Path of Exile 2: Delirium Mechanics Recap
Summary
- Narrative Expansion: The Delirium mechanic is now integrated into a new storyline involving the ancient entity Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster, and Elder Maddox.
- Gameplay Overhaul: Delirium encounters feature a new depth meter, specialized encounters (purple/red mirror shards), and progressive difficulty.
- New Crafting Systems: Liquid Emotions can now instill powerful, unique notables onto amulets or be used to craft specific, hard-to-roll modifiers onto jewels.
- End-Game Progression: Players can consume “strange fruit” to spread fog across the Atlas, enter simulacrums of memories, and eventually face Tangmazu as a new pinnacle boss.
- Dedicated Atlas Tree: A revamped Delirium-specific Atlas passive tree allows players to customize their Delirium experiences, including modifiers for rewards, difficulty, and encounter types.
The Storyline of the Raven Trickster
After being tricked into releasing the ancient entity Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster, during Act 4, players must address the chaos caused by his mirrors. In the end-game, players will find Elder Maddox trapped in a trance within one of Tangmazu’s delusions. Upon freeing him, Maddox directs the player to the Withered Willow—the source of Tangmazu’s power—to track down a missing mirror shard and put an end to the entity’s influence.
Delirium Mechanics Overhaul
The Delirium mechanic has been significantly expanded beyond its original iteration:
- Depth Meter: A bar at the bottom of the screen tracks the player’s depth into the fog. Deeper progress yields greater challenges and higher-tier encounters.
- Mirror Shard Encounters:
- Purple Mirror Shards: Shattering these enhances nearby Delirium demons, making them larger, more powerful, and more rewarding.
- Red Mirror Shards: These transport the player into the “depths of the mind,” where they must survive waves of enemies to earn a powerful amulet instilled with two notables.
Crafting with Liquid Emotions
Delirium encounters now yield Liquid Emotions, which have dual functions:
- Jewel Crafting: These can be used to add specific, difficult-to-roll modifiers to jewels. Examples include:
- Liquid Despair: Adds Critical Hit Chance.
- Liquid Suffering: Adds Movement Speed or Area of Effect.
- Amulet Instilling: These add notable passive buffs to amulets, including unique options like Storm’s Rebuke (Armor Break boosts cold/lightning damage) or Calm’s Blessing (boosts fire spells after a warcry).
Reaching the Pinnacle Boss
To confront Tangmazu, players must fully embrace his madness:
- Strange Fruit: After defeating a reflected map boss at a Grand Mirror, players obtain a strange fruit.
- Atlas Fog: Consuming this fruit covers an area of the Atlas in fog. Maps within this zone become progressively harder.
- Simulacrum: Navigating deeper leads to a simulacrum of memories. Completing this proves the player’s worthiness, granting the final mirror shard needed to enter Tangmazu’s realm at the Withered Willow.
Post-Story and Atlas Progression
Once the initial quest line is complete, Grand Mirrors appear on the Atlas. Players can use these to strategically spread fog across the Atlas to farm Potent Liquid Emotions. These potent variants are exclusive to specific boss types and allow for the creation of unique jewel mods and powerful, otherwise unobtainable amulet notables.
The Delirium Atlas Tree has also been updated to include:
- Pause Nodes: Temporarily stop the Delirium timer to facilitate reaching greater depths.
- Modifier Nodes: Add extra Delirium modifiers to monsters.
- Reward Nodes: Modify simulacrum encounters to drop liquid emotions for crafting “Time Lost Jewels.”
- Spread Nodes: Allow the Grand Mirror to cover a larger portion of the Atlas, potentially encompassing multiple simulacrum zones.