new league new mechanics
this league has a lot of mechanics
you're going to learn them to get fat loot

to get to the mastermind, you have to raid the safehouses.
to raid the safehouses, you need intel
to get intel, you have to get the members to betray each other, or just imprison everyone.
imprisoning everyone lowers their rank, which means less loot.
you want fat loot so you have to learn the mechanics


there are four sections of the Syndakit: Transportation, Fortification, Research, and Intervention.

Transport will try to protect some glowy pillars filled with souls to a portal. Timed but not usually a hurry.

Fortification will set up a fort in some part of the map, and defend it with their lives. Breaking open the door will spawn lots of enemies, can easily get swarmed watch out. Usually there are healing totems; remove those.

Research will have a dank den for you to walk into, and the Syndakit will try to destroy the intel before you get there. either rush the leader or try to kill all the priest lookin dudes with the lazers and banners. lots of mobs will spawn, i recommend phasing in your builds, and lots of aoe.

Intervention is just like it sounds: they'll teleport into your map and try to take you out. depending on how many buddies show up you could die real quick, so run away asap and kite if you're worried about dying.

alright let's take a look at the board huh (press v ingame to see at any time)


break it down

yellow lines means they're in the same branch of the synokate, and will have a room in the safehouse. the max is 5 members.

green lines means they're buddies with another member. very important as they'll show up to defend each other more often during the league events (which means more loot), and will enable betraying each other later on. this is key as it enables very very big gains of intel. someone betraying a hideout leader will give you +40 intel.

red lines means they're rivals and will try to fight each other periodically. i don't really like it as it makes fights more confusing then they already are. try not to have too many red lines. you can remove all rivalries within the syndokat with a bargain option sometimes.

the ranking system is relatively easy: higher rank means harder fights and better loot. higher rank means more items. watch out for scary items like stun chance, extra crit, or chaos damage.

the intel bar under the leader you need 100 intel per section, which includes the mastermind. interrogating a rank 3 safehouse leader will give 12 intel over all, so you'll need quite a few raids to reach the big bad.

ok ok this is a work in progress

members will always have the two options to pick from: interrogate or other
the other can change depending on how many members there are down at the time
having 3+ will always make you kill/imprison one
be sure to check your options after every choice

don't forget about the secret third option

INTERROGATE

you always have the option to interrogate/imprison
imprisoning does a few very key things
+will always provide intel towards the safehouse/mastermind
+will always derank the member -1, or if was a leader, completely
+will remove the items they have
+in 3 turns they go free

everyone's different so who you want to interrogate is up to you

if you don't like someone's loot: interrogate them
if you're afraid they're gonna kill you in maps over and over: interrogate them
if they have a really scary item synergy: interrogate them (bye tora)
if you just want to rush the leadership: interrogate everyone


EXECUTE

killing a member will make them stronger and they'll get more loot in the safehouse raids
+will always +1 rank, unless they're max
+will give them an item so they get scarier
+will let them give more stuff at the end

if you like what the dude is giving, i would always make sure they're rank 3 before the raid. it really does make the difference at the end.

i don't know if an itemless rank 3 does the same damage as a rank 0 but its worth testing


BARGAINING

there's a wide variety of events that could happen with this
it's better to figure them out on your own :) you'll learn as you go
but really, if they say drop currency, unique, map, or scarab. take it. big drops.

+it can do anything
+get those drops man


BETRAYAL

this is the big one. major board changes and big intel gains
in order for a member to betray another, they must be allies. make everyone green lined for more chances!

+it's the name of the league lol. it's important!!!


THE SECRET THIRD OPTION

walking away

if you don't like what they're offering, and you don't want to remove their rank/position, just walk away.

