Embark on a New Journey in Act Four
The 'Third Edict' update introduces the highly anticipated Fourth Act, sending players to the exotic Ngamakana Archipelago. This new region is home to the Karui tribes and serves as the backdrop for a crucial quest: assembling pieces of the Third Edict tool, the only weapon powerful enough to defeat the formidable Beast. The archipelago itself is a diverse collection of eight islands, ranging from the pristine beaches of Wakapanu to the volcanic shores of Roda Island. What makes this act particularly engaging is its non-linear design, allowing players the freedom to explore the islands in any order they choose, each presenting its own unique dangers and secrets.
Players will face a host of new threats, with over a dozen new bosses and more than a hundred distinct monster types populating the Ngamakana Archipelago, ensuring fresh challenges around every corner.
Three New Interlude Chapters
Beyond the main act, the update also adds three new mini-acts, known as interludes, expanding the lore and offering distinct challenges:
- Holtane's Curse: In Ogama, players will assist Renly in rebuilding their village and battling a pervasive corruption.
- Stolen Bariya: Set in the Vastiri Desert, this interlude tasks players with helping Asala fulfill a sacred duty.
- Doryani's Backup Plan: Players will ascend a towering mountain in search of the lost descendants of the Vaal.
Unleash the Abyss in the First Challenge League
A significant addition is the game's first full-fledged challenge league, 'Awakening of the Abyss.' Heroes must confront the terrifying creatures of the Abyss, which are emerging onto Wraeclast's surface through mysterious rifts. These dangerous beings, forged by forbidden blood magic and necromancy during the Age of Precursors, serve their enigmatic General. As players progress, these rifts will grow in size, power, and variety, offering increasingly valuable rewards for their closure.
Soul Well and Deep Abyss Exploration
The Soul Well introduces a new layer of customization and challenge. Artifacts can now be imbued with the very magic of the Abyss, unlocking the 'Corrupted' modifier with three distinct transformation options. The Soul Well can also influence Waystones, introducing two new modifiers that elevate both difficulty and potential rewards to new heights.
For those seeking the ultimate challenge, the update also introduces new high-level content that allows players to descend directly into the Abyss itself. Here, legions of restless undead and valuable treasures await, guarded by particularly dangerous Abyss Commanders and the most challenging bosses, including the formidable Kulemak's Vessel.
Core Gameplay and Quality of Life Enhancements
Grinding Gear Games has also implemented several impactful changes to core gameplay systems:
- Sprinting: A long-requested quality-of-life feature, players can now sprint simply by holding the dodge button. This ability is available to all classes without any stamina limitations, offering newfound mobility.
- Support Gem Rework: The support gem system has been completely revamped. Players can now use as many copies of the same support gem on their character as they desire, significantly opening up build possibilities. Furthermore, each gem now features multiple ranks, allowing for continuous improvement as players progress through the game.
Expanded Crafting and Economic Systems
The crafting system sees substantial enhancements, providing more depth and control for players:
- High-Level Currency: New, higher-tier variants of all basic currency types have been added. These 'large' and 'perfect' currencies offer properties with guaranteed minimum tiers, leading to superior crafting results. High-level areas will also drop new 'exemplar' items featuring additional sockets or quality above the maximum.
- Essence Enhancements: Essences can now upgrade magic items directly to rare quality while adding a specific property. Essences will also have ranks, and 'Perfect Essences' can even replace a random property on an item with a specified one.
- Prophecy Changes: A whole new set of prophecies has been introduced, while the least useful ones have been removed to streamline the experience.
- Hinekor's Death Goddess Strand: A new currency item with the gift of foresight. Adding this to an item will reveal the outcome of the next crafting attempt, adding strategic depth.
New High-Level Maps and Atlas Events
The endgame content receives a boost with 25 new high-level maps. These maps feature fresh environments, new monsters, and bosses drawn from Act Four and the three interlude chapters. The Atlas also gains new high-level events, including magic-infused sandstorms, vortexes blocking map paths, and Vaal hideouts leading to elite enemies and valuable rewards. Players will even encounter Uber versions of the Act Four boss and the end bosses from each interlude.
Asynchronous Trading and Global Rebalance
Perhaps one of the most anticipated features, asynchronous trading, will finally allow players to buy items from each other without direct, real-time interaction, greatly improving the trading experience. Additionally, the update brings a host of new skills, items, and support gems, alongside a global rebalance of virtually every aspect of the game.
Path of Exile 2's early access is available on PC (via Steam, Epic Games Store, and its own client), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. To celebrate this massive update, Grinding Gear Games will host a 'free weekend' from August 29th to September 1st on all target platforms. Upon its full release, Path of Exile 2 will transition to a permanent free-to-play model.
This 0.3.0 update marks a significant milestone for Path of Exile 2's early access journey, delivering not just new areas to explore but fundamental improvements to core game systems that will shape the player experience moving forward. With the introduction of the first league and substantial crafting changes, players have a vast amount of content to dive into and test ahead of the game's full launch.
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