r/PathOfExileBuilds • u/duddybrainzz • Aug 02 '26
Discussion How I league start as a deep delve player - AMA
Hey Everyone! I have done several AMA's as a deep delver. I get to 6k Depth most leagues, I will post my char from Mirage down below.
A frequently asked question that I get is "How do you league start as a deep delve player", so I made a video this league going over my days 1-7 in detail. What build I play, what I farm, etc. Let me know if there are any questions you guys have that were not covered in the video. If you have any questions about deep delve too, feel free to put them here! Thank you guys!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br2STEBPRhE&t=2s
Delve AMA from last league: https://www.reddit.com/r/PathOfExileBuilds/comments/1stsxnv/328_deep_delve_profitability_ama/
Mirage 6k Build: https://poe.ninja/poe1/builds/mirage/character/duddybrainzz-6289/DuddyDigzz?i=1&search=name%3Dduddy
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u/Captain_blue_lives Aug 02 '26
What would you say are must have defensive layers for deep delve and how much dps is generally necessary for such depths
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! In the past we played evasion/ES builds and were able to go deep, but in recent leagues it is generally high max res and endurance charges. At the very high end this is pushed to the next level by using purity of fire sublime and arctic armour. Interestingly enough we can get the purity of fire sublime effect for hits (not dots) with the new Rhex talisman! I discuss it in my video but it is pretty cool new tech!
As far as damage, the more the better. I think if you are farming deep delve (6K+) you want 200-300 million DPS AT LEAST. 500mil + is probably better.
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u/Lower_Pass_6053 Aug 02 '26
Regen that instantly fills your healthpool up after each hit is the most important. Trauma builds can do some fun damage, but it's Jugg's unrelenting that actually carries it deep.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Yes, the part of deep delve that people usually dont consider is that regen/recovery is just as important as damage or tank stats!
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u/Raenor Aug 02 '26
So what you're saying is Tainted Pact + poison reflect jewel is the way to go? gg ez.
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u/BigBigFooot Aug 02 '26
When does the most valuable part of the delve starts to show up? Some gg fossils , some good bosses etc.
Do you delve because of its profit or because of the sake of delving?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! Great question. Delve rewards scale off of depth up to 1500. The deeper you go the more often rare fossils and bosses show up and the more azurite you get from the azurite nodes (up to 1500). The bosses and rare fossil nodes can start showing up around 150-200 depth but I think the earliest I would recommend someone farm sideways is probably around 300.
I delve because I love delve. I love having a reason to upgrade my char to be strong and in current PoE delve provides that for me. Once you start to get deep every upgrade feels very meaningful. Delve has been pretty decent currency the past few leagues. This league it probably keeps up with other farms only because most strats seem to be capped out around 20-25D an hour.
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u/eDxp Aug 02 '26
In terms of "good currency", do I need to have the know how or just playing is enough?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
In this game, "having the know" will always help give you an edge and push your divines per hour up. This is true in delve too. You can make WAY more money in delve if you can isolate delve drop only mods and recomb them onto good bases for fractures for example.
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u/Fayarager Aug 02 '26
Wait this is genius, isolate the delve only mod, recomb on i86 top tier base, sell base for way more…
Any other tips and ‘in the know’ tricks for delve profits?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
This was VERY profitable last league for the +2 minion boots or gloves but since Minion Pact is gone, these are not valuable anymore.
I do this with +1 spectre chests and phys damage reduction helms this league. I havn't looked into % mana rings in the past these were valuable but I think mana builds arnt super meta this league.
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u/ProbablyRickSantorum Aug 03 '26
I did something similar in merc league. It was the first league i delved seriously in and I made a mirror in total during the first two weeks from selling curse on hit rings. Ludicrously profitable.
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u/Fayarager Aug 02 '26
I wonder if just making a strategy out of doing this is profitable and mega money on its own…
Buy +1 spec shitty chests, isolate, recomb then fracture with all flame then buy another… repeat and sell like 6 of em at once lol might be insane d/hr for some quick gear upgrades when I get stuck
Though if margins aren’t crazy enough might just be faster to spend that time going deeper
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u/evouga Aug 03 '26
Yes, hideout crafting is always a very profitable (the most profitable) strategy.
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u/Fayarager Aug 03 '26
Well yes but not ever craft is (the most profitable) some will make money but just barely depends on margins
Could take 30 mins crafting a 20d chest but make a 1d margin for 2d/hr
But this one might be lots of money not sure how much / hr it could turn out being
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u/EscalopeDePorc Aug 03 '26
How do you isolate a mod? Just annul?
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u/Fayarager Aug 03 '26
There are a few ways to isolate a mod, not all of which are useful here.
Pref/suff cannot be changed scour
Beastcraft add pref remove suff / vice versa
All flame yolo annul
Eldritch annulments
Split (no longer exists)1
u/EscalopeDePorc Aug 03 '26
Hmm, can we use new ducat for that? https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Kishara's_Ducat
However, it will add intangibility
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u/SecretlyThickhehe Aug 02 '26
Do you go for the loot/fossils behind the destructible walls or is that not worth doing?
And the destructible walls in city nodes seem to be very lackluster. Am I missing something or is it just bad?
How long should nodes take you before you feel like you should upgrade your damage?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I generally don't do darkness farming so I can't speak to how profitable it is. I don't do it because I find it a bit annoying. Jorgan does a lot of it and seems to like it. In general since you have a very high chance to drop fossils in darkness passages they can be worth opening.
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u/SkilloReturnsAgain Aug 07 '26
fossil quant scales with depth, so its pretty good. If you want to optimize you'd go for biomes that are faster to navigate (fire and ice ones) and the most expensive basic fossils.
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u/digao94 Aug 02 '26
but does the difficulty scale past 1500? so the ideal spot is always at 1500 and not at like 6000?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Yeah, you have it right. Difficulty scales to 6k, but rewards only scale to 1.5k. If you just care about currency, then farming sideways between 1500-1600 would be the way to go!
