You’ve probably been staring at the Kingsmarch UI for hours, wondering if sending 50,000 Blue Zanthium to a tiny port in the Karui Archipelago is actually going to land you a Mirror Shard or just a pile of Orb of Augmentations. Honestly, shipping in Path of Exile’s Settlers of Kalguur (and its 2026 core integration) is one of those mechanics that looks simple but hides a lot of math under the hood. Most players just dump whatever they have into a boat and hope for the best. That’s a mistake.
If you want the real loot, you need a poe shipping cheat sheet that actually explains how the reward multipliers interact with shipment value and why your "big" shipments might be failing you.
The Bare Bones Reward Logic
Basically, every port has a specialty. If you send Crimson Iron to Ngakanu, you're getting Strength-based armor. If you send it to Pondium, you’re getting Intelligence-based armor. It’s consistent. But the currency? That’s where things get weird.
Crops are your primary source of raw currency. Here is the shorthand for what each crop generally biases toward:
- Wheat: Armor Scraps and Whetstones (low tier but high volume).
- Corn: Chaos Orbs and Vaal Orbs.
- Pumpkin: Alchemy, Fusing, and Baubles.
- Orgourd: Exalted Orbs and Divine Orbs.
- Blue Zanthium: The big one. This is your primary path to Divine Orbs and Mirror Shards.
You can't just spam Blue Zanthium and expect a Mirror Shard every time, though. The game uses a "rarity condensing" factor. This means higher shipment values don't necessarily give you more items; they give you better items. There is a hard cap of 800 currency items per shipment. Once you hit that cap, the game starts upgrading the rarity of those items instead of adding more to the pile.
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Understanding the Port Multipliers
Ports aren't just destinations; they're reward filters. Each port has a specific bias for what it gives back. For example, Kalguuran ports (Riben Fell, Pondium, and Kalguur itself) are the only places that drop Runes. If you need runes for your enchantments, don't even look at the Karui ports.
On the flip side, Karui ports (Ngakanu and Te Onui) are your source for Tattoos.
Why You Should Care About Quotas
Fulfilling a port's quota is basically free money. When a port requests 500 Wheat and you send it, that Wheat counts for a massive multiplier (often 50% or 100% extra value). This doesn't just increase the value; it increases the "favor" of the port. As you level up the harbor and complete more quotas, the rewards globally scale.
Pro tip: Ores and bars are interchangeable for quotas, but bars are worth about 5x more value. If you’re low on resources but have plenty of gold for the smelters, always send bars.
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The Magic of 50 Million Shipments
You’ve likely seen the screenshots on Reddit of someone getting three Mirror Shards in a single boat. Those are almost always 50 million value shipments.
Getting to 50 million is a grind. You need a mix of high-tier crops and massive amounts of Thaumaturgic Dust. Dust is the wildcard. For values under your base shipment value, it’s a 1:1 boost. Once your dust exceeds the value of your crops, it starts hitting heavy diminishing returns.
For a 50 million run, players usually aim for a 1:1 ratio—roughly 25 million in crops and 25 million in dust.
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The Risk Factor
Shipping isn't safe. As your value climbs, the "Risk" bar fills up. At 50 million, even with a full crew of Rank 10 sailors, you’re probably looking at a 10% risk of total loss. This is why people often send these massive shipments to Ngakanu. It’s the closest port, which keeps the risk calculation lower than sending that same 50 million to Kalguur.
Imagine losing two weeks of farming because you wanted an extra few runes from a Kalguuran port. It’s not worth it. Honestly, just play it safe.
Quick Reference: Resource to Reward
| Resource Type | Riben Fell | Ngakanu | Pondium | Te Onui | Kalguur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crimson Iron | Armor | STR Armor | INT Armor | DEX Armor | Mixed Armor |
| Orichalcum | Weapons | STR Weapons | INT Weapons | DEX Weapons | Mixed Weapons |
| Petrified Amber | Rings | Belts | Amulets | Jewelry | High-Level Jewelry |
| Bismuth | Skill Gems | Support Gems | Flasks | Jewels | Ward Gear |
| Verisium | Scarabs | Stacked Decks | Catalysts/Fossils | Uniques | Splinters |
Dealing with Pirates and Ransom
Sometimes your ship gets hijacked by Admiral Valerius. You get three choices:
- Fight: You enter a boss arena. If you win, you get your loot plus extra boss rewards. If you die, the shipment and the crew are gone forever. No second chances.
- Ransom: You pay a hefty chunk of gold. You get your crew and shipment back, but no boss loot.
- Abandon: You lose everything. Don't do this.
If you’re running a 50 million shipment, you better have a character capable of smashing the Admiral. If your build is squishy, just pay the ransom. It’s cheaper than losing 25 million Blue Zanthium.
Real Strategy for 2026
The "meta" has shifted toward efficiency over raw numbers. Sending three small ships every 30 minutes to Riben Fell with 1,000 Blue Zanthium and 5,000 Dust is often more profitable for raw Divine Orb generation than waiting a week for one giant shipment.
Small shipments have zero risk. You don't need expensive Rank 10 sailors for them. You save gold on wages. You get a steady stream of "bubblegum" currency (Chaos, Alchemy, Scours) to keep your mapping sustained.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Shipment
- Check the character level: The item level of the rewards is tied to the character who clicks the boat when it returns. Always open your shipments on your highest-level character.
- Balance your crops: If you send only one type of crop, you hit the 800-item cap faster but with less variety. Mixing two or three crops usually results in a better spread of high-tier currency.
- Don't over-dust: If your shipment value is 100k, don't send 1 million dust. The returns after the 1:1 ratio are abysmal. Stick to a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio at most for efficiency.
- Focus on Tattoos: Currently, Karui Tattoos are holding more value in the trade market than most Runes. If you’re shipping for profit, Ngakanu and Te Onui are your best friends.
Stop treating your ships like a trash can for extra ores. Treat them like a curated investment. If you follow the biases in this poe shipping cheat sheet, you'll stop seeing piles of Transmutation Orbs and start seeing the shiny stuff.