Zana and the Map Device

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Endgame Goals in Path of Exile

Delve League (3.4)

Part 2: Zana and the Map Device


Section 1: Introduction

Section 2: Our Goals

Section 3: Why Zana? Why Level 8?

Section 4: Leveling up Zana

Section 5: Normal Zana Mods

Section 6: Special Zana Mods

Section 7: “Elder Mod” Discussion


Section 1: Introduction

Players set various goals for themselves in Path of Exile. Some players want to reach level 100, some may want to make as much currency as possible, and others just want to create unique and interesting builds. One thing is certain: Path of Exile is not just 10 Acts. While some of the following goals are related to one another, each of them has a unique set of strategies and rewards, and each appeals to a distinct audience:

  • Mapping
  • Atlas Completion
  • Uber Elder
  • Magic Find
  • Leveling your Masters
  • Other Endgame Bosses
  • Delving
  • Level 100
  • Making Currency
  • League Challenges
  • Crafting an Item
  • Completing a Build
  • Making a new Build

In this guide, we are working toward two goals:

  1. Leveling your Masters
  2. Using Zana’s Map Device

Note:
In 3.5 Betrayal League, there are major updates to the Master System. The information in this guide will not be applicable in 3.5 Betrayal League.


Section 2: Our Goals

Leveling Masters and Using Zana’s Map Device

Leveling Masters means that we are working with the “Forsaken Masters,” with a specific focus on Zana and the Map Device. The various Masters all offer new crafting opportunities and new vendor options as they level up — the sooner we can level these masters, the more time we spend taking advantage of those opportunities. In this guide, we will aim toward leveling Zana and getting the most out of our maps.

Using Zana’s Map Device means that we will focus on understanding the various mods that Zana offers on her Map Device.  These mods offer us Quantity Modifiers, additional pack size, and the chance to add unique encounters to our maps. This is closely related to three other endgame goals: Magic Find, Making Currency, and Level 100. Because using Zana’s Map Device costs currency, this guide will lightly touch on the economy as well. In a Solo Self-Found environment, these costs need to be weighed against the chaos orb recipe and other opportunity costs.

This guide will only be a stepping stone toward those other goals.  No matter what your final goal is, you need to understand this important tool.


Section 3: Why Zana? Why Level 8?

We want to level up Zana for two reasons:

  1. Buying Maps from Zana
  2. Mods on the Map Device

Buying Maps
Whether you are playing a Trade League or in Solo Self-Found (“SSF”), buying maps from Zana is always helpful because it helps us work toward Atlas Completion.

Level 1: Sells Up to Tier 2 Maps
Level 2: Sells Up to Tier 4 Maps
Level 3: Sells Up to Tier 5 Maps
Level 4: Sells Up to Tier 6 Maps
Level 5: Sells Up to Tier 7 Maps
Level 6: Sells Up to Tier 8 Maps
Level 7: Sells Up to Tier 9 Maps
Level 8: Sells Up to Tier 11 Maps

As we complete the bonus objective on more and more maps, we have a higher chance of a map dropping one or two tiers higher.
For more information on Atlas Completion, check out the guide below:

Guide: Atlas Completion and the Road to Uber Elder

Zana’s Map Device
When we place a map in Zana’s Map Device, we have a list of mods available to us. These are extremely important, and often help to shape the entire economy in a Trade League. When there are good map mods, the currency for that map mod (often Chaos Orbs) become much more valuable. When there is no good “Chaos Sink” to remove chaos orbs from the economy, Exalted Orbs often become much more expensive, relative to Chaos.

This is to say that Zana Map Mods are one of the most important factors in your Endgame Mapping experience — it pays to understand what is available to you.

As we level up Zana, she will grant us 1% Increased Item Quantity (“IIQ”) in our maps per Zana Level, up to 8% IIQ at level 8. This is free, and has no associated cost. As we level up Zana, her Map Device will offer us more and more options for adding mods to our maps. These map mods allow us to do things like further increase our IIQ, “chance” a Headhunter, double-Beyond our fully-sextanted tier 16 maps, and more. We will discuss the Zana mods in more detail in Section 5, “Zana Mods”.


