How I Farmed a Headhunter in Path of Exile 2: The Ultimate Early-League Currency Guide

The Path of Exile 2 economy at league start is always a wild, high-stakes race. Prices fluctuate by the hour, builds evolve overnight, and strategies that worked last league can crash in value before the weekend even hits. Yet, in the chaos of the opening days, one player managed to pull off a feat most exiles dream of — farming a Headhunter by day two of the new league.

This is the story — and the method — behind that early-league success. From Legion farming and Delirium runs to the intricacies of Ethereal Allflame juicing, we’ll unpack every layer of this efficient, adaptive strategy and how it holds up in the wake of the game’s recent map quantity and Path of Exile 2 Orbs.

The Early Push: From League Start to Red Maps

The foundation of this Headhunter journey started with an Elemental Wander build, chosen for its speed and clear potential rather than top-tier bossing capability. In roughly four and a half hours, the character reached maps — a fast pace considering the late UK league start.

The initial goal wasn’t complex: unlock the new Breach 2.0 mechanics to secure a six-link item and start rolling currency while progressing the Atlas. This early focus mirrored the meta — nearly everyone was chasing the reworked Breach content for early profits and gear stability.

The player’s approach used a classic Atlas sustain setup, deliberately avoiding the Unwavering Vision node, which they called a “bait.” The reasoning was simple: while Unwavering Vision guarantees sustain, the scarabs earned through natural progression and trades more than compensated for it. By the time Tier 16s were on the table, those scarabs could finance major build upgrades.

Legion Farming: Building the Early Bankroll

After entering red maps, the first true currency farm began with Legion encounters — a tried-and-true method for stacking early Divines. Legion farming shines in the first days of a league when item supply is low, and even modest investments can pay off quickly.

Rather than full investment, the strategy started small: using the free Legion node on the Atlas and adding one Legion scarab for consistency. The chosen battleground was the Beach map, an ideal layout for Legion’s clustered encounters and open design.

A clever mechanic added player power during this stage: Sulphite vein buff manipulation. By clicking only two veins initially, the player maintained a strong one-minute buff, then refreshed all stacks by activating the third vein when the timer expired. Unlike Headhunter’s rotating buffs, these effects fully refresh, granting near-permanent boosts in weaker builds.

With a few Divines earned, the next step was gear reinvestment. This mindset — spending currency as you earn it — became a recurring theme. Many players hoard early Divines for long-term goals like Headhunter or Mageblood, but this guide emphasizes reinvestment: improving clear speed and efficiency yields far greater returns over time. Each gear upgrade enables farming higher-tier or more complex strategies, compounding profits exponentially.

Transition to Delirium: Profiting from Breach Synergy

With stronger gear and a growing bankroll, the next move was Delirium farming, particularly early-league Delirium orb and cluster jewel hunting. Unlike late-league runs aimed at eight reward tiles, the early strategy optimized around seven tiles for faster clear times and consistent returns.

The twist? Skip the boss if your build lacks the damage to finish quickly — efficiency beats completionism in the early game.

Here’s where the new Breach 2.0 system played a crucial role. Breach monsters now contribute heavily to Delirium progress at zero extra investment, making them a perfect synergy mechanic. Tower defense-style breaches generate additional monsters before the main encounter, boosting Delirium fog progress and resulting in larger loot explosions.

A key tip: open all nodules during these encounters. Each one spawns more monsters and significantly accelerates reward progression. Fortress-type breaches, however, are risky. Entering the fortress pauses Delirium as though you’ve stepped outside the fog — often killing your run’s efficiency.

The verdict? Tower and regular breaches pair beautifully with Delirium; the Hive variant is notably less rewarding.

Delirium Setup and Loot Results

The core Delirium setup used:

1 × Paranoia Scarab

1 × Maniac Scarab

A custom Atlas tree tailored to monster density and cluster jewel drops

The resulting loot leaned heavily toward raw currency, stacked decks, maps, and scarabs, but the real treasure was cluster jewels. Delirium orbs themselves were nearly worthless early in the league, so the focus was selling clusters through the new asynchronous trade system.

Small clusters priced at 5 chaos sold rapidly, while specialized or well-rolled jewels fetched 20–120 chaos. Within a few hours, this strategy produced roughly 10 Divines, which funded another round of gear upgrades — including The Taming, Death Rush, and eventually a six-linked Inpulsa’s Broken Heart for map-clearing efficiency.

