PoE2 Grand Mirror Guide: How to Spread Delirium Fog & Unlock the Simulacrum (0.5.4)

In Path of Exile 2 (0.5.4 Return of the Ancients), the Grand Mirror is the mechanic that turns one Delirium map into a whole chain of them — and it's how you organically ramp a map to the 100% Deliriousness a Simulacrum needs. Kill a map boss while you're inside Delirium fog and a giant shimmering mirror manifests; interact with it and you get to paint Delirium fog onto a map of your choice on the Atlas, for free, no tablet required. Clear enough of those foggy maps to hit 100% Deliriousness and that node becomes eligible to open a Simulacrum — the 7-wave gauntlet that gates Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster.

Most players who Google "grand mirror" are stuck at exactly one of two points: they don't know how to make the fog spread, or they've spread it and can't figure out how to actually start the Simulacrum. This guide clears up both, untangles the four different "mirrors" PoE2 confusingly named almost the same thing, and shows you where the real money in this chain is.

Quick answer: how the Grand Mirror works in PoE2

• Run a Delirium map (drop a Delirium tablet in a Tower, or roll a Delirium-fog map) and kill the map boss while standing in the fog. This can manifest a Grand Mirror.
• The Grand Mirror map is a two-boss fight — you fight the original map boss and its Delirium reflection. Beat both to complete it.
• Interact with the Grand Mirror and you can select an adjacent Atlas map (one marked with a glowing circle) to spread Delirium fog onto it — no tablet needed.
• Clear those foggy maps, killing everything. Each boss kill and rare adds to the map node's Deliriousness %. More kills = deeper fog = harder monsters + better loot.
• At 100% Deliriousness, the node can be turned into a Simulacrum. Combine 300 Simulacrum Splinters into a Simulacrum key, then use it like a currency item on that node (details below).
• Do not confuse the Grand Mirror with the Mirror of Kalandra — completely unrelated. One is a map mechanic; the other is the rarest currency in the game.

What is the Grand Mirror in Path of Exile 2?

The Grand Mirror is part of the Delirium endgame, reworked as "The Raven & The Hare" in the 0.5 Return of the Ancients expansion. To understand it you first have to separate the four things PoE2 named with the word "mirror," because searching one and reading about another is the single biggest source of confusion:

"Mirror"	What it is	Where you meet it
Delirium Mirror	The mirror near the start of a Delirium map. Walk through it to begin the rolling fog.	Beginning of any Delirium-affected map
Fracturing Mirrors / Shards	In-fog structures that buff rares, spawn Delirium bosses, or mirror the map boss.	Inside the Delirium fog
Grand Mirror	Manifests when you kill the map boss in fog. Lets you spread fog to adjacent maps and seeds a Simulacrum.	After a boss kill in fog
Mirror of Kalandra	A currency orb that duplicates an item. Nothing to do with Delirium.	Rare drop / trade

So the Grand Mirror specifically is the propagation mechanic: it's how Delirium stops being a one-map event and becomes a connected cluster of foggy maps that ramps toward a Simulacrum. As one Fracturing Mirror Shard type (Capricious) can force the map boss to manifest one, the community shorthand is simply "kill the boss in the fog and interact with the big shiny mirror."

How do you use the Grand Mirror to spread Delirium fog?

Here's the exact loop, start to finish:

• Get Delirium onto a map. Slot a Delirium tablet in a Tower on the Atlas so nearby maps roll Delirium, or run a map that already has the fog.
• Enter the map and find the Delirium Mirror near the start. Walk through it to start the fog ring, then push forward with the fog — the ring advances toward the map boss, and if you fall more than a few seconds behind it, the encounter ends.
• Kill the map boss inside the fog. This is what can summon the Grand Mirror. Expect a two-boss fight — the boss and its reflection.
• Interact with the Grand Mirror. A map-selection prompt opens. Pick an adjacent map node marked with a glowing circle and confirm. That node now has Delirium fog baked in — you didn't spend a tablet on it.
• Run the newly-fogged maps. Every monster you kill in them pushes the node's Deliriousness higher. Keep going until a node hits 100% Deliriousness (hover the node to read its current %).

On controller this trips a lot of players up: you hold the interact button on the item to open your inventory, then apply it — it is not a one-tap like a Waystone. On PC it's a right-click / left-click currency-style application. That single UI quirk is behind most "I'm holding A on the node and nothing happens" threads.

How do you actually start the Simulacrum?

This is the step that breaks people, and it's worth stating bluntly: the Simulacrum is not a Waystone. You do not slot it into the map device. It behaves like a currency item.

• First you need a Simulacrum key — combine 300 Simulacrum Splinters ("Combine 300 Splinters to create a Simulacrum," per the in-game text). Splinters drop from Delirium encounters, but only if you've allocated the Atlas passive "Is This About Me or You?" — without it, Simulacrum Splinters don't drop from level 75+ Delirium areas at all.
• With the key in your inventory, go to the Atlas and find a map node inside your Delirium fog that is at 100% Deliriousness (hover to confirm).
• Right-click the Simulacrum key, then left-click that node. It transforms into a Simulacrum map. (Controller: open inventory over the node, apply the Simulacrum onto it.)