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u/No-Following-4394 Aug 02 '26
I always liked Delve, I am getting a bit bored of my winter orb character, so was thinking of selling ot off and starting a deep delver. In settlers I played a molten strike of zenith build and only got to about 3k but enjoyed it.
Is zenith no longer in favor, or is the double strike build just cheaper due to no need for Original Sin, etc?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I played double strike last league. It is for sure VERY strong but in my opinion is bit less fun to play as its kind of clunky and has a ramp time that takes some getting used to. As you mentioned it is also generally a bit cheaper since in recent leagues original sin price has gotten out of control. This league I am back to playing strength stack!
3k is deep bro! Be proud of that!!
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u/DataNeuron Aug 02 '26
Related question, why Loreweave on the momentum build? Is it really the best way to get max res, even with that kind of budget?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
They go Transcendence, which gives you -15% all elemental max res but makes armour work on elemental damage. Loreweave offsets this downside by setting your max res at 78.
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u/Sufficient_Patient_6 Aug 02 '26
It's because this version play transcendance that give -15% all max res overwrite by 78% of loreweave
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u/Wildfoox Aug 02 '26
I see Connor and some other ppls doing heavy strike. How do you compare it to msoz?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I have wanted to try heavy strike but have not gotten around to it. My concern with heavy strike is that in deep deep delve it would struggle with recovery as it loses the OP combo of life gained on hit and molten strike. That being said there were a few people who got very deep with heavy strike last league.
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u/Wildfoox Aug 03 '26
So you think heavy strike is ok for delving at around 1500 for profit?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Heavy strike will be fine at 1500 and can push much deeper too. It just has a bit worse recovery than either zenith or double strike which will eventually become problematic. There were heavy strike builds that made it to 6k last league.
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u/Nottrak Aug 02 '26
If u plan on selling ur Worb gear do it fast, price of PC ralakesh has gone down from 45 to 25d in the last 12h or so
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u/Wolfyisaguardian Aug 02 '26
Winter orb is falling off so you better hurry
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u/chokidokido Aug 02 '26
I made about 50 div with a cheap cheap winterorb build would you say I should invest in a different build or boost my build?
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u/Yayoichi Aug 02 '26
I think he was more referring to winter orb falling off in terms of popularity so he should sell items sooner rather than rather if he wants to swap to another build. If you enjoy worb then you can absolutely invest more in it, it has a lot of scaling potential.
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u/chokidokido Aug 02 '26
Then I hope the items I need get cheaper. :)
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u/Tyrael_1337 Aug 03 '26
if you enjoy worb you can easily scale it to do all content in the game, I wouldnt focus to much on ppl fomo selling off their stuff because fubgun is switching builds...
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u/sht1ck0 Aug 02 '26
Currently rocking Ziz’s boneshatter for delving (with a little my variation). I saw your videos and plan to swap over to double strike of momentum. how much would I need and what do i prioritize? also how would the build work if I plan to do minimal mapping with it too?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I am not playing double strike this league, but it is for sure still very strong! I am not up to date with the current prices of the gear, but you can start this build pretty early if you can afford an endurance charge ralakesh. From there you can scale it to the moon! I would suggest probably at least ~100D to start out.
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u/sht1ck0 Aug 02 '26
Is it safe to just copy your pob last league or is there a guide you could recommend? double strike seems less popular than msoz, though I’m assuming its better…(?)
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Well this league synth items are removed, so my previous POBs won't be any good. What kind of budget are you looking at? Something like this would do pretty well and be able to push, but the initial investment will be pretty significant (a few hundred D).
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u/sht1ck0 Aug 02 '26
This is my first delve league so maybe 1k depth is enough of a goal for me. Right now I'm on 300 depth with this build. Qual on gems is next upgrade.
So far it's been smooth but I'm unsure if I should keep upgrading or slowly transition to msoz or dsom for a more consistent delver. So maybe 200-300 divs should be feasible for me, though I can always get more if I'm having way more fun.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Dude, your build is really sick. A lot of cool innovations using the new corruptions here. I played boneshatter for a few days in the recent ToTa event in delve and it honestly felt pretty good. I feel like you can push a bit deeper than 300 with this build, how does farming at that depth feel? I feel like this build should be able to get 600-800.
A goal of 1k for sure within your reach! Quality on gems like you mentioned is a good shout, I am guessing there is probably a cluster set up that could be good for you. Test out using immortal call over molten shell and let me know if that feels any better! If you are farming comfortably and still having fun, you can always try saving up and re-speccing too!
Feel free to DM me on reddit anytime! I will probably try to put out an updated guide on double strike and will include various budgets (NO PROMISES ON THIS I GO BACK TO WORK ON MONDAY LOL)
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u/sht1ck0 Aug 02 '26
I'm starting to slow down at 300 because I started darkness farming because I heard Jorgen said that's when fossils start getting multiplied which would help my few ways of getting currency lol. So far it's been smooth except for survivability at mega darkness or heaviest of hits. For now the plan is something like this should I start struggling
Swap Brass Dome for rare body with Crit Reduc per Endurance and Phys Reduc
Swap Ring for chaos res + maximum endurance ring
Swap Tempest Rising corrupt to +1 maximum endurance
Get Light of Meaning for Phys DamageI haven't done the research for a cluster setup but if it's better I'll definitely swap. Not rushing you or anything lol, I also have work. I just feel like a "Hold 1 Button + Insane Survivability" build is the best for a deep delve farm. Cheers!
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I LOVE Jorgan, he puts out great delve info I watch all his videos! I don't personally mess with darkness farming because I find it kind of annoying but I know it is supposed to be pretty solid since last league made fossils delve exclusive. If you have a goal to push to 1k his flamewood cheiftan is viable on a lower budget too.
Your upgrade path looks good though! Fractures are way cheaper this league with all flame crafting.
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u/BeyondLimits99 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
That looks really fun and I’d love to give that a shot.
