Path of Exile: Heist Rogues Start at Max Level Guide
This guide breaks down what this change means, how to take advantage of it, and how to turn your Heist operations into a steady stream of currency and rare loot.
What’s New in Keepers of the Flame
Before Keepers of the Flame, every time you started a new league or character, you had to retrain and level up your Heist Rogues. Each specialist — like Karst the Lockpick or Isla the Engineer — began with minimal skills, forcing players to run low-level, low-reward contracts until they improved.
Now, in Keepers of the Flame, all Heist Rogues automatically start at their maximum level, complete with full perks and access to their top-tier support abilities. This means:
Every Rogue can immediately participate in Grand Heists.
You can skip early-level Contracts entirely.
Each Rogue’s special skills (like Lockpicking, Agility, or Demolition) are instantly maxed out.
You can start farming high-value Heists the moment you unlock the Rogue Harbour.
This change is designed to make Heist gameplay more fluid, rewarding, and accessible, especially for players who like to mix mapping and Heist farming in their endgame loop.
Heist Rogues and Their Max-Level Benefits
There are 13 unique Rogues in Path of Exile: Heist, each specializing in a particular type of job. Now that they start fully leveled, their strengths are available from the first Contract onward. Here’s how each one can elevate your new-season experience:
Karst, the Lockpick – Opens doors and chests quickly; higher-level perks increase stealth duration and escape speed.
Tibbs, the Giant – A brute with a knack for breaking through barriers and heavy doors. His maximum-level perks make demolitions faster and quieter.
Isla, the Engineer – Handles traps, security doors, and advanced locks. Max-level Isla also improves alarm suppression, which is a huge benefit during risky Grand Heists.
Nenet, the Scout – Increases the chance of rare rewards and provides combat support during escapes.
Huck, the Soldier – Adds damage and survivability to your team. His high-level perks reduce alert generation, allowing longer looting runs.
Tullina, the Catburglar – Expert in Agility-based jobs, excels at bypassing lasers and climbing obstacles, crucial in artifact wings.
Vinderi, the Dismantler – The explosives expert who can uncover hidden caches. At max level, he creates bonus loot explosions — a fan favorite for profit runs.
With these rogues already maxed, your focus shifts from grinding experience to planning profitable Heist routes and loot optimization.
How to Start Your Heist Career in Keepers of the Flame
Once you reach Act 6 or the Rogue Harbour waypoint, Heist gameplay opens up. Thanks to this update, you can immediately run high-value contracts without any setup grind. Here’s the ideal way to get started:
Collect Contracts – Contracts drop from monsters and chests in maps, as well as from Heist NPCs. Look for ones that mention valuable reward types like “Jewellery,” “Currency,” or “Blueprint Fragments.”
Pick Your Team – Assign Rogues based on contract requirements. Since everyone is max-level, you can mix specialists for speed, stealth, or damage depending on the Heist type.
Plan Your Escape – Remember, Heists are about both entry and exit. Max-level Rogues reduce alert levels and speed up door openings — meaning more loot before alarms trigger.
Build Blueprints – Once you’ve stockpiled some Contracts, focus on Blueprints for Grand Heists. These large-scale missions offer exclusive reward rooms, where max-level Rogues’ perks (like Vinderi’s explosives or Isla’s trap disarming) make a huge difference.
Maximizing Profit: Heist Farming Strategies
Now that Rogues are always ready for endgame content, you can turn Heist farming into one of your main currency-generating methods. Here’s how:
1. Target Reward Types
Different Heists focus on different loot. Prioritize:
Currency Heists – For raw Chaos and Divine Orbs.
Enchanted Armaments – For high-end item bases with Enchant mods.
Trinkets and Blueprints – For Heist-specific rewards that boost long-term profitability.
2. Use the Right Gear
Equip your character with movement speed and defensive layers. Heist escapes can get chaotic, especially when alarms go off. A build with high Evasion, Suppression, or instant recovery flasks helps secure the haul.
3. Leverage Trinkets and Rogue Gear
At endgame, you can enhance your Rogues with special equipment found in Grand Heists. Max-level Rogues already perform better, but gear that reduces alert generation or boosts rare chest spawns can multiply your profits.
4. Chain Heists Efficiently
Use Rogue Markers (Heist currency) to quickly chain multiple contracts. With fully leveled Rogues, you don’t need to pause between missions to swap or level them — it’s pure profit flow.
Advanced Tips for Veterans
Blueprint Duplication: Once your Rogues are maxed, focus on Isla and Vinderi. Their combined perks increase chances of duplicating blueprints or uncovering hidden reward rooms.
Stealth Optimization: Rogues like Karst and Nenet can carry runs longer before triggering alarms. This allows for full-loot clears, which were risky before the update.
Grand Heist Rotation: Farm three-wing blueprints, prioritizing reward types like Replica Uniques, Enchanted Armaments, and Trinkets. These have the best returns per marker spent.
The efficiency gain from max-level Rogues makes Grand Heist rotations smoother — every mission can now yield near-optimal results without waiting for skill unlocks.
Why This Update Matters
This change does more than save time — it makes Heist a true endgame companion system instead of a side distraction. Players can now integrate Heists seamlessly into their mapping and Atlas progression without worrying about leveling support NPCs from scratch each league.
For both new and veteran players, this update turns Heist into one of the fastest and most rewarding content loops in Path of Exile: Keepers of the Flame. You can log in, pick your preferred contracts, and immediately run profitable Grand Heists without any setup delay.
Final Thoughts
With Keepers of the Flame, Grinding Gear Games has refined Heist into what it was always meant to be: a fast-paced, high-risk, high-reward experience for treasure hunters and tacticians alike. By letting Rogues start at max level, the developers have stripped away the grind and put the spotlight back on what matters — planning the perfect heist and making a clean escape with mountains of loot.
So gather your crew, polish your blueprints, and buy POE orbs prepare to make your mark on Wraeclast’s criminal underworld. The vault doors are open — and this time, your Rogues are ready from the very first job.
———— Oct-18-2025 PST ————