Path of Exile 2: Atlas Master Progression Guide

The new Return of the Ancients update for Path of Exile 2 is finally out, and it seems Grinding Gear Games has seriously overhauled the endgame experience, keeping players engaged and forcing us all to sink hundreds more hours into this new patch.

One of the newest features added to the Endgame mapping section is the introduction of 3 Atlas Masters, Hilda, Jado and Doryani. You’ll remember Hilda and Jado from your experience blasting through the interlude sections, and well, Doryani, we know him already.

Ensnare your foes with tangling roots and let the thunderstorm strike them down!

Once you’ve earned the points for these masters, you can swap between them at will, granting certain buffs and bonuses to your maps while that master is active. But just what do these buffs do, and how do we activate them? Let’s get into it!

Hilda’s Hunting

As soon as you begin the mapping phase of PoE2’s endgame, you’ll be directed towards Hilda’s Campsite, located just a few nodes southwest of the starting zone. Here you can interact with Hilda, and she will tell you to seek out a Great Beast somewhere nearby.

You can use the new search function on the Atlas to find this map super fast, or simply look for the little green-and-yellow icon that appears above the map node.

Hilda will tell you to seek out a total of 4 Great Beasts to earn each of her Points. To complete these missions, you simply need to complete the map and kill the boss at the end. Simple right?

Once you’ve unlocked all 4 points for each master, you can allocate them however you wish. There is no limit, for example, per row or column. They simply unlock by row.

Here are the buffs you can unlock from Hilda’s Hunting:

Name	Description
Breeding Season	15% increased Rare Monsters & Rare Monsters have 25% increased chance of Monster Modifiers
Mighty Prey	25% chance to upgrade Map Bosses to Powerful Map Bosses
Scarred Lands	15% increased number of Runic Monster Markers & 20% increased number of Rare Expedition Monsters
Soul Eaters	Map Bosses have 2% increased Effectiveness per 100 Power of Monsters slain in the Area
Dangerous Game	Rogue Exiles have 20% chance to Flee to an adjacent Map and upgrade their Equipment
Will of the Draíocht	Azmeri Spirits cannot Possess Rare Monsters
Lethal Adaptation	40% increased Effectiveness of Unique Monsters with Modifiers
Call of the Spirits	Possessed Unique Monsters release Spirits on death
Ancient Inscriptions	25% increased effect of Explicit Modifiers on Tablets for each type of Tablet affecting Map area
Gutting and Skinning	Pinnacle Bosses may be scavenged for 5% chance to drop an additional Unique item & 1% chance Unique Monsters may be scavenged for a Unique item
Claimed Territories	Overlord’s Influence and Overlord’s Domain Atlas Passive Skills have 45% chance to add twice as much content
Patient Battue	25% chance 1 Rare Monster is replaced by a random Map Boss & 5% chance 3 additional Rare Monsters are replaced by a random Map Boss

Hilda is pretty great for farming the bosses found at the end of your maps. You can use buffs like Will of the Draiocht to allow wisps to possess bosses, Patient Battue to flood your maps with powerful foes and Soul Eaters to buff them even further.

Jado’s Spycraft

You can start Jado’s Questline by completing the Sealed Vault, which appears north of the main starting location. This spot is located atop a mountain right next to the Fortress wall.

Upon destroying the main boss of this area, you’ll be tasked by Jado to seek out 3 more locations, each corresponding with one of the campaign bosses. These locations require you to complete the maps surrounding them and then activate a pillar upon completion to unlock the central map within.

Once you’ve completed the Jade Isles, Derelict Mansion and the Sacred Reservoir, you will have completed all of Jado’s Tasks and unlocked his points.

These maps are fantastic for farming expensive Lineage Supports by adding a lot of “Quantity of Waystones” on your tablets.

Here are the buffs you can unlock from Jado’s Spycraft:

Name	Description
Unexpected Missions	Corrupted Waystones open Maps with 1 additional random Modifier & Corrupted Waystones open a Random Map Area when used on Basic Maps
In the Wrong Hands	Powerful Map Bosses drop an additional unique item
Trove Seekers	100% increased amount of Rare Chests & Strongboxes have 100% increased chance to be Unique
Mysterious Gifts	Rare Strongbox Monsters have 5% chance to drop a Cryptic Key & Unique Monsters have 1% chance to drop a Cryptic Key
Eastern Knowledge	Verisium Remnants have 10% chance to be rolled an additional time, keeping the rarest outcome
Unforeseen Threats	5% chance on completing Maps for a nearby Anomaly Map to be revealed
Partial Translations	20% chance for double effect of Explicit Modifiers on Tablets
Long Days	20% more chance of Random Extra Content
Stolen Relics	Unique Strongboxes may be the Legacy of the Order, dropping a Twilight Reliquary Key
Ancient Activations	Powerful Map Bosses have 5% chance to add a Ancient Modifiers to a nearby Map
Keen Appraisal	50% increased Exceptional Items found
Untold Histories	35% increased chance to find Lineage Supports, Pinnacle Bosses take 35% less Damage & Pinnacle Bosses have 50% chance to drop an additional Lineage Support

Jado is good for a number of reasons. Similarly to Hilda, his buffs are pretty great for farming big end zone bosses, with buffs like In the Wrong Hands and Untold Histories.

However, you can also try to focus on upgrading your tablets to create super-strong maps with buffs like Partial Translations and Unexpected Missions. Using all of these with a Tier 15, 6-stack 3-tablet map will have some pretty crazy effects!

For anyone struggling with Endgame Mapping in Path of Exile II, this guide will highlight the best ways to make the most out of the experience.

Doryani’s Science

Finally, we come to Doryani. This is pretty similar to how you might remember unlocking the Atlas in previous Leagues. You must first go to a Corrupted Nexus, the big patch of writhing blood on the Atlas, and then complete the central Node, killing both the main boss and the corrupted boss that comes after.

Make sure you talk to Doryani before completing your first nexus, or you won’t trigger his quest. If you do this, you’ll have to find another to get your first point.

You must clear 3 patches of corruption on the map, giving you the first 3 points. However, after the 3rd patch of corruption, you’ll now need to head to a special Cleansed Node with the Immured Fury indicator.

This will spawn a special boss randomly within the map that you need to find and kill. This is not located in the main boss arena, but somewhere outside, so make sure you find it before leaving the map. Once you take out the Cleansed Boss, Doryani will appear and give you your final point.

The best way to find a Corrupted Nexus is to travel to towers located around the map. These disperse much of the black fog, allowing you to see the edges of the red corrupted zones.

Here are the buffs you can unlock from Doryani’s Science:

Name	Description
Evolutionary Pressure	1% increased Rarity of Items Dropped by Monsters per Explicit Modifier on the Map, 2% increased Effectiveness of Monsters per Explicit Modifier on the Map & Rare Monsters have a 3% increased chance of Monster Modifiers per Explicit Modifier on the Map
Stitch the Flesh	Your Maps have an additional Revival
Refined Formula	150% increased Expedition Explosive Radius, 100% increased Expedition Explosive Placement Range & Expeditions have only 1 Explosive
Disengaged Safeties	Map Areas are Irradiated
Improved Calibration	Waystones have 25% more effect of Prefix Modifiers or 25% more effect of Suffix Modifiers when opening Maps
Careful Procurement	Magic Monster Packs have 35% chance to have an additional Modifier
Mechanical Guardians	Non-Unique Strongboxes are guarded by a dormant Construct, These Strongboxes only roll Modifiers which apply to the Construct, Opening the Strongbox activates the Construct & Strongboxes have 2% increased Item Quantity per Modifier
Hidden Patterns	10% chance when completing a Map to make nearby Maps accessible
Volatile Connection	15% chance areas are Cleansed or Corrupted
Head of the Snake	Pinnacle Bosses have 25% chance to drop an additional Unique item, Pinnacle Bosses have a single Revive & Powerful Map Bosses have 5% chance when defeated to reveal a nearby Citadel
Dam the River	Azmeri Spirits only Possess monsters after reaching maximum empowerment
Remnants of Greatness	Map Bosses have 20% chance to be guarding a Precursor Terraformer which can be used to change the biome of a group of maps nearby

Doryani is a bit of a game-changer. If you are just starting the endgame, then it makes sense to rush this master first. If you don’t feel comfortable with big 6-mod maps, Doryani gives you a safety net with an extra life, so you don’t just instantly fail the moment you die.

You can add this revival buff to a bunch of others that aid in boss killing too, like Remnants of Greatness and Head of the Snake.

There’s a pretty big chance that more Atlas Masters are coming too, with their own unique buffs, so look forward to that in future Path of Exile 2 patches!

Bow before the Frozen Fiend!

Released: December 6, 2024
ESRB: Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Nudity, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Language, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
Developer(s): Grinding Gear Games
Publisher(s): Grinding Gear Games