Campaign Lock-In Turns Into A Profit Engine In Path Of Exile 2

A Path of Exile 2 player has uncovered a way to turn the game’s campaign into a repeatable profit loop, sidestepping much of the time investment intended for the endgame. The method centers on the Vaal Temple system introduced in update 0.4 and relies on keeping a character intentionally under-leveled to reset a specific campaign map and rebuild temples within minutes.

The strategy surfaced after Grinding Gear Games added Vaal Temples as a modular dungeon activity tied to endgame mapping. Temples are assembled piece by piece through room drops, with value scaling as players invest time to unlock the right combinations. Under normal play, that process can take hours of map clears before a temple becomes worth running. Rewards improve only after careful construction, making the system both lucrative and slow.

The complexity of Vaal Temples has divided the player base. Many players have shared infographics to explain optimal room placement and reward paths, reflecting how dense the system is compared to traditional kill-and-loot gameplay. While Grinding Gear Games adjusted rewards earlier this month to make the mode less punishing, the underlying structure remains time-gated by design.

Streamer Fubgun demonstrated that the time gate can be bypassed. By using a low-level character who never progresses out of the campaign, players can access a specific campaign zone where a Vaal Temple entrance reliably spawns in the same location. Instead of clearing endgame maps and waiting for temple fragments to appear, the player resets the campaign area, rebuilds the temple almost immediately, and runs it for profit.

The trick depends on staying low level. High-level characters do not receive the same rewards when attempting the same loop, which prevents the method from scaling directly into standard endgame play. To maintain eligibility, players may even die on purpose to avoid gaining experience. The result is a closed loop where efficiency replaces progression, and repetition replaces exploration.

“I’m not sure I’d call what Path of Exile 2 streamer Fubgun is doing with the new seasonal mode ‘game-breaking’, but it’s clearly not supposed to work like that.”— Tyler Colp

Despite the friction involved in starting a fresh character and deliberately stalling progress, the payoff is significant. The loot generated through rapid temple farming includes rare drops and crafting materials that can be transferred to a main character. For players focused on optimization, the time saved outweighs the inconvenience. The method appeals to the same mindset that drives build calculators, damage spreadsheets, and farming routes across the genre.

Grinding Gear Games has not intervened so far. The exploit appeared shortly before a holiday period, and it does not destabilize servers or trivialize combat encounters. It also requires deliberate setup, which limits mass adoption. Still, the behavior runs counter to the intended flow of Vaal Temples as a long-term investment layered on top of endgame mapping.

The existence of the strategy highlights deeper tension in the system. If players feel compelled to avoid randomness by resetting campaign zones until they hit optimal outcomes, the reward structure may be misaligned with player expectations. Vaal Temples were designed as a complex alternative to straightforward mapping, but their opacity and setup cost push some players toward loopholes instead.

Action RPGs have a long history of this pattern. Systems built to reward long-term engagement often become targets for efficiency-focused players who test boundaries until something breaks or bends. Path of Exile has leaned into that culture for years, encouraging experimentation while accepting that some solutions will stretch design intent.

Whether this particular method survives remains uncertain. If the development team closes the loophole, the campaign reset farm may disappear as quietly as it emerged. If it remains, it will likely become another example of players reshaping content through repetition and precision rather than progression.

Read also, Path of Exile 2 Launched Major Update “Third Edict” Alongside Free Weekend, where Grinding Gear Games rolled out patch 0.3.0 with a limited-time free access period and carried progress into the early version of the game.