



Let's look at which areas, out of all of the locations in Path of Exile, were run the most:



Top Ten Run areas in Abyss League The Twilight Strand

The Blood Aqueduct

Arid Lake

Beach

Burial Chambers

Vault

Strand

Desert

Abyssal Depths

Channel

This is the first time in memory that The Twilight Strand has been the single highest-run area in the game. This is almost certainly due to the introduction of Oni-Goroshi, which requires hundreds of Twilight Strand runs to obtain.



The other interesting appearance on this list is the Abyssal Depths. The appearance of the Abyssal Depths indicates that it is considered a valuable occurrence that players are unlikely to skip, mainly due to the potential for it to contain one of the Lich bosses.



Now let's isolate the list specifically to Maps:



Top Ten Maps Arid Lake

Beach

Burial Chambers

Vault

Strand

Desert

Channel

Iceberg

Arcade

Graveyard

It takes time and effort to reach yellow Maps, and even more to reach red, so it makes sense that the majority of Maps run are white. Vault appearing as the 4th most run map is a clear sign of its relative popularity (and therefore value).



Top Five White Maps Arid Lake

Beach

Burial Chambers

Strand

Desert

It comes as no surprise that maps with a fairly simple layout and boss are popular. It's also encouraging to see that, though there is a slight skew in terms of popularity of the northeastern quadrant of the Atlas, it is not entirely dominant. This skew is probably at least in part due to the name recognition of Beach as a solid starter map.



Top Five Yellow Maps Vault

Atoll

Dunes

Shore

Jungle Valley

Vault of course takes the top spot of the yellow-tier maps. Like the white maps, we see a lot of familiar names and layouts that have proven to be popular in past leagues. Divination cards are likely the main driving force behind the popularity of Vaults, while many of the other Map choices are due to layout.



Top Five Red Maps Spider Forest

Waterways

Racecourse

Coves

Torture Chamber

The important takeaway from this extended tier-divided popularity list is the total absence of maps introduced in War for the Atlas. This may be due to the familiarity of the other maps allowing for lower risk.



Class Breakdown Abyss League (70+) Slayer 14.98% Raider 12.99% Inquisitor 11.87% Necromancer 10.27% Berserker 7.27% Ascendant 6.59% Gladiator 5.38% Trickster 4.48% Pathfinder 4.41% Juggernaut 4.32% Saboteur 2.94% Assassin 2.65% Guardian 2.07% Champion 1.57% Elementalist 1.55% Chieftain 1.48% Occultist 1.48% Deadeye 1.33% Hierophant 1.19% Duelist 0.39% Ranger 0.20% Marauder 0.18% Witch 0.15% Templar 0.14% Shadow 0.08% Scion 0.03%

Like in The Fall of Oriath, we see Life Leech playing a dominant factor in player Ascendancy choice, though the division is not as wide as it was in the previous league. The changes made to Vaal Pact has heavily impacted the Berserker's popularity.



Class Breakdown Hardcore Abyss (70+) Necromancer 13.36% Slayer 13.03% Inquisitor 12.50% Juggernaut 7.60% Gladiator 6.95% Raider 6.63% Berserker 6.58% Ascendant 5.95% Trickster 4.89% Guardian 3.64% Chieftain 3.40% Saboteur 2.90% Pathfinder 2.66% Champion 2.59% Hierophant 1.94% Occultist 1.83% Assassin 1.33% Elementalist 1.21% Deadeye 0.64% Templar 0.08% Witch 0.07% Marauder 0.06% Duelist 0.06% Scion 0.03% Shadow 0.02% Ranger 0.01%

The Necromancer's powerful defensive options continue to shine in Hardcore. The Inquisitor has seen a sharp rise in popularity across both Hardcore and Standard Abyss variants -- this is likely in part due to the power of some of the new support gems (in particular Ancestral Call) as well as the strength of Elemental damage on Abyss jewels, and changes made to Reflect mechanics.



We're broadly happy with the closer gap between class choices at high levels, though it is clear there is still plenty of room for improvement.



That's it for this stats round-up! As we often do, we have compiled a list of stats from the current Abyss leagues. Today we're looking at which areas and classes were played the most. Stats like these help us smooth the difficulty curve of our storyline content as well as provide a clear snapshot of the metagame.Let's look at which areas, out of all of the locations in Path of Exile, were run the most:This is the first time in memory that The Twilight Strand has been the single highest-run area in the game. This is almost certainly due to the introduction of Oni-Goroshi, which requires hundreds of Twilight Strand runs to obtain.The other interesting appearance on this list is the Abyssal Depths. The appearance of the Abyssal Depths indicates that it is considered a valuable occurrence that players are unlikely to skip, mainly due to the potential for it to contain one of the Lich bosses.Now let's isolate the list specifically to Maps:It takes time and effort to reach yellow Maps, and even more to reach red, so it makes sense that the majority of Maps run are white. Vault appearing as the 4th most run map is a clear sign of its relative popularity (and therefore value).It comes as no surprise that maps with a fairly simple layout and boss are popular. It's also encouraging to see that, though there is a slight skew in terms of popularity of the northeastern quadrant of the Atlas, it is not entirely dominant. This skew is probably at least in part due to the name recognition of Beach as a solid starter map.Vault of course takes the top spot of the yellow-tier maps. Like the white maps, we see a lot of familiar names and layouts that have proven to be popular in past leagues. Divination cards are likely the main driving force behind the popularity of Vaults, while many of the other Map choices are due to layout.The important takeaway from this extended tier-divided popularity list is the total absence of maps introduced in War for the Atlas. This may be due to the familiarity of the other maps allowing for lower risk.Like in The Fall of Oriath, we see Life Leech playing a dominant factor in player Ascendancy choice, though the division is not as wide as it was in the previous league. The changes made to Vaal Pact has heavily impacted the Berserker's popularity.The Necromancer's powerful defensive options continue to shine in Hardcore. The Inquisitor has seen a sharp rise in popularity across both Hardcore and Standard Abyss variants -- this is likely in part due to the power of some of the new support gems (in particular Ancestral Call) as well as the strength of Elemental damage on Abyss jewels, and changes made to Reflect mechanics.We're broadly happy with the closer gap between class choices at high levels, though it is clear there is still plenty of room for improvement.That's it for this stats round-up!