+NO LOOT GAINED
+ONLY WALK AWAY IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING
+NO LOOT GAINED
+if you're in a reseach lab you have to walk away out by yourself
+NO LOOT GAINED

don't mess your hard worked board up; no loot is the price you have to pay

everyone wants different loot so your opinions are your own and that's ok
(spoilers)
CLICK ON IT, OPEN IT, SAVE IT, KEEP IT
I DIDN'T MAKE THIS if you know who did I want to thank them THANK YOU

sept 2019 update this is currently out of date with 3.8 vagan changes i'll try to find a different image

i'll recommend who to keep for each but remember it's my opinion thanks
i'm speaking from a solo self found perspective, and not from a trading league one.

the hideout LEADER gives DOUBLE REWARDS
it's difficult getting the leader to show up in the normal events so if you can upgrade them, do it for sure.

i don't really care for the rng stuff from guff and riker but that's just me
guff can be really good for crafting es gear, and having guff in the right branch can make intel gain very quickly as he's a big talker
riker can remove some rng with finding a certain item you want
aisling is pretty bad now that they removed her twin master craft with research. only chase her if you're looking for a very specific mod (+1 totem for shield, +1 curse for body, lots of amulet/ring mods)

update changed how the intervention scarabs drop so everyone's rank matters again not just the leader

TRANSPORTATION

keep
+++++CAMERIA (league uniques)
+++gravycius (big stack of 1 div card, higher rank means rarer/better card)
+++korell if lvl 2-3 (lots of good essences)
+++guff is really nice here if you want to craft high es gear with chaos spamming
+it that fled if you don't have many breach splinters yet
+aisling (veiled weapons)
+hillock if you're melee (overqualities weapons)
+leo if you want silver coins
+vorici if you need quality gems
+jorgin if lvl 3 (talismans)
+elreon (unique weapons)

remove
---vagan sucks
---janus sucks
-tora
-rin (drops 2-4 maps, she's better elsewhere)
-haku does nothing special here, tell me if i'm wrong ok


FORTIFICATION

keep
+++gravycius (lots and lots of div cards, i got a fated connections (6link prophecy) here)
+++tora (lab enchants, need +3 rank for helmet)
+++hillock (overqualities armor), very important for 6 linking chances
+++cameria (harbinger currency)
++riker gets 'take a unique'; pick one unique out of 7 or so, 8 seconds to decide
++elreon (unique armor)
++korell has fragments? if you can get the mortals or shaper guardian keys he's really good then
+aisling (veiled armor)
+it that fled if you really need abyss jewels
+leo is ok here, gives currency
+rin is ok here, if you need rare maps for the unid challenges
+jorgin gives items with a bestiary mod (aspects), pretty good
+tora (lab enchants, need +3 rank for helmet)

remove
---vagan sucks
---janus sucks
-vorici is better elsewhere
-haku gives some strongboxes (i fought him here when he was lvl3 and i got one normal strongbox)
-jorgin better elsewhere


RESEARCH

keep
+++++it that fled (can make breachstones harder/give more loot and xp!)
+++hillock (only way to overquality flasks!)
+++tora (gives gems experience, very important for levelling empower enlighten etc)
+++vorici (gives items white sockets, higher rank for more sockets)
+++rin (unique maps, very important for atlas %)
+++jorgin turns amulets into talismans, keeping all the prefix/suffix mods it had before, very nice for good mods on a bad base
++elreon (unique rings/amulets, important for loreweave)
++leo gives an exalt usage with rank 3
++korell (gives fossils)
+aisling gives an item a veiled mod
remove
---vagan sucks
---janus sucks
-aisling gives an item a veiled mod, which replaces your master craft. pretty bad
---cameria is way better in the other 3 branches
-gravycius turns a div card into another? i can turn in gambler sets too. better everywhere else
-honestly i'm not sure what haku does here

bonus: if you're interested in the open 40 chests of each division challenge
the members with chests are:
>cameria (map sextants)
>elreon (unique jewelry)
>haku (rare high quality gear)
>janus (perandus coins)
>korell (fossils
>rin (unique maps)
>vagan (rare jewelry)

