Strategy
Patch 0.5.5 reshaped Abyss farming. Ordinary Abyss monsters on the map surface now drop very little, while the Abyssal Depths (the chance-based descent at the last pit of an Abyss) were buffed hard: a single Depths run can yield several Omens of Light and occasionally two or more Preserved Skulls. The patch also added Abyssal Fissures to the Atlas. These fissure maps are the strongest place to run the mechanic, with one catch: the Balance of Power faction choice does not apply inside fissures, so the faction you face there (Amanamu, Kurgal or Ulaman) is random.
The method below comes from roughly 40 logged maps (10 per test, about 50 in total) comparing tablet setups across fissure maps and the city. The conclusion: steer as many Abyss pits as possible into the Depths and stack Abyssal monster modifiers, because those modifiers drive Omen and Abyssal currency drops. Amanamu remains the best faction when you get to pick it. Every faction can drop Preserved Skulls from basic and rune chests, so the faction roll does not lock you out of skulls.
One notable side effect: Omens of Light and Preserved Skulls drop less often than in 0.5.0, but the other Abyssal Omens (Sovereign, Putrefaction, Necromancy, prefix and suffix Omens) now drop in much larger numbers, roughly three times as many Sovereign Omens as before. This suits SSF players and trade players who sell bulk Omens.
Atlas Tree & Setup
- Waystones: tier 15 or 16 with high monster rarity (around 80%+). Buy them ready-made from the trade currency exchange for a couple of Chaos Orbs. Crafting them yourself costs about 2–3 Divine Orbs at current prices, so it isn’t worth it this league.
- Tablets (3 per map): one tablet with Abyss pits have double chance to contain rewards plus Abyssal monsters gain 10% effectiveness per closed pit, up to 100%, and two tablets that roll chance for Abyss to lead to the Abyssal Depths plus Abyssal monsters have a chance to gain Abyssal modifiers. The Desecrated-currency tablet mod performed worse here because it mostly affects the surface, not the Depths.
- Optional for city farming: a unique tablet that adds extra pits (you need ten), or a cheap rare tablet (around 8 Chaos) with more Depths chance and extra Abyss encounters.
- Atlas Master: Jado. Take the node that adds 0–40% tablet effect and the node that raises Cryptic Key drop chance. Abyssal strongboxes were buffed and show up often, so use the keys to open each strongbox at least twice.
Investment & Returns
- Investment: mid (T15–16 high-rarity Waystones plus three tablets per map)
- Returns: high. About a week of testing produced roughly 800–900 Divine Orbs, including about 20 Preserved Skulls sold
- Scaling: returns depend mostly on how often you reach the Depths. Maps with five or six Depths descents dropped several times more loot than maps with one or two.
Step-by-step
- Buy T15/T16 Waystones with around 80% monster rarity from the currency exchange.
- Socket one double-reward/effectiveness tablet and two Depths-chance/Abyssal-modifier tablets.
- Run Abyssal Fissure maps first. Each fissure chain also ends in an Abyssal boss, which guarantees a Kulemak entry.
- Close every pit and take the Depths whenever it appears. That is where most of the value drops.
- If your build kills too fast, let Amanamu monsters leave the smoke before killing them. Monsters killed inside it skip their Omen and Abyssal Echo drops.
- Open Abyssal strongboxes repeatedly with Cryptic Keys, then sell Preserved Skulls and bulk Omens.
Risks
- Inside fissures you cannot choose the faction, so some maps roll Kurgal or Ulaman instead of Amanamu.
- Loot variance is large. Maps without a Depths descent drop little, and the creator excluded some noisy runs from the logged results.
- The city version needs 200% Delirium and repeated Simulacrum placement to work, which is tedious. The creator found it weaker than plain fissure maps.
- The multiple-Omen drop behaviour may be a bug that GGG patches out.
Credits & Source
Method credited to Talion Oak. See the source video: Abismo foi nerfado? Testei 50 mapas - PoE 2 0.5.5.