Strategy
The 0.5.1 patch hit Abyss with a visible nerf — elite and rare Abyss monsters now drop less loot, less currency, and roll lower rarity than they did at league start. That sparked a wave of “Abyss is dead” posts, but the reality is more nuanced: the nerf mostly bit the absolute high end. For a player with a tuned Atlas tree, the mechanic is still one of the most reliable currency printers in the patch.
This strategy is a straight Abyss-spam loop on six-modded T15 maps, leaning on a fully allocated Abyss + rogue-exile Atlas tree to flood each map with extra pits. The pitch is grounded in a real sample: roughly 32 divines of value (Cataclysm Rejuvenation, two Perfect Exalts, two Perfect Jewellers, an Ancient Augment, plus a pile of omens and abyssal echoes) pulled from about 20 maps in a little over two hours — on top of a full stash of bubblegum currency.
It suits a mid-budget character that already clears T15 comfortably. You do not need a screen-melting build; the showcased run was on a fairly ordinary Entangle setup, just running through every Abyss the maps spawn.
Atlas Tree & Setup
Fully allocate the Abyss cluster and stack everything that multiplies pits and effectiveness — the “abyssal monsters have increased effectiveness for each pit, up to 100%” nodes are the backbone. Take the Vile Treasures / omen nodes (the best source of Omens of Light and Abyssal Echoes) and the Anomano node alongside them.
Pair that with the full rogue-exile package: every rogue-exile node, the increased-chance-to-drop-exceptional-items node, plus Escalating Robbery and Famous Locals up top. For legendary jewels, Renowned (extra armour) is a safe default — swap to jewellery if you prefer. A small trick from the showcase: bounce a respec point between Dexterity and Strength near the rogue-exile cluster so a dropped Headhunter (which has no Intelligence) can roll on-class.
Investment & Returns
- Investment: mid — the loop runs on six-modded T15 waystones plus three tablets per map: an Erratic tablet (+1 level), an Overseer’s tablet (bossing), and most importantly an Abyss tablet.
- The key tablet mod: “map has a chance to contain 4 additional Abysses.” These sell for roughly 175–180 exalts, but a single Abyssal Echo more or less pays for ten maps of tablet, so it more than covers itself.
- Returns: high — ~32 divines plus bulk bubblegum currency across ~20 maps in ~2 hours in the sample run. Small sample, good RNG acknowledged, but the floor stays profitable.
Step-by-step
- Finish out the Abyss + rogue-exile Atlas tree as above; make sure you have a +1 tablet-modifier source (Reverse Transcription / Partial Translation) so your tablets run four mods.
- Roll six-modded T15 maps (T16 only if you specifically want them).
- Slot three tablets per map: Erratic (+1), Overseer’s (boss), and an Abyss tablet carrying “4 additional Abysses.” Affixes like rarity, quantity, rare-monster count, and increased monster effectiveness help but aren’t mandatory — magic or rare both work.
- If your Abyss tablet is only magic, regal it and exalt to four mods (use Perfect currency to unveil where possible, otherwise Greaters).
- Run the map and clear every Abyss, following the pits to their conclusion for the Omens of Light and Abyssal Echoes.
- Repeat. Sell omens, echoes, and exalt orbs in bulk.
Risks
- The showcased 20-map window is a small sample with admittedly hot RNG — your divine-per-hour will vary.
- Post-nerf, Omens of Light and especially Abyssal Echoes drop noticeably less often than at launch, so per-map value is lower than pre-0.5.1 numbers you may have seen.
- Tablet cost is real: at ~175–180ex each, a dry streak means you’re paying upkeep before the loop pays you back.
- It rewards prior investment — without the maxed Abyss/rogue-exile tree the returns fall off, and Ritual is currently the trendier high-value alternative if you haven’t sunk points into Abyss yet.
Credits & Source
Method credited to Warlug. See the source video for the full Atlas tree walk-through and loot breakdown: Abyss Farming is NOT Dead — How to Make 20 Divines/Hour in PoE2.