Path of Exile’s Immortal Syndicate can feel like a part-time job you didn’t apply for. Seriously. One minute you’re just trying to clear a map, and the next, you’re staring at a board of nineteen faces wondering why Aisling is in Fortification when she should be in Research. It’s a mess. Most players just click whatever button looks "greenest" and hope for the best.
But here's the thing: if you aren't using a proper poe betrayal cheat sheet strategy, you're basically throwing away Divine Orbs. In 2026, with the Secrets of the Atlas expansion having shifted the meta again, the old "just run Catarina" advice is actually kinda bad. You need to know who is worth your time and which divisions actually pay the bills.
The 2026 Profit Reality
Honest truth? Most members are filler. You’re looking for the heavy hitters. Back in the day, everyone obsessed over It That Fled for Breachstone upgrading, but that’s old news. Now, you’re looking for Aisling in Research for those Veiled Exalted slams. It’s the gold standard. If she isn’t in Research, your board is basically a brick.
Then there's Gravicius. If you get him into Transportation at Rank 3, he’s dropping full stacks of Divination cards. It’s a gamble, sure, but hitting a stack of The Apothecary or The Fiend is how you fund an entire build in one afternoon. Compare that to someone like Vagan, who basically just litters your screen with Legion or Harbinger scarabs. Useful? Maybe. Rich? Not really.
Decoding the Board Without Losing Your Mind
The Syndicate board is a social network where everyone hates each other, and that’s exactly how you want it. You've probably heard of the 5-5-2-2 setup. It sounds like a soccer formation, but it’s actually the most stable way to farm.
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Basically, you stuff five "trash" members into Research and five into Fortification. You keep them there like a holding pen. This leaves only two slots open in Intervention and Transportation. Why? Because it forces the game to spawn the members you actually want more frequently. If the "bad" houses are full, the "good" ones have to show up. It’s simple math, really.
The Heavy Hitters You Need Right Now
- Aisling (Research): The queen of the board. She gives you the Veiled Exalted Orb slam. In a world of high-end crafting, this is non-negotiable.
- Gravicius (Transportation): Forget his other spots. Put him in Transportation for those juicy Divination card stacks.
- Tora (Research/Transportation): She’s been underrated for years. In Research, she gives gem XP which is fine, but in Transportation, she can drop Facetor’s Lens or high-quality gems that sell for a premium in trade leagues.
- Rin (Transportation): Ever since the chisel rework, Rin in Transportation has become a secret MVP for farming Maven’s Chisels.
- Guff (Fortification): He’s the "chaos spam" king. His crafting bench is a 60-second adrenaline rush where you try to make something usable out of a base item. It’s niche, but for jewels or rings, it’s surprisingly profitable.
How to Actually Manipulate the Board
You’ve got two main buttons: Execute and Interrogate.
Execute is for your friends. If you want someone to stay in a division and get stronger, you kill them. It sounds counterintuitive, but that's PoE for you. Interrogate is for the people you want to move or the people you need "Intel" from. Interrogating someone strips them of a rank and eventually kicks them out of their division.
Pro tip: Never, ever click "Remove all Rivalries." You want these people to hate each other. Rivalries (the red lines) make more members show up in a single encounter. More members mean more rewards and faster Intel. If everyone is "Trusted" (green lines), they’ll still show up, but they won’t give you the best betrayal options.
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The Catarina Trap
Here’s where most people mess up their poe betrayal cheat sheet flow. They rush the Mastermind (Catarina) as soon as the bar is full.
Stop doing that.
When you kill Catarina, the entire board resets. All those rivalries you spent twenty maps building? Gone. Those Rank 3 members in the perfect spots? Reset to zero. You should only run Catarina if you have a specific reason—like targeting The Devouring Diadem early in a league or if your board is so messy it’s easier to just start over. Otherwise, just keep farming the Safehouses. The consistent income from Research and Transportation usually outweighs the "big drop" gamble from the boss.
Atlas Passives You Can't Skip
If you’re serious about this, your Atlas tree needs to reflect it. You need Test of Loyalty. It gives your Syndicate members an extra rank when you execute them. It turns a Rank 1 scrub into a Rank 3 boss in half the time.
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Also, grab Intelligence Gathering. It gives you free safehouse progress every time you finish a map. It’s passive income for your brain. You’ll find yourself opening safehouses every four or five maps without even trying.
Actionable Next Steps
If your board is a disaster right now, don't panic. Start by interrogating everyone who is in the "wrong" spot. Get them down to zero stars so they become unassigned. Once they are "homeless," wait for them to show up in the division you want (like Research for Aisling) and then Execute them to lock them in.
Focus on building red lines between your two "farm" houses and the two "trash" houses. Once you have that 5-5-2-2 balance, the currency starts flowing. Just remember to check your cheat sheet before every safehouse run—it’s easy to forget that Janus is actually useless in Fortification but decent for Gold in Research if you're struggling with town upkeep. Keep it simple, don't overthink the "Bargain" options, and keep those rivalries hot.