# Path of Exile 3.29 Atlas Anomalies Guide
> Atlas Anomalies are PoE 3.29's new permanent endgame. Learn how they spawn, which anomalies are worth farming, and how to target the best rewards.
- **Game:** Path of Exile
- **Category:** Farm-strategy
- **Author:** LongBeam (https://guides-factory.com/about)
- **Difficulty:** Intermediate
- **Reading time:** 12 min
- **Published:** 2026-08-14
- **Updated:** 2026-08-26
- **Tags:** Atlas, Endgame, Mapping, Mechanics
- **Adapted from:** [Atlas Anomalies Explained! | Path of Exile 3.29 — MtnTechGames](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9ptroOg-k)
- **Canonical URL:** https://guides-factory.com/guides/path-of-exile-329-atlas-anomalies-guide
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## 🎯 The core idea
> Atlas Anomalies are Path of Exile 3.29's new **permanent** endgame layer. Every time you kill a map boss in an Atlas quadrant that has a Voidstone socketed, there's an independent chance to open a special sub-area — a free extra encounter with its own loot. There are 11 anomalies today (12 once the promised southeast one lands), and knowing which are worth your time is the difference between free divines and wasted maps.
free costs nothing to run
cheap small gold cost
setup needs preparation
grind pays off slowly / eats gold
skip the thing to stop doing
This Path of Exile Atlas Anomalies guide explains the new 3.29 endgame system: how the latest Atlas changes and Voidstones drive endgame progression, and which anomaly encounters are worth farming. Everything below is Atlas Anomalies explained, quadrant by quadrant.
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## How do Atlas Anomalies work in PoE 3.29?
Atlas Anomalies are strange sub-areas that manifest on the Atlas after you complete maps in a quadrant affected by a **Voidstone**. You reach one by killing the final boss of a map in that quadrant — no map item, no fragments, no Atlas passive interaction, just the boss kill. Each quadrant currently holds three anomalies (the southeast quadrant has two for now).
In the videoThe anomalies are shown live on the Atlas as the author moves quadrant to quadrant — each one is a distinct icon that appears after boss kills, not a map device option.
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## How to trigger and target-farm Atlas Anomalies
Because anomalies roll at random on boss kills, the fastest way to see a lot of them is to **boss-rush** maps. You cannot cherry-pick by refusing to run certain anomalies — GGG's Andrew confirmed in the Zizaran interview that each anomaly's chance is independent, so skipping one doesn't funnel rolls into another (and you can, in theory, get more than one from a single boss).
Caveat: the "multiple anomalies from one boss" claim is dev-stated (Andrew, via Zizaran). The author notes he has not personally seen it happen, so treat it as reported-but-unconfirmed.
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## Northwest quadrant anomalies (River's End, Syndicate, Untainted Paradise)
The northwest quadrant is solid, carried by an old favorite. Untainted Paradise is the standout here.
The ~2–3% XP figure is the author's on-the-spot estimate ("like 2%, almost 3%") at level 99 — a rough anecdote, not a measured value.
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## Northeast quadrant anomalies (Lake Islet, Overgrown Grove, Forgotten Shrine)
The author rates the northeast the second-best quadrant — one dud, one sleeper, and one of his favorites in the whole system.
The NPC at the Forgotten Shrine is never named on screen in the source footage, so this guide identifies the encounter by its location rather than by the NPC's name.
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## Southeast quadrant anomalies (Uncharted Expedition, Court of Chaos)
The southeast has only two anomalies for now, with a third promised. One is filler; the other is one of the more interesting gambles in the system.
In the videoThe author sacrificed a tier-0 unique and opened all six troves on his single attempt — but the loot was underwhelming that run, so the reward ceiling is still unproven.
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## Southwest quadrant anomalies — the best (Cadiro & the Strongbox)
The author's top-ranked quadrant. It holds the two anomalies worth actively farming: Cadiro Perandus's shop and the Gambling District's Ventor's Strongbox.
In the videoCadiro handed the author a Headhunter on his very first visit — and because unspent gold carries over, an unaffordable big-ticket item isn't lost, you just come back for it.
The Gambling District box is Ventor's Strongbox, a "Curious Contraption" imported from PoE2: it costs gold to open (250 base), can be reopened up to four times, and the cost rises 600–1200% each open. Economy caveat: the "~3 divines ≈ 3 million gold" price is a snapshot of this league's early economy and will drift.
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## Are Atlas Anomalies worth doing?
Yes — they're free encounters layered onto maps you're already running, and several (Untainted Paradise, Overgrown Grove, Cadiro Perandus, Ventor's Strongbox) can pay for themselves many times over. The only real "skip" is Lake Islet, and the only anomaly that asks for meaningful investment is the Gambling District, where buying gold can be worth it for softcore farmers.
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## FAQ
### How do you trigger Atlas Anomalies in PoE 3.29?
Kill the final boss of a map in an Atlas quadrant that has a Voidstone socketed. Each boss kill gives an independent chance to spawn one of that quadrant's anomalies — there's no map item or fragment needed.
### Can you target-farm a specific Atlas Anomaly?
Only loosely. You can't block anomalies by refusing to run them (the rolls are independent), so the best you can do is boss-rush a fast layout in the quadrant that contains the anomaly you want. The author uses Cemetery for the southwest quadrant.
### Which Atlas Anomalies are the best?
The author rates the southwest quadrant highest for Cadiro (Manor Foyer) and the Gambling District Strongbox. Untainted Paradise (northwest) is the top XP option, and Overgrown Grove (northeast) is a strong money sleeper via T4 Harvest seeds.
### What is the Court of Chaos anomaly?
You sacrifice a unique item to unlock between one and six troves of loot. The number of troves scales with the tier of the unique you sacrifice — a tier-0 unique always opens all six chests, though the loot quality is not guaranteed.
### Is buying gold worth it for Atlas Anomalies?
For softcore players farming the Gambling District Strongbox, the author says yes — it burns gold fast, and roughly 3 divines bought about 3 million gold early this league. That price is economy-dependent and will change over the league.