01Overview
Maps are the core of the PD2 endgame: self-contained zones at area level 87 to 92 with random affixes that add monsters, experience and loot, and map events that drop extra currency. You open one by right-clicking it in Harrogath on Hell difficulty. That needs a clvl 80 character who has killed the Hell Ancients. Only one map or uber zone can be opened per game, so every map is a fresh game.
This guide explains the system. For each map's monsters, immunities and layout, use the map tier list and the individual map pages linked below.
Your first maps
Your first tier 1 maps come from Anya's Hell quest reward and from drops: they can drop from monsters anywhere in Hell, and more often in corrupted zones. Run the first ones white or magic, keep every map you find, and only start spending orbs once your character clears tier 1 without trouble.
02Tiers and maps
Higher tiers have a higher area level, stronger monsters, wider affix ranges and better drops. A map's affixes roll from the range of its tier, so a rare tier 3 map is far richer than a rare tier 1.
| Tier | Area level | Maps |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 87 | Ancestral Trial, Fall of Caldeum, Lost Temple, Phlegethon, Poisoned Well (new), Ruins of Viz-Jun, Sanatorium (moved from tier 2), Shadows of Westmarch, Tomb of Zoltun Kulle, Torajan Jungle |
| Tier 2 | 88 | Ashen Plains, Canyon of Sescheron, Descent from Mount Arreat (new), Fortress of Aranoch (new), Halls of Torture, Horazon's Memory, Pandemonium Citadel, Ruined Cistern, Sewers of Harrogath, Throne of Insanity |
| Tier 3 | 89 | Arreat Battlefield, Bastion Keep, Blood Moon, Demon Road, Kehjistan Marketplace, Kyovashad, River of Blood, Royal Crypts, Skovos Stronghold |
| Dungeon | 92 | Plains of Torment, Sanctuary of Sin, Steppes of Daken-Shar |
| Unique | fixed | City of Ureh, Djinn's Domain, Fallen Gardens, Imperial Palace, Na-Krul's Abyss, Outer Void, Warlord of Blood, Zhar's Sanctum |
The three Season 14 maps (Poisoned Well, Descent from Mount Arreat, Fortress of Aranoch) have no immune monsters this season. Kyovashad gained fire, lightning and magic immunes in Season 14.
Dungeons
A dungeon is made, not found: cube a tier 3 map of any rarity with a Horadrim Scarab to get a rare dungeon. Scarabs are an uncommon map boss drop, and a dungeon's final boss drops one about one time in six. Three rare dungeons cube into a new random one, and since Season 14 dungeons can be corrupted. Every dungeon has monsters with very high resistances in each element, so they are content for strong, well-geared characters and groups.
Unique maps
Unique maps have fixed modifiers, no built-in immunities and a special reward: City of Ureh drops socketed uniques, Warlord of Blood corrupted uniques, Imperial Palace a Larzuk's Puzzlebox, Outer Void uber boss ingredients. They come from regular drops (25% more often since Season 14), the Horazon map event and the 1% unique-map outcome of corrupting a map. They cannot be corrupted; only an Orb of Fortification or a Standard of Heroes can be added.
03Map orbs
Anya in Harrogath sells the map orbs. Each one is used in the cube together with the map and, for the rarity orbs, a cheap extra ingredient. The rarity orbs work on tier 1 to 3 maps only.
| Orb | Cube with the map | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Arcane Orb | + any Jewel | White map becomes magic (2 affixes) |
| Zakarum Orb | + Jewel + any rune | White map becomes rare (3 affixes) |
| Angelic Orb | + perfect gem + any rune | Magic map becomes rare |
| Horadrim Orb | + perfect gem + any rune | Rerolls a rare map |
| Orb of Destruction | nothing else | Magic or rare map back to white |
| Cartographer's Orb | + 2 more maps of the same tier | 3 tier 1 maps make a tier 2 map, 3 tier 2 maps a tier 3 |
| Orb of Fortification | nothing else | Half the monster density, but monsters have +100% life and +20% damage; +100% experience, +100% chance for extra items, +30% movement speed for players |
Infused orbs save cube trips: cube a stack of up to 50 orbs with their extra ingredients and they become infused orbs (Infused Arcane Orb, Infused Zakarum Orb, Infused Angelic Orb, Infused Horadrim Orb) that work with the map alone.
More map modifiers
- Worldstone Shard: corrupts a magic or rare map (not a white one), once per map. It always adds a corruption modifier: more density, magic find, an extra area level, more monster rarity or extra jewelry and charms on the good side; monster Deadly Strike, lower player resistances or physical damage reduction on the bad side. There is a 1% chance the map turns into a random unique map instead.
- Catalyst Shard: guarantees a random map event on a tier 1-3 map. Up to three drop from the Altar of the Catalyst event.
- Standard of Heroes: +10% experience, +20% density and +20% magic and gold find, one per map. It drops from the Uber Ancients.
- Corrupted Heroes ears: dropped by the Corrupted Heroes event, one per class. Each adds 10% monster rarity, 50% extra items and +100% monster life, plus a small bonus to one item type. One ear per map, not on white or unique maps.
