Why Totem Builds Are Great for Currency Farming

Totem builds in Path of Exile 2 offer a powerful combination of safety, speed, and clear potential that makes them excellent for currency farming. By letting the totems do the attacking, your character can focus on movement and positioning, reducing the chance of dying and increasing map clear efficiency. Builds such as Ancestral Warchief, Holy Flame Totem, and Ballista Totem with Elemental Arrow skills have risen in popularity due to their consistent performance and low gear dependency. This makes them ideal for both beginner and experienced players aiming to generate wealth efficiently in the early and mid stages of a league.

Best Areas and Mechanics for Totem Farming

Totem builds shine in content that favors speed and area coverage. Mapping in densely packed layouts such as Burial Chambers, Strand, and Dunes is particularly effective. These maps allow your totems to cover large groups of enemies quickly, maximizing kills per minute and currency drops. League mechanics such as Expedition, Delirium, and Blight are also well-suited to totem builds. Holy Flame Totem, for instance, does well in Blight due to its fire-based area damage and autonomous targeting, while Ballista Totem builds can spread quickly across a Delirium-fogged map without sacrificing control or survivability.

Gear and Currency Investment Strategy

One of the advantages of totem builds is their minimal gear requirement for initial success. Players can start with a four-link or five-link setup using low-cost uniques or rare gear. As currency accumulates, investment should focus on scaling damage through increased totem placement, cast speed, and elemental penetration if applicable. Look for items like Soul Mantle, which allows an additional totem, and Kikazaru rings for curse resistance synergy. Currency should also be allocated toward acquiring efficient support gems and eventually upgrading to a six-link chest or bow, depending on the build archetype.

Atlas Passive Tree and Scarab Usage

Tailoring your Atlas passive tree around mechanics that favor density and rewards is a core part of currency farming. For totem builds, opt into nodes that increase pack size, improve shrine effects, or enhance league mechanic frequency. For example, selecting Delirium mirror nodes can drastically increase the number of enemies in a map, allowing totems to ramp up kills and loot drops. Scarabs can also play a critical role. Using Polished Blight or Expedition Scarabs in the right maps lets players encounter highly rewarding encounters repeatedly. Because totems require minimal active input during combat, it becomes easier to manage complex encounters and maximize profit without increasing risk.

Inventory and Loot Filter Optimization

To fully take advantage of currency farming with totems, make sure your loot filter is highly optimized to prioritize high-value drops like Chaos Orbs, Divine Orbs, and Scarabs. Reducing visual clutter lets you focus on speed, while audio alerts ensure no valuable currency is missed in the heat of battle. Additionally, always clear your inventory before launching into a high-yield map to avoid missing loot from full bags. Pairing totem builds with tools like Exilence Next can further help in tracking the profitability of each farming session, allowing players to refine their route and strategy for even greater returns.