What to Farm in Path of Exile
Admin
Updated September 16, 2026
There is no single best farming strategy. There is only the one that fits what you can spend, what you want to earn, and what you can survive.
How to choose a farming strategy
Four things decide it, and they pull against each other.
Some setups cost a few chaos. Others cost close to seven divines every map. Some farms are one item and a portal. Others need an atlas tree, a scarab list, and a routine you follow every map. None of those things move together, so the right pick depends on which one you care about.
The safest farm is rarely the richest. But the richest farm is not always the one that kills you either. At the moment the best-paying strategy on this list is a mid-difficulty boss, while the hardest fights in the game pay well below it. So pick the thing you care about most, then take the best option in that column.
- Setup cost
- What one run consumes. This is the wall most players hit first, and it is the easiest one to get around.
- Profit per hour
- What the run is worth once you have paid for it. The biggest number is rarely the right pick on its own.
- Difficulty
- How likely the encounter is to kill you. A death mid-run turns a good rate into a bad one.
- Complexity
- Atlas trees, scarab lists, things to remember every map. Separate from difficulty, and often the opposite of it.
Here are the four short answers.
~38div/h
One Screaming Invitation, and a fight in the middle of the difficulty range.
~3chaos
One Coral Forest Chart is all it needs. The voyage is a hard fight.
~38div/h
The same one. Buy the invitation, open the map, fight. If you want a simple setup with an easier fight, take King in the Mist instead.
One strategy answers two of the four questions at the moment. That is unusual and it will not hold for long, but while it does, The Eater of Worlds Farm is the easiest recommendation on this page. What it asks in return is about half a divine every run, which is real money if you are starting from nothing.
The most profitable farming strategies
If you want the biggest number per hour, start here. Read the setup cost and the difficulty next to it before you commit.
| Strategy | Profit per hour | Setup cost | Difficulty | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Eater of Worlds Farm | ~38 | ~190c | 3 | Simplest tier |
| Fubgun's Ethereal Allflame Scarab Farming | ~37 | ~2,400c~7 div | 4 | Some setup |
| Low Budget Chart Voyages | ~31 | ~3c | 4 | Some setup |
| Strongboxes Beyond Demon Farming | ~29 | ~135c | 3 | Some setup |
| Simulacrum | ~28 | ~255c | 4 | Simplest tier |
| Uber Sirus, Awakener of Worlds | ~25 | ~37c | 5 | Simplest tier |
| Abyss Rare Monster Stacking Scarab Farm | ~22 | ~139c | 4 | Some setup |
The Eater of Worlds Farm tops the list off a single Screaming Invitation at around half a divine. It was losing money a few weeks ago. Its drops have climbed since, and the fight itself sits in the middle of the difficulty range, which makes this the rare case where the best rate is not attached to the worst fight.
Fubgun's Ethereal Allflame Scarab Farming earns almost as much, but you spend close to seven divines every map to get there. Most of that is Ethereal Allflame Embers, and they have kept climbing. This one suits a player with currency already cycling, not a player building a stack from nothing.
Low Budget Chart Voyages pays around 31 divines an hour off one chart worth a few chaos, which is the best return per chaos spent on the whole list. The voyage is a hard fight, so bring a build that can take a hit. Strongboxes Beyond Demon Farming is the gentlest way into the top of this list, at middling difficulty for under half a divine in Ambush scarabs.
Simulacrum pays a similar rate off a single item and no atlas work, and it will punish an unfinished build in the late waves. Uber Sirus is the best-paying of the hardest fights, at around 25 divines an hour for well under a divine in fragments. You just have to survive him to collect it.
The hardest fights are not where the money is at the moment.
Six strategies carry the top difficulty rating, and only Uber Sirus makes the table above. The best-paying fight rated a three earns more than any of them, and the weakest of the six barely clears zero. If you have been putting off learning an uber fight for the payout, there is no payout to chase at the moment.
Budget farming strategies (cheapest setups)
If you are starting from very little, these are the ones you can actually afford. All of them make money at the moment.
| Strategy | Setup cost | Profit per hour | Difficulty | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Budget Chart Voyages | ~3c | ~31 | 4 | Some setup |
| Budget Essence Farming | ~13c | ~21 | 1 | Some setup |
| The Maven Farm | ~16c | ~11 | 4 | Simplest tier |
| Infamous Mercenary Rushing Farm | ~24c | ~6 | 2 | Simplest tier |
| Uber Sirus, Awakener of Worlds | ~37c | ~25 | 5 | Simplest tier |
| Sirus, Awakener of Worlds | ~37c | ~15 | 3 | Simplest tier |
Here is what the three cheapest actually ask you to buy.
Budget Essence Farming
Essence Scarab ×3
~6c
Essence Scarab of Ascent ×1
~4c
Essence Scarab of Stability ×1
~2c
Budget Essence Farming is the one to start on if you are new and nervous. Around a dozen chaos buys you roughly 21 divines an hour and the safest farm on the list. The Maven Farm is a little more at about sixteen chaos, and the regular Maven is a much softer fight than the uber version, so it is the cheapest way to learn her. Once essences start to bore you, Infamous Mercenary Rushing Farm is about two dozen chaos a run at low difficulty.
If you have a few divines to put to work rather than a few chaos, the answer is still on this table. Low Budget Chart Voyages turns the smallest stake here into one of the three best rates on the site, and every setup in this section pays for itself immediately. Spending more up front does not buy you a better rate.
Why the cheapest setup pays so well.
The Coral Forest Chart costs a few chaos, which is close to as low as a price goes. That flatters the rate and it will not last. If charts recover, this strategy drops back down the list.
