Path of Exile Voidstones: How to Unlock All Four

Path of Exile currently has four Voidstones: the Eldritch, Ceremonial, Decayed, and Originator Voidstones. You unlock them by defeating both The Searing Exarch and The Eater of Worlds, defeating The Maven, defeating both The Shaper and The Elder, and defeating the Incarnation of Dread. The old route in which Exarch, Eater, Maven, and Uber Elder each supplied one stone is no longer correct.

Version note: This guide reflects the Atlas introduced in Path of Exile 3.28 and the announced 3.29 endgame notes. The 3.29 notes add Atlas Anomalies and adjust parts of the Atlas, but they do not announce replacement conditions for any of the four Voidstones.

All PoE Voidstone Unlock Requirements

Each stone belongs to one corner of the Atlas and has its own first-kill condition. You do not need an Uber version of a boss unless you choose the Uber Elder alternative for the Decayed Voidstone.

These conditions come from the major Atlas revision detailed in the official Path of Exile 3.28 patch notes. A kill only contributes to the stone linked to that condition; beating a different pinnacle boss does not substitute for it.

How Voidstones Work on the Current Atlas

Voidstones no longer raise every map on the entire Atlas at once. Each one fits into a fixed corner socket and empowers the quadrant attached to that socket. This makes the first stone immediately useful even though three quadrants remain at their normal tier range.

• The minimum Map Tier in the affected quadrant becomes Tier 16.
• Maps found in that quadrant drop one tier higher.
• Tier 1 through Tier 15 Map drops in that quadrant are converted to Gold.
• Each socketed Voidstone gives Tier 16 Maps dropped in areas a 0.4% chance to become a Nightmare Map.
• Each stone also activates its own special bonus across all maps on the Atlas.

With all four stones socketed, all four quadrants have a Tier 16 floor and the listed Nightmare Map chance totals 1.6%. The four unique bonuses also operate together, so completing the set improves more than map tiers alone.

Best Order to Unlock All Four Voidstones

The game does not force one universal order. Your available invitations, fragments, damage, and familiarity with each encounter matter more than a rigid ranking. For a fresh trade-league character, the following sequence is a practical target.

1. Eldritch Voidstone: progress both Eldritch quest paths and defeat Exarch and Eater. These routes grow naturally while revealing and clearing the Atlas.
2. Ceremonial or Decayed Voidstone: choose whichever access set you finish first. Maven favors repeated witnessing and Invitations, while Shaper and Elder require their guardian fragment sets.
3. The remaining Ceremonial or Decayed Voidstone: use the stronger Tier 16 coverage from your earlier stones to finish the missing access items.
4. Originator Voidstone: complete the Memory of Reverence route and defeat the Incarnation of Dread, or obtain its tradable entry fragment.

SSF players should follow their drops instead of forcing this exact order. In trade, buying a missing invitation or fragment can save time, but it does not remove the need to win the required encounter.

How to Unlock the Eldritch Voidstone

The Eldritch Voidstone requires two separate first-time boss kills: The Searing Exarch and The Eater of Worlds. Defeating only one of them is incomplete and awards no Eldritch Voidstone under the current system.

Progress Both Influence Routes

Advance through the Atlas until the Exarch and Eater quest paths become available. Run maps under the corresponding influence, complete the intermediate encounters, and continue until you receive access to each pinnacle fight. The relevant regular invitations are the Incandescent Invitation for The Searing Exarch and the Screaming Invitation for The Eater of Worlds.

Defeat Both Regular Bosses

Complete both encounters on their normal versions. Uber Exarch and Uber Eater are not required. If the first boss dies and no stone appears, this is normally expected: the reward condition is completed only after both bosses have been defeated for the first time.

Prepare for the Two Encounters

Cap elemental resistances, bring reliable recovery, and use a movement skill that you can control precisely. Exarch tests movement during the rolling-ball sequence, while Eater can punish poor positioning and missed encounter mechanics. If damage feels low, improve the character before spending another set; a properly planned PoE custom build is more useful than repeatedly entering pinnacle encounters with unresolved defenses or single-target damage.

Once both kills are registered, socket the Eldritch Voidstone in the bottom-left corner. Its global modifier can add an opposite-influence upside and downside to Eldritch Altars, so read every altar carefully instead of assuming its extra line is harmless.

How to Unlock the Ceremonial Voidstone

The Ceremonial Voidstone comes from defeating the regular Maven for the first time. Maven-witnessed map bosses and Maven Invitations are progression steps, but completing an Invitation by itself is not the final unlock.

Build The Maven's Writ

Activate Maven witnessing on eligible maps and defeat distinct bosses. Complete the resulting Maven Invitations to earn Crescent Splinters. Ten Crescent Splinters combine into The Maven's Writ, which opens the regular Maven encounter in a personal Map Device. Current Invitations are selected through Kirac rather than inserted as old quest items.

Win the Regular Maven Fight

You do not need Uber Maven. Learn the memory-game pattern, place persistent ground effects near the edge rather than through the center, and avoid the rotating beams in the final phase because touching them blocks recovery for a period. A regular Maven first kill is enough for the Ceremonial Voidstone.