Section 4: Leveling up Zana

In order to level up any Master, you will need to complete Master Missions. Luckily, not only can we use teamwork and prophecies to increase the number of missions and how much experience we get from missions, but we also gain experience with Zana as we progress through the Uber Elder quest line. Let’s take a look at how we can level our Zana as fast as possible.

Prophecy: “A Gracious Master”
The “A Gracious Master” prophecy gives triple experience on any Master Encounter. The triple experience is additive with other bonuses, such as the “daily mission” bonus. If you have a Zana daily mission available, you can activate this sealed prophecy to put it as on of your seven active prophecies. Even then, the prophecy is not guaranteed to proc.

Prophecy: “A Master Seeks Help” (Zana)
The “A Master Seeks Help” prophecy gives double experience on a Zana mission – or for whichever master is listed. Unlike “A Gracious Master”, this prophecy comes in different versions for each Master, so you can buy a specific version in order to level up a specific Master. This will greatly increase the odds of you encountering a specific master in your next map.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
When you work together in Path of Exile, you put your goals in overdrive. Master Missions are no different: If you want the fastest progress toward Level 8 Zana, then you will want to share Zana Missions and Zana Daily Missions with friends, guildmates, and perhaps even with Global Chat 820.

More Maps, More Masters
Because Masters have a chance of spawning in every map, we can increase the chance of finding Zana by running maps as fast as possible. The more maps we can complete, the more Zana missions we will find.

Recommendations:

  1. Prophecies
    1. Run through your own prophecies as quickly as possible. When you have “A Gracious Master” active, try to save it (or seal it) until you find a Zana Mission.
  2. Sharing
    1. If you are in a Trade League, look for a “Master Rota” or “Zana Rota” in Global 820 (the chat command to join is “/global 820”) . These are “Rotations”: each player in the group has a Zana mission available, and wants to get 6 missions complete for the price of one. If you have a Zana Mission available to you and you are able to find a group of players for a “Zana Rota”, you are effectively getting 6 missions for every one Zana Mission you have.
  3. Progress toward Uber Elder.
    1. Unlike the other Forsaken Masters, Zana will grant us experience not only through Missions, but also by completing progress toward the Shaper and Uber Elder encounters. As we progress through our Atlas Completion and gather the 15 Memory Fragments, Zana will reward us with bonus experience. The Shaper and Uber Elder fights will both grant an enormous amount of experience toward Zana when we complete them for the first time. For more information on progressing toward the Uber Elder encounter, take a look at the Beyond Kitava – Uber Elder guide.

Guide: Atlas Completion and the Road to Uber Elder

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Section 5: Normal Zana Mods

The discussion of Zana Mods is economical. These mods cost Chaos Orbs, which can either be found from any slain enemy, farmed via the Chaos Recipe, or purchased from another player in a Trade League. Whether these mods are valuable to you is dependent on what your personal goals are. Nevertheless, these effects are very powerful, and are the backbone of your endgame mapping experience.

Each Zana Mod below represents a past league from Path of Exile. Unique items from each league can be chanced on their respective bases with a Chance Orb, and those same Unique Items have a chance to drop in a map with the respective Zana Map Mod.

Onslaught

Requires: Zana Level 2
Cost: 2 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 20%
Summary: Monsters have 20% increased movement, attack, and cast speed

Description:
At first glance, this Zana Mod does not look very appealing. It does not add monsters to the map, and only really makes the enemies move faster. However, because of the cost (2 Chaos) and the Bonus IIQ, this is a consistently good investment opportunity.

