The Idols

You are doing this right.
Im not sure if I like them yet and it is a strange reason.
The fact that they are positive results but a randomized pool is good.
In this instance the randomness is not as grating because it is randomly GOOD.
Much higher tolerance for the time wasting it introduces. Nice addition .

However because of the positive results it makes it harder for me to get rid of the things i dont like.

I never want to see Ultimatum etc..
This is the feature im am missing the most.

The Idols are not grating on me as much as i initially thought .

The idols are fine, but the time it takes to find one you like on the trade site and the very small response rate is just about the worst thing I can remember. I knew that getting rid of the Atlas passives would be horrible.

Now that being said, I bought 1c Jun ones and wow I got all the craftable mods unlocked quickly. Also I got Niko in almost every map so I got Delve in shape very quickly also. But once I got past those two it was and is horrible compared to the Atlas passives.

Now that being said (X2). The early game with Idols is much better than the Atlas passives if you know what you are doing. I had to really think about my strategy for a few days to come up with something that is enjoyable to play and cheap and easy to buy on trade.

The interface is kind of buggy though (at least on 16:10) :

(Closing Inventory fixes it of course.)

This is just mega copium. The idols just make the worst part of the game worse. The start of the atlas desperately needed the atlas tree. With it gone the beginning of the end game is almost as bad as POE2.

I see the time wasting element.
There is now a random element to success.

You need it to drop before you can even start.
But because it was only good potentials, its like reaching in a bag of candy.
You may not like what you get but it wont suck!

Too much of GGG game philosophy is to have 75% suck and 25% good and random select between the 2. Which sucks.

I can see the idols being carried over to the towers in PoE2.
Its a buff on drop as opposed to a deterministic selection.

It makes the games easier, it also lessens the depth of the game.
Im not a fan of random outside damage rolls and loot drops .. but i can tolerate this.

Ive already finished my Phrecia event adventure but Idols seem to be much better than scarabs.

I use some scarabs, rest is just hoarded in stash.

For time ive played i just added all i found into the box.

Phrecia League Idols are a mess. Randomness is fine in RPGs, but GGG took it way too far with this system.

Instead of progressing naturally, you're stuck rolling the dice endlessly, hoping for the right Idol to drop, or worse, paying three or four times your build's worth just to get a decent farming setup. And if you don’t get lucky? You’re either burning all your gold on recombinators or watching your entire farm plan collapse while Einhar mobs flood your screen and Syndicate ambushes ruin your runs.

Setting up just one solid farming strategy is already expensive, but switching to a different one? That’s another massive currency sink. At this point, endgame feels as bad as POE2’s, if not worse.

Maybe it’s a tinfoil take, but it almost seems like GGG didn’t want new POE2 players to see how good the Atlas actually is in comparison.

And sure, they added some “fixes,” but let’s be real—Faustus’ Idol gambling is just another gold sink, the vendor recipe is pure RNG, and Isla’s recombinator still forces you into a costly and frustrating cycle.

If they’re extending the event, they should at least give players an option to ditch Idols and use the Atlas normally, or better yet, restart the league in a month without them altogether.

Lovin the idols. Maps juiced as hell but I'm also finding decent ones drop in maps without buying them. Perhaps I'm not being picky.

Much prefer idols to scarabs though both is good too.

The option to use the atlas normally is to not play the event that's the choice the whole purpose of the event is to experiment & progression this way is apart of that which I like a lot better then the passive tree. I don't feel i'm forced to grind 24/7 7 days a week to hope I may have a chance to get to cross that threshold to be able to beat the pinnacles without trading like a madman because I don't got rngesus on my side with fossil crafting, recombinating, & just pure gambling. The issue with tiki idols is there aren't enough of them focusing on one mechanic only to make it feel rewarding ti embrace your choice of what's in your map.

I'd rather a 46% map drop chance idol then a get a point 2% & so on to stretch out to reach what I like then oh if I want good loot I have to by force take a certain path explicit nodifiers, strongboxes, & just let any other mechanic I may like be bad with it's rewards because I didn't spec into it. The passive tree idea is a mess & if they add new mechanics then they have to keep redesigning the tree's ui & path. In my opinion it's a waste of time idols simplify everything all around & the depth you talk about is in unlocking the slots so you can fit more idols to boost your favorite mechanic. Whats wrong with that you still have to beat every map to progress naturally as the road on the atlas & objectives haven't changed at all.

POE needs waaaaaaay less randomness, not more. Idols are a gigantic leap in the wrong direction.