Quick answer: how Simulacrum works in PoE2 (0.5)
A Simulacrum is Path of Exile 2's instanced Delirium endgame encounter. You combine 300 Simulacrum Splinters into one Simulacrum, then fight through 7 increasingly Delirium-soaked waves of monsters. Two unique bosses — Omniphobia, Fear Manifest and Kosis, The Revelation — start spawning mid-run and dump reward orbs, and clearing the final wave grants 2 Delirium Atlas Passive Points plus a boss key to Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster, the actual Delirium pinnacle boss. It's one of the densest currency-and-loot piñatas in the 0.5 "Return of the Ancients" endgame — and patch 0.5.2 just made it noticeably easier by halving Delirium monster toughness and damage in the fog.
Everything below is verified against the in-game item data (poe2db), the PoE2 Wiki and the official 0.5.2 patch notes. If you'd rather skip the splinter grind and just collect the Divines or get a pinnacle carry, timesaver.gg PoE2 currency & services gets you there instantly.
What is a Simulacrum in PoE2?
The Simulacrum is the "boss arena" version of Delirium. Normal Delirium happens out in your maps: you walk through a Delirium Mirror near the start, a rolling grey fog ring spreads, and you have to stay inside it (more than ~4 seconds outside ends the encounter) while it cranks up monster density, danger and loot. The Simulacrum takes that same fog and bottles it into a dedicated, repeatable encounter you start on demand.
You don't run a Simulacrum from your inventory like a Waystone. Instead you accumulate Simulacrum Splinters and combine them. The in-game splinter text is exact:
"Combine 300 Splinters to create a Simulacrum. Shift click to unstack."
A finished Simulacrum is then opened at the Realmgate to drop you into the arena. Because it's instanced and self-contained, it's the most controllable burst of Delirium farming in the game — you choose when to run it, and (unlike map-fog Delirium) you're not also juggling the rest of a map.
How do you get Simulacrum Splinters?
Splinters are the gate, so this is where the farming actually happens. Three reliable sources:
- Map Delirium. Running the Delirium fog in your maps is the bread-and-butter source. Deeper fog (higher Deliriousness %) drops more splinters, so juicing Delirium on the Atlas tree and stacking it with Precursor Tablets pays off.
- Delirium bosses. Omniphobia and Kosis themselves can drop additional Simulacrum Splinters when killed, so each Simulacrum partially refunds your next one.
- The Currency Exchange. Splinters are stackable and tradeable. If your build can't safely farm deep fog, you can buy splinters in bulk — or, just as commonly, sell the splinters you collect to players who can.
That last point matters: a full 300-splinter stack is worth a meaningful chunk of currency on its own (it floats with the league economy — always check the live rate on poe.ninja). Plenty of farmers who can't comfortably push the higher difficulties simply sell stacks rather than run them. There's no wrong answer — splinters are currency.
How many waves is a PoE2 Simulacrum?
Seven. This is the single biggest thing returning players get wrong: in 0.5 the Simulacrum was cut from 15 waves down to 7. If a guide still says "15 waves," it's running on Path of Exile 1 numbers.
Each wave layers on more Deliriousness (roughly +5% per wave) and starts with a couple of random negative modifiers, so the back half of the run is dramatically more dangerous than the opening. The waves don't auto-start — you trigger each one, which also gives you a breath to grab drops before the next one begins.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Splinters per Simulacrum | 300 |
| Waves (0.5) | 7 (reduced from 15) |
| First boss can appear | ~Wave 3 |
| Deliriousness scaling | ~+5% per wave |
| Final-wave reward | 2 Atlas Passive Points + Tangmazu boss key |
There's also one rule that catches everyone: you generally get one free death per run — die a second time and the Simulacrum ends. Combined with the escalating Deliriousness, that's why pushing to wave 7 on a fragile build is a real test, not a formality.
Who are the Simulacrum bosses — and what is Tangmazu?
Two unique Delirium bosses can spawn inside the encounter, and their spawn chance climbs the deeper you go:
- Omniphobia, Fear Manifest — begins appearing from around wave 3. A melee-leaning manifestation that closes distance and pressures you.
- Kosis, The Revelation — the tougher of the two, appearing from around wave 5. Telegraphed but lethal abilities, including a channelled belly beam you have to sidestep.
(Exact spawn waves are community-observed and can shift — treat them as "from the mid-waves on, rising each wave," not a guarantee.) Both bosses rapidly fill your reward gauge, so a run where Kosis shows up is a good run.
The real prize sits past the Simulacrum. Completing wave 7 awards a boss key to Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster — the Delirium pinnacle boss in 0.5, sitting at roughly 7 million health across his forms. So think of the Simulacrum as the gateway: you farm it both for its own loot and to bank keys for the pinnacle fight. This is a key 0.5 change — in older builds of the game the Simulacrum itself was treated as the endpoint; now it feeds a dedicated pinnacle.
What does a Simulacrum drop?
Rewards come from per-wave reward tiles (which the bosses fill fast) and from completion:
- Distilled Emotions — the core Delirium currency. There are 10 types (Ire, Guilt, Greed, Paranoia, Envy, Disgust, Despair, Fear, Isolation, Suffering). You instil an amulet with 3 of them at the crafting bench to allocate a Notable passive, or apply them to Waystones to layer Delirium onto your maps. The targeted, high-tier emotions are genuinely valuable.
