Summary
Patch 3.29.2 significantly buffed Abyss with increased item quantity from elite monsters, more Abyss spawns, and a reworked Abyssal Crystal scarab. Testing shows Abyss is now a solid mid-tier strategy generating 25-30 divines per hour once scarab prices normalize. The two main strategies are propagation farming (duplicating rare monster mods) and raw currency farming (fast maps with high monster count). While Abyss feels better than before, it's not game-breaking—expect consistent but not insane returns. To get started, buy POE currency and grab the scarabs and maps you need.
What Changed in Patch 3.29.2
Elite Monster Loot Buff
Elite Abyss monsters now drop significantly more items and grant more experience. This means rare Abyss monsters are much more rewarding than before.
More Abysses Per Map
The modifier "area contains twice as many Abyss pits" now applies to all sources of additional Abysses, not just the base number. Previously, additional Abyss sources didn't benefit from this multiplier. Now they do, resulting in more Abysses per map on average.
Abyssal Crystal Scarab Rework
The Abyssal Crystal Scarab now creates a crystal on every non-final pit. Previously, it only had a chance to spawn. The crystal increases difficulty and reward for all Abyssal monsters spawned from the pits. This is a significant buff to the scarab, but the trade-off is that it reduces chest spawns—which were already buffed last week.
League Mechanic Improvements
The underwater league mechanic received UI improvements in this patch. Additional buffs are planned for next week, adding rarity and quantity modifiers similar to voidstones specifically for the league mechanic.
Abyss After the Buffs: Is It Worth It?
Overall Assessment
The buffs made Abyss approximately 20% better than before. It's not game-breaking, but it's now a solid mid-tier strategy. With scarab prices normalized, you can expect 25-30 divines per hour.
Current Issues
Scarab prices spiked due to hype, making the current divines-per-hour lower than it should be. The magic monsters still drop almost no loot—only rares are rewarding. The Abyssal Crystal scarab's trade-off with chest spawns also hurts its overall value.
Strategy 1: Propagation Farming
How It Works
This strategy propagates rare monster modifiers onto Abyss rares. Kill a rare monster near an Abyss pit, and the pit spawns another rare with the same modifiers, effectively duplicating the number of high-mod rares.
The reason this works well is that Abyss rares copy the stats from the original rare you kill near them. If you kill a 20-mod rare on top of an Abyss pit, the pit spawns another 20-mod rare, essentially duplicating the amount of 20-plus mod rares you're generating.
Scarab Setup
The recommended setup is:
2x Nemesis Scarabs - Adds extra rare monsters with additional modifiers
1x Scarab of Offline - Increases rare monster spawns
1x Propagation Scarab - Propagates rare monster modifiers to Abyss rares
1x Risk Scarab or Wisp Scarab
Risk Scarab is currently half a divine. Use Wisp if Risk is too expensive—Wisp is about 10 times cheaper and still effective.
Map Choice
City Square is excellent for Abyss due to its layout and density. The map's open areas allow Abyss pits to spawn in convenient locations.
Atlas Setup
Take all Abyss nodes, Beyond nodes for extra monsters, and shaping nodes for more rare monsters. Scarab nodes are minimal—just Ample Artifacts and Remarkable Relics.
Profit Potential
This strategy generates 25-30 divines per hour. It's better early in the league when six-links and fusions have more value—around day three or four, these items are worth significantly more than they are two to three weeks into the league.
Drop Examples
In testing, the strategy produced frequent divine orb drops, high-value scarabs, fractures, and many six-link items. Abyss chests also dropped substantial loot, including divines and valuable currency.
Strategy 2: Raw Currency Abyss
How It Works
This strategy focuses on fast maps with high monster count for raw currency drops. It's designed for speed rather than rare duplication.
Scarab Setup
2x Nemesis Scarabs
1x Scarab of Multitudes
1x Abyss Scarab
1x Wisp Scarab
This setup may be adjusted—some players may prefer two Multitudes scarabs instead of the Abyss scarab, or two Wisp scarabs. There is room for experimentation.
Map Choice
Dunes is ideal due to its wide-open layout, allowing extremely fast map clearing. City Square also works well.
Atlas Setup
Focus on raw monster count. Take all Beyond nodes, shaping nodes for more rares, and all Abyss nodes. Scarab nodes are minimal.
Profit Potential
This strategy has potential for 25-30 divines per hour when optimized with fast maps. More testing is needed to confirm the exact returns, but early results are promising.
Map Rolling Strategy
Propagation Strategy
Roll maps for high more scarab mods or high rarity since the strategy spawns many uniques. Uniques are a significant part of the profit from this strategy.
Raw Currency Strategy
Roll maps for high more currency mods to maximize raw currency drops from the high monster count.
Pros and Cons of Abyss Farming
Pros
Consistent returns - Generates reliable 25-30 divines per hour once scarab prices stabilize
Two viable strategies - Propagation for unique drops and scarabs, raw currency for fast maps
Satisfying gameplay - Many players find Abyss fun to run
Good map layouts - City Square and Dunes work very well with Abyss
Cons
Scarab price volatility - Prices spiked after the patch and may remain high
Magic monsters are unrewarding - Only rare monsters drop significant loot
Abyssal Crystal scarab trade-off - Reduces chest spawns, which were buffed last week
Not game-breaking - A solid mid-tier strategy, but not the insane farm some hoped for
Final Thoughts
Abyss is now a decent farming strategy in Patch 3.29.2. It's better than before, but not the insane farm some were hoping for. Both propagation and raw currency strategies can generate 25-30 divines per hour once scarab prices stabilize.
The main issues remain: magic monsters still drop almost no loot, and the Abyssal Crystal scarab's trade-off with chest spawns hurts its value. Still, Abyss is now a fun and viable mid-tier option. Use POE currency to cover scarab costs and smooth out dry streaks.
