Simulacrum Guide - Path of Exile 2

Simulacrum is the Pinnacle encounter associated with Delirium and can be accessed by collecting a set of 300 Simulacrum Splinters which will form a Simulacrum item.

The Simulacrum event features up to 15 Waves of increasingly difficult enemies, but players who are successful will be rewarded with piles of loot, including special Unique items and valuable Distilled Emotions.

This guide will cover how to access the Simulacrum event as a whole, including Waves, Modifiers and Bosses you'll encounter as well as the rewards and tips for being successful. There is also an attached video if you'd like to watch a full Simulacrum Difficulty 4 run which can be seen to the right.

If you'd like to learn more about Delirium, the mechanic associated with Simulacrum which is required to access Simulacrum, check out our guide here: Delirium Guide

Acquiring a Simulacrum

Players can access the Simulacrum encounter by collecting a certain number of Simulacrum Splinters in Delirium Encounters and placing them in the Realmgate.

In Patch 0.3, the full Simulacrum was removed and instead, players will only use Splinters to open the encounter.

• 50 Splinters: Normal Difficulty Simulacrum
• 100 Splinters: Cruel Difficulty Simulacrum
• 150 Splinters: Merciless Difficulty Simualcrum

Simulacrum Splinters are now used to open Simulacrums and the full Simulacrum item has been removed

Opening a Simulacrum

After collecting a number of Simulacrum Splinters, you can access it by taking it to the Realmgate on your Atlas

The Realmgate can be quickly accessed by:

1. Opening the Atlas (clicking the Map Device, or pressing U, then clicking Endgame at the top right)
2. Opening the Bookmarks button at the top left and then clicking the Home icon
3. Clicking The Realmgate just to the right of the Ziggurat Refuge

Placing the Splinters in The Realmgate, selecting the Difficulty and number of Simulacrum Splinters to use and clicking "Traverse" will cause a Portal to the Clearfell Lumbermill to open in your Hideout, or Ziggurat Refuge.

The number of Portals that open is linked to the Difficulty of the Simulacrum, which will be discussed later in this guide

After entering the Portal, you'll find yourself in the Clearfell Lumbermill, the location of the Simulacrum Encounter. This area is broken up into smaller arena segments of different sizes that can only be accessed during specific Waves of the Simulacrum.

Within the first arena area of the Simulacrum, you'll find the Strangely Familiar Entity NPC who displays the modifiers, and Delirious Effect of the upcoming Wave. Clicking him will immediately begin the first Wave of the Simulacrum Encounter

Simulacrum Waves Explained

Wave

Simulacrums contain up to 15 Waves of increasing difficulty. Each Wave of the Simulacrum will spawn swarms of monsters that need to be slain to fill up the Reward Bar and progress to the next Wave. The higher the Wave level, the higher the Delirious Effect, number of modifiers and monster density.

The Strangely Familiar Entity shows the following Wave number out of 15

Waves can be started by clicking the Strangely Familiar Entity NPC

Item Removal Warning

Make sure to pick up any items you want to keep before starting the next Wave as all items left on the ground will be destroyed upon starting the Next Wave

Reward Type

Shows the types of guaranteed Reward that the player will receive after completing the Wave. This is indicated by a small Distilled Emotion icon at the bottom left of the screen that fills up as you slay monsters. This is currently permanently set to "Delirium", which means the player will receive Distilled Emotions in addition to other normal item drops. In future patches, this may be expanded to include different Reward Types

The amount of Rewards you will receive depends on how quickly you are able to slay monsters. The more monsters you defeat, the faster it will fill. It is possible to get up to 5, 6, or even 7 Rewards during Simulacrum, which improve the quantity of drops at the end of the Wave

Delirious Effect

Delirious Effect increases the Toughness and Damage of all monsters in that Wave, as well as improving the loot that they drop. Delirious Effect will be discussed further down in the Difficulty and Atlas Passive Point Section.

