Path of Exile 3.28 Mirage brings a massive endgame overhaul, and with it, the currency farming meta has shifted considerably. This guide serves as a quick-reference tier list where you can at a glance see which strategies are good, which strategies are not as good, and which are completely dead. This ranking is the result of deep analysis and adapts to the current changes and meta shifts driven by the 3.28 update.

PoE 3.28 Mirage League Mechanic Tier List - Best Currency Farming Strategies (Early & Late Game)

Path of Exile 3.28 Mirage has brought several updates affecting the economy and viability of currency strategies. A particularly large endgame update has shaken things up, with Astrolabes and the Mirage mechanic introducing new possibilities and questions. Some long-standing mechanics have been nerfed or even removed, while others now benefit from fresh options or buffs. For example, fossils now only appear in the mine, meaning strategies around Delve are greatly improved. Other mechanics, like Expedition and Harvest, enjoy doubling effects from Mirage or benefit from auxiliary changes to atlas and scarabs. Conversely, popular options from past leagues like Harbinger and Blight have taken huge hits, rendering them obsolete for this league cycle.

While this list is based on the early league predictions, expect adjustments as more is revealed about the new content and meta. With Mirage and Astrolabes at the league's core, repeating encounters and strategic selections have never been more essential for profit.

S Tier / Must Run

Legion (Early League)

Everybody knows at this point that Legion is just king in the first few days of any league, and 3.28 is no exception. Six-links from the Genesis tree are nerfed, which means that six-links generated through Legion will be more valuable this league. Legion also received a new scarab which adds loot tiles to enemies around broken chests if they are broken out by that chest, and this could be very good. Overall, Legion should be stronger this league because of the addition of Astrolabes and the new scarab, and it remains the premier day-one currency generation strategy for anyone who can get their build online fast.

Kalguuran Map Farming

This strategy, originally pioneered back in 3.26, has received a massive buff this league. You can now do the juicy crop shipments with ores and more often, meaning that you are not pressured into passively farming shipments anymore and you are rewarded more for actively farming them. For this, you want to kill crimson ores, manipulating them in such a way to spawn more mobs whilst juicing for more maps. This is primarily a map farm, so those shipments and any chance at finding a Svalinn is a bonus. The new atlas may push higher-end maps to become dirt cheap this league, and if that happens, map farming strategies could fall out of favor, but overall, the crop-to-ore changes and the Mirage league mechanic should keep this approach performing well above previous leagues.

Destructive Play

The new void stone that causes final map bosses to drop exceptional gems, combined with the power of Astrolabes, turns Destructive Play into one of the most exciting farms in the game this league. Getting a fat buff to your drop table on top of one of the already best early game strategies is really nice. Maps being generic now also simplifies invitation running — just pick 10 good maps and run them with your generic tier 16 maps, no need to buy 10 different ones and no perfuffle at all. For those who just want to blast, good old Silo remains the recommended choice. Overall, Destructive Play is the best it has ever been, and guides by Anime Princess and Milky cover the full setup in detail.

Delve

For those who do not know, fossils got removed from every single source that is not Delve. Fossils are a very sought-after crafting material, and most people simply do not realize how many of them were spawned outside of Delve, probably a massive majority. There are going to be more fossils consumed than there are created, and the demand for these is going to be the highest it has been in roughly half a decade. Delve is going to be in the best state it has been in literal years, and that is not an overstatement. The supply squeeze alone justifies a top-tier ranking, but the fact that Delve is now the sole source of these materials pushes it firmly into S-tier farming for 3.28.

Cornucopia Harvest

The removal of Imbued Harvest through the Awakening Scarab deletion means that Cornucopia Harvest is now the most consistent way to farm life force this league. With the Mirage mechanic, you can also double dip into your harvests, which is massive for a mechanic that usually only gets one instance per map. Any mechanic such as Harvest and Expedition getting a second encounter because of Mirage is going to feel really good this league. This strategy is better than before because of the combined effect of Astrolabes, the Mirage league mechanic, and the removal of the competing Imbued Harvest farm. Guides by Buffalo Baron offer succinct explanations of how to run this efficiently.

Nightmare Boss Rushing

Tier 17 maps are now nightmare maps and they still drop Uber fragments. Even if nightmare maps are cheap, Uber fragments will still likely be worth something, because a strategy that drops loot which cannot be found elsewhere will always be worth running. You can pair boss rushing with a couple of strategies that you can passively complete on your way to the boss. There are complicated details like certain quantity thresholds for more Uber fragment drops and some other stuff that you need to know before committing to this approach. Overall, this strategy should be largely unchanged, although if nightmare maps are cheaper, a lot more people may do this and the profit could be a bit lower.