INVASION i mean INTERVENTION

the rankings of the members determine what kind of their scarab you get (rusted 1, polished 2, gilded 3)

keep
+++++rin (map scarabs!!!)
+++jorgin (bestiary scarab, very powerful this league)
+++it that fled gives breach scarabs
+++gravycius gives div card scarabs, big for farming
+++riker gets pick a divination card
++cameria if you want to big delve
++haku gives strongbox scarabs, big for red maps
++korell gives elder scarab
++vorici gives shaper scarab
++tora gives harbinger scarab
+elreon gives unique drops scarab
+aisling gives veiled rings/amulets

remove
-vagan sucks
-janus sucks
-hillock gives map quality? not really worth it
-leo gives torment scarabs, pretty bad

Janus sucks, stunlocks you and gives awful safehouse rewards.

Tora and It that fled do major chaos damage, if you don't improve your resists you're gonna eat dirt real quick

Vagan's blade aura can hurt you when he's down watch out

Haku does big damage. tala moana warrior

i have big spikes of damage versus Vorici and i don't know why

Cameria has a icicle ground effect that is barely visible and sticks around after his death
Elreon has something similar with homing holy relics


really just be careful this league, try to get 0% chaos res.
don't get bullied

thanks for reading, i do appreciate input.
good luck this league get those big drops.
if you learned from the guide please share it, i like big visitor numbers

if you wish to see my characters you can go here
https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/spaceistheplace/characters
i've been playing since the path of exile release on steam, if you have questions I can probably answer them

i made a loot filter if you're interested using a bunch of ripped custom audio from my favorite games and also holding my friends hostage. here's a display of it i made last league thank you i love you

thank you for 5,000 unique views it means more then you know.

my buddy monk made a guide on pure melee builds have a look

very much a work in progress i will be spoilering the mastermind name if you care about that

some cool mods you can only unveil from items with a specific member's mod

if you examine the item before the unveiling sometimes they'll say

korell's veiled instead of the normal veiled/of the veil

this is the way of getting unique mods for your crafting bench

i'm sure there's a bunch i don't have down here because i unlocked them when i wasn't noticing they were member specific. if you want me to add something please notify me thank you.

>mods i ripped off poedb remember getting

old friend elreon gives his classic mod - to mana skill costs for rings and amulets

vagan gives cannot miss for melee weapons which costs a big 3 exalts to craft on the weapon you want

leo the forgotten gives straight up %damage for rings and shields

vorici enables the %damage while leeching every slayer wants for amulets and gloves

talamoana haku still gives his gives quality to socketed gems mod, very important for levelling empower/enlighten/the green one

i'm going to assume tora gives %chance to bleed for both ranged and melee but i don't remember really

janus the perandus gives a mod only for helmets, increasing the rarity of items dropped from rare/unique monsters

rin the mutewind gives %chance to avoid being frozen, eventually getting cannot be frozen for boots

based cameria gives %crit chance/%crit multi if you've shattered an enemy recently for rings

korell the redblade gives phys taken as fire damage mod for helmets, which can stack with the atzoatl temple mod that also gives phys taken as fire. very defensively powerful.

pirate dude guff the brinerot gives % damage during any flask effect for gloves

bear guy jorgin gives the rigwald callback mod % to summon a wolf on kill

divination card master gravycious gives the gain % of max life as extra energy shield, very powerful for hybrid characters

aisling the butcher from demon's souls gives % increased to chaos/phys damage, very cool for those poison stacking claw builds

riker the tinkerer gives %increase fire and lightning damage for rings

it that i want to marry gives % of non chaos damage added as chaos damage why isn't she real bros. it want to hold its' clasped hands and go to the dark place

my self insert hillock the blacksmith gives a %increase to attributes

spoilers lol
catarina the undead gf gives +2 to support gems, enormously powerful for empower haha
she also has 6 unique flask mods you can only aquire from her cinderswallow urn unique flask drop
3% of Life Regenerated per second during Flask Effect

