How to Farm Power Runes in PoE

Power Runes are great as they can either be used in Runesmithing to give your items a hefty buff or they can be traded away for priceless resources. They are themselves, however, priceless resources and not the easiest to acquire. Here’s how to farm Power Runes in PoE the effective way.

How to Get Power Runes in PoE

There are currently only two ways of acquiring Power Runes in Path of Exile. The first one is by successfully completing shipments via Kingsmarch, and the second is by beating Settlers of Kalguur bosses.

Seeing as Settlers of Kalguur is considered end-game content, you’re likely going to be stuck with the first method until you finish the campaign. Once you do finish the campaign and unlock the Atlas of Worlds mechanic, you can begin using the second method as well.

Method 1: Shipments

You can begin using shipments starting in Act 1, although, realistically, you’re not going to have the required resources to effectively farm Power Runes until Acts 2 and 3. Still, you should do it with whatever meager resources you have, as there’s always a chance of a Divine Orb dropping, as well as other precious loot.

It’s best to start setting up your infrastructure as soon as you get into the game. The initial shipping upgrade only costs 10 gold and 5 crimson ore and unlocks Riben Fel for you. Riben Fel mainly asks for wheat, corn, and crimson ore in return for random items, which is the perfect starting point.

The Settlements That Give Power Runes

Here’s a ranking of which settlements are the best for trading:

1. Ngakanu
2. Riben Fel
3. Kalguur
4. Pondium
5. Te Onui

Not every shipping settlement is an effective destination for farming Power Runes. Remember, Power Runes are random drops and not guaranteed. The higher the shipment value, the more rewards you’ll receive. However, if the shipment takes ages to complete, it’s better to just send multiple smaller shipments than one huge shipment.

Kalguur, for example, accepts the highest-value shipments but asks for the most precious resources and takes the longest to complete. Ngakanu and Riben Fel ask for basic resources and are faster to complete.

The catch with this whole system is that shipment value correlates to quantity but not quality. It’s true that you get more items from Kalguur than the other settlements, but not all of those will be Power Runes. Hence why it’s better to ship to multiple settlements rather than just to Kalguur.

Method 2: Settlers Bosses

Farming Settlers bosses is a riskier but surefire way of acquiring Power Runes. The only problem is that you need to finish the campaign first to be able to do it. If you feel like you’re not up to par to speedrun it, feel free to buy PoE currency and get the items you need to blitz through it.

Here are all the Settlers Bosses that drop Power Runes:

• Sasan, The Bandit Lord
• The Black Knight
• Admiral Valerius

Of the three, The Black Knight is the only boss who doesn’t have a specific requirement for encountering him. To fight The Black Knight you have to search for him in 16+ maps that spawn a Starfall Crater.

Sasan and Admiral Valerius have similar encounter requirements. To encounter Sasan you have to send out map runners and wait for them to get captured. For Valerius, you have to send out shipments and hope that pirates attack them.

Settlement Requirements For Farming Settlers Bosses

Method 2 is unfortunately a bit more demanding than Method 1. With shipments, you only have to unlock the first level of Shipping before you’re good to go. For farming Settlers bosses, you need the following things:

• A character that has reached the Epilogue and unlocked the Atlas of Worlds
• Level 7 settlement upgrade to unlock mapping and thus Sasan
• Level 7 smelting in your settlement to unlock Verisium Ore mining and The Black Knight
• At least a Level 7 shipping upgrade so that Valerius can start taking your shipments hostage

The best course of action is to begin upgrading your settlement’s infrastructure starting Act 5, so that you have all of the required upgrades by the time you reach the game’s Epilogue.

Tips for Farming Power Runes in Path of Exile

Optimizing and streamlining the Power Rune farming process is the key to obtaining the highest amount of Power Runes in the shortest amount of time possible. It’s not just about doing the previous methods but about doing them effectively.

Use Thaumaturgic Dust

Thaumaturgic Dust can and should be used to boost the value of your shipments. The amount of dust you use should scale proportionately with the value of the shipment. Aim to have 600k+ shipments enhanced by around 9k Thaumaturgic Dust for each voyage.

Send Multiple Shipments to the Same Settlement

If you have multiple ships you can send multiple shipments to the same destination. The only difference will be in the final payout. Every day settlements will have new resource requirements. If you meet those requirements, you’ll gain extra rewards for delivering those resources.

Make a List of Where the Best Mining Areas Are in Each Act

Each map in the game that isn’t a special encounter has a specific area where minable resources are located. Map a list of each resource’s location through the Acts and farm them as needed.

The amount of resources you get per act doesn’t change, what changes is the location of those resources. Prioritize those maps where the resource is nearest to the waypoint. That way you can more efficiently farm resources between the acts.