Path of Exile 2 has prepared its largest and final major update for the game’s Early Access period. Find out what’s changing and what to expect from this massive update.
Endgame Overhaul
As previously promised by GGG, the endgame is undergoing a massive rework for this update. This comes with changes to the Atlas Tree, an overhaul to existing League Mechanics alongside questlines to guide you to them and introduce them on the Atlas, as well as many new crafting options.
New Atlas
Instead of offering just minor bonuses, the Atlas Tree has been expanded to more broadly support the many available League Mechanics, with dedicated Notable and Keystone upgrades available for each one. This allows for a greater level of depth and reward control over previous updates.
It is entirely possible to earn every single point on the Atlas Passive Tree.
Delirium Rework – The Raven & The Hare
Delirium has its own Introductory Questline that lays out the story of tracking down Tangmazu, the entity you free from a Karui Prison in Act 4.
As you approach the initial location for the mechanic, you’ll encounter maps with guaranteed Mirrors of Delirium.
After touching a Mirror within a map, you’ll trigger the encounter, spawning demonic manifestations of your fears.
During the Encounter, you can encounter Colored Delirium Mirror Shards, each of which alters the encounter in various ways. This ranges from empowering the Delirium demons to transporting you to the depths of your mind, where you may find the new Twisted Amulets, which come with two Instilled Notable Passives.
As you complete these Encounters, you may also find Liquid Emotions. These currencies have two main uses: Instilling Notables Passives on Amulets, as they have since the start of Early Access, and Jewel Crafting, a new function coming with this update.
Breach Rework – Waking the Dreamer
If you’re familiar with Path of Exile 1, you may recognize this Breach Rework as the Keeper of the Flame League, which overhauled the Breach mechanic in that game. You’ll help Ailith and the Keepers of the Flame fight back against the Hiveborn in the new questline.
While typical Breach encounters work mostly the same, clear enough enemies during a breach will stabilize it. This summons stronger foes that can drop Hiveblood as well as Wombgifts.
Hiveblood is a currency used at the Keeper of the Flame Monastery to feed the Genesis Tree and craft items using Wombgifts.
The Genesis Tree itself will grow and expand its options as you continue to feed it, granting access to several new base types and modifiers for accessory slots, providing more options, particularly for Caster and Minion Builds.
With enough fragments and Hiveblood, you’ll be able to access Hiveborn-controlled regions using a Breachstone. These condensed areas of Breach encounters will have a Hiveborn Fortress located at their center, controlled by Tul and Esh, two of the Breachlords.
After enough encounters with Tul and Esh, you’ll be able to commune with the Dreamer, and take on Xesht, the existing Pinnacle boss for Breach.
Ritual Rework – Rite of the Nameless
Ritual is also being updated, but its encounters aren’t changed too significantly from the current patch, so we’ll just cover the changes for this one.
The biggest change is the items found in Ritual Windows, as they now only offer Unique Items or Omens in the endgame. Instead of the Ritual Splinters, which eventually turn into an Audience With the King, this is earned by offering excess Tribute earned from rituals.
Unlike the previous patch, though, the King in the Mists is no longer the Pinnacle Boss for the content. He serves only to unlock the Rite of the Nameless, the true endgame of Ritual. You can still fight him for many of the same rewards as last league.
This Rite has you select multiple maps, with their final rituals always ending with the Map Boss. Each map will offer Fortold Rewards for completion, in addition to its Ritual Windows.
As each map is completed, all of the ritual monsters of the previous maps are carried over into the next. This makes for a challenge that scales in difficulty as you progress, ending with a formidable horde of monsters and having to fight up to 5 Map Bosses simultaneously.
By completing the Final Ritual for the Rite of the Nameless, you’ll be able to enter the domain of Bodach, the new Pinnacle Boss for Ritual.
Vaal Temple Goes Core
The Vaal Temple League Mechanic from the recently finished Fate of the Vaal League is returning as a Core League Mechanic, this time without the horrendously broken currency-generating strategy that dominated the economy of Fate of the Vaal.
Like the reworked mechanics above, it will have its own starting region of the Endgame Atlas. However, its section of Atlas Passives is separated from the main tree. Points for this section of the Atlas Tree are earned by completing the
Runes of Aldur League
If you were worried they forgot about Expedition, fret not, as the Runes of Aldur League focuses on updating and overhauling its mechanics. It will also be Path of Exile 2’s first-ever League with Challenges!
League Challenges
A staple part of Path of Exile 1 Leagues, and now making its official return for Path of Exile 2 League: League Challenges.
