Poe Echoes of Atlas is no doubt one of the biggest updates in the history of Path of Exile. Though it gave us the new Ritual mechanic, the highlight of PoE 3.13 remains the Echoes of Atlas. All of the previous updates introduced new layers of grinding lot and equipment. However, the Echoes of Atlas is a whole new ball game. It grants players the ability to mod maps according to their looting preferences. The mechanic was so overpowered that they nerfed Harvest to balance the loot distribution across the player base.

However, the Atlas passives can be overwhelming to new players as they are often confused with the nodes. This guide discusses all the passive trees and their respective nodes to help you better prepare for the end-game content. So without further ado, let's get started.

How to unlock the Atlas Skill Trees
While you're doing the Atlas, you'll encounter the Envoy NPC. He introduces himself and once he's done, eventually the Maven shows up on one of your boss fights. In order to call the Maven, you have to toggle a button when choosing a random map. While hovering over the button it will read "Call the Maven to witness and affect the map's boss encounter".
Once you toggle the button the Maven appears during the boss encounter and starts meddling with the fight. She could heal the boss, empower them, or both. The Maven then absorbs the boss and invites you o her arena where you fight a beefed-up version of the boss. You receive two Atlas points once you defeat the boss.
Haewark Hamlet
Modifiers:
-Harvest
-Essence
-Beyond
-June
Haewark Hamlet offers decent farming potential. Harvest is one of the most profitable farming game mechanics out there. At least it used to before they nerfed it to the ground. However, if you're a hard-core player, farming Harvest shouldn't be much of a problem. Just be aware of tier 4 seeds as the bosses can easily one-shot you if you're not careful. Prioritize nodes Grove's Call, Nature's Favour.
The next most profitable node in the Haewark Hamlet skill tree is related to Harvest. Focussed Investigation is a great starting node if you're more inclined towards June missions. Not only do you get more missions but also receive 100% increased Favour. Once you're progressed a bit further, unlock the Bribery node for additional item drops while bargaining. The node is the best used for unveiling items as it gives additional items.
The Essence and Beyond nodes aren't that important. However, Beyond nodes are generally better as they buff the enemy density within the maps. This means more monsters and the chance at better loot.
Tirn's End
-Abyss
-Invasion
-Delirium
-Einhar
Abyss nodes focus on farming specific items or XP. Underground Kingdom being the starting node is ok f increasing the number of Abyss encounters. The next node, Lightless Legion is best used for farming XP. It adds +3 to monster levels and 50% increased pack size, which is great if you're running tier 19 maps and farming for XP. The last node makes hordes drop additional basic currency items, which is ok but not necessary like the other two.
The Invasion nodes aren't used that often mainly because of the lackluster rewards. Trespassers spawn an additional boss, and Exotic Goods drop an additional item. This is somewhat confusing as the game doesn't describe what it means by a "valuable item".
Delirium is one of the most powerful looting mechanics in Path of Exile. You can earn a decent amount of PoE currency by farming Delirium. That Which you seek increases the chances of Delirium encounters by a flat 10%. Greate forces is also a top if you're up to the challenge. And if you're having trouble clearing Deliriums, get the 25% slower for dissipation from Singular Entity.
Einhar nodes are insane if you're farming beasts so make sure to pick those up as soon as you're done with the Delirium nodes.
Lex Proxima
-Harvest
-Breaches
-Delves
Harvest nodes are always worth taking. Once again, most of the Harvest nodes are insane, especially Seance. The Seance nodes make it so up to 20 rare monsters are possessed and their minions. You can farm maps all day and earn exalts in large quantities. Once you've gotten seance, pick Bumper Crop and Heart of the Grove because they significantly bump your harvest farming. However, make sure you have a proper build before encountering tier 4 seeds. If you don't have enough currency to buy powerful gears, you can always buy PoE currency from various online stores. It's cheap, reliable, and always have affordable PoE orbs for sale.
Breach nodes aren't the best. 30% increased area and monster density is nice but is counterproductive. The increase in map size makes it difficult to traverse large distances, thereby affecting your efficiency in the long run. Also, Breach splinters aren't that hype in the community, are frowned upon PoE currency, and aren't worth the farm.
Nico nodes optimize your Sulphie farming. Sulphite Infusion greatly increases the amount of Sulphite you can farm from a map by a significantly high margin. The Delve nodes are targeted towards a specific audience. So if you're delver, pick these nodes by all means.
Lex Ejoris
-Delirium
-Perandus
-Metamorph
-Incursion
Rituals are just a better version of Perandus, rendering the worthless. You can still do Perandus, but the time and grind are not worth it. You can get a lot more by simply farming Rituals.
The Incursion nodes are slightly better. Vaal Oligarchs spawn an extra mob that drops some basic currencies. Time and again spawns an extra mission and Tie Dilation increases one additional drop.
However, the Metamorph and Delirium nodes are hard to compete with. They offer some ridiculous rewards and greatly outshines both Incursion and Perandus. Nonetheless, Delirium and Metamorph encounters are very difficult. Giving a Rogue metamorph 50% extra damage and 100% extra health can potentially kill if you're not careful with your build. So think twice before taking modding for Metamorphs.
This concludes the first part Atlas Skill Tree Guide. Stay tuned for Part 2 which discusses in detail the remaining Atlas passive skill trees.