Quick Build Starter Temple
Temples in Path of Exile 2 have been rebalanced and buffed in ways that change how layouts perform. The most important shifts are toward making upgrade chains more reliable, restoring some medallion interactions, and softening the most punishing single‑point failures that used to make optimized layouts fragile. The result is a meta where carefully planned temple layouts can produce consistent returns, and where both complex “Russian tech” chains and simpler starter templates have clear, distinct roles.
At the core of every successful temple run are three interlocking concepts: room synergy, medallion placement, and redundancy. Rooms that upgrade into each other create compounding value; medallions lock the most critical rooms to protect those chains; redundancy ensures a single destabilize or swap doesn’t collapse your entire plan. This guide explains how to think about each of those elements and then gives concrete, copyable layouts for different goals.
How to think about rooms and upgrade chains
Every room in a temple has two important attributes for layout planning: its upgrade potential and its stability under destabilization. Upgrade potential is how much value a room gains when it is upgraded once or twice; stability is how likely it is to survive swaps, destabilization, or medallion changes.
When designing a layout, identify a backbone of rooms that you intend to upgrade twice. These backbone rooms should be placed so that they can be upgraded in sequence without requiring risky swaps that break the chain. Place rooms with high immediate payout but low upgrade potential off the backbone as feeders or sacrificial rooms. Those feeder rooms can be used to absorb destabilization or to be swapped out when a patch changes a modifier.
Key rule: prioritize upgrade chains over single‑run jackpots. A room that doubles in value when upgraded twice is far more valuable in the long run than a room that occasionally drops a huge one‑off reward but cannot be reliably upgraded.
Medallion strategy and locking priorities
Medallions are the single most powerful tool for protecting your layout. Use them to lock the rooms that form the core of your upgrade chain. Locking a room early prevents accidental swaps and ensures that your upgrade path remains intact as you add new rooms.
When deciding which rooms to lock, ask two questions: which rooms, if lost, would break my upgrade chain; and which rooms provide the most consistent, repeatable value when upgraded. Lock those rooms first. If you have only two medallions early, lock the two backbone rooms that enable the longest upgrade sequence. Later, use additional medallions to secure high‑value crafting rooms or repeatable currency rooms.
Practical medallion tip: don’t lock a room just because it looks valuable now. Lock it because it enables a chain that will compound value over multiple upgrades. A locked room that prevents a chain collapse is worth far more than a locked room that only protects a single high roll.
Redundancy and sacrificial design
Redundancy is the insurance policy for your temple. Build branches that can be sacrificed without destroying your core. Sacrificial rooms should be cheap to replace and positioned so that destabilization flows into them rather than into your backbone.
A redundancy‑first layout places sacrificial rooms at the ends of branches and routes destabilization toward those ends. If a destabilize event occurs, you lose a sacrificial room and preserve the backbone. Over time, rotate sacrificial rooms out and replace them with new feeders that can be used again.
Why redundancy matters now: recent buffs reduced the severity of some single‑point failures but did not eliminate them. Redundancy ensures that even when the unexpected happens, your temple remains profitable and rebuildable.
Layout archetypes and when to use them
There are three practical archetypes you should know: Maximum Ceiling (Russian Tech), Quick Starter, and Redundancy First. Each has a distinct purpose and resource profile.
Maximum Ceiling (Russian Tech) is for players who want to squeeze every drop of value from a temple. It uses long upgrade chains, carefully timed medallion locks, and complex sacrificial routing. Expect higher variance and more time investment. This archetype is best when you can commit to multiple iterations and have the patience to rebuild after occasional catastrophic destabilizations.
Quick Starter is for players who want fast, repeatable runs with minimal setup. It uses a short backbone of two or three upgradeable rooms, one crafting room, and a short boss path. This layout is cheap to build and easy to replicate across characters. It trades ceiling for consistency and speed.
