Can't progress anymore

I’ve been running maps and mostly getting waystones of the same level, occasionally one level higher, but 95% of the time, they’re lower-level ones. My progression was steady until I hit level 11 maps, where the drops almost stopped. Then I died to random, unexpected causes (something this game seems to love doing) and now I’ve run out of waystones entirely.

I’m stuck and can’t progress anymore. This feels like horrible game design, and I don’t understand the logic behind it.

I even tried combining waystones in the map slots (there are four, so I thought maybe mixing levels would work), but no luck. Of course, GGG had to make it cryptic and frustrating instead of offering clear mechanics.

Can someone explain how we’re supposed to progress with maps?

you trying to tell me you dont want T3 maps dropping in your T15?

srsly tho, please buff the tier of waystone drops

You'l have to wait for the devs to rework the drop rates.
Playing a T14 map just to get T1 through 5 is not boosting the fun...

Well apparently you can put 3 waystones of the same tier into one of the workbenches in hideout/town and it combines them into one that's a tier higher. You could do that with all your lower-tier ones but its still really bad.

I don't know why the devs would ever make such a system where a player could get soft-locked like this. It makes no sense, they should want the player to continue playing not quit because they are literally hard-stuck.

Are you boosting your waystones? How about Precursor Tablets?

How's your Atlas Tree looking like?

In whites I was always doing Transmut/Augment on them and favoring running those with 80%+ of waystone drop chance. Once I hit yellows I started to also hit them with a Regal and favoring those with 125%+ waystone drop. And with Reds I'm exalting them too when the first 3 mods are good, and sometimes Vaaling them.

My Atlas passive tree has the notable for increased waystone quantity, and the one for higher tier.

So far I've only had to backtrack tiers a couple times, but very often I have enough waystones. Also, running Trial of the Sekhemas supply me with a ton of high level waystones.

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Toforto#2372 wrote:

because they are literally hard-stuck.

You are not literally hard-stuck, though. You can drop tier 1 Waystones in Act 3 cruel, and go on from there.

Step one: Use T1 maps on travel nodes and non-high tier stones on towers. Remove bad nodes in tower range until you have ~10 maps remaining within range.Preferably maps with 3+ content icons and or boss.

Step 2: Use tablets to influence the 10 remaining maps. If you can get multiple towers in range of each other even better. Make sure you roll the tablets

Step 3: Pick atlas passives that gives higher tier of waystones.

Step 4: Only use your highest tier waystone on maps with bosses since bosses often drop + tier waystones. Make sure you roll these maps rare and if very high tier corrupt. Often you get 200% waystones dropped on those which means boss can drop 3 or more high tier waystones.

Step 5. Use your second and third highest waystones on nodes that have 3+ content icons preferably influenced by towers.

You will never run out of waystones. You will have so many you can sell them to others or sell them for gold if SSF

I'm in the very same situation, running t15 maps while not keeping self sufficient supply of new maps. Although my atlas is maxed out regarding map drops and i regal+vaal every map, there are just t1-t4 maps dropping from t15 bosses.

I really don't understand how this is possible to pass quality management. And if it is an INTENDED mechanic, it's simply the most stupid game design i ever experienced in my life. I'm waiting for any news on this, cause this demotivates so hard, i simply play other things, cause this feels like a dead end deleting fun for me entirely.

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LordSett#6649 wrote:

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Toforto#2372 wrote:

because they are literally hard-stuck.

You are not literally hard-stuck, though. You can drop tier 1 Waystones in Act 3 cruel, and go on from there.

As if anyone is gonna go do that lmao

Having to grind in the campaign is a sign that the atlas system itself is bad, a player should never have to backtrack and go do previous content in order to progress in endgame.

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AngryGekko#0233 wrote:

I'm in the very same situation, running t15 maps while not keeping self sufficient supply of new maps. Although my atlas is maxed out regarding map drops and i regal+vaal every map, there are just t1-t4 maps dropping from t15 bosses.

I really don't understand how this is possible to pass quality management. And if it is an INTENDED mechanic, it's simply the most stupid game design i ever experienced in my life. I'm waiting for any news on this, cause this demotivates so hard, i simply play other things, cause this feels like a dead end deleting fun for me entirely.

It absolutely is intentional, you can drop t1 maps inside of t16 maps in PoE 1 too. Except in that game there's a way to at least block all maps under t16 from dropping once you fully progress your atlas so then you only ever see t16s dropping.

In PoE 2 however there is no such system, so you'll always be dropping lower-tier waystones in high-level areas. And that just makes absolutely no sense, its just bad design.