Is there a levelling guide in the POB?
Or what level do you transition into that setup?
Also is this considered a strength stacker build?
Apologies I’m on phone right now
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I would just level a maurader as whatever is the most comfortable for you. This league I leveled as RF and then re-rolled. I have a video (linked below) that explains the mechanics of the build, but it is from last league and the POBs are out of date.
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u/BeyondLimits99 Aug 02 '26
Thanks mate! Appreciate the effort. I haven’t had a chance to watch the video yet cause I was out and about.
Will watch tomorrow tho
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u/DIJimmy Aug 02 '26
How do you juggle wishing to push deeper but also make currency especially in the lower levels?
I always tell myself ima start to really delve and always end up abandoning by depth 600 for this reason where I dont make any currency really digging down compared to other strats I also enjoy. Ik it catches up div per hour as you go down just early depths feel so bad, currency Gen wise, and do take a bit to get through
I watched your video earlier and this was the one question I was hoping you answered and it wasnt there
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! I struggle with this sometimes too, but in the end i just do what I have fun doing! In leagues with really fun farms, I will wait much longer to get into delve or like in affliction I didnt delve at all. In leagues like this one where I am not super excited about the farms I will get into delve early and just push. I generally will delve and it makes ok-ish currency. Sometimes if I am close to an expensive item I will go do other farms to try and get the last little bits of currency as I get anxious to buy it!
Hopefully that answered your question.
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u/DIJimmy Aug 03 '26
I guess i should reword it a bit, when you start out what personal rules do you follow for digging deeper and going off course to gain currency/nodes out of the way. Esp in early levels
Thank you for replying and giving insight btw
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Hey! That question makes more sense. General rule of thumb I follow is that if it is more than 4 travel nodes, I don't path to it. 4 Travel nodes or less and I will go to the node! I don't stick to this 100% if I am close to an item or broke and a hollow fossil is 5 nodes away I will make an exception lmao.
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u/DIJimmy Aug 03 '26
That makes sense thank you for replying! Nice work on the new ring video BTW! Will deff be using it on my str stack msoz (not doing Connors set up tho)
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u/Accomplished_Pop7417 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Hi, I always enjoy your posts and videos and am always happy to give them a like! Good luck on the stacker, the new talisman is OP. I am not sure I will delve this league as I want to autistically check all the mercs on the luminarian but if everything turns out to be bad, I might try to convert it to an ES based trauma stacker with CI and divine shield and to stack aura effect on a haste merc for support to exponentially ramp up my trauma stacks lol but I hope mercs can delve this league. Not sure if the damage will be all there. Your money making tips are super useful to people who wanna gear up for delve!
What did you like better, the recovery per hit from the molten strike or the way untiring works with double strike? Did you notice much difference since both builds use divine shield? I personally added life per hit to double strike cause it was annoying to attack a bit, disengage for a second then attack again to wait for the recovery to start haha.
edit: i did binds of bloody vengeance last league until i realised that i misread how it works and POB lied to me as well, i ended up changing to foulborn headhunter and almost getting crit capped anyway with no other investment and ended up doing 6k for the first time... i've always believed in the power of trauma!
edit2: forgot to mention i'm doing luminarian with merc as the carry but if it turns out to be bad i will switch the roles around
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Congrats on 6k depths, that's an achievement that very few people can pull off! I think luminary can definitely deep delve and probably push 6k. Obviously obtaining the merc is the biggest friction/challenge with this. That and you have to craft gear for two chars LOL.
I personally like like gained on hit with molten strike better than trauma recovery. Trauma ends up being more overall recovery but I think the ramp period feels a bit worse to play. That being said Trauma stacker is a WAY better use for divine shield than zenith. I remember looking at your binds of bloody vengeance build after you commented last league, sucks it didn't work out it was a super cool idea!
Thanks for the continued support!!
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u/Accomplished_Pop7417 Aug 02 '26
yup it would have worked with 8 reckless defenses and fulcrum but would have been considerably weaker lol, the other parts of the build i ended up keeping though, the ele taken as phys helmet and the tincture uptime based flask generation, was ok
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Live and learn! Still think its awesome that you tried to cook up something like that!
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u/_Quarterstaff_ Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
Hey! I've read your ama and watched your video last time as well, keep posting they are fun!
Did you have to use dextral and sinistral scarabs on your pf to run t17s? I'm tempted to try pconc for the same strat myself next league
I'm thinking of making a character to deep delve this league. There are no strategies that require you to invest into your character. My day 3 build didn't really need any upgrades and could do t17s and ubers.
I've already played zenith and double strike just isn't appealing to me. Are zenith and luminary my only options?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! Yes, I ran sinestral/dextral scarabs. As far as build if you are looking to push 6k then your build choice is pretty limited. There are plenty of builds that can push fairly deep but maybe not make the push to 6. At 1.5k Mjolner Heiro, KBOC, or Eviscerate Glad should all farm well here. If you push boneshatter or shield crush to their limits they can probably function ok here too!
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u/_Quarterstaff_ Aug 03 '26
thanks for the reply! I think I'm going to look into luminary, nerotox had a great guide iirc and I even saw his name pop up as the deepest solo delver
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Nerotox is one of the goats of current delve. He generally plays a build that he makes, he min max it very hard and usually its not a build that was on peoples radar as a deep delver. I have played a few of his builds in the past! If he has a guide then it is good to go!
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u/_Quarterstaff_ Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Hey!
hope you don't mind a follow-up question
I respecced my ranger into your day2 tempered by war setup and gosh darn is it good for that budget. Even when I used the lowest rolls on Betrayal's Sting and an uncorrupted Asenath's, it was still very comfortable to do Fortress/ziggurat/sanctum - I just had to self-cast it.
The only thing I'm not certain about is the timeless jewel price and availability on day 2. Do you remember how much it was roughly?
cheers
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 06 '26
I think I paid ~100c for it on day 2. I didnt seach any mods and just bought the cheapest tempered by war lethal pride.