Redundancy First is for players who value consistent currency/hour and low risk. It uses multiple short upgrade chains, more medallion locks on secondary rooms, and sacrificial branches designed to absorb destabilization. This layout is slightly more expensive to set up than Quick Starter but yields steadier returns.
Copyable layout: Quick Starter template (two‑hour build)
This template is designed to be built quickly and to produce reliable returns without complex tech. It’s ideal for new temple runners or players who want to farm while leveling alts.
Start with a linear backbone of three rooms: two upgradeable currency rooms and one crafting room in the middle. Place the crafting room so it can be upgraded twice by routing two feeder rooms into it. Lock the two currency rooms with medallions as soon as you can. Add a short boss path with a single high‑value boss room at the end; this boss room should be replaceable if it destabilizes.
Run strategy: keep runs short. Clear the boss, collect rewards, and repeat. Replace any feeder room that destabilizes; don’t try to salvage a broken backbone in the middle of a session. Over time, upgrade the backbone rooms twice and you’ll see compounding returns.
Copyable layout: Redundancy First template
This template is built around multiple short chains and sacrificial branches. Start with two parallel backbones, each with two upgradeable rooms. Lock the first room of each backbone with a medallion. Between the two backbones, place a central crafting room that can be fed by both chains. Surround the backbones with sacrificial rooms that can be swapped out when destabilization occurs.
Run strategy: alternate runs between the two backbones so that one chain is always being upgraded while the other is absorbing risk. Replace sacrificial rooms frequently and keep medallions on the backbone rooms. This layout is slightly slower per run but yields a steadier currency/hour.
Copyable layout: Russian Tech core (advanced)
This is the high‑variance, high‑reward layout for players who want to push the ceiling. It uses a long chain of rooms that upgrade into each other, with medallions locking the most critical nodes. The chain should be planned so that each upgrade unlocks the next room’s upgrade potential. Sacrificial rooms are placed at branch ends to protect the chain.
Build steps: map the chain on paper before placing rooms. Identify the two rooms that, if locked, will guarantee the longest uninterrupted upgrade sequence and lock them first. Add feeder rooms that can be swapped to trigger upgrades in the desired order. Expect to rebuild parts of the chain after destabilization events; that’s part of the cost of chasing the ceiling.
Run strategy: commit to multiple runs and accept variance. If you prefer less risk, scale back the chain length and add redundancy.
Room selection: which rooms to favor now
After the buffs, rooms that offer repeatable currency or crafting opportunities are more valuable than volatile one‑shot drops for most players. Rooms that scale well with upgrades — those that increase drop quantity, improve crafting outcomes, or raise the chance of repeatable currency — should be prioritized for backbone placement.
Rooms that grant rare uniques or one‑time big payouts are useful as feeders or sacrificial rooms. They can provide occasional windfalls but should not be the foundation of your upgrade chain.
Practical selection rule: backbone = repeatable, upgradeable rooms; feeders = volatile, high‑roll rooms.
Run pacing and time management
Temple farming is a marathon, not a sprint. Short, repeatable runs with a high success rate will outperform long, fragile runs that occasionally pay off. Aim for a rhythm you can sustain: build a template that takes you 5–12 minutes per run and repeat it. Track your currency/hour over several sessions and adjust the layout if returns drop.
If you have limited playtime, favor Quick Starter templates. If you have long sessions and enjoy tinkering, experiment with Russian Tech chains and refine them over multiple runs.
How to test and iterate layouts
Treat each layout as an experiment. Run it 10–20 times and record the average returns and the failure modes. Did a particular room destabilize more often than expected? Did a medallion lock prevent a catastrophic collapse? Use that data to adjust room placement, medallion priorities, and sacrificial routing.
Small changes can have outsized effects. Moving a single feeder room one tile over can change the upgrade order and either improve or break a chain. Iterate deliberately and keep notes.
Resource management and cost control
Temple building requires investment: rooms, medallions, and time. Control costs by starting with a Quick Starter template and scaling up as you earn currency. Avoid committing expensive resources to experimental Russian Tech chains until you’ve validated the chain on a smaller scale.
