Best way to Use Head of the King to Target Foretold Bounties in PoE2

Background

Head of the King starts a Rite of the Nameless route. The route asks you to choose a chain of Atlas maps. Each choice can add difficulty, a Foretold Proliferation modifier, or a Foretold Bounty.

The best result is not guaranteed. A route can offer ordinary currency, Omens, valuable Uniques, or nothing worth the cost of the key. The important part is that you can inspect the route before confirming the final map.

If the preview is weak, press Esc and place the same Head of the King again. This may show a different arrangement of the available outcomes. Do not treat this as an unlimited reroll. The safe assumption is that each key has a limited set of possible reward sequences.

Why This Farm Works

ritual

Foretold Bounty makes the first Favour list in its map contain the named item. This can include currency, Omens, and rare Uniques such as Mageblood.

Seeing the reward is only half of the job. You still need enough Tribute to buy it. For very expensive Favours, the safer plan is to reduce defer cost, defer the target at the first Ritual Altar, then buy it when it returns at a lower price.

Farming Loop

Step 1: Unlock the Route and Prepare the Key

Goal: reach the point where Head of the King can be placed on the effigy.

Finish the Ritual endgame progression around Caer Tarth. The captured setup had completed the Ritual progression and showed 34 Atlas points before the placement option was used.

Prepare one Head of the King. You can buy it through the Currency Exchange. You can also use An Audience with the King, kill The King in the Mists, and take the dropped key.

Do not buy a large batch before testing the route once. This strategy has high variance, and key prices can move quickly.

Step 2: Place the Key and Read Every Map Option

Goal: find the best reward sequence before committing the key.

Place Head of the King on the effigy. The Atlas changes into route-selection mode. The normal Rite asks for five maps. Ongoing Chants adds a sixth.

Hover every available map. Look for exact modifiers, especially:

Foretold Bounty: Mageblood
Foretold Bounty: Divine Orb
a valuable named Omen
Foretold Proliferation: Monsters Sacrificed at Ritual Altars grant 25% increased Tribute
Foretold Proliferation: Rerolling Favours at Ritual Altars in your Maps costs 20% reduced Tribute
Foretold Proliferation: Ritual Altars offer 20% increased number of Favours
a free first Favour reroll

Do not click the final route choice until you have checked the whole plan.

Step 3: Use Esc to Check Another Arrangement

Goal: inspect the limited alternatives attached to the key.

If the route is poor, press Esc before confirming the sequence. Place the same Head of the King again and inspect the new layout.

The displayed arrangement may change. This does not prove that the reward pool has been rerolled. A practical explanation is that the key has a preset group of reward sequences and the map order reveals different matches.

Repeat only long enough to record the useful arrangements. Do not assume that enough previews will force Mageblood, Original Sin, or another jackpot to appear.

Step 4: Put Support Modifiers Before the Bounty

Goal: make the target Favour affordable when you reach it.

Choose early maps that improve later Rituals. Foretold Proliferation applies its listed modifier to other maps in the Rite after you complete that map.

For an expensive target, prioritize this order:

increased Tribute
reduced defer cost from Atlas and tablet coverage
faster return for deferred Favours
more Favours or cheaper rerolls
the target Foretold Bounty on a later map

This ordering matters. A Foretold Bounty: Mageblood map is much safer after the route already has Tribute and defer support.

Step 5: Confirm and Run the Maps in Order

Goal: preserve the planned support chain.

Confirm the route only after the full sequence is correct. Run each selected map in order and complete every Ritual Altar.

Later maps inherit more pressure. Monsters from earlier Rituals can return, and map bosses join the encounter. Save defensive cooldowns and movement skills for the final altar in each map.

If your build cannot safely finish the next map, stop before risking the whole chain. A valuable preview has no value if the character cannot complete it.

Step 6: Defer the Target on the First Favour List

Goal: keep the guaranteed item without paying its full Tribute cost immediately.

The named Foretold Bounty appears in the first Favour list of its map. Check the list before spending Tribute or rerolling.

If you can buy the target, buy it. If you cannot, defer it immediately. The strongest setup combines:

Patient Devotion
tablet coverage with Deferring Favours at Ritual Altars in Map costs (20-30)% reduced Tribute
Favours Deferred at Ritual Altars in Map reappear (25-40)% sooner
increased Tribute from sacrificed monsters

The demonstrated Mageblood route reduced the defer cost to zero. That result depends on stacked modifiers. It is not the default behavior.

Step 7: Buy the Deferred Favour When It Returns

Goal: finish the map with the target item in your inventory.

Complete the remaining Ritual Altars. Reopen the Favour screen after each altar. The deferred item should return at a lower remaining price.

Keep enough Tribute reserved for it. Do not spend on side rewards until the target has been purchased. Only take extra Omens or currency after the main Favour is secure.

What to Skip

Skip a route with no valuable Foretold Bounty unless its support modifiers justify the key cost.
Skip Mageblood or another expensive Bounty if you have no defer plan and cannot generate enough Tribute.
Skip dangerous map modifiers that your build cannot handle. Rite difficulty compounds across the chain.
Skip extra Favour rerolls after the target is visible. Rerolling can waste Tribute needed for the purchase.
Skip Freedom of Faith when its increased Favour cost makes the target harder to buy.

Profit And Risk

The ceiling is extremely high because the Bounty pool can include rare Uniques, valuable Omens, and large currency rewards. The floor is also low. A Head of the King can show only weak sequences.

The main risks are:

paying too much for the key
mistaking repeated previews for unlimited reward rerolls
confirming the wrong map order
reaching the target without enough Tribute
losing the chain to a difficult late Ritual or map boss
spending Tribute on side rewards before buying the target

Summary

Use Head of the King to preview a Rite of the Nameless route. Press Esc before confirmation if the arrangement is poor, but expect only a limited set of sequences.

When a valuable Foretold Bounty appears, place Tribute and defer support before its map. Use Patient Devotion and the exact reduced-defer tablet modifier when needed. On the target map, check the first Favour list, defer the item if it is too expensive, then buy it when it returns.

The route can produce a jackpot. It cannot force one.