Overview
Path of Exile 2 has 7 farmable Endgame Mechanics:
- Delirium
- Citadels + Arbiter
- Trial of Sekhema
- Trial of Chaos
- Ritual
- Expedition
- Breach
The first of the 7 Mechanics is Delirium. It is the best Mechanic to use with other Mechanics, enhancing them further. Except for Trials, as they are outside the Endgame Atlas.
Delirium
The Delirium Mechanic has 3 Mapping components and 1 Crafting Component
- Delirium Mirror
- Delirious Maps
- Simulacrum
- Distilled Emotions
Delirium Mirror
The Delirium Mirror can be found randomly applied to Maps in the Endgame or forced onto maps with Delirium Precursor Tablets.
When walking through a Delirium Mirror a Fog of Madness spreads through the Map. The fog grants rewards and enhances enemies, making them take reduced damage and do more damage to the player, increasing the effect the further it spreads. Killing Enemies in the Fog charges a Reward Meter, each stage taking more kills to fill. Once the encounter ends a few Simulacrum Splinters and a Distilled Emotion are dropped for each reward stage. Collecting 300 Splinters will combine them into a Simulacrum allowing to challenge the Pinnacle Content of the Mechanic.
In the Fog, the player can find Mirror Shards, that once approached, will spawn enemies. There is also a chance for the 2 Bosses, Kosis & Omniphobia to randomly spawn in the Map.
Distilled Emotions
Distilled Emotions have 2 usages. Both accessed the same Way. By right-clicking a Distilled Emotion in your Inventory it opens the Instilling Menu.
You can place an Amulet or a Waystone in the Instilling Slot and apply up to 3 Distilled Emotions. Each combination of Distilled Emotions results in a different Passive Tree Notable being anointed on an Amulet and each Distilled Emotion applies a different Effect onto a Waystone.
- Distilled Ire
20% increased Magic Monsters
Players in Area are 7% Delirious - Distilled Guilt
Players in Area are 9% Delirious
8% increased Pack size - Distilled Greed
Players in Area are 10% Delirious
8% increased Rarity of Items found in this Area - Distilled Paranoia
15% increased number of Rare Monsters
Players in Area are 12% Delirious - Distilled Envy
Players in Area are 15% Delirious
30% increased Waystones found in Area - Distilled Disgust
Players in Area are 18% Delirious
30% increased Precursor Tablets found in Area - Distilled Despair
Players in Area are 20% Delirious
30% increased Stack size of Simulacrum Splinters found in Area - Distilled Fear
Players in Area are 22% Delirious
Rare Monsters have a 25% chance to have an additional Modifier - Distilled Suffering
Players in Area are 25% Delirious
Unique Monsters have 1 additional Modifier - Distilled Isolation
Players in Area are 50% Delirious
Delirious Maps
A Map opened with an instilled Waystone will apply a Fog of Madness across the entire Map. Unlike Delirium Mirrors, Delirious Maps won't drop Distilled Emotions. Instead, they grant more Simulacrum Splinters. These Splinters will drop from Enemies that spawn from the Mirror Shards. The more Delirious the Map, the more Splinters the player will find. There is also a chance for the 2 Bosses, Kosis & Omniphobia to spawn, that chance is equal to the Delirious % on the Map.
The difficulty of the Delirium on the Map is static and won't increase as the Player travels further into the map.
Delirious Maps are the currently best way to get Simulacrum Splinters.
Simulacrum
The Pinnacle Content of the Delirium Mechanic is a 15-wave Encounter in a special Arena where the Player has to defeat a constant barrage of enemies. Killing the enemies will charge up the reward meter and loot will be dropped after each wave. Where the player is given a moment to reposition and stash before they can start the next wave.
Every few Waves a new area of the arena unlocks. Around the halfway point both Kosis & Omniphobia can spawn during a wave and will grant more Reward Progression than normal enemies.
After completing Wave 15 the player is rewarded with a random Delirium Specific Unique and the Delirium Book of Knowledge.
Delirium Atlas Passive Tree
The Delirium Atlas Tree contains 8 Nodes, I won't go over each in detail, but will mention the top 4 and why they are the best.
- Get out of my Head!
- Would you like to see my face?
- The mirrors... the mirrors!
- It's not real, it's not real!
'Get out of my Head!' will apply up to 3 random Distilled Emotions to 1 in 5 Waystones dropped. This is the best node on the entire Delirium Tree, giving free Value to any map run. Doesn't even need to be Delirious.
'Would you like to see my face?' and 'The mirrors... the mirrors!' result in a massive increase in Simulacrum Splinters in your Maps, both with Delirium Mirror and in Delirious Maps.
And 'It's not real, it's not real!' gives more Reward Progression, which will result in more Distilled Emotions during Delirium Mirror Maps. Out of the remaining 5 Notables, this is the best one.
How to juice with Delirium
As initially mentioned Delirium is best used with other Mechanics. The distilled Emotions on a Waystone will apply a generic buff to the entire Map including the other Mechanics.
So for Example Ritual will greatly benefit from increased Packsize or Breach from increased Amount of Rare Monsters.
The most Splinters are gained from Delirious Maps with the Delirious Atlas Notables allocated. So while using Ritual or Breach Precursor Tablets and target Farming those with Delirious Waystones, it is possible to farm not only that Mechanic but get 'free' Simulacrums on top.
And the pre-applied Delirious Waystones from 'Get out of my Head!' that we don't want to use for juiced Maps, we can use while rushing through Maps to set up the next farming Spot for even more free Simulacrum Splinters.
Alternatively, we can use Delirium Precursor Tablets and farm Delirium Mirror Maps to stack up a lot of the lower rarity Distilled Emotions to sell in bulk.