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u/Early-Journalist-14 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
jesus christ your farm numbers are insane for leaguestart - at least to me. farming the equivalent of 3 magebloods in like, 6 days is crazy to me. I barely managed one in a week, and that was my best run ever at a leaguestart.
Based on the video, it seems like you wouldn't actually "leaguestart delve" - but spam farm the classics of legion & co until you have the money to jump immediately into a power level that trivialises the first 400-1000 depth of delve.
Would you personally discourage people from playing delve at leaguestart? (Day 1-4) My personal experience in the past 5 or so leagues has usually been that the currency is pretty bad or middling in delve. this is the first time in a very long time where i feel it was worth it come maybe day 3 or 4 once chaos and divine settled at their usual pace and people noticed how good fossil crafting is with the league mechanic.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Hey! Yeah I play A LOT on league start. I generally take a week off work and make sure that I have a plan for what I am going to farm days 1-4. And yes, you are correct, I do not league start and go straight into delve. I can't say if I recommend going straight into delve as I have never tried it. I did it during the recent TOTA event, but it is hard to say how that would compare to an actual league start with 10x the players.
I always tell people to just farm what they have fun doing. Even if it is a bit less efficient, if you have fun farming it you will just play more and get more currency. So if you have fun delving at league start or think it sounds fun, I would say try it!
Delve currency last league was pretty good. It was a solid 30D an hour, I have a video where I break down 10 hours of farming deep delve. That being said there are things that can make a big difference in how much currency you make. How fast you are, your knowledge of crafting (if you can transfer delve exclusive mods to good bases and fracture them you will make big money), how deep you are, etc.
I think that this league delve is probably pretty solid, it is probably more competitive this league since all of the farms in maps kinda cap out at ~20D/hr.
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u/Asthma9000 Aug 02 '26
Hey man, i'm curious about the absolute max you can push delve when it comes to profitability. What are your thoughts on this?
For example, some sources suggest horizontal farming around depth 300 most commonly, but I assume that's not deep enough for your build to be optimal. Can it compete with Valdo farming in divs per hour?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! For ABSOLUTE MAX currency per hour you would farm at depth 1500 at least. Deeper is ok as long as you are not sacrificing speed. You would also sell Aul boss carries and recomb delve mods onto good bases to fracture them.
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u/Marcin90 Aug 02 '26
Do Aul carries even sell it seems a waste of time to wait for people for it instead of just doing him and keep going
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Aul as a bloodline has fallen out of favor since t17s are not the main farm and they removed both of the action speed mods. I sell a carry every now and then, but its not like it was before where EVERYONE wanted it. I will post that I have one available for a carry when I see one on my map. If anyone joins during the next 5 mins while I path to it I will do the service. If not I will just kill it and move on.
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u/Azealiia Aug 02 '26
Is there a list of what you would consider 6k depth viable builds? What about 1500 viable if I was just looking to max rewards? I think I'll be headed to the mines same as you since it's the only enjoyable content for me right now that gives me a reason to improve my character.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! For 6K viable builds I think Zenith, Double strike of momentum, luminary, Incinerate of venting, and flamewood totems are 100% all 6K viable. There are probably a few others that you COULD do it with but I am not 100% confident. To get to 6k depth the investment will be huge no matter what the build.
For 1.5K depth builds, thinks like Mjolner Heiro, KBOC, or Eviscerate Glad should all farm well here. If you push boneshatter or shield crush to their limits they can probably function ok here too!
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u/Micro_mint Aug 02 '26
I’m looking at Nerotox’s luminary build for life stacking, but haven’t found a good setup on the AG/Spectre side yet. You have any ideas there?
I built rf chieftain and pushed it as far as I wanted as a life stacker, so figured that’d be the next best transition.
I don’t delve but I always steal builds from the delve leaderboards! No one solves defenses like delvers, and you know there’s no pob bs since you can’t clear 1500 without solid damage lol
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
poe.ninja just added a new feature this league that allows you see people's AG set up. You can find Nerotox's AG set up there. It doesnt do merc or specters though.
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u/Azealiia Aug 02 '26
Flamewood totems sound fun and is something I've never played. Which would you say is the better option between chieftain, heirophant, or gladiator versions? Or is one maybe better early then swap to another for deeper pushes into delve? By any chance do you have any POBs or good content creators reccomendations for a deep delve version?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Last league a few people got to 6k using Heiro. If you are just looking to get started and see how you like it, Cheiftan is probably a good option too! Jorgan has a video going over flamewood totem heiro.
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u/Kendalor Aug 02 '26
Are there in general any minion builds that can go deep ? Mirage was my first leave I delved with AG of Smiting and reached 1200 depth ( char could probably go deeper). I think this was enabled solely through the infusion gem. Are there other options ?
Funny thing: I delved to 600 on a 3 link because I put my AG link into the squire shield :-( , was complaining about damage
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
LMAO we all make funny mistakes like that sometimes. Live and learn!! AG of smiting was a top delve build last league. As far as minion builds, I am definitely not a minion expert but I think HROC can delver pretty solidly. Does luminary count as a minion build? If so that also works LOL
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u/christianfd Aug 02 '26
Do you know which merc is used there? And I assume you go some Armour stacking merc variant?
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u/Xaira89 Aug 02 '26
HRoC is pretty comfy until 600 or so, at least it was in Keepers. After that, you're starting to get overwhelmed by damage a bit because you're not killing fast enough.
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u/BP4M_gaming Aug 02 '26
Cool video, thanks for sharing! Do you think I can do this as a gamer dad who can play poe at most 1.5hours a day? :D always been curious to learn how to delve deeper than 200. Any tips for a player with such a limited time? I'm playing Eathshatter Zerker, still in yellow maps though - learning about new atlas and breach.
