Video summary

How Top Players Get Fully Geared On League Start

Main summary

Key takeaways

Gaming

Storyline / Premise

This video isn’t focused on a narrative “story.” Instead, it’s a competitive progression plan for Path of Exile 2—specifically how top players stay fully geared right at League start, and how they protect their purchasing power (“beat inflation”) so they can eventually afford high-end items like a mirror.

Gameplay Progression Arc

  • Day 1–early mapping: Decide which map tiers are worth it so you farm item bases with the right powerful mod unlocks.
  • Early crafting phase: Turn those bases into real upgrades efficiently using a small set of “broken” crafting systems.
  • Mid-to-late league finance: Reinvest currency into items that scale with mirror prices so inflation doesn’t crush your savings.

Step-by-Step Plan / Key Strategies

Step 1: What to Farm (Map Tiers That Unlock Power Early)

Core idea: Map tier → monster level → item level, which controls what can drop. Certain strong mods unlock at surprisingly low tiers, so rushing the highest tier isn’t always optimal.

Map tiers highlighted (monster/item level)

  • Tier 1 → Monster level 65
    • “Ancient waiststones” (wording in subtitles)
  • Tier 7 → Monster level 71
    • “Refined waystone 2”
  • Tier 11 → Monster level 75
    • “Pristine waystone 1”

What to hunt at each tier

  • Tier 1 (level 65): mobility + core double-scaling pieces

    • Boots: movement speed
    • Helmets: access to +2 minion and crit chance
    • Gloves: access to +2 melee crit chance and attack speed

  • Tier 7 (level 71): resistance power spike

    • Hunt items that can roll up to ~40% resistances
    • Best examples: belts, armors, resistance rings

  • Tier 11 (level 75): near-max damage roll access

    • Rings: flat damage mods
    • Gloves: flat damage mods
    • Amulets: can roll +3 to multiple skill categories (spelled out in subtitles)
    • “Marshal/marshal weapons” mentioned as good here (can roll near maximum damage)

Difficulty justification rule (important tip)

  • If you can farm Tier 1 easily but struggle with Tier 7, stay in Tier 1 until you can push.
  • If you can farm Tier 10 but not Tier 11, farm Tier 7 instead.

Step 2: Early League Crafting (Cheap Systems That Spike Power)

The video highlights three crafting approaches that stay strong during league start:

  1. Blue currencies
  2. Essences
  3. Omen of Putrifaction (called “overpowered”)

2A) Blue Currencies (Fast Upgrade Loop)

Use:

  • Transmutation
  • Augmentation
  • Regal

Subtitles’ rules:

  • Transmutation: normal → magic, adds one modifier
  • Augmentation: adds an additional modifier to a magic item
  • Regal: magic → rare, adds one modifier

Practical usage:

  • Spam transmutations and augmentations on items you pick up.
  • Use Regals only when you have two good stats.

How to judge “good stats” (simple filter):

Prioritize:

  • Item-exclusive modifiers (the kind tied to the tier unlocks from Step 1), plus
  • Any resistance modifiers (target ≥ 30%)
  • Defensive modifiers based on base stat focus:
    • Strength bases → armor
    • Dexterity bases → evasion
    • Intelligence bases → energy shield

Heuristic (from the video):

Don’t overthink—big number good, small number bad.

2B) Essence Crafting (Mostly Resistance + a Few Weapon Picks)

For league start, only six essences matter (per subtitles):

  • Weapon-related

    • Perfect Essence of Sorcery: adds +2 skills to appropriate bases like ones/staves
    • Perfect Essence of Battle: adds + to all attack skills to appropriate weapon bases

  • Resistance-related

    • Thawing (Cold)
    • Insulation (Fire)
    • Electricity (Lightning)
    • Ruin (Chaos)

Suggested targets:

  • Use resistance essences on:
    • Belts with life + at least one resistance above 30%
    • Boots with already ~30% movement speed + another resistance

2C) “Most Overpowered” Method: Omen of Putrifaction

High-level idea: Activating an omen causes your next desecration to add many unrevealed modifiers, giving you lots of choices to select the best rolls—without needing expensive exalts.

Setup components (as described):

  • Omen of Putrifaction + specific “preserved” items:
    • Armors → preserved rib
    • Weapons → preserved jawbone
    • Jewelry → preserved collarbone

Why it’s powerful (per subtitles):

  • No need to use exalts like with other crafting routes
  • It effectively provides ~18 modifier options (described as 6 modifiers per action and 3 repeated choices), letting you pick strong results

Best item types to use it on:

  • Recommended: Boots, rings, armors, gloves, quivers
  • Not recommended: weapons and belts (results “bad” in testing)

Additional warning:

  • Add sockets and quality because you can’t do it after using the omen (per subtitles).

Step 3: Beating Inflation (Currency Investment Strategy)

Problem described:

  • Players farm currency early → plan to buy a mirror later.
  • But mirror prices skyrocket (e.g., “100 divines” → “10,000 divines”).
  • Core cause:

    Everything scales relative to mirrors, so your “divines” lose buying power.

Solution concept: Invest daily profits into items that rise alongside mirror prices, so your savings keep pace.

The “No-Brain” Investment Ladder

Invest in resources in this order (subtitles):

  1. Omen of Abyssal Echos (entry tier for lower budgets; useful early and later)
  2. Omen of Whittling or Omen of Light (main bulk investment)
  3. Hinakora’s Lot (longer-term; used more later for expensive corrupt/sanctify outcomes)
  4. Then eventually your mirror

Why Whittling / Light scale well

  • High-level crafting uses these omens heavily, often multiple per craft.
  • Major crafters/groups hoard them to protect pricing and keep “mirror-service” profitability.
  • If prices drop, large groups can still craft sellable gear using them—so the strategy stays resilient.

Practical allocation advice

  • Personal preference: be heavier on Whittlings vs Lights.
  • Once you have lots (e.g., 100–300+), move part of that stack into Hinakora’s Lot as long-term savings.
  • Loop it:
    • Accumulate → invest up → sell when you have enough → buy the first mirror

Gamers / Sources Featured

  • Viking 0071 (primary speaker)

Links mentioned

  • Viking 0071’s Twitch (source referenced)
  • Mirror Tier Discord (source referenced)

Original video