04Keeping your maps going
Maps drop inside maps. Roughly 3% of the good drops from map monsters are maps, so a full clear usually pays for the next run. The tier of a dropped map depends on where it drops:
- in a tier 1 map, about two thirds are tier 1 and one third tier 2
- in a tier 2 map, about 40% tier 1, 40% tier 2 and 20% tier 3
- in a tier 3 map, an even third of each tier
Turn surplus into the maps you want: 3 maps of one tier cube into a random map of the same tier (3 magic maps give a magic map, 3 rare maps a rare map), and a Cartographer's Orb lifts 3 maps one tier up. Season 14 added a map tab to the stash for white maps and map materials, so there is no reason to throw maps away.
05Map events
Every map can roll an event: 11% for a white map, 22% for a magic and 33% for a rare map. Events are where a lot of the endgame currency comes from, which is a big part of why rare maps are worth the orbs.
| Event | What happens | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|
| Dark Wanderer | Turns into a random boss or super unique, up to three times | 4-10 Worldstone Shards (doubled in Season 14) |
| Shadow of Mendeln | Waves of undead | Always drops a Splinter of the Void in Season 14 (Rathma) |
| Treasure Fallen | Up to three treasure goblins that run away | Gems, runes up to Zod Rune, maps, orbs and crafting infusions |
| Spire of Darkness | Shadow monsters spawn around a spire | Uber keys, up to six per event |
| Horazon | Opens a portal to a map of the same or the next tier (max tier 3) with the same affixes and monster resistances set to 0 | Six maps from Horazon himself, each with a 10% chance to be a unique map |
| Gheed | A vendor with five unidentified uniques | Gamble a unique for 1 million gold |
| Altar of the Catalyst | An altar event | Up to three Catalyst Shards |
| Corrupted Heroes | Portals spawn invading heroes | A full set of rares and a Corrupted Heroes ear each |
| Treasure Vault (new) | Super chests, a loot boss and sarcophagi that keep spawning monsters | Chest loot |
Map bosses count as prime evils and drop Pure Demonic Essence (a Diablo Clone ingredient) and Horadrim Scarabs. Map monsters drop the uber sigils: Sigil of Madawc in tier 1, Sigil of Talic in tier 2 and Sigil of Korlic in tier 3. Season 14 raised the tier 1 sigil rate by 50% and the tier 2 rate by 25%.
06Juicing: which maps to upgrade
Juicing means stacking orbs, shards and Standards on a map so it drops more. It pays off when your character clears the map quickly and safely; a slow or deadly juiced map makes less than a fast plain one.
- Start safe: run rare tier 1 maps with affixes your build ignores. Move up a tier when full clears feel routine.
- Read every affix before you open the map. Reroll (Horadrim Orb) or scour (Orb of Destruction) maps with an affix that hits your build: absorb of your damage element, reduced curse duration for a curse build, physical damage reduction for a physical build, lower all resistances, or life drain and leech penalties for a leech-dependent melee build.
- Good affixes add density, monster rarity (more champions and uniques), an extra area level or extra items. More monsters means more drops, more experience and more map events.
- Shard last: a Worldstone Shard goes on a rare map you were going to run anyway. A bad corruption cannot be removed, so check the result before you open it.
- Fortify strong maps: an Orb of Fortification trades density for experience and extra items, which suits a character that kills fast but wants fewer packs, and it works on unique maps too.
Season 14 also raised the chance for high-end affixes on higher-tier maps, with dungeons gaining the most.
Immunities decide your map pool
Every regular map has its own monster set and immunities. Before you juice a map, check its page on the map tier list for immunes your build cannot break. Maps without immunities (the three Season 14 maps, unique maps, Horazon portal maps) are the safe choice for single-element builds.
07Builds that map well
Good mappers kill whole screens at once, move fast between packs and can handle the immunities of the maps they run. The top mappers this season: Poison Nova Necromancer, Bone Necromancer (magic damage, almost never resisted), Lightning Fury Javazon, Frozen Orb and Nova Sorceress, Fire and Cold Elemental Druid, Wake of Fire and Blade Sentinel Assassin, and War Cry and Whirlwind Barbarian.
The mapping tier list ranks every build with a guide. Single-element builds pick their maps around immunities; physical and magic damage builds can run almost anything.
08FAQ
Should I run tier 1 or tier 3 maps?
Whatever your character clears fastest without dying. A quick rare tier 1 often beats a slow tier 3 in experience and loot per hour. Move up when tier 1 clears are routine; tier 3 maps drop all three map tiers evenly, so they also sustain themselves better.
Are there Sunder Charms in PD2?
No. The sunder grand charms from Diablo 2 Resurrected do not exist in Project Diablo 2. To deal with immunes you use resistance reduction (Conviction, Lower Resist, pierce from gear and corruptions), a second damage type, your mercenary, or simply maps whose monsters your element can hurt. Horazon portal maps set monster resistances to 0.
Can I use the same orb trick on unique maps?
No. Unique maps cannot be rerolled or corrupted. Only an Orb of Fortification or a Standard of Heroes can be added to them. Since Season 14 a fortified unique map also gets the +30% movement speed bonus.
Does magic find affect map drops?
Magic find only changes the quality of items (magic, rare, set, unique). It does not make more maps, runes or shards drop. Map affixes and corruptions that add magic find work the same way: density and monster rarity affixes add more drops of everything.