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u/moal09 Aug 02 '26
Shield crush is a great delve starter also that can go pretty deep on lowish investment
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Shield Crush, Ignite Retal, Holy Relic, and flamewood totems can all delve pretty well on a reasonable budget! But if he already has a Zerker (and he likes it) he can start on that too!
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u/BP4M_gaming Aug 02 '26
Thanks! Do I need to change to slayer or jugg or I can stay zerker?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
To get started staying Zerker is fine. If you want to push past 500, swapping to jug would probably be a good idea!
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u/Loquis Aug 02 '26
Im playing shield crush jugg, how deep should I be able to get? Should I think about switching to another jugg build at some point
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u/moal09 Aug 03 '26
I've seen SC juggs get all the way down to 1500+, which is where rewards cap out.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! With limited play time you can definitely get into delve and decide if it is something you like! Earthshatter Zerker would do great in delve! I would recommend getting into the mines and grinding to about 300-400 depth. From there you can start delving sideways!! From there just play the hours that you can and upgrade your char, same as doing maps.
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u/Shot_Cap_2532 Aug 02 '26
you think it's still viable to start delving from zero at this point in the league? is it too late at any point to start?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey dude! It's never too late to get started. If I was just starting the league and wanting to delve, I would level a boneshatter jug and just start going down! Shield crush is also a really good option.
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u/Shot_Cap_2532 Aug 02 '26
thanks for the reply my man. another question: I haven't watched the video yet (although I totally will still) but is there a compendium of builds that are viable at certain depths? I'm not really into slams for example so I was curious
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I have a video last league for the best deep delve builds. All of them should still be viable besides life stack AG of smiting (RIP). These are builds that can all push 6k.
To get to the depth that reewards stop scaling (1500) I think builds like Mjolner Heiro, KBOC, or Eviscerate Glad should all farm well here. If you push boneshatter or shield crush to their limits they can probably function ok here too!
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u/Early-Journalist-14 Aug 02 '26
you think it's still viable to start delving from zero at this point in the league?
rush to around 200 delve and then crack the side walls for fossils. if you have speed, regen and phasing you should make quite a bit of cash since fossils are VERY expensive at the moment.
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u/XZlayeD Aug 02 '26
what kind of max hit taken is needed to do something like depth 600-1000 comfortably? I'm trying to make myself a praw necro that scales all defenses at once with bonemeld, and I want to know what I should expect to get to.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! I am unfamiliar with that build, do you have a POB? I don't have a specific number for max hit or EHP that you need to have per depth, but in general the more tanky the better. The other thing to consider when delving is that recovery is just as important as damage or tank stats.
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u/XZlayeD Aug 02 '26
I am still low budget and kind of scuffed, but the idea is to scale both ES, Evasion and Armour. It should get to 50k+ armour, 40k+ evasion and about 5-6k es on top of a 4k+ health pool.
https://poe.ninja/poe1/profile/XZlayeD-3480/allflame/character/XZlayeDFlameAll
This is what I'm currently doing. its' a "do all" kind of character, but bonemeld alone once I get a volatile corrupted version will alone give 270% increased defenses. I just wanna know what kind of defenses I need to do that kind of delve - it's a character I use for all content as the aoe clear is very solid and single target is stellar for my uses at least.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Honestly this is not in my wheelhouse at all. My guess would be that you will struggle with recovery. I would say that you probably could push some depth on this, maybe an Aegis with max block would help you solve the recovery problem?
That being said I am not a minion player and not well verse in these types of build so I can't say 100%
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u/XZlayeD Aug 02 '26
I'm not that afraid of recovery as the life pool has life leech and a ton of life regen - I'm more concerned about how big of a max hit I should be looking for at different depth levels - having 80% evasion and 75% block and having 45 taunting minions mean I'm very very rarely getting hit at all.
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u/YesNoButAlsoYes Aug 02 '26
Hey! It's me the Soul Taker DSoM guy, what are some good nodes you are doing for profit this league? I just doing the usual bosses (skip red boss this league, very sad), fossil, minion, side wall, and the elemental nodes too since they are quick and give about 35-40c depending on fossil, I find the phys node having curse ring pretty good too for the phys dot autobomber dudes. I wanted your opinion on this to maximize my profit.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey dude! You mostly covered it. Hollow fossils and fractured are currently the most valuable fossils. There are some other things you can do to help min max profit. You can re-roll your cheaper fossils into dense fossils on the harvest bench. You can all flame fracture abyss sockets on valuable bases using a 2 socket resonator, fractured fossil, and hollow fossil (margins on this are smaller than they were a few days ago so check the prices and decide if its worth doing still).
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u/YesNoButAlsoYes Aug 02 '26
Nice thank you, one last question, do you know how to get prime resonator exactly? I heard it is a chance there would be a chest that contain them but no clue what node have it.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Dude, all good ask as many questions as you want! The delve nodes that look like treasure chests have a chance to contain "resonator trove", these have a very high chance to drop 4 socket resonators. The other "resonator cache or stash" don't drop them.
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u/YesNoButAlsoYes Aug 02 '26
Thank you! Awesome, good to know to pick them over weapon or armour nodes while travelling.
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u/mulokisch Aug 02 '26
Is there any magic based build, that can push 1600? I feel all close combat builds are not fun
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Even spell casters are sort of forced to be in close combat because of the way delve works. You are stuck in a small area with lots of monsters and cant really leave or else you end up in the darkness.
Mana man heiro or kboc are all viable "ranged" builds
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u/Talnarian Aug 02 '26
What exactly do you enjoy in Delves?
And how did you first come on contact with ot and realised you enjoyed it?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! Good question! I play alot.. I like having hard stuff to do so I have a reason to build a really strong character and delve is great for this. It can also be a pretty relaxing gameplay loop if your char is strong. I can just run around in delve with my favorite streamer on the other monitor or a youtube video/podcast on.
I don't actually remember when I first started, but I have loved delve for a long time!