Bloodlines

Requires: Zana Level 3
Cost: 3 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 0%
Summary: Magic monster packs each have a Bloodlines mod, area contains more Magic monsters

Description:
The Bloodlines mod does not place a flat number of enemies into your map. Instead, it will modify any pack of magic monsters that spawns. That pack of monsters will be larger, and will all have a “bloodlines” modifier. The benefit here is that we have more magic monsters.

Magic Monsters inherently have the following attributes:

  • 250% Increased Experience
  • 200% Increased Item Rarity
  • 600% Increased Item Quantity
  • Can drop gear 1 level above its own level

If you are working toward Atlas Completion, you want your the monsters in your maps to drop higher tier maps, so that you can continue progressing toward the middle of the Atlas. By increasing the number of magic monsters in a map, you can increase the chance of getting higher tier maps to drop. For more information on “bloodlines” mods, refer to the Community POE Wiki.

Ambush

Requires: Zana Level 4
Cost: 3 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 0%
Summary: Area contains 3 extra Strongboxes

Description:
Unlike the Bloodlines mod, Ambush adds a flat amount of enemies to your map. Instead of 1000 enemies, for example, you might find 1100 enemies instead, depending on the map modifiers. Because this is a flat increase to the number of monsters in a map, and because you can use currency on a Strongbox to control its modifiers, Ambush is a relatively inexpensive way to invest in your maps. Players who are looking for special Strongboxes, such as Diviner’s Strongbox (Contains Divination Cards) or Arcanist’s Strongbox (Contains Currency Items), might consider investing in this Zana mod.

Fortune Favors the Brave

Requires: Zana Level 4
Cost: 3 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 0%
Summary: Selects a Zana mod at random from those available from the device, including options you have not yet unlocked.

Description:
Once again, this map mod is a question of economics. For the price of 3 Chaos Orbs, you can either receive something valued at 6 Chaos, or you can receive something valued at only 2 Chaos. Economically, the worst case scenario is that you receive Onslaught, which yields +20% IIQ for the price of 3 chaos instead of 2 chaos. The best case scenarios are that you receive mods like Harbinger and Beyond, which cost 4 and 6 chaos respectively. It is worth noting that Fortune Favors the Brave can yield Zana Map Mods that you may not yet have access to. If your Zana is only level 4, for example, Fortune Favors the Brave can still yield Harbinger.

I recommend that Fortune Favors the Brave is always a good selection at this price.

Beyond

Requires: Zana Level 5
Cost: 4 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 20%
Summary: Slaying enemies close together can attract monsters from Beyond.

Description:
Similar to the Onslaught modifier, this mod adds a 20% IIQ modifier to the map. Consider the Community POE Wiki for how Beyond works:

“When you kill monsters in close proximity to one another, small portals start to open; when you get enough of those open together, a larger portal opened up, spawning more powerful monsters. If those happened close together, an even larger portal opened up, complete with a unique boss that is designed to be extremely difficult to kill.”

The Beyond mod works well in a map that already has very dense pack size — if the pack size is too small, for example, you may only proc the Beyond portals a few times. However, if you have a dense tier 16 map with a high “Monster Pack Size” value, Beyond may be of more value to you. Note that if you roll a map with the explicit modifier of, “Slaying Monsters close together can attract monsters from Beyond,” then you can still use the Zana Beyond Mod on that map. The result is commonly referred to as “Double Beyond,” and it is very good for farming experience. On the other hand, “Double Beyond” also represents one of the more dangerous ways to craft your maps, especially in combination with other map modifiers, so be careful.

Essence

Requires: Zana Level 6
Cost: 4 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 0%
Summary: Area contains 2 additional Essences

Description:
This map modifier is fairly straightforward: two additional Essence Encounters will spawn in your map. The value of this Zana mod lies in Remnants of Corruption and Essence crafting. Note that the best use of a Remnant of Corruption is on one of these four Captured Essence: Misery, Envy, Dread, and Scorn. To remember this, think “M.E.D.S”, or “Don’t forget your MEDS!”

