[Guide] Path of Exile Best Farming Strategies in Forbidden Sanctum (Top 5)

Updated:

16 Feb 2023

In Patch 3.20, The Forbidden Sanctum, GGG reverted and changed a lot of older farming strategies that were the pillar of previous economies. As such, many are rushing to figure out the best currency-farming strat. This is a list, with a guide, of the best 5 so far, with the least amount of investment to highest.

5 – Map Rushing (Essence/Contract/Jun)

This is a curious strat done by AsmodeusClips, in which instead of even alcheming and chiseling your maps, you just rush through with Toxic Sewers, buying them in bulk, since they’re cheap, and rushing through the map, made easier without any modifiers from being a normal map.

It adds a lot of quick-to-do mechanics and provides some substantial and easy-to-bulk-sell material, like Essences and Contracts, as well as Shaper, Elder, Synth and Conqueror Maps, by completing the maps so fast.

It’s such a quick mapping and farming strat, that if you have good clear, you can clear the whole map in less than a minute, and in quantity, you get a lot of returns, like Corrupted Essences, which are selling like hotcakes for up to 30 to 40 chaos per, since you can’t use the Map Device this league, as well as Deception Contracts, which sell in bulk for 10 chaos each, easily and quickly.

How it Works:

You spec into all Essence, Heist and into Intelligence Gathering, as well as most Jun mission passives, in order to maximize high usage of maps.
With maps being so easy without the modifiers, you can rush through them without being hurt, while also being able to farm a lot of Essences in shorter amount of time, since you’ll be corrupting them every chance you get for the T0 Corrupted Essences (Hysteria, Delirium, Insanity and Horror). Of course, they’re often very hard and can kill you quickly if you have a bunch of horrible mods in your maps, but since you’re running normal maps, that isn’t an issue.
You’ll want to maximize the number of contracts you’re getting, so speccing into most Heist chances as well as getting as many Deception contracts means you’ll be generating a lot of contracts as well as Blueprints, and even some Fully Revealed Blueprints, which can go up to over a divine per if you hit a 4/4 Gem BP.
You’ll want Intelligence Gathering to get as many passive Safehouses as possible while not needing to always use Jun to gain intelligence on Catarina. And you’re trying to go for The Devouring Diadem, a coveted item nowadays, costing over 2~3 divines, if well rolled.

Video Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai0J7bYN1ec&ab_channel=AsmodeusClips

4 – Alc & Go (Legion/Expi/Harv)

The tried and true method still stands, though it’s much different now. Fyregrass’ method of generating raw currency is unique but logical if you understand how the new rare mob system works and how rewards are generated.

It is one of the most comfortable, no-brainer types of farming strategy, the sort that you can turn your brain off and watch a movie or a series on a second monitor or tv.

Though a lot of it is still experimental, it generates a lot of raw currency without the need to sell multiple items, which takes time, as well as being rather quick, depending on build power and clearing capacity, clearing maps in less than 5 minutes with multiple legions, expedition and harvest in it.

How it Works:

4 major mechanics: Legion, Expedition, Harvest, and Searing Exarch Altars (Red).
All mechanics drop a large amount of raw currency, and in Harvest, lifeforce is easy and quick to sell, and can be sold in bulk at the end of the day of farming for massive profit.
Expedition, you get a lot of Stacked decks, Logbooks, Artefacts (Tujen and Dannig for even more currency) and again, raw currency. Everything that is easy to convert into chaos and/or Divine orbs.
Legion rare mobs drop a lot of currency and can have multiple types of Rewards from how they work.
100% sustain without any other investment besides chisels and alcs.
Searing Exarch Altars drop a lot of mid-tier currency, such as chaos, regrets, unmakings, as well as the more valuable Eldritch Ember. All things that are easy to convert into pure chaos.

Video guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-4O9fgWKng&t=221s&ab_channel=Fyregrass

3 – The Infinite Sanctum

With the introduction of the Forbidden Sanctum, players are rushing to get their Sanctum runs as quick as possible, and as such, many people are developing strategies to maximize the number of Sanctum runs per hour.

