In Path of Exile 2, getting powerful gear is a big part of becoming stronger. One of the best ways to find good gear is by running maps. But not all maps are the same. Understanding how map drop mechanics work can help you get better items faster.



What Are Map Drop Mechanics?



Map drop mechanics decide what items can drop when you run a map. Each map has a level (like Tier 1 to Tier 16), which affects the item level of the gear that can drop. Higher-tier maps drop higher-level gear, which means better stats and more powerful items.



Why This Matters for Gear



Let’s say you want to find a high-armor chestplate or a fast-attacking weapon. If you're in a low-tier map, the best base types won’t drop. But if you farm in Tier 10 or higher maps, you have a better chance of finding high-level gear bases like:



Vaal Regalia (for Energy Shield builds)



Astral Plate (for high Armour)



Thicket Bows (great for attack-speed builds)



Tips to Get Better Gear from Maps



Use Sextants and Scarabs: These help add more monsters or special encounters to your maps. More monsters = more drops. For example, using a Scarab of Ambush will add strongboxes, which are great for dropping multiple rare items.



Alch and Go: Use anOrb of Alchemy on your map to make it rare (yellow). This gives the map more modifiers and makes it harder—but also boosts loot.



Focus on Map Mods: Some mods like “+x% increased quantity of items” will give you better drop chances. Be careful though—some mods like “reflect damage” might hurt your build.



Farm Specific Content: Want currency? Run Legion or Harbinger maps. Want gear? Use a Rusted Breach Scarab or focus on Ritual encounters. They often drop multiple rare items.



Upgrade Your Map Pool: Use Cartographer’s Chisels to raise the quality of maps. Higher quality = more item quantity. Also, use the Atlas Tree to unlock map nodes that increase gear and currency drops.



Best Currency to Watch For



As you run maps, keep an eye out for:



Chaos Orbs: Great for trading or rolling gear.



Exalted Orbs: Very valuable, used for crafting.



Divine Orbs: Top-tier currency used to perfect gear.



Orb of Annulment: Useful for crafting mirror-tier gear.



Extra Tip: Don’t Ignore Magic Items



Sometimes a blue (magic) item with the right base and mods is better than a bad rare. Use an Orb of Augmentation or Regal Orb to upgrade them!