Nemesis

Requires: Zana Level 7
Cost: 5 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 0%
Summary: Rare monsters each have a Nemesis mod, area contains more Rare monsters.

Description:
The Nemesis mod is the counterpart to Bloodlines — whereas Bloodlines increases the number of Magic Monsters in a map, Nemesis increases the number of Rare Monsters in a map. Similar to Magic Monsters, Rare monsters all inherently have the following characteristics:

  • 450% Increased Experience
  • 1400% Increased Item Quantity
  • 1000% Increased Item Rarity
  • Can drop gear 2 levels above its own level

This map mod is popular because of Headhunter: this unique belt can drop in a Zana Nemesis map, and it can even be chanced on a white leather belt. Other than for this purpose, this mad mod is not very popular. The fact that Rare Monsters can drop maps two levels higher than the current map is notable, but if Atlas Progression is your goal, Bloodlines is a more consistent approach.

Note: While Headhunter can be chanced in maps that have the Nemesis mod from Zana’s Map Device, normal maps that have the mod “Rare monsters each have a Nemesis Mod” will not allow you to find or chance a Headhunter.

Harbinger

Requires: Zana Level 8
Cost: 6 Chaos Orbs
Bonus IIQ: 0%
Summary: Area contains 3 extra Harbingers

Description:
The Harbinger Zana mod (6 Chaos) is similar to the Ambush Zana mod (3 Chaos). Instead of three extra strongboxes that each contain extra mobs, we get three Harbingers that each spawn packs of mobs. Strongboxes can contain magic and rare monsters; Harbinger packs can also produce magic and rare monsters. The main benefit of the Harbinger mod is that Harbinger currency can drop from the Harbinger mobs.


Section 6: Special Zana Mods

In 3.4 Delve League, Zana gained four additional map mods on her Map Device. These are incredibly powerful additions: the impact that they have made on early league & Solo Self-Found Atlas Progression cannot be overstated. The ability to use Zana’s Map Device to possibly reroll one of your maps into a map that you have not yet found — this is a great quality-of-life change for all POE players. Let’s take a look:

Alternate of the Same Tier

Prerequisite: Zana Level 4
Requires: Rare map of tier 1-10
Result: Random Rare map of the same tier, excluding the map you placed in the device.

Description:
The best case scenario for this Zana Mod is at the beginning of a new league, or in Solo Self-Sound (“SSF”). Let’s pretend that you have completed all Tier 1 and Tier 2 maps, and you are working through completing your Tier 3 maps. You have done 9 of the 10 Tier 3 maps so far, but you have been unable to find a Leyline Map. Although most maps are part of a “3-to-1” Vendor Recipe, in which you can trade 3 maps of a lower tier to a vendor and receive a higher tier map, Tier 3 Leyline Map is unfortunately one of the maps on the Atlas for which no vendor recipe exists.

This Zana Mod, “Alternate of the Same Tier”, helps to address this issue. Although it is random, this tool still provides a 1/9 chance for you to complete a Leyline Map in this scenario.

Shaped Tier 1-5

Prerequisite: Zana Level 6, 5 Memory Fragments
Requires: Rare map of tier 1-5
Result: Opens a “Shaped” version of your map 5 tiers higher, randomly rolled as a Rare, with a chance to be Corrupted.

Description:
The most common use of this Zana Mod is to facilitate Atlas Progression early in the league. If a tier 5 map is “Shaped” as a tier 10 map, for example, then the map items that drop in that tier 10 zone will likely be natural tier 10 maps.

Shaped Tier 1-10

Prerequisite: Zana Level 7, 10 Memory Fragments
Requires: Rare map of tier 1-10
Result: Opens a “Shaped” version of your map 5 tiers higher, randomly rolled as a Rare, with a chance to be Corrupted.