Easy farming strategies for safe, low-risk play
If you die a lot, or your build is not finished, start here. Difficulty is what matters in this section, not profit.
| Strategy | Difficulty | Profit per hour | Setup cost | Encounter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget Essence Farming | 1 | ~21 | ~13c | Essence |
| Stacked Deck Ritual Farming in Jungle Valley | 2 | ~15 | ~380c~1.1 div | Ritual |
| Infamous Mercenary Rushing Farm | 2 | ~6 | ~24c | Mercenaries |
| The Eater of Worlds Farm | 3 | ~38 | ~190c | Boss |
| Strongboxes Beyond Demon Farming | 3 | ~29 | ~135c | Strongboxes |
| King in the Mist | 3 | ~16 | ~49c | Boss |
| Sirus, Awakener of Worlds | 3 | ~15 | ~37c | Boss |
Only two strategies carry the lowest difficulty rating, and one of them is losing money at the moment. That leaves Budget Essence Farming. There is no boss. You crack essence monsters in maps you were running anyway, and nothing in the setup asks you to stand still while something big charges you.
Stacked Deck Ritual Farming is next for safety, because rituals let you reroll and walk away. It is no longer cheap to get into, though, so read the warning below before you commit. Infamous Mercenary Rushing Farm is far cheaper at a couple of dozen chaos, and it is the one to take if you want something other than essences. It pays a good deal less than essences do.
A step up in difficulty is where this section gets interesting. The Eater of Worlds Farm is the best-paying strategy on the whole page and it is only rated a three, which makes it the strongest option here by a wide margin. If you want the same difficulty for a smaller stake, the non-uber Sirus is a fight with a known script. Learn it once and it stays learned.
Watch the scarab price.
The Divination Scarab of The Cloister has kept climbing, and five of them now cost a divine or so every map instead of the handful of chaos the strategy was written around. It still makes money. It is also the number here most likely to move again, so check it before you commit to a night of ritual.
Simple farming strategies with minimal setup
For players who do not want an atlas tree rebuild and a scarab checklist.
| Strategy | Complexity | Profit per hour | Setup cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Eater of Worlds Farm | Simplest tier | ~38 | ~190c | 3 |
| Simulacrum | Simplest tier | ~28 | ~255c | 4 |
| Uber Sirus, Awakener of Worlds | Simplest tier | ~25 | ~37c | 5 |
| Uber Maven Farm | Simplest tier | ~17 | ~940c~2.7 div | 5 |
| Breach Dunes | Simplest tier | ~17 | ~76c | 4 |
| King in the Mist | Simplest tier | ~16 | ~49c | 3 |
The Eater of Worlds Farm is one invitation, open the map, fight. Nothing about the setup is complicated and the fight is not the hardest here either, which is why it wins this section as well as the profit one. Simulacrum is the same shape for a little more, with no atlas work at all, and it will still kill you in the late waves.
If you want a simple setup without a top-difficulty fight attached, King in the Mist is the cheapest way to get one, at around fifty chaos and the same difficulty as the Eater. Breach Dunes is one map and one mechanic for a similar price. Breaches get dangerous when you let them run long, so pace yourself.
Uber Maven Farm is still four Reality Fragments and a portal, but it now costs nearly three divines a run and pays less than half what it did a few weeks ago. It is on this table because the setup really is simple. It is not a recommendation at that price.
Simple is not the same as safe.
Most of the shortest setups on this list attach to boss fights, and the hardest of those are the ones asking the most currency up front. A boss you buy a key for needs no atlas planning, which is exactly why the planning is not what stops you.
Farming strategies to avoid
You would finish the hour with less currency than you started.
| Strategy | Profit per hour | Setup cost | What went wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vorana Logbook Expedition Farming | ~ −21 | ~2,110c~6 div | One logbook a map, and the run does not return its price. |
| The Searing Exarch Farm | ~ −19 | ~170c | Its drops have fallen well below what the invitation costs. |
| Uber Shaper Farm | ~ −5 | ~930c~2.6 div | Nearly three divines a run for a fight that no longer covers it. |
| Uber Elder Farm | ~ −2 | ~360c~1 div | The smallest loss here, but still a loss. |
These four are losing money at current prices. That is not a small margin or a rounding error. One of them, Vorana, is rated the easiest difficulty on the whole list, which is exactly why it is worth naming. Cheap to survive is not the same as worth running.
Two of these were fine a few weeks ago. The Searing Exarch Farm and Uber Shaper Farm both slipped under while nothing about how you run them changed. That is the normal way a strategy goes bad, and it is why the figures here are worth re-checking before you buy a stack of anything.
One more to watch.
Uber Eater of Worlds Farm is still in the black, but barely, at well under a divine an hour against a setup of nearly two divines. A small price move in either direction puts it in the table above. The non-uber version tops this whole guide, so there is no reason to take the uber for the money.
How to read these numbers
- Profit per hour
- Divines per hour at the current Divine Orb price of 351.70 chaos. If the divine price moves, every figure here moves with it.
- Setup cost
- What one run consumes, priced at the current value of each item in the setup.
- Difficulty
- Rated 1 to 5. How likely the encounter is to kill you.
- Complexity
- How much setup and bookkeeping a strategy needs, rated 1 to 5 and kept separate from difficulty on purpose. The two disagree often, which is why they get separate sections above.
- Accuracy
- Prices move every day, and item prices come from the most recent recorded value rather than a live trade search. Every figure here is rounded and frozen at the date on this post — treat it as a guide to the size of a number, not a quote, and check the market before you buy a stack of anything. Live figures for every strategy are on the top strategies page.