Catalysing Ultimatum

Catalysing Ultimatum shares similar strengths to the Inscribed version, though Inscribed is the stronger of the two. What earns Catalysing its own S tier spot is the chance for the brand new catalyst from the Mirage ultimatum, which increases the values of either all of your suffix or all of your prefix modifiers. This catalyst is expected to be very sought after, and that demand alone could carry the profitability of this farm through the early weeks. The Mirage double-dip mechanic and Astrolabe juice further strengthen the returns, even for players who do not land the new catalyst on every run.

Guilded Allflame Farming (Rotas)

If you want gold, the best way is to pay for a gilded rota, and you can do that through many different Discord servers. This is a straightforward approach that has remained the most efficient group gold farming method since it was first found. Not much changes about this in 3.28 beyond the general economy shifts, so it holds its S tier position through sheer consistency and accessibility. If you want to see what it is about, there are video guides that cover the process from start to finish.

Inscribed Ultimatum Farming

Ultimatum is amazing, and the new catalyst from the Mirage ultimatum adds even more value on top of an already profitable mechanic. The Mirage mechanic providing a second ultimatum encounter in one single map is going to be a massive buff, even without taking into account the new catalyst, and there should be some really nice Astrolabe juice alongside this as well. The main downside is that the primary ultimatum build, Cast When Stunned, was gutted, so it is going to be a lot harder to farm ultimatum this league from a build perspective. Despite that, the raw profitability should be better than ever, and content creators like E-Miracles will find any new cheese build quickly if one exists.

Alva Temple Farming (Late League)

This is only a late league strategy, relevant once people are starting to quit the league and they want to double corrupt their items, typically around month one and a half. Do not run this early on, as it is an F tier strategy in the first weeks when demand for temple corruption rooms is low. The value of Alva temples scales directly with the playerbase's willingness to gamble on endgame gear, so timing your entry into this farm is everything. Once the conditions are right, however, it becomes a reliable and profitable approach that earns its S tier placement in the late-game context.

Expedition (Early League)

With the Genesis tree and the rares received from the Gambler getting nerfed, Rog is once again going to be king of early-league crafting value. There is also a brand new Expedition scarab which increases the loot dropped and increases the modifiers on your logbooks, though it will also increase the difficulty of an already very difficult strategy. All of this combined with Astrolabes and the Mirage mechanic spawning a second Expedition encounter per map puts this strategy in a better position than before. However, it does fall off noticeably in the late league, dropping well below S tier once the economy stabilizes and Rog crafts lose their premium pricing.

Ethereal Allflame Scarab Farming

Even with the nerfs to percent more scarab modifiers on nightmare maps and Astrolabes not applying to nightmare maps, this strategy spawns so many scarabs that it will still be amazing. And if it somehow underperforms expectations, its price will adjust from being the most expensive strategy in the game to something lower, and it will still end up being profitable because the economics self-correct. It is yet to be seen if this approach will still want to be run on nightmare maps given the increased mob count versus the power of Astrolabes on tier 16.5 maps, but the prediction is that nightmare maps will remain the preferred choice. This strategy may not be strictly better than last league, but the price adjustment mechanism ensures it remains one of the strongest and most reliable farms available.

A Tier / Consistently Good Options

Breach Fortress Farming

Breach Fortress Farming is one of the most exciting new strategies this league. The way breach fortresses work is you use the Marshall scarab to turn any Abyss encounter in your maps into a fortress, and you spawn breach through the Hive scarab. You can guarantee Ailith as a breach spawn through your Atlas tree, and realistically you only need two scarabs to fully juice your breach, leaving three other generic loot scarab slots for Wisps, Risk, Nemesis, or anything else you want. Mirage may also let you double dip into the fortress, and combined with Astrolabes and that generic loot buff, this has the potential to be incredible and could rise to S tier with more testing.

Stacked Deck Farming

This method is perennial and straightforward, driven by Ritual and Cloister scarabs. There’s potential for Mirage to enhance this further if double spawning Closter packs is possible, keeping it effective for steady gains through div cards.

Big Boom Expedition

This is going to be an exceedingly hard strategy this league because the brand new scarab directly increases the difficulty of the mobs in an already extremely difficult strategy. Logbooks are going to be better to farm this league because of that new scarab, and overall you will earn more money, but you will need a very good build for this. Astrolabes at the high end will also pour on additional modifiers, adding more juice but more danger as well.

Calcification Essence Strategy

Essence farming is as comfortable as ever for steady profits early on. Mirage enables respawned Essences, and the mapping system lets you pick preferred layouts for easier runs, although the map craft loss is felt.