Description:
The most common use of this Zana Mod is to farm higher tier content at a lower cost. If a tier 10 map is “Shaped” as a tier 15, for example, any map items that drop in that map will likely be natural tier 15 maps. This can help you to work toward Atlas Completion. Keep in mind that Magic Monsters and Rare monsters drop items that are one level above their own. In this example, a Magic Monster in a Zana-Shaped tier 15 map could even drop a tier 16 Guardian map.

Elder Tier 1-15

Prerequisite: Zana Level 8, 10 Memory Fragments
Requires: Rare map of tier 1-15
Result: Opens a “Elder” version of your map that is always tier 16, randomly rolled as a Rare, with a chance to be corrupted.

Section 7: “Elder Mod” Discussion

The Elder Mod, which takes any map and opens a tier 16 version of it, is one of the most powerful Zana mods that has ever been available. Previously, there were only two ways to run Tier 16 Maps: Natural tier 16s (Shaper Guardian Maps), or to use the Elder Orb on a map. To understand why the Zana Elder mod is so powerful, compare the Zana Elder mod to the Elder Orb.

Elder Orb:

Let’s use City Square as an example. You use the Elder Orb on this map on your Atlas, and it is now a tier 16 map. In order to run the map, you will need to either buy a Elder City Square Map from another player, or you will need to farm Tier 15 and Tier 16 maps until you a Elder City Square Map drops from an enemy. Once you have that map, you can craft it as you like. You can use 4 White Sextants and 1 Red Sextant on your map. When you place it in Zana’s Map Device, you can use any of the normal Zana Mods to make the map even more rewarding. When a tier 16 map would drop from an enemy, it could potentially one of five maps. If you have “uncompleted” the Shaper Guardian Maps on your Atlas, this tier 16 map drop will only drop as Elder City Square. However, if you uncomplete tier 16 Guardian maps, you can only have 4 Sextants on your Atlas at a time.

Summary: Harder to Obtain, but Higher potential rewards. You can craft your Atlas so that only this tier 16 map drops.

Elder Mod:

We continue to use City Square map as an example. You have a Tier 4 City Square Map, you pay 15 Chaos to Zana, and you receive a tier 16 version of City Square. While the Map Mods on the Map are randomly rolled, the monsters and loot are all at Item Level 83, so high tier maps will drop commonly. An Elder City Square Map will never drop for you, because that map does not exist on your Atlas; however, all four tier 16 Guardian Maps will continue to drop as normal. You can use 5 white sextants to influence your City Square map. You cannot use any of the Zana Map Mods to make the map more rewarding, because you are already using the Elder mod.

Summary: Much easier to obtain low tier map items, but lower average rewards.

Throughout Delve League, tier 16 Guardian Maps have all sold for about 20 Chaos each. In the following example, we will run 3 imaginary maps to replicate the 3x uses of a sextant. The relative costs of the following items fluctuate, but represent the approximate costs throughout the first month of Delve League. Let’s assume some costs in order to get a better idea of the potential value of the Elder Mod:

3 Tier 4 City Square Map 1 chaos
3 Zana Elder Mod 45 chaos
12 Chisels 6 chaos
5 White Sextants 7 chaos
5 rerolled White Sextants 7 chaos
3 Alchemy Orbs 2 chaos

The total cost to run 3 maps with Zana Elder Mod is approximately 68 chaos, before considering any Atziri Sacrifice Fragments* that you might also use for your maps. Throughout these three maps, if we assume that you will drop at least one tier 16 Guardian Map each map, you are recovering about 60 Chaos from your expenses. When you factor in other outcomes like currency orbs, maps, high tier items, and the current Delve league, the power of Zana’s new Elder Mod becomes clear.

*Atziri Sacrifice Fragments, when put in Zana’s Map Device along with a map, will add a +5% IIQ modifier to the map.


Running Maps and using Zana’s Map Mods is one of the most common ways for players to enjoy the endgame of Path of Exile. Whether your endgame goal is to get to level 100, to make lots of currency, or to enjoy a rich mapping experience, understanding the tools that Zana provides will help you work toward your goals. Good luck!

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