This guide will show the ways to use your Watchstones and more in the Atlas.
This article will be delving into the Atlas Progression strategy in Path of Exile. Rather than looking into what PoE currency we will need, this will be outlining the steps needed to complete the goal ahead of us. Let’s not delay any further and dive right into the Atlas strategy that you should take.
Step One
Firstly, we need to unlock Conquerors. This will allow us to then spawn one in each of the four outer regions, which is essential for this first step. You will need to have defeated the first Conqueror in order to be able to spawn more than one of them. After they do spawn, they will be influential in that specific region.
The Conqueror will spawn and you’ll then have to finish three maps that have influenced the relevant Atlas area. This will help you to find the locations of Kirac and Zana, who you need to speak with to get into the Conqueror’s Citadel to progress. Get Zana to open up the portal, then defeat the Conqueror. This will give you a Watchstone.
With the Watchstone, you then have to socket it into one of the Citadel’s inner locations. You can now start to go through the maps to get onto the next rotation. Keep repeating this method on the outer regions to beat the Conquerors. We need to get the right maps for the second rotation, so to avoid any issues don’t socket your second Watchstone when you get it.
The Rotations
We should now have four conquerors unlocked, and the Watchstone should have been used. This would have allowed you to get maps that are the right tier to progress with. Keep going until you get to six Watchstones, after which there’s the opportunity to put three into the second inner region.
This is a strategy that you’ll be taking into the next phase. By this point you’ll have yellow mops as well that came from your last rotation. Should this work, you’ll then run these maps to get the four conqueror’s Watchstones too. Get yourself to 10 Watchstones, with four of them going into the fourth inner region. At 12 Watchstones, there’s two to go into the outer regions.
At this point, one Watchstone should have gone into the first inner region and both first and second outer regions. Meanwhile, you there should be two Watchstones in inner region 2, three in inner region 3, and 4 in inner region 4.
For the next stage of rotation, you’re going to want to get up to 16 Watchstones by following the same protocol. By this point there should also be red tier maps. Keep going through and have one of the outer regions fully socketed. Those that are left over can be split evenly amongst the remaining region. The amount of Watchstones now should correspond to the number of the inner region. For example, one for inner region 1, two for inner region 2 and so on until you get to inner region 4. There should also be four Watchstones in outer region 1 and one watchstone in outer region 3 and 4.
The Sirus Rotation
You’ll be looking into red maps by now to get through the next stage. Progression may slow a bit as you traverse the maps, and conquerors will be harder to take down. Continue down the path of killing the four conquerors to get the Watchstones from them. Be sure to wait before you socket them, just get all four first. When you have 20 Watchstones, you’re going to use the same socketing method as you did at the end of the last section, though you need to have four Watchstones in both outer region 1 and 2. You’ll need a Watchstone in both the third and fourth outer regions as well.
No amount of Exalted Orb is going to change the fact that progression really does start to slow down by now. Your goal is getting to 32 Watchstones, which will be a lot of grinding. This is because of the rules being altered for the conquerors. Now you’ll only get one spawn from the conqueror in each rotation you do. They’ll no longer be on the first region map, and they won’t be spawning the the following two maps anymore.
When you’ve gotten 32, follow again the same strategy for socketing. With your outer regions, it’s vital that the first one has three Watchstones. Put four into outer region 2 and 3, and a single Watchstone in outer region 4.
That should take you to the end of this Atlas progression method. It can be one heck of a grind, but it will be worth it in the end. Be sure to check out resources such as PoE trade to get precious items that could make the process more bearable. If you’re the kind of player that enjoys the grind, then you’ve definitely got something to look forward to.
Have you used this PoE Atlas progression method? Let us know in the comments section below!