50% Chance to avoid being Stunned during Flask Effect
(8–12)% increased Movement Speed during Flask effect

(20–25)% reduced Mana Cost of Skills during Flask Effect

(20–30)% increased Rarity of Items found during Flask Effect

(60–80)% increased Critical Strike Chance during Flask Effect

15% of Damage Taken from Hits is Leeched as Life during Flask Effect

>mods that are very powerful and should try to unlock

+1 to number of summoned totems only from shields

+1 additional curse applied to enemies only from body armours

+1 minimum power/endurance/frenzy charges from rings and amulets

(5–8)% increased maximum Life, (5–8)% increased maximum Mana only from body armours

(13–16)% increased Attack Speed, +(13–18)% to Quality for melee weapons

the +1 level to aoe/level to projectile gem mods from helmets and gloves

+(34–40) to maximum Mana, 6% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit for amulets and rings is very powerful for mom builds

Areas which contain Jun will, in the great majority of cases, now contain three separate Immortal Syndicate encounters.
Haku on Research duty now gives items that can exceed 20% Quality, up to 30% at Rank 3.
Haku's Chests while on Escort duty now give more and better items.
Aisling on Intervention duty now gives Jewellery with two Veiled Mods.
It that Fled on Fortification duty now gives more Rare Abyssal Jewels, and always gives a Stygian Vise at Rank 3.
It that Fled on Escort duty now gives significantly more Breach Splinters.
Janus on Escort duty now gives many more Quality Currency Items.
Janus on Research duty now gives many more Perandus Coins.
Janus on Fortification duty now gives more Currency Shards.
Vorici on Escort duty now gives more and better quality Gems, including a 21 to 23% Quality Gem at Rank 3.
Vorici on Fortification duty now gives many more Currency items that manipulate Sockets.
Vagan's Chests in all Jobs now give more and better items.
Veiled items drop more frequently from Immortal Syndicate encounters.
Several veiled modifiers now have fewer tiers. Low tiers contribute more towards unlocking higher tiers, however it will, on average, take more unveils to unlock the highest tier.
It That Fled's veiled mod (non-Chaos added as extra Chaos) has been split into Physical added as Chaos, Lightning added as Chaos, Cold added as Chaos, and Fire added as Chaos, and the values have been adjusted. New powerful versions of these modifiers can now appear in the basic mod pool on weapons and shields at higher levels.
The +1 to maximum totems mod has been moved into the Shaper item mod pool, appearing on Shields.
The cost of crafting veiled items in your hideout has been adjusted.

- with Vagan being updated into becoming more Legion oriented, he is bound to be very popular in your safehouse

Vagan now awards various Legion-related items in Betrayal Safehouses.
In Transportation Safehouses he awards Legion Splinters.
In Research he awards Incubators.
In Intervention he awards Legion Scarabs.
In Fortification he awards a set of chests that can be found in Legion encounters.

copypasting the rest of the patch notes

-The state of your Betrayal board is now shared across all characters on the same account and in the same league.
-Upon completing the Mastermind encounter, you'll now have access to a reward room for every single Immortal Syndicate member currently with a job on your board (including prisoners). That's essentially up to 14 rooms worth of rewards, plus the Mastermind themselves.

wow do mastermind please

-Added a Stash to the Mastermind's Safehouse reward area because, well, you're going to need it.
Mastermind Intelligence no longer decays.
-Upon defeating the Mastermind, the Betrayal board state is reset to a similar number of members and relationships as the starting state. However, Safehouse Intelligence is no longer reset upon defeating the Mastermind.

very cool, really pushing the player to always do mastermind

-Safehouses now have 100% increased Experience from monsters, and the Mastermind's Safehouse now has 200% increased Experience from monsters.

-You now always have the option to 'Release' Syndicate members.

amazing qol so you can avoid doing something you don't want to happen, should have been in the actual league

-Each encounter is now tracked on the Quest Tracker on the right side of the screen.

see you next league i'm skipping 3.8, too busy