Wave Modifiers

Each Wave of a Simulacrum will have a set number of modifiers, similar to Waystone modifiers, that increase the deadliness of the encounter. There are too many modifiers to list out in full, but there are some that are particularly dangerous:

• Monsters Deal #% of Damage as Extra Element - this modifier will make monsters hit significantly harder, and potentially inflict Ailment effects such as Freeze or Shock
• Increased Freeze Buildup, Ignite Chance, Shock Chance - Freeze can be deadly, but can be mitigated with a Thawing Charm. Shock and Ignite can also be deadly, especially Ignite if you don't have a reliable source of Recovery
• Monsters Fire # Additional Projectiles - more Projectiles, more damage that is harder to dodge
• -#% to Maximum Resistances - this will make you take more Elemental Damage
• Monster Damage Penetrates #% Elemental Resistances - particularly deadly modifier

Additional Modifiers will be added per Wave, up to a total of 5

Above is an example of the types of modifiers you might encounter during a Simulacrum (Tier 4) - Click to Expand

Layout and Arenas

Every few Waves, the arena area will change, forcing you to move further into the Simulacrum. Each arena has a different layout with some being more open, and others much more narrow and claustrophobic.

There is one arena that is a very tight hallway that is particularly dangerous, especially in higher Waves. Be extra careful in this arena and try to move back and forth, clearing monsters as you go and making sure you don't get swarmed.

Each new arena will have the Strangely Familiar Entity who can be clicked to start the next wave, but also your personal Stash, which can be clicked to access all of your Stash Tabs, items and Currency

There are two Simulacrum Bosses that can spawn that pose a real threat during these Encounters. These bosses seemingly spawn from Wave 4 onwards, after killing a certain number of monsters. There isn't clear information about when or why these Bosses spawn, but it does seem that they are more likely to spawn after hitting 4 Rewards in Waves 4+.

The two bosses are Kosis and Omniphobia, each posing a different type of threat. Slaying either of these bosses will greatly increase your Reward Bar and improve the loot you receive after the Wave.

Omniphobia, Fear Manifest

Omniphobia wields a large Axe and has several dangerous attacks:

• Swipe Attack: Swipes at the player with his Axe
• Leap Attack: Deadly. Jumps at the player, performs a heavy Slam where he lands.
• Multislam: performs three large Slams in succession, moving forward with each
• Vomit and Mortar Spray: Sprays out fire or vomit at the player
• Slam Attack: Slams the ground with his Axe

Throwing attack with Axes. Return. One is purple one is red. What they do, i dunno

Kosis, the Revelation

Kosis wields two large Swords and has a series of special attacks:

• Flurry Projectile: Rapidly fires out a series of Fireballs that explode on impact
• Lightning Beam Attack: Fires out a series of Lightning Balls
• Teleport Attack: Teleports at the player and performs a Slam attack that applies Corrupted Blood
• Demon Beam: Shoots out a black beam of death that deals high Physical and Cold Damage over Time
• Double-Weapon Throw: Throws out two Weapons that spin in place and return after a duration

Kosis and Omniphobia can also spawn together, offering an even greater challenge.

Boss Drops

In the 15th and final Wave of the Simulacrum, slaying Kosis will guarantee a special Unique item that can only be found in Simulacrum. For a full analysis of the drop rates in Simulacrum, check out Sirgog's Guide here: Simulacrum Drop Rates

1. Assailum
2. Collapsing Horizon
3. Melting Maelstrom
4. Perfidy
5. Strugglescream
6. Megalomaniac

Megalomaniac

Megalomaniac is a Unique Jewel that can drop in Simulacrum that has either 2 or 3 modifiers that each grant a random Notable Passive Skill Point. These items can vary wildly in value and usefulness depending on the Notable Passives they roll with. Below are some examples of the types of Megalomaniacs that you can find:

Examples of Megalomaniac Jewels - by no means are these the best, they are merely examples.

Delirium Atlas Passive Point Acquisition

You will now be granted Delirium Atlas Passive Points by completing various encounters related to Delirium. In patches before 0.3, you'd need to complete Simulacrums of increasing Difficulty, but now should be able to acquire these Points more easily

Simulacrum Difficulty and Cost

Simulacrum Difficulty can be increased by spending more Simulacrum Splinters at the Realmgate. Previously, Difficulty was increased on the Delirium Passive Tree

The Splinter cost has not been confirmed for 0.3 and will be updated once we have the full information. The above numbers are based on what has been shown so far

Simulacrum Difficulty Effects

Simulacrum Difficulty increases monster life, damage as well as the Delirious Effect applied to players in each wave, and affects the number of Respawn Attempts per encounter. Additionally, monster drops will be improved with increased Difficulty.