If a patch changes a room modifier, don’t throw more resources at a broken chain. Pause, analyze, and pivot to a different template. The meta now rewards adaptability.
Practical in‑run tactics
During a run, prioritize completing the backbone upgrades before chasing optional side rooms. If a destabilize event occurs mid‑run, focus on preserving the backbone and replacing sacrificial rooms later. Use medallions proactively: lock the rooms that enable the next upgrade rather than the rooms that look valuable now.
When you encounter a room that seems to be underperforming, mark it for replacement and move on. The time you spend trying to salvage a single room is often better spent starting a fresh run.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
A frequent mistake is locking the wrong rooms early. Lock rooms that enable long upgrade sequences, not rooms that give a single immediate payout. Another mistake is over‑investing in volatile rooms; keep them as feeders. Finally, many players neglect redundancy; a single destabilize can wipe an entire chain if you haven’t planned sacrificial branches.
Avoid these mistakes by planning a backbone, locking it, and building sacrificial branches that can be replaced cheaply.
How patches affect layouts and how to adapt
Patches will continue to tweak room modifiers and medallion interactions. When a patch hits, don’t panic. Test your layout in a few runs and identify which rooms changed behavior. Replace rooms that lost value with repeatable currency rooms and adjust medallion priorities. The best layouts are those that can be adapted quickly without a full rebuild.
Community sharing and copying layouts
One of the fastest ways to learn is to copy proven layouts from experienced runners and then adapt them. When copying, pay attention to why each room is placed where it is. Don’t copy blindly; adapt the layout to your medallion count, playtime, and risk tolerance.
Psychological approach to temple farming
Temple farming rewards patience and iterative thinking. Treat each run as data collection. Celebrate small wins and learn from failures. If you find yourself frustrated by variance, switch to a Redundancy First template for a while to rebuild confidence and currency.
Long term progression and scaling
As you earn currency, scale your templates. Add medallions to secure secondary rooms, expand sacrificial branches, and experiment with longer upgrade chains. Over months, you can move from Quick Starter templates to advanced Russian Tech chains if you enjoy the complexity and variance.
Final checklist before you run
Make sure your backbone is mapped, your two most critical rooms are locked, sacrificial branches are in place, and you have a plan for replacing destabilized rooms. Keep runs short and repeatable, and record results for iterative improvement.
FAQ
Q: Are temples worth farming after the buffs? Yes. The buffs restored many medallion interactions and made upgrade chains more reliable, so well‑designed layouts produce consistent returns. The meta now supports both high‑ceiling and low‑variance approaches.
Q: Do I need Russian tech to make good currency? No. Russian tech raises the ceiling but is high variance and time‑intensive. Quick Starter and Redundancy First templates are profitable and far easier to run consistently.
Q: How many medallions should I lock early? Lock the two rooms that enable the longest upgrade sequence first. Additional medallions can secure crafting or repeatable currency rooms later.
Q: What rooms should I put on the backbone? Backbone rooms should be repeatable, upgradeable rooms that scale well with two upgrades. Avoid volatile one‑shot rooms as backbone anchors.
Q: How do I handle a patch that nerfs a room I rely on? Pause and test. Replace the nerfed room with a repeatable currency or crafting room and adjust medallion priorities. Don’t throw more resources at a broken chain.
Q: How many runs should I test a layout before deciding it’s good? Run a layout 10–20 times and record average returns and failure modes. Use that data to refine placement and medallion strategy.
Q: Should I prioritize speed or ceiling? That depends on your goals. If you want steady currency/hour and limited playtime, prioritize speed with Quick Starter templates. If you enjoy tinkering and can accept variance, pursue Russian Tech for higher upside.
Q: How do I protect my layout from destabilization? Use medallions to lock backbone rooms, build sacrificial branches, and rotate feeder rooms frequently. Redundancy is your best defense.
