everything. Once you've watched several, done some additional mapping, found a citadel or two, spawned a conqueror or two, etc, you'll have more specific questions that people can easily answer in a sentence or two.

Yeah. I get it. I wasn't asking or expecting anyone to explain everything or watch a single video that explains everything which is why I said this in my OP:

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I know there is probably a lot more to it but can anyone provide a really quick and dirty overview of how it works and how I should view progression into it? Do I try to match the map level to my character level or do the different tiers or quality levels correlate to my character level or what?

I was really just looking for some simple advice like..vendor all maps that are x levels below your level or switch them to magic and do all of them to complete the atlas. Focus on doing X until you complete Y. Basic shit like that.

I did finally find a video that explained it enough to sort of get started but the problem with googling PoE stuff is that every video you find is from wildly different years so I never know what is accurate or relevant information anymore. PoE is confusing enough on it's own without adding in irrelevant or outdated info. I think what I found is from 2018 so I assume it's accurate enough.

Is that not the answer?

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Nubatack wrote:

You progress the atlas to get to higher tier maps, end game bosses and to increase map returns from awakened levels and atlas passives.
A guide

Only thing character lvl matters for is exp, too high or too low you get penalty. It can affect drop of currency and div cards if you are too overleveled, but that rarely matters

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I did finally find a video that explained it enough to sort of get started but the problem with googling PoE stuff is that every video you find is from wildly different years so I never know what is accurate or relevant information anymore. PoE is confusing enough on it's own without adding in irrelevant or outdated info. I think what I found is from 2018 so I assume it's accurate enough.

This is a real challenge with a game that updates the content so frequently.

Something you might not know is that the atlas got a major overhaul in Dec 2019, so about 14 months ago. The "rules" of the new atlas got tweaked quite a bit between Dec 2019 and Mar 2020. I would say any videos before Mar or Apr of 2020 are much more likely to contain bad info. Anything since last April should be more or less accurate.

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Nubatack wrote:

Is that not the answer?

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Nubatack wrote:

You progress the atlas to get to higher tier maps, end game bosses and to increase map returns from awakened levels and atlas passives.
A guide

Only thing character lvl matters for is exp, too high or too low you get penalty. It can affect drop of currency and div cards if you are too overleveled, but that rarely matters

Well I assume it also affects difficulty? That was the main thing I was trying to gauge in determining what I should be focusing on. If I should just go to a particular level/tier that is on par with my level or if completing the atlas means I have to do the older ones first anyway.

I have just been updating my T1 maps to T2 and running those but I honestly can't even tell if my map is updating or what is happening tbh. It just looks the same when I look at it before and after running a map.

Thanks for that drop/xp link. That is a good reference.