Nothing kills your endgame buzz in Path of Exile 2 like opening the crafting panel and seeing your Precursor Tablet upgrades locked behind one boss. You can have a stash full of tablets, a pile of maps, even some PoE 2 Currency ready for upgrades, and it still won't matter until you handle the Arbiter of Ash in The Burning Monolith.
Why the lock matters
The block isn't just annoying, it changes how you plan your whole loop. Until the Arbiter's down, you're basically running "normal" tablets and hoping the baseline rolls carry you. A lot of players end up hoarding Abyss or Challenger-style tablets because upgrading them feels like the real payoff. Then you hit the wall and realise you can't push them to Rare at all. It's a progress gate, sure, but it also forces you to ask a blunt question: is your build actually ready for the kind of pressure endgame bosses bring.
What the fight feels like
The Arbiter isn't a chill, stand-there-and-DPS target. He's fast, he tracks, and he punishes hesitation. If your setup needs you to plant your feet and channel, you'll feel it immediately. The fight swings through clear phases, and that's where people get caught: you get comfortable, then the rules change. He'll go untouchable, reset space, and come back with a new rhythm. The last stretch is the rough part. The arena gets messy, damage zones stack up, and his quick attacks come out like he's trying to erase your flask charges. You don't need a meme build, but you do need layers: mitigation, recovery, and enough burst to cash in on short openings.
Rewards and the real unlock
Yeah, the drops can be sweet. If Morior Invictus Grand Regalia shows up, it's the kind of chest that can reshape your defenses, especially if your gear is socket-heavy and you're hungry for Spirit. But the bigger win is permanent: once the Arbiter's gone, the Rare upgrade for Precursor Tablets is finally yours. That's when your mapping starts to feel "juiced" on purpose. Rare tablets can roll the sort of density and mechanic boosts that turn an average run into one that pays for itself and then some.
Turning tablets into profit
After the unlock, you'll notice your decisions get sharper. You stop running whatever and start running plans: pick the tablets that match your build, roll for monster count, chase shrine or magic-pack boosts, and suddenly the map feels alive again. That's why people treat Burning Monolith as mandatory, even if they hate the attempt-and-reset grind. Once you're past that gate, your endgame stops being "can I survive this" and becomes "how hard can I push it," especially if you're also thinking about trading and poe2 buy gold in U4gm as part of keeping your upgrades moving.
Why the lock matters
The block isn't just annoying, it changes how you plan your whole loop. Until the Arbiter's down, you're basically running "normal" tablets and hoping the baseline rolls carry you. A lot of players end up hoarding Abyss or Challenger-style tablets because upgrading them feels like the real payoff. Then you hit the wall and realise you can't push them to Rare at all. It's a progress gate, sure, but it also forces you to ask a blunt question: is your build actually ready for the kind of pressure endgame bosses bring.
What the fight feels like
The Arbiter isn't a chill, stand-there-and-DPS target. He's fast, he tracks, and he punishes hesitation. If your setup needs you to plant your feet and channel, you'll feel it immediately. The fight swings through clear phases, and that's where people get caught: you get comfortable, then the rules change. He'll go untouchable, reset space, and come back with a new rhythm. The last stretch is the rough part. The arena gets messy, damage zones stack up, and his quick attacks come out like he's trying to erase your flask charges. You don't need a meme build, but you do need layers: mitigation, recovery, and enough burst to cash in on short openings.
Rewards and the real unlock
Yeah, the drops can be sweet. If Morior Invictus Grand Regalia shows up, it's the kind of chest that can reshape your defenses, especially if your gear is socket-heavy and you're hungry for Spirit. But the bigger win is permanent: once the Arbiter's gone, the Rare upgrade for Precursor Tablets is finally yours. That's when your mapping starts to feel "juiced" on purpose. Rare tablets can roll the sort of density and mechanic boosts that turn an average run into one that pays for itself and then some.
Turning tablets into profit
After the unlock, you'll notice your decisions get sharper. You stop running whatever and start running plans: pick the tablets that match your build, roll for monster count, chase shrine or magic-pack boosts, and suddenly the map feels alive again. That's why people treat Burning Monolith as mandatory, even if they hate the attempt-and-reset grind. Once you're past that gate, your endgame stops being "can I survive this" and becomes "how hard can I push it," especially if you're also thinking about trading and poe2 buy gold in U4gm as part of keeping your upgrades moving.