Q: Can I copy layouts from other players? Yes, but adapt them to your medallion count, playtime, and risk tolerance. Understand why each room is placed where it is before copying.
Q: What’s the single best tip for new temple runners? Start with a Quick Starter template, lock your backbone rooms, and run short, repeatable sessions while you learn which rooms destabilize most often.
Quick Starter Placement Checklist for a Fast Vaal Temple Run
Purpose: build a reliable, low‑cost temple layout that you can assemble in about two hours and run repeatedly for steady currency farming. Follow each step in order; don’t skip the medallion locks or sacrificial placements.
Prepare resources — Have at least two medallions, a stack of cheap rooms to replace feeders, and enough time for 5–12 minute runs.
Clear a flat area — Reserve a contiguous space for a linear backbone of three rooms plus short branches.
Place Room A (Currency Room 1) — Put the first upgradeable currency room at the leftmost tile of the backbone; this is Backbone Slot 1.
Place Room B (Crafting Room) — Immediately to the right of Room A place a crafting room that benefits from two upgrades; this is Backbone Slot 2.
Place Room C (Currency Room 2) — Place the second upgradeable currency room to the right of Room B; this is Backbone Slot 3.
Add short boss path — Extend one tile from Backbone Slot 3 and place a replaceable boss room; keep it single‑tile depth so it’s cheap to swap.
Add two feeder rooms — Attach one feeder to the left of Room A and one to the right of Room C; these are sacrificial feeders to trigger upgrades and absorb destabilization.
Lock Backbone Slot 1 with a medallion — Use your first medallion to lock Room A as soon as it’s placed to protect the chain start.
Lock Backbone Slot 3 with a medallion — Use your second medallion to lock Room C to secure the chain end.
Confirm upgrade path — Ensure Room B can be upgraded twice by routing both feeders into it; adjust feeder placement if necessary.
Run the temple once as a test — Complete the boss and collect rewards; note any rooms that destabilize or swap unexpectedly.
Replace unstable feeders — If a feeder destabilized, replace it with a cheap room of similar type; do not touch locked backbone rooms.
Upgrade sequence priority — When you have upgrade opportunities, upgrade Room B first, then Room A, then Room C to maximize compounding value.
Rotate sacrificial rooms — After every 3–5 runs, swap out one feeder to reset destabilization pressure and keep the backbone safe.
Medallion reallocation — If a backbone room becomes unreliable after a patch, unlock and reassign medallions to the two rooms that best preserve the upgrade chain.
Short‑run discipline — Stop runs that take longer than 12 minutes; long fragile runs reduce average currency farming efficiency.
Record results — Track currency and crafting outcomes for 10–20 runs to measure average returns and identify weak points.
Iterate — If returns are low, replace the boss room with a different boss or swap one backbone room for a more repeatable room type.
Scale up gradually — Once the backbone reliably upgrades twice, add a third medallion to secure the crafting room or expand sacrificial branches.
Maintain redundancy — Always keep at least two cheap replacement rooms ready so you can react quickly to destabilization without breaking the backbone.
Compact Printable Cheat Sheet for Runs
| Item | Action |
|---|---|
| Backbone | Place three rooms in a row: currency, crafting, currency. |
| Medallions | Lock left and right backbone rooms first. |
| Feeders | Attach cheap sacrificial rooms to both ends. |
| Boss | Single‑tile boss path off the rightmost backbone slot. |
| Upgrade Order | Upgrade crafting room first, then left currency, then right currency. |
| Run Time | Aim 5–12 minutes per run. |
| Rotation | Replace one feeder every 3–5 runs. |
| Testing | Run 10–20 times before scaling. |
| When Nerfed | Replace nerfed room with repeatable currency room; reassign medallions. |
| Goal | Stable double upgrades on backbone for steady currency farming. |
Quick reminders to tape near your monitor: lock the backbone; keep feeders cheap; upgrade the crafting room first; rotate feeders often; stop long fragile runs.
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