• Simulacrum Difficulty increases monster Life and Damage and improves their drops
• Higher Simulacrum Difficulty reduces the number of player Respawns per Simulacrum encounter
• Higher Simulacrum Difficulty increases Delirious Effect on players
• Higher Simulacrum Difficulties have higher Monster Level

The good news is that while in Simulacrum, you cannot gain or lose Experience Points, so you're free to test the limits of your build without losing and progress.

Delirious Effect

Delirious Effect causes monsters to deal additional damage and have increased Toughness, as well as granting monsters additional modifiers and abilities and improving their drops.

Toughness is an effect that reduces the damage monsters take, meaning that the higher the Toughness, the harder monsters will be to kill. A monster with 100% increased Toughness takes 50% less damage, 200% Toughness reduces the damage taken by 67%.

Delirious Effect increases by 5% per Wave, and the Difficulty of the Simulacrum will determine the starting Delirious Effect

As you can see there is a kind of double-dipping of challenge and reward with both Simulacrum Difficulty and Delirious Effect. Both will increase monster damage and survivability while improving their rewards. This makes the higher Difficulty Simulacrums a serious challenge for many builds, especially since you only get

Simulacrum will push your build to the limits and you should come prepared, especially at higher Difficulty levels.

Stun

Stun is a major issue in Simulacrum as you be hit hard by swarms of monsters. Getting Stunlocked almost guarantees your death, but there are some solutions

Stun Immunity

• Stone Charm will provide immunity to Stun for a duration after being Stunned. This is very high value in Simulacrums. Make sure to get good rolls on it such as #% increased Duration, increased number of Charges, Reduced Charges per Use
• Unwavering Stance also provides immunity to Light Stuns, but disables Dodge Roll

Stun Threshold and Stun Recovery

these two modifiers can reduce how often you are Stunned and Stun Duration.

• Flat Stun Threshold can be found on Belts and Boots and Stone Runes, as well as from Heavy Belts which have a % increased Stun Threshold implicit.
• % increased Stun Threshold can be found on Body Armours and Ruby Jewels. You can also acquire increased Stun Threshold from the Passive Tree with points such as Deft Recovery and Feel no Pain
• Obern's Bastion provides a large amount of % increased Stun Recovery
• Back in Action and Quick Recovery also provide a good chunk of increased Stun Recovery
• Abasement, Self Mortification, Asceticism are also useful Notables to allocate for Energy Shield builds trying to avoid Stuns
• The Normal Act 3 Slithering Dead Quest (Snake Venom Quest) can provide a permanent buff to improve Ailment or Stun Threshold

Freeze

Freeze is another potential death sentence in Simulacrums, but there are a few solutions

• Thawing Charm provides immunity to Freeze and will trigger when you become Frozen
• Dream Fragments also prevents Freeze and Chill, but is a very expensive chase Unique
• Ailment Threshold will also improve your resistance to Freeze, Shock, Ignite and other Elemental Ailments. This can be found on Passive Points such as Natural Immunity and on item
• Icebreaker is also nice for Energy Shield builds

Slows

Slows are also common in Simulacrum and can result in your character being trapped in bad positions where you can easily be swarmed and chipped down

• Unhindered and Freedom of Movement are two Passives that can reduce the effect of Slows
• Act 3 Cruel Slithering Dead (Snake Venom Quest) can provide 15% reduced Slowing Potency of Debuffs on you
• Wanderlust Boots are another great option if you can fit them in

Chaos Damage

Chaos Damage is common and deadly in Simulacrum, so it's important to make sure you're prepared

• Chaos Resistance can be obtained on most armour slots
• Amethyst Charm can be used to further improve your Chaos Resistance temporarily
• Chaos Inoculation will make you Immune to Chaos Damage and is popular with Energy Shield Builds

Corpse Removal

Monsters in Simulacrum do not leave corpses behind which can be a major problem for some builds that rely on corpses for damage or other utility effects, such as generating Charges. Be aware of this before you go in and plan accordingly

If you're looking for a build that is capable of handling even the highest Difficulty of Simulacrum, you can check out my Doomslayer Deadeye build guide:

• Doomslayer Deadeye Build Guide
• Doomslayer Deadeye Simulacrum 4 Clear Video

If you'd like to learn more about the Delirium Mechanic, check out some of our guides here:

• Delirium Guide
• Distilled Emotions Guide