Socket this stone in the bottom-right corner. Its unique benefit lets bosses witnessed by Maven drop Maven's Chisels. The official Atlas Passive Tree is useful when planning a Maven-focused setup around boss witnessing and related endgame content.

How to Unlock the Decayed Voidstone

The Decayed Voidstone has two valid routes. The standard route requires separate kills of The Shaper and The Elder. The alternative route is one Uber Elder kill. You do not need to complete both routes.

Standard Route Through Shaper and Elder

Defeat the four Shaper Guardians and combine their four fragments to open The Shaper's Realm. Separately, defeat the four Elder Guardians and use their fragment set to open the regular Elder encounter. Both regular boss kills must be recorded; killing Shaper alone or Elder alone does not finish the requirement.

• Shaper access comes from the fragments associated with the Minotaur, Chimera, Hydra, and Phoenix guardians.
• Elder access comes from the fragments associated with The Purifier, The Constrictor, The Enslaver, and The Eradicator.
• Guardian maps and missing fragments can be acquired through drops, Kirac's stock, or other players in trade leagues.

Alternative Route Through Uber Elder

Defeating Uber Elder also awards the Decayed Voidstone if it has not already been unlocked. This is a harder encounter and should not be confused with merely defeating regular Elder. For most first-time players, separate regular Shaper and Elder kills are the safer path unless an Uber Elder carry or a strong bossing character is already available.

The Decayed Voidstone belongs in the top-right socket. Its global bonus gives opened maps a chance to receive Shaper or Elder influence. If you are missing a tradable access item, use the official Path of Exile Trade site and verify that you are buying the correct regular or Uber entry component.

How to Unlock the Originator Voidstone

The Originator Voidstone is obtained from the first defeat of the Incarnation of Dread. This condition was introduced with the redesigned Atlas, so guides that still list a second independent Eldritch stone are obsolete.

Find and Use Memory of Reverence

Memory of Reverence can come from Memory Tears in Tier 16 or higher maps. Apply it to a valid map in an Atlas quadrant to create a Memory Thread. The thread spans several maps and ends at the Theatre of Lies, where The Deceitful God can drop an Echo of Reverence.

Use Echo of Reverence

Place Echo of Reverence in your personal Map Device to open the Moment of Reverence and fight the Incarnation of Dread. The Echo is tradable, so a trade-league player may buy the entry instead of generating the full Memory Thread. Completing the thread remains valuable for quest progression and understanding the Originator system.

Complete the Incarnation of Dread Fight

The boss becomes immune during its Rose phases. Pick up one rose, carry it to the boss, then repeat with the other rose. Do not hold both at the same time, because combining them on your character triggers a dangerous explosion and multiple ailments. Later phases add overlapping elemental and chaos hazards, making ailment protection, chaos resistance, controlled movement, and strong recovery especially valuable.

After the first kill, place the Originator Voidstone in the top-left socket. Atlas bosses can then drop Astrolabes and Exceptional Support Gems, and Memory Strand items become able to drop across all maps, while Originator maps remain the better source of those items.

What Changes After Each Voidstone

The immediate reward is the Tier 16 floor in one quadrant, but your strategy should also account for the stone's global effect. The best next quadrant is the one containing maps and content that your build can clear consistently.

In the announced 3.29 system, completing maps affected by a Voidstone can also cause an Atlas Anomaly to appear the next time the Atlas is opened. These areas require no Map item, ignore the Atlas Passive Tree, and cannot be enhanced with fragments. The details are listed in the official Path of Exile 3.29 patch notes.

Common Voidstone Unlock Mistakes

Most failed unlocks come from following pre-3.28 information or confusing an access step with the actual reward condition. Check the boss names and the required pair before buying another invitation.

• Expecting one stone from Exarch and another from Eater: the two kills now combine into the single Eldritch Voidstone.
• Killing only Shaper or only Elder: the Decayed Voidstone needs both regular kills unless you defeat Uber Elder instead.
• Completing a Maven Invitation but not Maven: Invitations supply progression and Crescent Splinters; The Maven herself awards the stone.
• Fighting the wrong Incarnation: only the Incarnation of Dread awards the Originator Voidstone. Incarnation of Fear and Incarnation of Neglect do not replace it.
• Using an Uber encounter unnecessarily: regular Exarch, Eater, Maven, Shaper, Elder, and the normal Incarnation route satisfy their respective requirements.
• Leaving a stone unsocketed: ownership alone does not empower a quadrant. Put each stone into its matching corner slot.

Final Four-Voidstone Checklist

Use this short list to identify exactly which condition remains unfinished. A completed row means the matching stone should be available for its fixed Atlas socket.

• Defeat The Searing Exarch and The Eater of Worlds for the Eldritch Voidstone.
• Defeat The Maven for the Ceremonial Voidstone.
• Defeat The Shaper and The Elder, or defeat Uber Elder, for the Decayed Voidstone.
• Defeat the Incarnation of Dread for the Originator Voidstone.
• Socket all four stones in their matching corners to raise every Atlas quadrant to a Tier 16 minimum.

The most important update is simple: all four current unlocks are combined conditions or specific first kills. Once every stone is socketed, the whole Atlas gains Tier 16 coverage, all four global bonuses remain active, and endgame map progression reaches its complete form.