Temple building in Path of Exile 2 is one of the most frustrating systems to start - and POE2 Currency one of the most rewarding once it finally clicks. Many players stall out early, unable to get past two or three rooms before their chain collapses due to bad RNG. If you are several days in with "nothing to show for it," that experience is normal. The good news is that the system heavily favors persistence and correct setup over raw luck.

This guide explains how to stabilize your temple early, when to use locks, how to manage bait rooms, and why even the "easiest" temple layouts can become absurdly profitable.

Why Temple Starts Feel So Bad

Temple progression is deliberately slow at the beginning. Before you establish a stable chain, every run feels like wasted time because:

You lack consistent room control

Chains can be randomly deleted

You are dependent on unlucky room rolls

Locks feel too valuable to "waste"

This creates a trap where players hoard locks and wait for the "perfect" setup - which never arrives. The key lesson is that early temples are not about optimization; they are about survival and momentum.

Lock Usage: Stop Hoarding, Start Stabilizing

If you have locks, you should be using them immediately - even before Spymasters are online.

A highly effective habit is to lock your snake every single run before clicking "Run Temple." This achieves three things:

Prevents accidental forgetting at the end of the run

Protects your chain from random deletion

Frees up inventory space to collect medallions

Locks are not a late-game luxury; they are an early-game stabilizer. Waiting until Spymasters are active often means never reaching that point at all.

Room Placement Strategy: Middle First, Snake Second

One of the most common mistakes is overcommitting to bait rooms or blocking your own expansion paths.

A reliable approach is:

Place as many neutral or value rooms down the middle as possible

Avoid placements that block potential snake expansion

Leave room for lucky chain growth without relying on it

Your snake should have space to grow, but it does not need to grow every run. Stability beats speed in the early phase.

Using Short Runs to Beat RNG

If RNG is not cooperating, you can increase your chances by short-running temples:

Enter the temple

Collect a single lock or key medallion

End the run immediately

This dramatically increases the number of room rolls per hour and helps you reach critical rooms faster. While inefficient from a loot perspective, this method is excellent for bootstrapping a dead temple into a functional one.

When to Lock the Chain and Full Clear

Once you have even a modest chain established (two to three stable connections), it becomes worth locking the chain and fully clearing the temple.

At this stage, temples can drop:

Additional locks

Cultivation, Architect, and Crystallised Corruption orbs

Large volumes of raw divines

High-tier uniques

Players running even the easiest layouts report 30–40 divines per run, plus guaranteed high-value crafting orbs. At this point, the system snowballs hard.

SSF Viability and Loot Expectations

Temple farming is exceptionally strong in SSF:

180% rarity gear can yield 3–5 T1 uniques per run

Lower-tier currency becomes effectively infinite

Divines are sustained long-term

Grand Tablets are fully self-sustaining

While chase items like Kalandra's Touch or Mirrors remain rare, most T1 uniques will drop repeatedly over time. Variance exists, but the volume is undeniable.

Final Thoughts: Endure the Setup, Enjoy the Payoff

Temple building in Path of Exile 2 is slow, annoying, and buy POE2 Currency occasionally demoralizing - by design. However, once stabilized, it becomes one of the most lucrative and self-sustaining systems in the game, even without advanced tech or trade access.

Use your locks early. Give your snake room to breathe. Accept RNG, but play around it with short runs. If you push through the painful opening phase, the temple will eventually pay you back many times over.