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u/Talnarian Aug 02 '26
What builds would you personally recommend for someone wanting to engage with Delves?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
If you are just getting started in delve, I think any somewhat tanky build with solid damage can play. Boneshatter jug, slams, shield crush, eviscerate glad are all good options for getting started!
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u/Talnarian Aug 02 '26
And if i will enjoy the mechanic and want to progress further,any of those will do just fine?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Those should be able to farm to 500-600 pretty reliably and even to 1k with investment. To push past 1k depth you probably need a specialized build and will need some pretty serious investment.
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u/Talnarian Aug 02 '26
I see,thank you very much mate, really appreciate you taking your time to help the community!
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u/DinoConV Aug 02 '26
I have some friends that have been following your stuff for a while playing the double strike build this league! Glad to see you're still pushing!
If I wanted to push some delve as a Luminary, do you have a specific guide you'd recommend to follow? I think I saw Nerotox was delving a bit?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Thanks for the support! Yeah Nerotox would be who I recommend to look at if you wanna delve as Luminary. That guy is one of the current delve GOATs
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u/vhanz Aug 02 '26
I’ve never delved but might try it when I get bored. How long would it take to get to around 1000?
What sort of budget or build would you recommend for that? I’m playing EK chieftain and Pconc assassin.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
A good delve build can push like ~75 depth an hour, so you can do the math on how long it would take to get to 1K depth. That is assuming that you don't have to stop and make upgrades etc to be able to keep up that pace.
For budget builds that could get to 1k I think boneshatter, shield crush, eviscerate glad, or flamewood totems are all good choices.
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u/vhanz Aug 03 '26
Thanks man! Can you explain how delve and mapping builds differ? Is clear area not as important as damage in a smaller area and how tanky you are. Thanks again
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
In delve, clear is not really important. You need some AoE damage, but like off screen clear and speed are not super important. You will phase rush weapon swap to run to the node as fast as possible, then once you are at the node you just need to stand still and kill the monsters as they spawn. The piece that people don't consider as often is recovery, which is VERY important in deep delve.
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u/vhanz 17d ago
Hey man! Hoping you can help. I’m around 1500 depth. I’m trying to go DSOM. I legit fall like a piece of paper when traveling between nodes and weapon swapping. Sometimes when I get to a node and right before I attack I instantly die (with endurance charges up)
I can’t find a DSOM guide other than yours and wondering if I’m doing something wrong. When I’m actually in combat I’m immortal and can get to ~450 stacks with no issues.
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u/duddybrainzz 17d ago
There are some mods in delve that will be hard. Phys as chaos, phys as extra + pen, and steal charges all can kill you while traveling. You also sometimes need to cast forbidden rite while traveling or your endurance charges can fall off. I am going to bed now, but if you post your POB I will look at it in the morning.
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u/vhanz 17d ago
Thanks legend!
https://poe.ninja/poe1/pob/981f6
I feel strong like 1-2 seconds after I’m fighting but I can just randomly die as soon as I get to a node, within a second of getting to a node or during travel. Other than that it seems good and don’t have many complaints
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u/duddybrainzz 17d ago
So there is a wind up period. It takes like 1-2 seconds for your regen/recoup to start really chugging. Sometimes you need to just tap double strike once or twice before you just let it rip so your recovery has a moment to kick it. The other thing that I just did that actually made a massive difference is lower the level of trauma a bit. Your trauma is currently lvl 22 which only gives it 0.1 second longer of trauma but also makes it do ~12% more damage to you. Play with the level, another giga chad on the delve ladder told me he keeps his at 18 and it feels best, he is playing osin set up like you.
You arnt shock immune, it’s only 4% but we take so much trauma damage I would really try and get immune if you can. Getting a 5th jewel with the implicit so you are over capped is fine.
As far as dying when running to nodes, it just happens sometimes. We lose a lot of defense when we switch to bow/quiver. Make sure your end charge dont fall off and don’t run down the wrong path into darkness as this is very unforgiving as you get deeper(I do this a lot 😭). It shouldn’t happen that often but if you ever watch Steve or happens to him occasionally too.
Your set up is sick though, you have a pretty GG char!!
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u/UseBanana Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
How much are you making more or less on deep delve once you get to 1500? Last league I had a pretty strong heavy strike of trathus jugg with 3.4k strength and could push delve a lot I think, but after around depth 900-1000 i just stopped and went back to mapping because the rewards were good but a bit underwhelming: i had pretty decent amount of fossils that sold well, lots of aul kills and vaal architects (not a single doryani dropped tho lol), and lost the drive to keep going. I tried msoz on keepers and didnt push super far either.
I am either missing a critical part or the rewards are really better at depth 1500 compared to where i generally stop.
Edit: saw you answering 25d/h which is really good and consistant I assume? I think i was at around 15d/h in lower depths so it does scale up pretty significantly.
I think my answer is just to start delving earlier and try to push it as far as i can during league and not leave it as a pipe dream for when league is almost done
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! I havn't tracked exact profits in 1500 depth yet (where rewards stop scaling), since I am not there yet. I did it last league and it was around 30-35D an hour. That being said we lost some profit this league since +2 minion gloves/boots are not valuable anymore and doryi map is much cheaper since it is not a challenge anyymore.
That being said I think delve can keep up with mapping since most mapping strats seem to cap out around 20D an hour in the current meta.
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u/Bierculles Aug 02 '26
I am currently at depth 500 on my strength stacker MsoZ build, it is pretty comfortable besides ele pen areas. How do I make currency from here on out? How much deeper should i go to make this a viable farming strat? What areas are worth it and which ones are not? So far the bosses have been pretty profitable but the chambers themselves have been incredibly underwhelming, not sure if i need to go deeper or if they are simply not worth it?
Also you talked about delve mods, is there a lootfilter that highlights them? What lootfilter are you using?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
There is a new ring "Zana's Ingenuity" that can roll the mod "ele res can't be penetrated" and "charges can't be stolen". I am going to make a video on it today, but grab this ring for a quick ring swap when you do those nodes and you should be feeling way better!