Each League’s tasks will have a variety of tasks, ranging from simple use of Currency, to interacting with the league mechanic and even challenging the available Pinnacle Bosses.
These are a series of tasks to complete during the league that will unlock cosmetic rewards for your Account. This includes a Cosmetic Armor, as well as a Statue to display in your Hideout.
Runesmithing
You’ll be helping Farrow, a Blacksmith trying to learn the Ancient Ezomyte art of Runesmithing. As he quickly finds out, Runesmithing is dangerous, and thus he requests your aid in noting down the discoveries you make.
By discovering and inscribing symbols onto Runes of Aldur, you’ll determine your final reward after the encounter. As you progress, more runes become available, allowing access to better rewards, including many of the 100 newly added Runes.
Verisium Crafting
Verisium is a powerful new crafting resource that can be used to modify a ton of items and has three primary uses: Alloys that modify Item Modifiers, granting access to Runic Ward, and creating Runeforged Uniques.
Alloys are a new currency item that can be used to grant a variety of new, predetermined sets of Modifiers to a variety of items, much the way Essences do.
Used on Armors, even Unique ones, you can trade some or all of the item’s Defenses for the newly added Runic Ward. This new Defensive Layer sits under your Life, preventing your death when your Life reaches Zero. It’s also spent to enable new Kalguuran Skill and Support Gems.
Runeforge Uniques are a way to bring new power to existing Uniques, adding Runic Ward, adding modifiers, or simply bringing a weaker Unique up to a more endgame viable power level.
Kalguuran Skills and Supports
Kalguuran Skills are special, as they can only be cast with Runic Ward. However, unlike other skill gems, these unique skills do not have any Attribute Requirements, allowing them to be used with a variety of builds.
There are also Kalguuran Support Gems, which can provide powerful effects to any existing skill, often adding a Runic Ward cost in exchange for their effects. Similarly to the Kalgurran Skills, these also do not require specific attributes to link to your Skill Gems.
Expedition Changes
Starting in Act 4, when Expedition is introduced as a mechanic, Farrow will join Dannig as part of Expeditions thereafter. This adds the new Runes of Aldur Mechanic as part of the Expedition mechanic.
In these enhanced Expeditions, you can complete Runecrafts along the way when placing explosives near them. Be warned, however, as each Runecraft performed this way will add all of its modifiers to all enemies spawned by the explosive in the rest of the chain as well.
In the Endgame, the Expedition mechanic now involves expanding the Atlas into the ocean. You’ll be scouting new locations using Logbooks, as you assist Rog in his search for Gwennen. Each Logbook generates several encounters, revealing multiple islands with basic Expeditions, Greater Expeditions, Bosses, and eventually a new Pinnacle Boss among the scouted islands.
New Ascendancies
With the Return of the Ancients Update comes two brand new Ascendancy Classes, Spirit Walker for the Huntress and Martial Artist for the Monk, as well as a new upgrade path for the Acolyte of Chayula.
Sprit Walker
The Spirit Walker Ascendancy for the Huntress allows her to harness the power of the Azmeri Spirits, gaining a variety of Boons to empower other skills and create Companions. They also gain the ability to Tame Bosses, and even gain additional power from socketed Idols.
Martial Artist
The Martial Artist Ascendancy for the monk is a master of illusions. They’re able to create illusory copies of themselves to perform Skills as well as create illusory Tempest Bells. They excel in Unarmed Combat, gaining bonuses to the unarmed style and altering their equipped Gloves to have more powerful Modifiers.
Upgraded Acolyte of Chayula
There are no concrete details on the scope or size of this upgrade, but it was vaguely referenced in Johnathan Roger’s Interview with Chris Wilson around 19 minutes into it. Given the Acolyte of Chayula’s ties to Breach, where Chayula originates from, the new Pinnacle Boss of Breach may play a part.
Going by what’s mentioned in the interview, this will consist of a new passive becoming accessible, as potential changes to other nodes. I’d expect potential changes to the lesser-used nodes, like those for the Darkness Mechanic, and Grasp of the Void.
Streamlined Campaign
With the Return of the Ancient update comes a ton of quality-of-life changes for the Campaign. While the full extent of these changes is unknown, they’ve said much of the campaign layout has changed, and now includes plenty of extra signposting, or tells in the environment to help with navigation. Below is their official video showcasing some of these changes.
This will no doubt smooth out the journey through the campaign. Consider some of the major changes they did show, such as the Act 3 Venom Crypts having a secondary exit, which drops you right near the exit of the Jungle Ruins. There should be far less stopping and trying to figure out where to go.
