Delve is overdue for the mechanic fixing block.

Thanks to Atlas changes, Scarab changes, and various other fixes, it seems like pretty much every mechanic in the game has its place now. Which is an exceptionally good thing, and props to GGG for getting to this point.

The only exception to this seems to be Delve as of right now. There is absolutely no reason to go into the mines for character progression - it's pretty much exclusively a challenge mode for those who can stand the grind and are bored with uberjuiced Valdos/T17s, as deep delving is still the hardest content in the game by far.

So if it is hard, why is it so unrewarding at every step along the way? There's literally nothing to get out of pushing Delve that cannot be found elsewhere more efficiently.
Anecdotally, I've been watching Ben minmax his insane HCSSF Smite Trickster this league, and Delve is literally THE ONLY mechanic he has never touched, and is not planning on touching. He confirmed that there's nothing to be found there. He has used, or is planning on using, pretty much every other mechanic.

For the life of me, I can't understand how GGG thought Betrayal needed a rework, while Delve is sitting right there.

in ssf? maybe

in trade it seems to be a good, steady money

and the jackpot potential with drops is actually insane. im playing standard this league and since 3.26 (3 65k sulphite) ive dropped crown of the tyrant, 2 minion aggressive wands, fractured extra curse on a good base and 100s of resonators that sell instantly once i list them + countless curse on hit rings/mana reservation helmets that you can recomb or conqueror slam for new jewel/amulet


it is good money and it is steady money. if you can get down to 250-350 and explore sideways you are guaranteed to get good xp, loot and.. gold


i wouldnt say no to more 'special' nodes earlier than 500-600 tho - weapon/armour caches are mostly filtered out completely but I would not say that delve does not bring money

and for people like me - the freedom from map rolling/scarabs is worth a dent in profits

I did well over 200d in Delve this league, and I went straight down to depth 800, no side exploring. I'm already skipping cities if they don't have the Crystal King boss.

I probably only spent about 10% of this league's time in Delve.

Four socket resonators are 120c a piece they've never been that expensive before.

Glyphic Fossils sell for about 1.5d each in bulk.
Four Fractured Fossils go for 1d.
I sold 17 Hollow Fossils for 17d.
Crown of the Tyrant consistently sits at 25d to 30d.

Delve is quite rewarding this league.

The only improvement I’d suggest is reducing how long the nodes take to clear, and increasing the sulphite cap, it’s currently at 65k. Something like 250k would be great so I can spend more time down there.

For SSF, it really depends on the build. If you're playing minions, you basically have to go to Delve. Otherwise, getting a +2 wand is going to be very difficult.

As for HCSSF, Delve can be very rippy, it makes sense to avoid it.

Both responses showcase my exact point: There is no reason to go into delve other than to make money from nothing (which Harvest and Kingsmarch both do better, while also being high investment viable strats). Out of all the money from nothing strats, Delve is by far the worst. A single t16 Sacred Grove unjuiced is more money than investing vastly more time into Delve.

And as I alluded to, there is very little reason to spec heavily into Delve or invest into it (yeah, curse/minion items are basically the only thing that's "easy" to get there, and neither is meta rn), and all you get for doing it is resonator sales.

In SSF, it's absolutely worthless. Using Scarabs for it is absolutely worthless. Delve is so bad that its best usecase this patch has been using the node that converts sulphite to dust.

It is so far behind everything else that it's not even funny.
At the end of the day, the point remains: The best HCSSF character being crafted this league has needed, or will need, every mechanic except Delve.

so what is your beef with delve? that scarabs are bad? that it prints money 'from nothing' (?) - you claim it is not worth touching it - yet it prints money. so you are wrong here.

hcssf is a mode for a VERY limited playerbase, if it is bad for hcssf - sure, whatever, dont care

and curse rings are ABSOF..LUTELY meta right now - it is the cornerstone of soul eater build and these rings sell instantly for whatever price you name. same with rare fossils - some crafts without them are impossible to make

"

A single t16 Sacred Grove unjuiced is more money than investing vastly more time into Delve.

that is something only someone who knows nothing about delving can say

and you 'invest' into delve by making your character capable of deeper levels. no need to spend 1d on a map juice, you instead spend 10-20-50-100d to get deeper, to print more money

once you reach depths where you can get 2 Auls on the same screen and you see 5 time-lost fossil nodes at once you will know how delvers make money

Delve is fine, you just play it wrong

"

sidtherat#1310 wrote:

bla

Funny that you keep insisting I don't know stuff, I used to delve on 600+ for profit every league back when I used to play trade leagues (not doing leagues anymore, the group died out and I don't like leaguestarting solo)

The mechanic offers jack shit when compared to literally anything else. I do not consider praying for a good aul amulet or selling resonators worth my time, because any build capable of 600+ will demolish juiced t17s in seconds, and that yields incomparable profit in trade league. Let alone in SSF, where delve gives absolutely nothing, and doing anything else is better.

I like Delve.

There are other league mechanics that are worse,
breach - drops are poor and very slow.
and legion - is also poor

"

PrimordialDarkness#3913 wrote:

"

sidtherat#1310 wrote:

bla

Funny that you keep insisting I don't know stuff, I used to delve on 600+ for profit every league back when I used to play trade leagues (not doing leagues anymore, the group died out and I don't like leaguestarting solo)

The mechanic offers jack shit when compared to literally anything else. I do not consider praying for a good aul amulet or selling resonators worth my time, because any build capable of 600+ will demolish juiced t17s in seconds, and that yields incomparable profit in trade league. Let alone in SSF, where delve gives absolutely nothing, and doing anything else is better.

'bla'? is it 90s once again or something?

you are wrong. you base your delve opinion on a steamer doing one build:
https://poe.ninja/builds/mercenarieshcssf/character/Ben_-4007/Ben_Still_Clicking_MERC?i=19

this is melee slammer. sure you dont need delve for that - in fact you barely need anything (heist? alva? beastiary?) - all his items are most likely alt-recomb-spam, because slammers dont need anything else. this is one strengths of such builds (because top-end is bad)


you want to 'min-max' summoner without delve? GOOD LUCK :) like seriously, good luck :D

but enough about ssf-centric misunderstanding, its a side mode anyway



as for the profits, do whatever floats your boat, but if you want to convince GGG and provoke a change, arguments like 'not worth my time' are 'sure' way of getting there :)
you might have made some sense in Phrecia when idols gave azurite in industrial quantities, but in 3.26 delve is very, very lucrative once you reach deep enough

sure, abyss risk farm is better, but if you only want the best (because everything else is not worth your time) then.. its not my problem

Delve is especially good in depths 250-350ish. Money from nothing is quite fitting and you do not need a character that strong/expensive + you don't need to bother with the malicious t 16,5-17 mods... Maybe Harvest is slightly more profitabel in 16s, but it is known that ocassionally someone has "more fun" doing sth else like delve, even if it means 0.5 div/h less than Harvest in t 16, lmao

Delve has a certain charm..."oh look over there a mana curse noed, will it be the fractured item that is very valuable?" Like Heist has a certain charm even though it is kind of meh gameplay, lol