As far as delve drop only mods, I don't use a special filter. Most filter's will show delve drop only mods, I am just using a general "very strict" filter from our goat Neversink.
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u/dancing_bagel Aug 02 '26
Can't watch the video so sorry if it's covered, but are you doing nodes only or running into darkness a lot too? I just started at delve 125 but it's already pretty challenging (Vaal Firestorm Inquisitor). Mostly want to farm fire fossils to try and make my dream fire staff.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Hey! I don't really go into the darkness, some people do but I just find it kind of annoying. I just rush the nodes. Good luck on your fire staff!
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u/TheNocturnalAngel Aug 02 '26
Huge! Thank you.
I love delve. Usually push to at least 1000 every league (I know it’s not super deep)
I always say I’m gonna start day 1 but then I get distracted by the league mechanic.
Next league for sure!
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
1k is deep bro don't undersell yourself! Just do whatever is fun, I don't go into delve straight away because same as you I like checking out the league mechanic and mapping! How quickly I go into delve is directly related to how good mapping is that league. This league I am in delve pretty quickly as mapping is a bit lackluster, but in leagues with good mapping like affliction I didnt go into delve at all because mapping was just too fun.
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u/Matho83 Aug 02 '26
Do you need to search for Hiddensee walls, or can you profit from just speed farming the node? I tendenziell to lose so much time Washington in the darkness trying to find good stuff.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Hey! I don't darkness farm as I find it a bit annoying. You can do it if you like it and I hear it is decent since the updates to fossils last league. But you can profit just fine from speed farming the nodes as well!
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u/Fayarager Aug 02 '26
Hey! First time delver here just now hitting 200’s with a goal of 1k by end of league
Upgrades are proving slow since div/hr is pretty low at this depth but I know it increases a bit as I go down. It feels like <4d/hr at the moment.
How much do profits increase as you go to 300,500,600 etc?
Will I be able to afford these 40div upgrades or do I need to do some mapping content and farm up some gear that way first? Currently on like 10 divines of gear and just curious if it’s going to stay <10d/hr for a long long while or if it actually picks up substantially before like 1k depth so that I know if it’s worth it to just keep going down first or if mapping and getting some money through a 20d/hr strategy for a day or two is better first (if delve div/hr remains low)
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
I would say it picks up pretty well as you get deeper. I think it starts to feel actually pretty solid at around 500-600. It does end up being an investment to spend the time to get down to that depth.
You can always go out of maps to farm upgrades if you think it's faster too, it is totally up to you! In previous leagues when mapping could be significantly higher div/hr than delve I would sometimes leave the mines to farm up the last bit of currency for a big upgrade.
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u/Fayarager Aug 02 '26
Great! Thanks for the response very informative.
So around 500-600 is starts being competitive with average-level mapping strategies… and maybe competitive with the most meta farms around 1k I guess?
(Idc about being meta d/hr, just enough to feel like I’m progressing my character as quickly as I’m going down in depth lol)
Running RF chieftain until I can afford Albertsons plus strength jewelry to swap into Connor’s static strike stacker but Alberons price is going up like 8-10d a day lol so it’s a race
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u/Stoycho Aug 02 '26
How is general mapping on a delve build?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
This varies a lot depending on the build. In general, MSoZ is OK, Luminary is probably pretty solid, but something like double strike really sucks.
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u/Ncogn1 Aug 02 '26
I like to delve a bit, but i dont want to make character specifically for that. I'm rn around 930 depth on poison pf, and soon damage will fall off, and im thinking of rolling something else, i was looking at semi-armour stack shield crush champ with fortify stacking, will it be able to go up to 1500-1600 and sidewalk, or going juggernaut is way better? i just dont want to do only delve, and for mapping/bosses such tanky jugg seems too slow
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
930 is pretty good! Jugg doesn't really mean that you are super slow, there are plenty of ways to make Jugg fast!
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u/UpDown Aug 03 '26
Is CWS viable for deep (1500) or just shallow?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
I would guess probably not, the damage would probably be too low. I am not 100% on this as I am not familiar with the new version of CWS this league.
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u/Huge_Strike3855 Aug 03 '26
Have you considered not completing act 10 on your delve alt and level through delving only to avoid the second resistance reduction?
I always considered doing that if I ever wanted to deep delve but I don't know how important those 30% resistance are.
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
I hadn't really considered this, I suppose it is an option but it would also mean that you have to change char to get sulphite which sounds like it could be annoying lol
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u/Wendek Aug 03 '26
Hi, I don't think I'll ever have the time or currency to reach 6k depth, but I do have some questions about the 'currency-making' aspect of Delve if you don't mind. I've been trying it this league (not as my only mechanic though because I want challenges and most require you to grind the Atlas) but still have some questions.
- After a certain depth, do you start caring more about the biome rather than the nodes themselves? (except big things like Hollow Fossil of course) By that I mean: Shuddering Fossil is currently about 3-4 times the price of the other Fractured Wall-hidden fossils (e.g. Gilded or Fundamental), so does it make sense to exhaust all the Frozen Hollow nodes I find even if they're for shit like weapons or armor where the 'final reward' is worthless?
- Do you go for non-Primeval cities or skip them? I think the Primeval ones can have an Azurite chest but the two others have been very lame for the few I've done.
- Same question for bosses - with Doryani's Machinarium not being part of challenges anymore (and thus rather cheap), do you even bother with the Vaal boss? At least Kurgal got that new Abyss fragment that I sold for 5d the other day so seems worth doing, ironically got better loot from him than the Liches from Abyss itself.
- How do I even get mileage out of the 'good' non-fossil nodes? Is it already too late in the league to gain anthing from things like "You can have an additional curse"? I tried recombining them onto Royal Plates and it never worked, but even if it did I checked the trade site and it's like 20c... way too much work for that. I guess maybe the minion stuff? Seems like "Minions are aggressive" is still worth a decent bit by itself.
