Do you guys have any tips on getting these? I prefer to get them after my GR run, in case I die and lose the stack. But sometimes I feel like I waste more time looking for it than if I just start my next Grift.
Do a quick run of pools/healing wells that are near wps. Places like Cemetery, Southern Highlands, just in front of Leorics Castle have them super close. If you have a cow stick, that is also another good way of getting quick pools.
I knew of the cow stick, but unfortunately haven’t found one yet. But, when I do, I usually save those until I’m doing at least GR100 - I’m only GR74 right now.
Those are the spots I hit up, too. If nothing is there, I usually start a new game (I do that anyway, since I am hoarding Gems of Ease to level and augment).
Something else to consider is that pools generally aren’t worth the time at low paragon. The higher your paragon, the more XP the pool is worth. It can be helpful to think about pools in terms of how much XP you gain from them for the time you spent to farm the pools.
You’ll want to consider how long it would take you to farm a set of pools and how much XP they would gain you vs. how much XP you would gain if you just took that same amount of time and ran GRs without pools.
At low paragon, you generally gain quite a bit more XP per hour just taking your time to run GRs instead of farming pools.
| Paragon | GR 100s until 10 pools disappear | GR 100s you would have to run without pools to get the equivalent XP | Extra GR 100s required to match the XP gained from 10 pools |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 |
| 1000 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 1.1 |
| 1200 | 3.8 | 5.4 | 1.6 |
| 1500 | 5.7 | 8.1 | 2.4 |
| 2000 | 9.0 | 12.9 | 3.9 |
| 3000 | 21.1 | 30.2 | 9.1 |
The last column is the one to pay attention to. That’s the break even point. If it takes you longer to farm 10 pools than it does to run that many extra GR100s, you are better off just straight running GR100s without pools. So at 1000 paragon, you almost certainly can’t farm 10 pools faster than you can run an extra GR100, so you’re better off just taking that time to run more GR100s without pools.
It’s really not until you get up closer to 2000 paragon that it might start to become worth it. Then you’re talking about the time to farm 10 pools vs. running an extra 4 GR100s without pools. Those times are definitely closer to equivalent than it was when you were 1000 paragon.
EDIT: This is assuming fully pooled runs, which I just noticed you mentioned you were more talking about getting them after the rift for the close. But the same principle applies: at lower paragon, it’s probably not worth the time it takes. The higher your paragon, the more each pool is worth, and it starts to become worth the time it takes.
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This is perfect information, thank you!
I’m a solo player, so only P427 or so right now. I am clearing maybe 5 minute 74s, so maybe I’ll just continue to do that for a bit.
Thanks, again!
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For the vast majority of season players you only need to collect them while farming keys. Farm keys until you have a 10 pools stacked while you get keys then run GRs. There is no other reason to worry about pools. The time it would take you finding them is a waste of your time. Looking at Tinn’s chart it really isnt worth it until closer to 3k para. Now if you play in groups people should going to find pools during downtime like restroom and food breaks. But then again you should be farming keys if there is downtime. You can find pools for your group during key runs.
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play hardcore and you wont care about loosing pools
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I am totally clueless when it comes to how the pools work, other than the obvious exp bonus. I always assumed they were on a timer like pylons, but from what I have read above I am not so sure.
Do they last for the duration of your game? As long as you don’t leave your current game, you can stack 10 and they only vanish if you die or log to the select screen?
Jeez this stuff I just completely space on…
They last until you die or you use them up. They are valued at 10% of whatever one lvl of exp is for you. If you hover your mouse over your exp you can see what you have left.
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Ah thanks Chris. That makes more sense that they are used up like that. I knew they couldn’t just last, but wishful thinking I guess.
Every time I see one, I click it. And then try to not die which, generally, is not that hard.
I started doing quick checks at the common spots in between every few rifts the previous season I played even though I know it wasn’t the most efficient way, it gave me a bit of a break while doing 10’s to 100 GR speedruns while also being better than just standing around.
What i do:
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I do normal rift for keys and when i close there is 30 sec before u can start a GR or a new rift. I use that time to look for pools if i dont find one during that time i just start a new rift/gr.
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As ppl mention its rly not worth looking for pools at lower paragon but u can still use the 30 sec close timer to look for a couple. Alot of ppl use the 30 sec timer for selling items. However there is no point to sell items every run and there is no point identifying items unless u expect a item to be a huge upgrade (primal weapon, ring, amu).
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Salvage everything u dont need without identifying (when u getting full) and put items which could potential be a upgrade in chest and then identify and check them in one go. That way u have more time to look for pools.
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To speed it up make sure to save both GR and speed build at armory (save the 2 builds close to eachother for easy switch, if u lower paragon and using semi speed build for rifts make a third with echo fury etc for max speed) and switch to speed build when u heading for a pool and just switch back before u start GR.
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Personally i also only gamble for rings and amu when i do speed runs to save some more time as those are the hardest to get good ones anyway and usually ancient/primal for other pieces have a tendancy to drop more often.
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Raxx shows a couple of good spots to check, there is more but u should make a route which u feel comfy with. When its done properly u should be able to find a pool somewhere between 15-30 sec by avrg. A great way to practise and find a good route is to play pool barb and try to always have a pool rdy before the team teleported back to town.
You can create a crusader to forge lvl 70 polearms, then upgrade them in the cube. There’s only three legendaries 'sader can get on upgrade, and the cow stick is one of them.
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One of the perks of doing seasons is simply that I don’t have to pay any attention to pools, since they just aren’t worth worrying about, at the low paragon levels I live at 
I never thought about using that 30 second time to look for them, glad you mentioned it. Even with salvaging all the items and placing gems and the others in the stash there is a few seconds left over. And later on you don’t even need to pick up items all the time.
Another part of why I don’t salvage legendaries/sets every time is doing like 3 tabs full at once is a bit of a break from rifts. I need my little change of activity every now and then.
It’s a really waste of time. You can do other GR in the time which you spent to find the reflection pool. There is the table above. Also want to add that the most efficient GR level is dynamically changed depending on your paragon. But is still around 5min for GR.