This is a strategy similar to the first guide here, where you want to get in and out of the maps as quick as possible, but it diverges on the assumption you’re only going in and out as soon as you find the Sanctum.

This means you can get the full 8 Rooms saved up in less than 10 minutes and just keep rushing through Sanctums without issues.

How it Works:

It’s a very simple strat. You buy or farm a bunch of non-corrupted and non-mirrored T16 Maps, and then you Horizon Orb them. Since the map you want is a natural T16, Graveyard, you can get them fairly quickly with Horizons, with a ¼ chance per Horizon.
As you enter the map, find the cathedral and run around its perimeter. The Sanctum is usually surrounding it, and you’ll be able to find it quickly and effortlessly.
Since these are T16 Maps, you get the full rewards and loot tables, and the more Sanctums you do, the easier they become, as you learn their mechanic and gather good relics for your progression character and Sanctum-wise.

Video Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNzKzahiwWo&ab_channel=Grimro

2 – Blighted Maps

One of the most disliked but also profitable currency strategy, as Blight is a very controversial content for the significant community. This means that there is a high demand for oils without a lot of supply, which magnifies profits for those who like it and run Blighted Maps.

It is also a great league-starting currency strategy, as you need almost nothing to run them, besides a couple of oils to enchant your rings, so your Blight towers can deal with the monsters for you.

It has nearly 0 bar of entry, with substantial profits, and once you get the hang of it, you can do them in less than 5 minutes per map, using special Oils to speed things up.

The strategy is simple and rewarding, without a lot of clicking and thus perfect for a second activity while playing, like watching the TV or a movie.

How it Works:

You want to anoint your rings with ‘Meteor Towers create Burning Ground’ and another with ‘Your Chilling Towers Freeze Monsters’. These are the only mandatory gear pieces to complete the maps.
Try and get maps with closed layouts, narrow corridors, as this makes blight lanes converge into choke points, perfect for laying several towers and blocking a whole section in one go.
You want a Tier 3 Empowering Tower, a T3 Stun Tower, a T4 Fire Tower (Meteor, the one on the left) and a T3 Chilling Tower, all inside the Empowering Radius.
All towers must be in sight of one another, and you shouldn’t build them too far away from the pump, where you’ll be, as there is a range for tower activation.

Video Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL-fnUBk1BY&ab_channel=Lolcohol

1 – Skittering Delirium

This is a very high investment strategy, but also a highly profitable one. You’ll want to run 3-4 scarabs, Kirac Mods, specific Sextants, and 3 Skittering Delirium Orbs for maximum scarab returns and profit.

You can self-sustain on scarabs just on sheer returns from the scarabs themselves, and selling them on bulk takes no time, especially with the conversion of bad scarabs to other types, as well as upgrading Rusted>Polished>Gilded 3>1.

You also need a dedicated tree and mapping setup to do the strategy quickly and efficiently to optimize profits.

How it Works:

You want to run the scarabs: Polished Abyss, Breach, Harbinger and Rusted Strongbox. If you don’t have the 5th slot, just drop the Strongbox one. And for Kirac map mods, you want to run Breach, as it increases the amount of mobs significantly, and Alva whenever you have the missions.
The Atlas Passive tree focuses a lot on Abysses, map returns, Eldritch Influence and Altars, as well as Legion and breach nodes, with a smattering of good Delirium nodes that amp up the rewards.
A big part of how Delirium works is by stacking as many mobs as possible to fill up the gauge reward, and with correctly set up maps, you can go over 11 tiles, some as high as 13.
With Singular Focus, you can essentially guarantee to over-sustain on maps, but also generate a lot of secondary map drops if you favorite the correct maps for this strat, and since Crimson Temple is a much-coveted map, because of Apothecary Card (Mageblood), it’s a guaranteed source of income that you can tap in.

Video Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBdRIOPpbC4&ab_channel=Fyregrass