Summary
If your goal in Path of Exile 3.29 is to reach Level 100 as quickly as possible, Abyss farming offers an extremely fast alternative to traditional Breach XP farming. After the Abyss buffs, a highly optimized City Square setup can reach around 121 million XP per hour from Level 99 to 100 in testing, compared with roughly 90 million XP per hour for the previous Breach setup. However, Abyss is designed almost entirely around speed, while Breach provides better overall loot and additional profit opportunities. To sustain either strategy, buy POE currency and stock up on scarabs and maps.
Here is how to set up and run the Abyss strategy.
Why Abyss Is So Strong for XP Farming
The main idea is simple: sacrifice some loot and map interaction for maximum experience per hour.
Instead of spending several minutes inside each map, you want to enter, clear the Abyss encounters as quickly as possible, collect the experience, and immediately leave. This creates a very high maps-per-hour rate.
The strategy works particularly well on City Square, where Abyss encounters naturally travel around the edges of the map.
Abyss vs. Breach
Breach remains an excellent option for Level 100 pushes because it combines high XP with raw currency and valuable Foulborn rewards. Some Breach-exclusive drops can be worth hundreds or even thousands of Divines.
Abyss has a different purpose. It focuses on pure XP speed and requires much less interaction while clearing. If your priority is reaching Level 100 rather than maximizing loot, Abyss has the advantage.
PoE 3.29 Abyss Atlas Setup
The Atlas Tree is built around maximizing monster density and experience.
Take the Full Abyss Package
The core of the strategy is the complete group of Abyss nodes. These increase the number and quality of monsters generated by Abyss encounters, giving you more Magic and Rare monsters to kill.
The goal is not simply to create more Abyss encounters. You want each encounter to contain as many experience-generating monsters as possible.
Use Searing Exarch Altars
Searing Exarch is preferred over Eater of Worlds for this strategy because Exarch altar monsters appear immediately.
This matters when every second counts. Eater packs can take longer to spawn, while Searing Exarch encounters fit the fast, continuous nature of the strategy better.
Add Beyond and Delirium
Beyond adds another layer of monsters to already dense maps, making it a natural fit for an XP-focused setup.
Delirium can also increase the number of monsters inside the map. Since the entire strategy is based on maximizing experience rather than looting, additional monster density is especially valuable.
Scale Map Modifiers
Take Atlas passives that increase map modifiers and improve Magic and Rare monster density.
These nodes are important because the strategy uses heavily juiced eight-mod maps. The stronger your map modifiers are, the more monsters and experience you can generate during each run.
Best Maps and Scarabs
Run City Square
City Square is the preferred map because its layout makes the Abyss route extremely efficient.
The Abyss can travel along the four borders of the map, allowing you to follow a simple circuit rather than searching through a complicated layout.
This minimizes wasted movement and makes each map extremely fast.
Use Two Multitude Scarabs
The setup uses two Multitude Scarabs, providing 100% increased monsters.
This substantially increases the number of monsters generated by the Abyss encounters and is one of the main reasons the strategy can produce such high XP rates.
Use Three Abyss Scarabs
The remaining three slots are filled with Abyss Scarabs.
The goal is to make the Abyss encounters long enough to cover the four sides of City Square and generate as many monsters as possible.
The combination of Multitude and Abyss Scarabs is therefore the foundation of the farming setup.
Use Eight-Mod T16 Maps
You should prepare a large supply of regular T16 eight-mod maps before starting the grind.
Because these maps are completed extremely quickly, you do not want to stop every few runs to prepare another map.
Prepare Maps in Bulk
Keep around 20–30 eight-mod maps ready in your inventory or stash.
Use a filter to remove map modifiers that your build cannot safely run. The goal is to maximize map quantity and monster density while maintaining a fast and reliable clear.
The strategy becomes much more efficient when you can continuously chain maps without stopping to prepare them.
How to Run City Square Abyss
The actual gameplay loop is extremely simple.
1. Enter the Map and Start the Abyss
Immediately locate the Abyss and follow it along the edge of City Square.
Your objective is to keep moving while killing everything generated by the Abyss.
2. Clear All Four Sides
Run the full circuit around the map and open every Abyss pit.
Do not waste time looting normal drops. This strategy is built around XP per hour, so stopping to pick up small items will reduce your overall efficiency.
Continue following the Abyss until the encounter ends or the pits turn dark because all monsters have been killed.
3. Check the Final Chest
Do not open every Abyss chest immediately.
The most valuable opportunity comes from the final pit, where a Skitterbot chest can appear.
After clearing the final Abyss, quickly check whether the Skitterbot chest has spawned. If it has not, leave the map and immediately start the next one.
The Skitterbot chest appeared roughly half the time in the reported testing, although the exact rate can vary.
4. Optional Boss Kill
If you want some additional profit, spend a few extra seconds killing the three bosses in the center of City Square.
This can provide additional loot and Astrolabes without significantly disrupting the overall farming loop.
However, if your only goal is maximum XP per hour, you can skip unnecessary activities.
Expected XP and Profit
Testing from Level 99 to 100 produced an average of approximately 121 million XP per hour.
Individual runs can vary substantially because Abyss encounters have RNG. Some hours produced around 65 million XP per hour, while exceptionally strong setups approached 200 million.
The reported Level 100 push took 76 maps, although some XP was already gained before the test began.
This means the strategy requires a large number of maps even with an extremely high XP-per-hour rate.
Currency Income
Although this is primarily an XP strategy, it still generates currency.
Reported hourly results included approximately:
10 Divines per hour
13 Divines per hour
16 Divines per hour
These numbers included various random drops and valuable items, with the Skitterbot chest providing additional Scarab opportunities.
However, profit should not be the main reason to choose this strategy. If maximizing currency is your priority, other strategies can provide better returns.
Abyss vs. Breach for Level 100
Both strategies are excellent, but they suit different players.
Choose Abyss if:
Your priority is reaching Level 100 quickly.
You prefer extremely short maps.
You want a simple, low-interaction farming loop.
Your build can clear dense monster packs quickly.
Choose Breach if:
You want XP plus substantial currency.
Your build has exceptional screen-wide clear.
You want access to valuable Foulborn rewards.
You prefer spending several minutes in each map instead of constantly re-entering maps.
The tested Abyss strategy reached about 121 million XP per hour, while the Breach setup was around 90 million XP per hour at Level 99–100.
However, Abyss requires frequent loading screens and map resets. In practice, the gap can feel smaller depending on your build and how efficiently you chain maps.
Final Tips for the Fastest Level 100 Push
The most important factor is speed.
Do not turn this into a general currency farming strategy. Skip unnecessary loot, minimize downtime, prepare maps in bulk, and immediately start the next map after finishing the Abyss circuit.
For the simplest setup, use City Square + eight-mod T16 maps + two Multitude Scarabs + three Abyss Scarabs + full Abyss Atlas investment + Searing Exarch + Beyond + Delirium.
If your build can handle the density comfortably, this setup provides one of the fastest ways to gain experience toward Level 100 in PoE 3.29. Investing some POE currency into the right scarabs and map rolls will help you maintain the density needed to maximize your XP gains.