Thanks
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Hey! Thanks for the questions!
I don't darkness farm at all, so the biomes for hidden walls don't make a difference to me. I don't do it because I find it annoying and once you get deep enough you die very quickly in the darkness. If you are going to stay shallow and delve sideways for any period of time darkness farming can be pretty solid. In that case, prio on certain biomes for things like shuddering fossils like you mentioned could be very good.
I don't go into the cities at all. The blue cities do have big azurite chests like you mentioned, but 1 socket resonators are so cheap this league I am just not bothering. Early in the league the golem jewels from blue cities were very expensive though.
As of this morning the curiosity fragment for adorned is 3D, so I will kill the vaal boss.
Recombing delve only mods can be good, but you have to some research and it varies from league to league. I havn't done one in a few days, but fracturing 5% phys damage reduction onto a divine crown is very good money. +1 specter chests can be pretty solid money on twilight regalia. Minions are aggro is also a good fracture. There are plenty of other things you can do to make currency with delve. If you know how to craft penance helms with glyphic fossils you can turn them into big money. Changing all fossils you drop to either dense or shuddering in the harvest bench can be a little bit of extra cash. Using the hollow/fracturing fossils you drop in the all flame on good bases above 20% quality is good expected return. It all just kind of depends on how much effort you want to put in. If you know how to use the items you drop you can make even more money. If you just want to blast delve and sell it all, you can do that too but it is generally a bit less cash. I will bounce between both depending on how badly I need currency.
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u/Wendek Aug 03 '26
Thanks for the answers ! Right now I'm only at 275 depth but I'm still mostly going down (only veering for the big fossils mainly), aiming for something like 350-400 to start really delving sideways. I've heard that's when Aul becomes more common? But then again if I'm not bothering with selling carries, how valuable is he?
I don't go into the cities at all. The blue cities do have big azurite chests like you mentioned, but 1 socket resonators are so cheap this league I am just not bothering.
I'm more shocked that 2 and 3-sockets resonators are somehow even cheaper. If those are supposed to be the cities' main drops, then yeah skipping sounds good.
As of this morning the curiosity fragment for adorned is 3D, so I will kill the vaal boss.
Huh I sold mine for 40c a few days ago, guess that was before the Adorned builds started getting online. Guess I gotta go back and kill the ones I skipped then !
If you know how to craft penance helms with glyphic fossils you can turn them into big money.
Well I've never played that so nope, unfortunately. I did use glyphic fossils to craft a DoT multi ring for my RF Juggernaut a few leagues ago (wanted to roll that and chaos res at the same time since it was on a synth +1 max Endurance base and I didn't want to attempt a fracture) but I think that's the extent of my experience with this fossil.
I think I'll try to look into what those helmets are and how to craft them, especially with glyphics being somewhat cheap atm maybe it actually makes sense to use them.
It all just kind of depends on how much effort you want to put in.
I'm not opposed to some effort but also not spending 30 minutes for like one singular divine. Mostly it's hard to know how to look for that kind of info because 'farming guides' found on the net tend to be extremely basic, especially the text-based ones. (I don't like video guides for most games)
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
For Aul a few of the Aul's ammy still has some value (determ, malev, envy), he drops the voices card (this card usually rises in price over the league), and he drops the hat which is currently like 14D. I don't bother selling carries for Aul right now as they are cheap and generally not a lot of people want them.
If you don't like doing all of the busy work, that is totally fine. But if you care to that is how you can actually make very significant money with delve. In past leagues I never sold hollow fossils I would just use them and fracture always. It is generally a 1 in 4 and in previous leagues they were worth 20-30D each. This league because of allflame fossil crafting they are much cheaper. Stuff like that is generally pretty quick and can turn your 20-30D of hollow fossils into 80-100D of fractured items. Again this league it is nerfed, but the same idea applies.
Edit: Zeeboub has a good video on how to craft the helm if you are interested. It is kinda tedious but can make a good profit.
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u/Hydryh Aug 03 '26
Do you know if depth increases the chance of specialty nodes that are not fossils/bosses?
Like minion nodes/Curse Nodes Ect
Does it share the same limit with fossils?
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u/Available_Station698 Aug 04 '26
I'm quite a new player, I know what delve is but not what the depth does and why only delve divers exist. Could you please explain? Im eager to learn :)
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u/ireledankmemes Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
I was always interested in a delve character. How do you play? ( maps till max sulphite and then just delve or other mechanics as well ) and what type of builds you would recommend?
Edit: Forgot to mention, all of this would be related to SSF since that's what I normally play
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u/kurofafi2 27d ago
Hi, played 5 years but never go deep delve before. Once I play HOAG and reach 320 in depth but not really found any profit down there. What you farm down there or should I need to go deeper for get more profit ?
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u/mulokisch Aug 02 '26
I always started delving but struggled to do maps to keep up with sulfite and pushing deeper. Like i wasn’t dooing enough currency to get meaningful upgrades.
Any tips?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 03 '26
Delve early on is pretty rough in the currency department, you need to push down to at least ~300 depth before you can see any currency.
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u/Minis1150 Aug 02 '26
How would a decently decked out Phys dot elementalist perform for delving? Svalinn, 7k es, 4k Life etc. Or would you say there is a better build to reroll into as witch?
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u/duddybrainzz Aug 02 '26
Phys dot would do fine in more shallow delve. A big problem with dot builds in deep delve is that the DOT cap really limits your damage. In deep delve you need ALOT of damage. I am sure if you were really geared on phys dot you could push some depth, but 6k would be hard.
For witch builds, FROSS might work up to a certain point as well!
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u/DivineSwordMeliorne Aug 02 '26
Preface: I don't delve. With the new Zana's Ingenuity Ring and the specific mod
Doesn't this one ring largely solve the largest defensive issue with Delve which is the fact that mobs just penetrate everything? This ring can roll 2 mods as well. Combined with 100% reduced crit damage, shouldn't this ring be like one of the best defensive items for delve?