If nothing happens, it's almost always one of three things: the node isn't at 100% yet, the node isn't inside the fog, or you're trying to use it like a Waystone in the map device instead of applying it directly to the Atlas node.

What do you get for running a Simulacrum?

The Simulacrum is the payoff at the end of the whole Grand Mirror chain. In 0.5, GGG cut it from 15 waves down to 7, so it's far less of a slog than the PoE1 version veterans remember.

• 7 waves, each layering roughly +5% Deliriousness and a random negative modifier. You get about one free death per run — a second death ends the attempt.
• Delirium bosses spawn mid-run with rising frequency: Omniphobia, the Fear Manifest (around wave 3+) and the tougher Kosis, the Revelation (around wave 5+). Exact spawn waves are community-observed, so treat them as a guide, not a guarantee.
• Clearing wave 7 grants 2 Delirium Atlas Passive Points and a boss key to the Delirium pinnacle — Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster (roughly 7 million HP across its forms).
• Reward tiles drop Distilled Emotions (there are 10 types, from Ire up to Isolation), Liquid Emotions for jewel crafting, and Simulacrum-exclusive uniques — including the chase Voices jewel.

The economy here is real: premium emotions like Isolation trade for around 10 Divine and Suffering around 3 Divine (league-volatile — always confirm on poe.ninja). That's why deep Delirium is considered the highest-ceiling currency farm in 0.5, and why a lot of players who can't push the fog safely just sell 300-Splinter stacks on the Currency Exchange (Delirium Distillations row) instead.

Did the Grand Mirror "ruin" my map?

Short version: no — spreading fog onto a map is the whole point, and it can't brick your Atlas anymore. Early in 0.5, Delirium fog could make some maps inaccessible, which is where the "Grand Mirror ruined my map" fear comes from. That was patched. Per GGG's Natalia_GGG:

"This issue is getting fixed in the 0.5.1 patch today... it's quite a big patch."

Since 0.5.1, Delirium fog no longer spreads onto maps that grant Atlas Passive Skills, so it won't lock you out of progression nodes. If a fogged map feels tougher, that's Deliriousness scaling monster life, damage and toughness — a difficulty knob, not damage to your Atlas. (Note that unique-enemy toughness was halved in 0.5.2, so the fog is less punishing than it was at launch.)

Grand Mirror farming tips (0.5.4)

• Build first. Delirium is build-gated — you need clear speed to keep pace with the fog and enough survivability to push depth. If your character can't do both, farm shallow and sell Splinters rather than dying repeatedly.
• Don't hug the edge of the fog. The most common mistake is pulling back; you must push forward with the ring, killing as you go, to build Deliriousness.
• Farm emotions on natural mirrors, spend them on juiced maps. A Waystone instilled with Delirium will not reward Distilled Emotions (its fog doesn't dissipate) — so build your emotion stock on organic Grand Mirror fog, then instil the money emotions (Greed/Envy/Disgust/Despair) onto maps you're pushing for currency. See the full breakdown in our PoE2 Distilled Emotions guide.
• Chain the fog. Every Grand Mirror lets you paint another node — plan your route so each foggy map feeds the next, concentrating Deliriousness where you want to open the Simulacrum.

For the wider farm strategy this sits inside, pair this with our PoE2 Delirium farming guide and PoE2 Simulacrum farming guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Grand Mirror in PoE2? It's a Delirium map mechanic. When you kill a map boss while inside Delirium fog, a Grand Mirror can manifest; interacting with it lets you spread Delirium fog onto an adjacent Atlas map with no tablet, chaining Delirium across maps and building toward a Simulacrum. It is not the Mirror of Kalandra and it is not the Delirium Mirror you walk through at the start of a map.

How do I spread Delirium fog with the Grand Mirror? After beating the two-boss Grand Mirror fight, interact with the mirror, then select an adjacent map node marked with a glowing circle. On controller you hold the interact button to open your inventory and apply it; on PC it's a currency-style right-click then left-click. That node then has Delirium fog without costing a tablet.

How do I reach 100% Deliriousness? Keep clearing maps that have the fog. Each map boss kill and rare monster adds to that node's Deliriousness percentage — hover the node to check it. Deeper fog means harder monsters but better drops, and 100% is the threshold to open a Simulacrum on that node.

How do I start a Simulacrum once I have 100% fog? The Simulacrum is a currency item, not a Waystone. Combine 300 Simulacrum Splinters into a Simulacrum key, then right-click the key and left-click a 100%-Deliriousness node inside your fog to transform it. Applying it in the map device like a Waystone won't work.

Why aren't Simulacrum Splinters dropping for me? You almost certainly haven't allocated the Atlas passive "Is This About Me or You?". Without it, Simulacrum Splinters don't drop from level 75+ Delirium encounters at all.

Did the Grand Mirror brick my map? No. Spreading fog is intended, and since patch 0.5.1 Delirium fog no longer spreads onto maps that grant Atlas Passive Skills, so it can't lock you out of progression. A fogged map is just harder because of Deliriousness scaling.

Skip the grind

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