Unstable Breach Farming

By stacking resonance and loot scarabs, plus Mirage mapping, you multiply the number of currency-looking breaches. Rolling for high amounts of currency through whiffs is the ideal, aiming for Divine drops—especially early in the cycle.

Delirium Orb Farming

Delirium sustains its appeal; Mania and Paranoia scarabs boost the encounter, and Mirage allows for additional encounters in one map. Removal of some low-value marbs raises the chance for better drops, and simplified cluster jewel farming is a subtle early buff.

Containment Farming

Although scarab prices may shift, Containment’s ability to adjust to the market keeps it mid-tier. While changes to the Atlas tree and Mirage may reduce its efficacy, there’s always space for a profit adjustment.

Strongbox Pilfering Farming

Once the go-to for div card farming, this method is still viable, even if newer approaches have outperformed it. The potential for rare cards and loot means it’s worth consideration if you prefer maps filled with strongboxes.

Rare Mob Scarab Farming

While not as hotly contested as previous leagues, this remains viable, although other mechanics have overshadowed it recently. Its fate may hinge on future price corrections and ongoing experimentation.

Vesseled Ritual Farming

The best Ritual method and improved further by selective scarab buffs and Mirage mechanics. Expect strong performance even with shifting altar fragment prices.

Awakening Farming

The new Awakening Scarab offers unique boss spawning and gamble potential, but it’s risky. Correct planning and a tolerance for variance could make it a sleeper profit option.

Alva/Settlers Gold Farming

A reliable gold strategy for solo players uninterested in rotas. Mirage doesn’t stack with Alva, but glittering or guarded riches scarabs keep the returns decent—especially with the right Atlas passives.

Beasts/Svallin Hunting

Designed for speed, this method focuses on finding rare beasts on the way to Salon. Buffs and market adjustments keep it viable, especially as demand waxes and wanes for high-value beasts.

Settlers Ore Farming

Buffs to Settler crop rewards and the new refinement scarab smooth out or farming. While the best scarabs may remain rare and costly, the overall potential for big shipment wins elevates this approach.

B Tier / Situational or Niche Methods

Ailith Breach Farming

Best combined with other strategies due to limit of one Ailith per map. This is more of a hybrid play, leveraging classic loot scarabs and the ability to guarantee Breach spawns through the Atlas.

Betrayal

The consistent value from Allflame drops (especially Gilded and Ethereal) and a new consistency scarab keep Betrayal above water. However, Mirage doesn't interact with Betrayal, holding this method back.

Expedition (Late League)

Expedition tapers down later in the league as early rushes subside and supply outstrips demand, but remains solid for those who enjoy the mechanics.

Low Cost Ambush

Nerfs drag down Ambush's profitability, so while it remains accessible, it’s simply weaker than in previous cycles.

Ritual Farming

Consider this Ritual’s budget sibling—lower hassle, smaller returns, but a good fit for simpler builds and low investment.

Generic Map Farming

Straight map spam is outpaced by more specialized approaches as players seek value-adding mechanics and unique rewards.

Eternal Conflict Legion

A newly enhanced scarab rewards mobs around broken chests, but the value is diminished compared to more competitive Legion options in earlier tiers.

Meatsack (Thread Specific)

This approach relies on petal modifiers for massive Scarab drops, but changes to their acquisition may push this down the ranks, making it less controllable and more volatile.

Beyond Resurgence Farming

With new scarabs spawning multiple bosses per map, this can be a consistent, if not highly lucrative, approach, especially early on.

C Tier / Underperformers & Edge-Cases

Legion (Late Game)

Once prized, late-game Legion falls off as demand for its unique rewards and cards fades compared to premium league mechanics.

Alva Temple Farming (Early League)

Temple farming early on is almost never worthwhile, as double-corrupt demand just isn’t present.

Abyss

New scarab additions appear lackluster. Unless Astrolabes offer unforeseen support, Abyss is in dire need of future improvements.

Exceptional Rogue Farming

Still being tested, but initial impressions aren’t promising. It might move up as more data comes in or fall off completely.

F Tier / Dead or Irrelevant

Harbinger

Removed from the game. Once great, now gone.

Magic Blight - Major Nerf

Heavy nerfs to Blight explosions have devastated its efficacy, unlikely to recover this league.

Evolving Alva (Again)

A brief experimental favorite, but the mechanic has been reverted, erasing its value.

Imbued Harvest

With the awakening scarab and the supporting mechanics gone, this entire farm route is no longer functional.

Any strategy using the Awakening Scarab

Removal of key support eliminates all related routes.

Old Breach

Replaced with the new version, with no mechanism or returns remaining.

Kirac Mission Beast Farming

No longer available; mission removals mean this method is obsolete.

Tormented Legion Unique Farming

Removed from the league entirely, with overrated returns even when it was available.