Unlocking new maps is no easy task and one of the most important Atlas Goals is getting all the Map Completion Bonuses. Every Map Completion gives you an Atlas Passive Point, providing you permanent passive bonuses to Loot and Experience.
Getting all the Maps needed to completely unlock your Atlas (100+ Maps) can be incredibly hard, which is why we break down the most commonly used ways to acquire Maps in this article!
Commander Kirac
Commander Kirac is a NPC that gives you free Maps through Kirac Missions. He is also a Vendor for Maps and other Map-related Currencies.
Whenever you complete a Map, there's a 7% chance to get a Kirac Mission. You can increase these by taking Commissioned Officer, which is a no-brainer early on in a league. These Missions play a huge role in completing your Atlas for the first time, since they are free Maps with major bonuses attached to them.
Kirac Missions
You open Kirac Missions by clicking on Commander Kirac in your Hideout and selecting "Atlas Missions".
The Maps you can choose are divided into White (Tier 1-5), Yellow (Tier 6-10) and Red Missions (Tier 11-16). These Tiers progress with you, at the end you only get Tier 5 White, Tier 10 Yellow and Tier 16 Red Missions.
You can only choose one of the Maps that are presented to you. Every Map is already prerolled and has a special bonus mod attached to it, for example an additional Expedition, Delirium Mirror or Unique Strongbox. Once you chose a Map, the board is rerolled and you are presented with new Map options.
One major downside of Kirac Missions is that they do not adhere to your Atlas Passive Tree, which makes them significantly worse in endgame mapping.
you have for any given Tier
Scouting Reports are Currencies that reroll the Map Options presented to you, so if you like nothing in there or you are fishing for a certain Map or Bonus, these do the trick. There are different types of Scouting Reports, here are some examples: Singular Scouting Report, Vaal Scouting Report, Influenced Scouting Report.
You can also get Unique Maps with Kirac Missions, with Scouting Reports being a great tool to fish for them so you don't need to buy them from other players.
Kirac the Vendor
Kirac has a Vendor Inventory and sells you the following:
- Orbs of Unmaking (2x Orbs of Regret per)
- Cartographer's Chisels (8x Chaos Orbs per 20)
- An assortment of Maps, scaling in Tier with your Atlas Progression.
- Random things like Divination Cards, Unique Maps, Invitations etc.
The most important thing Kirac sells are Maps. These cost you a combination of Orbs of Chance, Orbs of Alchemy and Chaos Orbs, depending on Map Tier. Unlike Kirac Missions, these Maps are opened with your Map Device, meaning they get affected by your Atlas Passive Tree and can be rolled however you want.
Early Maps are mostly worth buying but Red Maps are often too expensive and you are better off buying them from other players. Divination Cards are almost never worth buying as well!
Kirac's inventory refreshes whenever you open a Kirac Mission. You DO NOT have to complete the Mission for this to happen.
Atlas Passive Tree
The Atlas Passive Tree provides a plethora of options to enhance your Maps. Here are some examples of these Bonuses and how they provide you with more Maps:
More Monsters in Your Maps
The premise here is pretty simple: adding extra monsters (pack size) to your Map, gives you extra opportunities to drop Maps. Here are some examples of League Mechanics that add extra monsters:
- Ominous Arrival adds an extra Harbinger which spawns mobs.
- Twice Tempted adds an extra Strongbox which spawns mobs once activated.
- Supplication adds an extra Shrine, which is surrounded by mobs.
Extra Map Drops
There are Atlas Passive Nodes that directly boost the amount of Maps you drop. Here are some of the most important ones:
- Shaping the Mountains, Shaping the Skies, Higher Map Tier Chance small passives and Shaping the World increase the Tier of the Maps you are dropping. These are incredible for Map Sustain and something you should prioritize early.
- Don't underestimate small Travel Nodes like Adjacent Map Drop Chance.
- Commissioned Officer gives you extra Kirac Missions.
Increased Item Quantity
Item Quantity increases the amount of items you drop upon killing a mob. This means that a good mixture of packsize (additional mobs) and increased Item Quantity is vital. On the Atlas Passive Tree, the options you have are Item Quantity and Item Quantity and Rarity. Map Modifier Effect indirectly increases the amount of Items you drop, although it also makes your Map harder to complete.
Rolling Your Maps Correctly
Applying the right Currencies to your Maps ("rolling") is vital to give your Map extra Item Quantity, Item Rarity and Monster Pack Size. This makes your Maps progressively harder, meaning you can translate your Character Power into extra loot!
For more info about early game Map Rolling, check out our Atlas Progression Guide.
To get an insight avoiding bad mods during Map Rolling, check out our How to Roll Maps Article.
Buying Maps from other Players
The more experienced you get as a player, the more Trading becomes your default when buying Maps.
Everyone gets different kinds of Maps during their playthrough and being able to exchange them with one another is crucial to unlocking all of your Map Completion Bonuses. Experienced players rush to endgame extremely quickly and are in a position to sell lower Tier Maps early, opening up a whole market for less experienced players.
Once you already finish 80-90% of your Atlas, getting the last Maps you need is incredibly hard and random, making targeted buying of Maps your best option.
Trading can be complicated so we made an article about it here.
Fragments & Scarabs
Customizing your Maps has no end and we won't be able to cover everything in this article. However, here are some of the most practical ways to invest further into your Maps:
Scarabs
Scarabs are Fragments that add League Mechanics to your Maps, or modifies them depending on the Scarab used. Common Scarabs are useful when you want to encounter a specific League mechanic more frequently. Rarer Scarabs modify how you interact with the League Mechanic. Scarabs can guarantee boss encounters or target league-specific rewards.
To find out more about Scarabs, check out our Article here.
Atziri Fragments
These Fragments are usually used to summon Queen Atziri. However, if you put one or more Atziri Fragments into your Map Device alongside a Map, it gains Increased Item Quantity. The Map gets 5% for each Atziri Fragment and 10% for each Uber Atziri Fragment.
Atziri Fragments:
- Sacrifice at Dusk
- Sacrifice at Noon
- Sacrifice at Dawn
- Sacrifice at Midnight
Uber Atziri Fragments:
- Mortal Grief
- Mortal Rage
- Mortal Hope
- Mortal Ignorance
Other Tips & Tricks
- Orb of Horizons transforms a Map into another random Map within the same Tier. These are pretty easy to get and should be used whenever you see fit! Note: You can only transform into Maps of their NATURAL TIER, meaning the Tier that they have without any Voidstones applied.
- Bosses drop a lot of Maps, so never skip them. They also have a fixed chance to drop a Map that is connected to the one you are currently running. This, coupled with the Adjacent Map Drop Chance nodes on the Atlas Passive Tree make strategic Map choices depending on their connected Maps. This is a valid strategy that you can use once you are following Endgame Farming Strategies!
Summary
Unlocking maps can be done in many different ways in Path of Exile:
- Kirac's Missions and Kirac Vendor Inventories give you access to free or cheap Maps without having to trade with other players.
- The Atlas Passive Tree increases the amount of monsters you face and the amount of items they drop, directly buffing your Map drops.
- Rolling your Maps correctly with certain Currencies makes your life a lot easier.
- Trading Maps with other players is a great way to finish the last Map Completion Bonuses you are still missing!
- Scarabs and Atziri Fragments can help you massively, although they do come with a Currency Cost!
Credits
Written by Palsteron
Reviewed by Facefoot