PoE Thorough Exploration

Thorough Exploration

Thorough Exploration is an Atlas passive skill and Atlas keystone.

• If there are fewer than 50 monsters remaining in your Maps, Final Map Bosses are Empowered by Wildwood Wisps

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In Path of Exile, the Atlas of Worlds is a complex and evolving system that allows players to tailor their endgame experience to suit their individual playstyle and goals. Among the many tools available for shaping the Atlas, Thorough Exploration stands out as a powerful and strategic Atlas keystone that offers unique challenges and rewards for those willing to take on its risks.

What is Thorough Exploration?

Thorough Exploration is an Atlas Passive Skill and Keystone that introduces a high-risk, high-reward mechanic to the final map bosses in Path of Exile. This keystone activates when there are fewer than 50 monsters remaining in your map. Under these conditions, the final map bosses become empowered by Wildwood Wisps, which drastically alters the nature of the encounter.

Key Features of Thorough Exploration:

• Empowerment by Wildwood Wisps: When fewer than 50 monsters remain in a map, the final map boss becomes empowered by one or more types of Wildwood Wisps. Each wisp grants different bonuses and increases the difficulty of the encounter.
• Applicable to Destructive Play: This keystone also applies to bosses spawned by Destructive Play, adding an extra layer of challenge to these encounters.
• Enhanced Rewards: While the empowerment makes bosses significantly tougher, it also increases the quality and quantity of the rewards they drop.

Types of Wisps and Their Effects

The Wisps that empower bosses through the Thorough Exploration keystone come in three distinct types, each with its own set of effects and bonuses:

1. Vivid Wisps:

   • Effects: Bosses empowered by Vivid Wisps receive a boost to item quantity, making them drop more items upon defeat.
   • Empowered Boss Abilities: These bosses take reduced damage and gain increased attack, cast, and movement speed, making them more dangerous and harder to kill.

2. Wild Wisps:

   • Effects: Bosses empowered by Wild Wisps gain a significant increase in item rarity, leading to a higher chance of dropping rare and unique items.
   • Empowered Boss Abilities: These bosses also take reduced damage and gain additional projectiles as well as increased area of effect, turning their abilities into more formidable threats.

3. Primal Wisps:

   • Effects: Bosses empowered by Primal Wisps have a chance to drop additional currency items, including valuable eldritch currency, the Voidborn Reliquary Key, and Valdo’s Puzzle Box.
   • Empowered Boss Abilities: These bosses take reduced damage, gain increased critical strike chance, and have a higher critical strike multiplier, making them deadly opponents with the potential to deal massive burst damage.

Strategic Implications

Thorough Exploration introduces a new layer of strategy to map exploration and boss encounters in Path of Exile. By leaving fewer than 50 monsters alive before engaging the final boss, players deliberately increase the encounter’s difficulty but also significantly boost the potential rewards.

1. Risk vs. Reward: The primary allure of Thorough Exploration lies in its risk versus reward dynamic. Empowered bosses are much harder to defeat due to their enhanced abilities, but the rewards—ranging from increased item quantity and rarity to the chance of dropping highly valuable currency—can make the challenge worthwhile. Players must weigh their ability to handle empowered bosses against their desire for greater loot.

2. Pre-Planning and Execution: Successfully utilizing Thorough Exploration requires careful planning. Players must ensure they leave fewer than 50 monsters alive before engaging the boss, which may involve meticulous clearing of the map or using mechanics that spawn additional monsters later on. The timing of the boss engagement becomes critical, as does the player’s preparedness for the enhanced boss fight.

3. Interaction with Destructive Play: The keystone’s effect on bosses spawned by Destructive Play adds an extra layer of strategy for those who enjoy pushing the limits of their characters. Empowering multiple bosses simultaneously can create a highly dangerous encounter, but the potential rewards make it an enticing option for experienced players.

4. Build Considerations: Not all builds are equally suited to handling the challenges posed by empowered bosses. Players may need to adapt their builds to include more defensive layers, increased mobility, or specialized damage types to overcome the heightened difficulty. Choosing the right build and gear is crucial for maximizing the benefits of Thorough Exploration.

Practical Application

To make the most of Thorough Exploration, players should consider the following strategies:

• Selective Engagement: Not every map or boss is worth the added difficulty. Players should be selective about when to use Thorough Exploration, opting for maps and bosses that are likely to drop highly valuable loot or currency.
• Optimizing for Wisps: Understanding the different types of wisps and their effects allows players to tailor their strategy based on the expected rewards. For example, maps with high item rarity bonuses may benefit more from Wild Wisps, while currency farmers might prioritize Primal Wisps.
• Team Coordination: In group play, Thorough Exploration can be even more rewarding if the team coordinates their efforts. Each player can focus on specific aspects of the encounter, such as crowd control, damage mitigation, or burst damage, to ensure a successful boss kill.

Conclusion

Thorough Exploration is a powerful and challenging Atlas Keystone in Path of Exile, offering players the chance to significantly enhance their loot at the cost of facing more dangerous encounters. By carefully planning their map clears and preparing for the empowered boss fights, players can unlock substantial rewards that make the risk well worth the effort.

As you delve deeper into the Atlas of Worlds, Thorough Exploration invites you to push your limits, testing your skills and strategies against some of the game’s most formidable foes. Whether you’re hunting for rare items, valuable currency, or simply seeking a new challenge, this keystone provides the tools to make your exploration truly thorough—and truly rewarding.