Ethereal Allflame Farming: The Big League Currency Engine

After Delirium came the real moneymaker — Ethereal Allflame farming. At this stage, Allflames were expensive, roughly 80 chaos each, doubling shortly after. Despite the high entry cost, the potential returns made this method the core of the Headhunter grind.

How Ethereal Allflames Work

Allflames attach powerful effects to monsters, turning packs into loot-exploding machines. The ideal combination used:

2 × Ethereal Allflames (instead of 3 × to conserve market supply)

1 × Bloodline Scarab

1 × Betrayal Scarab of the Allflame

1 × Monstrous Lineage (later possibly replaced by Wisps)

Maps chosen were Tier 16.5 or Tier 17, emphasizing high scarab modifiers. These were purchased rather than self-rolled to save time and currency. Citadel maps were avoided, while Dunes remained a favorite for its clean, open design.

The supporting Atlas tree maximized map modifiers, pack size, and quantity, though the build was too fragile to include Delirium orbs or Settlers for Bismuth Ore, both strong later-league upgrades.

Results and Profitability

Each Allflame map costs around 2.5 Divines to run and yields 2–3 Divines in profit per map, netting roughly 60–90 Divines after 30 runs. Despite frequent deaths (reflecting immunity on Esh’s Mirror proved crucial), the efficiency and loot density made it the single most profitable solo farming method in the early league.

The only major caveat? Breach encounters severely reduced efficiency. Tower Defense and Fortress breaches spawn their own untaggable monsters, meaning Allflame modifiers can’t affect them — no scarab explosions, no extra loot. A centrally spawned breach could wipe out half a map’s profit potential.

One test in Jungle Valley perfectly illustrated this: with a fortress breach in the center, total drops capped at around 50 scarabs, when 200 + were expected. These interactions made Allflame + Breach maps unreliable without careful layout control.

The Nerf Question: Is Endgame Juicing Dead?

With Path of Exile 2’s sweeping changes to map quantity, tier 17 balance, and Atlas modifier effects, the community’s burning question was clear: Is juicing still worth it?

Surprisingly, the answer is still yes — though on a smaller scale.

Under the new system:

2 × Ethereal Allflame setup → ~1,900 scarabs per 10 maps

3 × Ethereal setup → ~2,600 scarabs per 10 maps

In the previous league, comparable runs yielded nearly double those numbers — around 17,000 scarabs in 30 maps. The nerfs have undeniably slashed potential profits by 35–50 % depending on setup. Yet even the “weaker” modern results remain exceptionally lucrative for early-league players.

The author summed it up best:

“Maybe last league was getting out of hand loot-wise.”

Indeed, POE2’s reduced multipliers seem designed to temper inflation without killing profitability. Earning 2–3 Divines per map remains a strong baseline, especially for solo players outside group-farming circles — many of whom are reportedly struggling even more post-patch.

Lessons from the Run: Reinvestment, Adaptation, and Awareness

Beyond the mechanical setups, three core principles drove this Headhunter's success:

Reinvest Constantly — Every Divine earned went back into the build. Each upgrade unlocked faster, safer clears and higher-tier content. Hoarding slows progression; reinvestment multiplies it.

Adapt to Market Shifts — As cluster jewels dipped in value and scarabs rose, the strategy pivoted. Early-league profits hinge on flexibility; stubbornly running outdated farms drains time and value.

Understand Mechanic Interactions — Knowing how Breach interacts (or doesn’t) with Delirium and Allflames saved countless wasted runs. Knowledge of spawn behavior, fog mechanics, and monster tagging can turn mediocre maps into windfalls buy Path of Exile 2 Orbs.

The State of Juicing and What Comes Next

Even with nerfs, juicing in Path of Exile 2 remains alive and profitable — just more balanced. Ethereal Allflame farming may no longer rain scarabs by the thousands, but it remains the premier solo method for building wealth in the early weeks.

Meanwhile, Delirium + Breach synergy offers a powerful mid-tier stepping stone, and Legion farming retains its role as the most accessible Divine generator for fresh characters.

The long-term meta is still evolving. As Allflame prices fluctuate and new builds gain traction, future optimization could reduce reliance on scarce items — like the potential discovery that two Allflames might outperform three in cost-to-profit ratio.

For players who struggled in this league, the takeaway is hopeful: success doesn’t require luck or group play. With the right sequencing — Legion for seed money, Delirium for scaling, Ethereal for profit — the path to your first Headhunter is more accessible than it appears.