Path of Exile 2: What are Lost Towers in the Atlas?

Lost Towers are arguably the most important mechanic for mapping in Path of Exile 2. Upon unlocking the Atlas, a few nodes are open to you around the Ziggurat as your starter maps. However, before you start mapping right away, you should take your time and locate the towers looming over the plains — at least a handful should pop up across the patch of Atlas revealed initially.

Also known as Precursor Towers, these Lost Towers are the main thing you'll have to get to before you can delve into mapping properly. In this guide, we'll explain why that is.

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How to clear Lost Towers (Precursor Towers) in Path of Exile 2

Lost Towers can be completed fast (Image via GGG)

Essentially, Lost Towers are like any other Atlas node in Path of Exile 2. You'll have to unlock a node that is connected to it, which lets you travel to the Tower by spending a Waystone.

Generally, it's not a good idea to spend Magic or Rare Waystones on a Tower, since there's nothing notable to fight or loot there by default. When you get into it, your only goal is to get to the top of the Tower, where you'll find the Precursor Beacon.

The layout here is the same as the Spires of Deshar map, and what you're looking for is a wideset stairway leading to an area transition. This will get you to the top, where you can interact with the Precursor Beacon to complete the map.

Depending on the tier of the Waystone used for accessing the Tower itself, clearing the Tower does count as completing any other Atlas node. Using a Waystone tier required by the Cataclysm's Wake quest will therefore count as progressing it.

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How to use Precursor Towers to juice your maps

A cluster of towers like this can be a great farm (Image via GGG)

Unlocking a Lost Tower reveals additional parts of the Atlas by dispelling the fog of war around it. Furthermore, it becomes a Precursor Tower where you can place and activate your Precursor Tablets in Path of Exile 2.

Simply put, the goal is to find a cluster of nearby towers and pathing to them in as few maps as possible. As soon as you get enough Precursor Tablets, activate them all to bestow additional League mechanics and modifiers to available maps around the area. Affixes from Rare and Magic Precursor Tablets can pile up on the same map nodes, occasionally granting you some very stacked maps to attempt.

Note that the League mechanics and modifiers are all lost once you die on the maps, so you should carefully prepare beforehand.

Check out our other guides on the game:

• Path of Exile 2 Runes and Sockets guide
• Path of Exile 2 Delirium guide
• Path of Exile 2 Skill Gems and Gemcutting guide
• Path of Exile 2 Endgame systems guide
• Path of Exile 2 Defense guide: Energy Shield, Armor, and Evasion explained