Area Levels & Boss Essence
Boss essence is the main drop from shades and wraiths, and you need it to summon the four bosses. In a private Polis run the area level you pick decides which boss's essence drops. There's nothing to unlock: any level up to your mining level (and the server's level cap) is open.
Which essence drops where
| Boss essence | Starts dropping at area level | Best levels |
|---|---|---|
| Lamia | 1 | 1 to about 70 (fades out by the high 80s) |
| Echidna | 60 | about 75 to 99 |
| Thanatos | 95 | 100 to 101 |
| Hephaestus | 100 | 102 and up (all essence at 103) |
Where two bands overlap, a kill can drop either essence, and the mix shifts toward the stronger boss as the level rises. The run menu shows the essence mix for the level you've selected, and the Polis Loot button lists every drop at that level.
Lower levels stay open for good. Drop down if you want an earlier boss's essence or an easier run, or stay at your highest level for the strongest essence and the most Hunter XP.
Summoning the boss
Area level doesn't gate the summon, and neither does your level or prestige. The only requirement is the Community Fund tier: Lamia at I, Echidna at II, Thanatos at III, Hephaestus at IV, and the Uber bosses at V.
Uber keys don't come from hunting. They are forged from fragments won on the Sacred Way.
Version history
v4.0.0 (Map 4)
- The T1 to T8 hunt tiers and the
/huntertier selector are gone. You now pick an area level from 1 up to your mining level when you open a private Polis run, and essence follows that level. - Lamia essence drops from area level 1, Echidna from 60, Thanatos from 95 and Hephaestus from 100. Each is best a bit higher up (see the table above).
- Uber keys come from the Sacred Way, not Erebus Crates.
v3.0.0
- Boss summons are gated by the Community Fund tier alone. The player-progression score, and the per-boss level and prestige gates it replaced, are both gone.
- Thanatos unlocks at Fund tier III and Hephaestus at Fund tier IV, each one tier earlier than before.
- Hunt tier breakpoints are unchanged; they now pace essence acquisition rather than feeding a summon gate.
v2.0.0
- Hunt tier access moved from Hunter rank to mining level (T1 Lv 1 / T2 Lv 30 / T3 Lv 60 / T4 Lv 80 / T5 Lv 100 / T6 Lv 101 / T7 Lv 102 / T8 Lv 103).
- Tiers re-aligned to boss progression: Lamia T1-2, Echidna T3-4, Thanatos T5-6, Hephaestus T7-8 (T7/T8 moved up to Lv 102/103).
- Added an interactive tier selector in
/hunter(left-click to raise, right-click to lower), shared by shades and wraiths. - Boss summons now gate on a player progression score instead of Hunter rank.
- Shades and wraiths drop about 50% more boss essence across all tiers.