In Path of Exile, what is the shaping in Atlas? Shaping is a mechanic used to increase a map five tiers of difficulty. In other words, shaping lets you move a tier 1 map up to tier 6 in difficulty. You can only shape up to tier 10, since the normal maps only go up in difficulty to tier 15.
Shaping a map in PoE you like is important, because it is an easy way to get one more high tier map with a layout that you’re fond of. Since you’ll be wanting to fill out your Atlas for the map rate bonus, having more good layouts to run can be a big advantage. However, how can you shape your Path of Exile Atlas?
In 3.1, shaping was changed a little. Prior to this league, there were specific maps on the Atlas which you would complete to get a Shaper’s path of exile currency of a specific tier. The tier of the orb typically corresponded to the tier of map it was found in. This changed in 3.1, and now there aren’t any specific maps to run for a Shaper’s Orb. In fact, Shaper’s Orbs never actually drop in maps.
When you understand moving the Elder, you’re ready to get your maps shaped. What you do is move the Elder onto a map of the tier that you want to raise a map to. For example, if you want to shape a map from tier 2 to tier 7, you’ll want to move the Elder onto a tier 7 map. Once he’s influencing that map, all you have to do is run the map and make sure you complete the “bonus objective” listed on the map. This sounds easy, and really, it is.
Once you run the map, the boss will drop a “Memory Fragment” This is brought to Zana, who in turn gives you a Shaper’s Orb. Why the extra step? Well, now if you unshape a map—the unshaping recipe is 20 Regrets and 5 Chisels—you don’t have to get the Memory Fragment again, you can just go to Zana for the Shaper’s Orb. Same if you complete a map but don’t want to shape a map of that tier just yet: Zana will hold the Shaper’s Orb for you.