Path of Exile, released in 2013, has seen countless exiles battle through Wraeclast to take on Kitava and journey throughout distant lands. The ultimate tell of experience during a PoE league is, of course, a player’s level.
After clearing Act 10 and the Epilogue, you’ll quickly find it difficult to level up at the speed you were earning XP earlier during the campaign—so much so that many are confused about the game’s maximum level.
What’s the max level in PoE, and how exactly do you reach it?
What is the maximum level in PoE?
The max level in PoE is 100, but I can guarantee you won’t be hitting it in a hurry. Most players will clear Act 10 at around level 70, after which they’ll begin hitting up the map device and mapping. Early-tier maps will grant a decent chunk of XP throughout level 70, with players expected to take on the higher-tier maps afterward.
But once you hit levels 85 to 90, you’ll find earning XP is much tougher as the level XP requirement increases exponentially. To earn enough XP to keep up, you’ll be taking on some of the game’s toughest content like The Searing Exarch, the Eater of Worlds, the Shaper, and the Elder. A single death here will set you back potentially hours of grinding.
As a result, many players will gear up heavily in the mid-80s with anything beyond level 93 truly a luxury only the most hardcore players will accomplish.
We don’t yet know whether leveling will change when Path of Exile 2 is released. We know the campaign will feature six Acts instead of 10, but the length of these acts may be longer.
PoE quick leveling guide: Reaching level 90
When I take on a new PoE league, my goal is always to reach level 90, which opens up most of my builds’ cluster jewels that give significant bonuses on my passive tree. As such, here are a few tips for reaching this milestone:
- Prioritize the main campaign missions, then return later to complete side quests. The passive points earned from the side quests are incredibly important but for now, you should be working on solely completing the game’s campaign.
- Be sure to keep your HP stocks up while leveling. It’s no good attempting the later acts with level 10 gear. As a rule of thumb, aim for 300 HP x current Act (so at Act Seven you should be at 2,100 HP).
- After completing the campaign, hit the map device hard. Once you feel strong enough to survive the early tier maps, augment them using Scarabs and modifiers to increase pack size. The more monsters to kill, the more XP you earn.
- Don’t die. Obvious advice, but losing up to 10 percent per death sucks and can wipe away a lot of hard work. Tank up and dodge everything thrown at you!
- Play efficiently. You don’t need to kill every single monster on each map, as this will cost you extra time. Push through a map, defeat a boss, and then move on to the next map.
- Ensure your movement speed is boosted. Using a Quicksilver Flask (40 percent) and a good fix on your boots (up to 30 percent) will mean faster map clearing as you’ll be quicker.
- Don’t be afraid to rework your build to better suit mapping. You can always use Orbs of Regret to reset your passive tree later on—prioritize on map clearing speed, then go back into specific builds.
