Path of Exile 3.29 Farming Strategy: Kalguur Ore Nodes, Mercenaries, and Delve

Summary

The Curse of the Allflame league (3.29) has brought significant changes to Path of Exile's endgame, with the introduction of Mercenaries, the Luminary Ascendancy, and continued integration of the Settlers of Kalguur mechanics. This guide covers a comprehensive farming strategy combining Kalguur ore nodes, Mercenaries, and Delve content—a setup that has proven exceptionally profitable and engaging, though some players may still prefer to buy POE currency directly rather than invest time in optimizing these complex farm rotations.

Part 1: Why This Strategy Works

Kalguur Ore Nodes

Ore nodes are a simple, consistent mechanic that generates substantial currency and valuable tattoos. Each type of ore node offers different rewards:

Verisium (Veridian): Highest shipment value, best saved for last

Bismuth: Provides useful modifiers and extra mods on monsters

Orichalcum: Valuable for weapon crafting

Crimson Iron: Spawns many monsters, useful for map farming 

Petrified Amber: Good for jewelry bases

The variety between node types keeps farming engaging and prevents burnout compared to more repetitive strategies.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries, reintroduced to the core game in 3.29, provide two major benefits:

Currency Generation: Well-rolled Mercenaries can drop significant normal currency (Chaos, Divines) and can be worth multiple Divines to Luminary players 

Single-Target Damage: They provide substantial damage support throughout the map 

Mercenaries begin appearing from Act 3 onward. Before dueling, you can inspect their gear and skills, then wager gold for one of their items. Winning grants the selected item and temporarily recruits the Mercenary .

Delve

Delve synergizes extremely well with this strategy:

Fossils are highly valuable this league

The Allflame crafting mechanic creates strong demand for fossils

Delve is quick, easy, and provides consistent returns

Part 2: Map Strategy

Per-Map Checklist

Boss Rush First: Prioritize reaching the map boss

Fight the Mercenary: Engage when you find them

Clear Ore Nodes: Hit all available ore deposits

Find Bismuth Node: Prioritize when located

Key Rule: Don't full-clear the map before finding nodes. Move efficiently, and when you find a Mercenary or Bismuth node, make a beeline to it, deal with it, then continue.

Quantity Altars

Take all quantity altars from Eldritch Altar spawns. These increase the amount of ore you receive from nodes. Save Veridian for last—it's worth substantially more in terms of shipment value than other ore types .

Part 3: Scarab Setup

Recommended Scarab Configuration

Map Farming Alternative

If you want to farm maps (eight-mod maps specifically), drop the Enriching and Refinement scarabs and run:

Kalguuran Scarabs

Guarded Riches

Escalation

Corruption

This setup is more difficult than Abyss map farming but yields comparable map returns.

Part 4: Astrolabes and Map Choice

Astrolabe Setup

Temple of Astrolabes are highly recommended. There's no Kalguuran Astrolabe, so run Templar's Astrolabes instead.

Key benefits:

Extra scarabs from map boss

More currency from monsters

Chance for boss to be surrounded by Tormented Spirits

Bonus quantity modifiers (more bars, more sulfite)

Additional currency room at the end (averaging ~1 Divine)

Map Selection

Run any map you enjoy and can run hundreds of times without getting bored. Recommended options:

City Square: Great for boss rushing

Mesa: Easy boss, fast clear

Dunes: Open layout, high density

Cemetery: Solid choice in the bottom-left sector

Scry good Divination Cards onto your chosen map if it has poor card drops.

Map Modifiers

Eight-mod maps are mandatory—you want as much quantity as possible. However, Tier 16.5 maps are not required. The mods from chiseling or Tier 16.5s aren't particularly useful for this strategy—regular corrupted eight-mod maps work fine.

Part 5: Atlas Passive Tree

Core Setup

Taking all Kalguur nodes - complete the wheel.

Delve nodes - grab the relevant nodes for sulfite and rewards.

No blocking mechanics - this strategy doesn't focus on scarab farming.

Map Mod Effect Stacking

Take:

Mounting Modifiers

Multiplying Modifiers

The whole "top hat" wheel

Astrolabe Support

Take Synthesized Stability (5 points) to spam-run one map without bouncing around. This is worth the investment if running an Astrolabe setup.

Key Kalguur Notables

Skip: The node that increases Crimson Iron spawns (low value, very common) unless specifically farming eight-mod maps.

Speaker of the Dead and Unrelenting Torment

Because Templar's Astrolabes occasionally cause the boss to be surrounded by Tormented Spirits, take these nodes to convert them into buffs instead of fighting an uber-difficult boss.

Seance Option

Seance gives a chance for possessed monster items to be converted directly to Thaumaturgic Dust. This can be valuable—T0 uniques like Lioneye's Glare can be quality'd and disenchanted for millions of dust. Drop points from Mercenary nodes if you want to take Seance instead.

Part 6: Refiner's Bargain and Delve Synergy

The Core Interaction

Refiner's Bargain converts Sulfite found in maps to random ore at 10% of value.

When combined with:

Scarab of Refinement: Converts ore directly into bars

Mining Byproducts: 15% chance to double Sulfite

Delve tree bonuses: Increased Sulfite from various sources

...you're adding 3-8,000 bars per map on average. This is roughly a 30% increase in bar yield, on top of the move speed, damage, and max all res from Delve nodes.

Getting Sulfite

Since you're converting Sulfite to bars, you still need a source:

Sulfite Infusion: 1,000 Sulfite for completing a map

Guarded Hordes: Adds extra monsters that drop Sulfite

If you don't care about Delve, drop these nodes and reinvest the points elsewhere.

Part 7: Mercenary Nodes

Core Mercenary Setup

Take nodes to make Mercenaries show up in maps. Key investments:

Trade-off: These four points are worth giving up Seance (possessed monster dust conversion). If you don't care about Mercenaries, drop these points and take Seance instead.

Part 8: Shipping and Reward Optimization

Shipment Basics

4-Million Shipments are the sweet spot. Send to Karui Point ports (green flags) for tattoos, or Kalguur ports (black flags) for runes.

Ore vs. Bars

Never ship raw ore—always smelt it into bars first. Bars are worth 5x ores for port quotas and roughly 4x for total shipment value .

Dust Strategy

Do not send dust with crops—it's not worth it. However, you do want to send dust with ore bars. Send an equal amount of dust to the shipment value of bars to maximize rewards.

Example: For a 4-million shipment, send 4 million worth of bars + 4 million dust. The dust doesn't count toward tattoo rewards but multiplies your currency returns.

Port Selection for Rewards

Different ports reward different tattoo types :

Room grafts can also be valuable—check the wiki's port table for current market values.

Alternative Shipment Sizes

17-Million Shipments: 8.5M bars + 8.5M dust—popular for mirror shard fishing 

50-Million Shipments: Maximum value—mixed results in recent leagues

Port Quotas vs. Optimization

Ignore port quotas for optimal currency gains unless you're in SSF. Focus on sending what's most profitable for your target rewards .

Summary: Complete Strategy Checklist

This strategy combines multiple mechanics into a cohesive farming loop that remains engaging through variety while generating substantial currency. The synergy between Kalguur nodes, Mercenaries, and Delve creates consistent returns without requiring excessive investment, making it an ideal approach for players who want to avoid relying on external sources for cheap POE currency—though for those who do prefer a faster shortcut, MMOEXP is often mentioned in community discussions as a go-to platform for affordable transactions, it's worth remembering that mastering this farming loop can yield comparable results through gameplay alone.