- Liquid Emotions — the 0.5 Delirium crafting currency used to modify and craft jewels (including Timelost jewels).
- Simulacrum-exclusive uniques — a pool of chase items that only drop from deep, completed runs.
- 2 Delirium Atlas Passive Points + the Tangmazu boss key for clearing wave 7.
Stack that on top of the raw currency and rare gear from a 7-wave kill-fest and the Simulacrum is one of the better loot-per-minute encounters in the 0.5 endgame — if your build can carry it.
Why now? The 0.5.2 Delirium buff
Here's the timely reason to farm Simulacrum this week specifically. Patch 0.5.2 (June 12, 2026) directly nerfed Delirium monsters. Straight from the official notes:
"Halved the amount of Toughness that Unique Enemies in the Fog gain during Delirium Encounters."
"Halved the amount of Increased Damage that Normal, Magic and Rare Enemies in the Fog gain during Delirium Encounters."
Translation: the things that made deep Simulacrum waves brutal — spongy bosses and one-shotting fog packs — got cut roughly in half. Builds that previously stalled at wave 4–5 can push deeper now, which means more reward tiles, more boss spawns, and more Tangmazu keys per stack of splinters. If you bounced off Simulacrum earlier in the league, it's worth another look.
Is Simulacrum farming worth it?
Honest answer: it's a high-ceiling, build-gated farm, not a beginner one. The currency density is excellent, but the escalating Deliriousness plus the one-death rule punish glassy characters hard. A practical decision tree:
- Fast, tanky build that clears deep fog comfortably? Run them. Push wave 7, bank Tangmazu keys, and you'll out-earn most other single mechanics.
- Mid-tier build that dies around wave 4–5? Either farm to your safe wave and bail, or simply sell your splinters in bulk and farm currency you can clear. Selling 300-stacks is a completely legitimate strategy.
- Want the rewards without the wall? Convert the currency you do have into Divines, or grab a pinnacle carry, and spend your time mapping instead of dying to Kosis.
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A heads-up on the current Simulacrum bugs
This is worth flagging because the community is loudly frustrated about it right now: since the recent patch, Simulacrums have been buggy. The common failure is monsters that don't spawn or spawn inside a sealed/inaccessible part of the arena, so the wave never registers as cleared and the next wave won't open — bricking the run. It gets worse when the Simulacrum overlaps another mechanic's influence (Abyss, for example) on the same map. Some players also report being unable to open a portal out even after finishing, and having to exit via character selection.
It doesn't hit everyone — plenty of players farm Simulacrum all day without issue — but if you get stuck mid-run, you're not doing anything wrong. Workarounds players have found: rush toward the edges/corners of the arena where stuck mobs tend to sit (you can sometimes hit them through gaps), and if you're truly locked, log to character select and back. GGG has been actively hotfixing Delirium since 0.5, so expect this to keep improving.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Simulacrum Splinters do I need in PoE2? 300. The in-game text reads "Combine 300 Splinters to create a Simulacrum," and splinters stack to 300. You can farm them from Delirium fog and Delirium bosses, or buy/sell them on the Currency Exchange since they're fully tradeable.
How many waves is a Simulacrum now? 7. Patch 0.5 reduced the Simulacrum from 15 waves to 7, with Deliriousness rising roughly 5% per wave. Any source still quoting 15 waves is using old Path of Exile 1 / pre-0.5 numbers.
Who are the Simulacrum bosses? Omniphobia, Fear Manifest (appears from around wave 3) and Kosis, The Revelation (the tougher one, from around wave 5). Their spawn chance increases each wave and they can appear more than once per run. Clearing wave 7 also hands you a boss key to the Delirium pinnacle, Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster.
Can I just sell Simulacrum Splinters instead of running them? Yes, and many players do. A full 300-splinter stack is worth a solid amount of currency, and selling stacks is a perfectly good strategy if your build can't safely push the later waves — check poe.ninja for the current rate.
Why is my Simulacrum bugged / not spawning enemies? This is a known issue since the recent patch: monsters sometimes fail to spawn or spawn in a sealed part of the arena, so the wave won't complete. It's worse when the map also has another mechanic's influence (e.g. Abyss). Try moving to the arena edges to reach stuck mobs; if fully locked, exit to character selection. GGG is actively hotfixing Delirium.
Did the 0.5.2 patch make Simulacrum easier? Yes. 0.5.2 halved the bonus Toughness unique enemies gain in the fog and halved the increased damage that normal, magic and rare fog monsters deal. Deep waves are meaningfully more survivable now, so it's a good time to push for wave 7 and Tangmazu keys.
Bottom line
Simulacrum in PoE2 0.5 is a focused, high-reward Delirium burst: bank 300 splinters, open it at the Realmgate, survive 7 escalating waves, farm Omniphobia and Kosis for loot, and walk out with Distilled Emotions, Atlas points and a Tangmazu key. It's build-gated and currently a little buggy, but the 0.5.2 toughness-and-damage nerf made it the most farmable it's been all league. If you've got the build, push it; if you don't, your splinters and currency are worth real Divines either way.
