Path of Exile News

Today we wanted to showcase the concept art from the Annihilator Core Supporter Pack! Check them out below. In case you missed it, we recently shared the concept art from the Imperator and Nullifier Core Supporter Packs as well. Be sure to take a look if you like getting a glimpse into our creative process.

In Path of Exile: Siege of the Atlas, threats from beyond the stars have arrived and seek control of the Atlas. Our lead narrative designer, Matt Dymerski, has written an overview of this new situation from a lore perspective.

They... are coming.

It was impossible to miss the Envoy's warning. Over the past year, exiles were continually told that eldritch abominations had noticed the Elder's absence and were on their way. With the release of Siege of the Atlas, to quote Carol Anne from Poltergeist: They're heeeere.

Or, at the very least, the first four are here. In a manner similar to the Elder serving a force called the Decay, the entities we fight in the Atlas serve higher powers. The Black Star and The Searing Exarch serve a cosmic force called the Cleansing Fire, while The Infinite Hunger and The Eater of Worlds serve the Tangle.

The Envoy gives us a bit of information, in his own unique way, about why we are facing these four bosses instead of simply being destroyed outright by the cosmic forces they serve. He refers to a concept called the Struggle, by which forces as tremendous as the Tangle and the Cleansing Fire cannot and do not clash directly, lest they 'rend the very cosmos asunder.' Instead, conflicts are settled through duels between mortal champions. These can safely do battle without rupturing reality.

In that vein, the Exile is directed by Kirac to act as the Maven's champion. Without us, she would lose to much older and more powerful entities, and without her, we would have no recognized claim on the Atlas, because we are nothing to them. The Tangle and the Cleansing Fire would simply move in and begin consuming everything, and no force we could muster could possibly defeat their true forms.

Speaking of their true forms, the Envoy's descriptions — and numerous flavour texts on new unique items — spell a very grim picture. The Cleansing Fire seems to be a colossal brain composed of 'blazing suns and black stars' that developed the ability to think, and has spent eternity voraciously seeking knowledge at the expense of disintegrating everything it studies. Somehow, it even keeps a library of minds, refusing to let those it has annihilated actually cease to exist. Meanwhile, the Tangle is some sort of horrific mass of organic beings melded together, and every one of those beings is pulling and clawing away eternally, trying to escape the pain and pursue even the smallest pleasure or consumption to distract themselves from the agony of their horrible existence. The more those trapped in the Tangle reach out, the more beings get absorbed, making the whole thing even more painful and cacophonous. Needless to say, death would be preferable to becoming part of either of these horrific entities.

But how did we reach these designs? Well, we knew this was coming for quite a while because the Envoy hangs out in our break room giving us very long warnings every time we enter. So, we began work on a massive list of horrible entities with varying motivations. This could serve as an entire Lovecraftian cosmos, one in which humanity is meaningless and existence is filled with fundamental forces manifested as enormous eldritch abominations. Design realities meant we had to pick one or two for 3.17 and leave the rest hidden for now. The Tangle and the Cleansing Fire were chosen early on, and were initially quite different. Their themes remained consistent, but their look and feel evolved quite a bit as we got a handle on the art and storyline. Without NPCs or glyphs to convey the lore, the bulk of the heavy lifting had to be done in the theming and flavour of their unique items. Item-focussed Exiles might notice that the uniques the pinnacle bosses drop are very connected to their themes. No room for random unrelated uniques this time!

And, of course, the Maven was hovering around the office demanding things throughout this process. In pinnacle boss battles, we gave her a sixth tier of dialogue that can be unlocked by defeating her as part of her own questline. This means she can finally take what she learns from that defeat to heart and be a little less callous toward our Exile. Astute players might also notice that she is the only eldritch entity that acknowledges us. The pinnacle bosses only talk to her, not us. We're beneath their notice. Fortunately, our connection to the Maven allows us to understand the eldritch language they're using. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to understand them when they conveniently call out what attacks they're about to use! For a time, we planned to give the Exile a buff that they could hover over to see that the Maven was actively giving them the ability to understand, but that didn't make it through the iterative design process.

By the end of the current Siege of the Atlas storyline, our Exile earns the Citizen Vanguard a moment's respite, but the Envoy is quite clear that this war is far from over. The Tangle and the Cleansing Fire are just two of many in a universe filled with horrors that 'outnumber the stars.' As Kirac puts it, a bunch of half-trained volunteers, an Exile, and a psychopathic hatchling are all that stands between humanity and an unimaginable fate.

We're pleased to announce Kirac's Vault, Path of Exile's take on a Battle Pass that exists alongside our free challenge system. Its rewards are earned in the Atlas endgame and are exclusive unique item skins, with a twist. Check out this post for more information!



Purchase your pass, unlock access to Kirac's Vault, and complete Atlas objectives to earn up to eight exclusive unique item skins. You'll earn your first reward upon entering the Karui Shores, after defeating Kitava. You'll earn additional rewards by completing sets of map bonus objectives while exploring your Atlas. If you complete the bonus objectives of all 117 maps, you'll have earned all eight available rewards!

Check out this video to see the rewards you can earn:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

These unique item skins don't just provide an alternate appearance for popular end-game items, they also visually interact with your gameplay in new ways. For example, the Bloodthirsty Headhunter skin causes the skulls of rare enemies to explode as you steal their abilities. The Indomitable Aegis Aurora skin flares with energy shield when you block. The Malevolent Watcher's Eye skin literally watches you as you plan your build. To be clear, the unique item skins you can earn are entirely cosmetic and do not convey any gameplay advantage. You still need to acquire the actual unique item they apply to.

Press 'm' in game to get yours!

[h3]Frequently Asked Questions[/h3]
How do I purchase the Pass and track my progress through it?
On the Atlas screen, there's a new Kirac's Vault Pass icon at the top left. Clicking that will let you buy the pass, see the rewards and travel to Kirac's Vault.

How do I claim my rewards?
The Pass has a progress bar that tracks how many bonus objectives of maps on the atlas you have completed. Once you have unlocked a cosmetic unique item skin, you can click a button on the Pass screen to travel directly to Kirac's Vault, where a chamber containing that reward will unlock for you to claim.

Once claimed, the cosmetic unique item skins are stored in your microtransaction stash, alongside your existing microtransactions.

Do I get anything right away for buying the Pass?
Yes. The first reward, the Malevolent Watcher's Eye skin, is available to claim as soon as you purchase the Pass, providing you are able to access the Karui Shores (at the end of the campaign) in order to enter Kirac's Vault.

As you have likely already completed a lot of map bonus objectives in the Archnemesis leagues by now, there are probably more cosmetic skins that will immediately unlock after you purchase the Pass.

Is this pay-to-win in any way?
No. Access to Kirac's Vault and its cosmetic skins offer no gameplay advantage over other players.

Do I need to have bought the Pass before I complete my Atlas? Is there a penalty for just waiting until near the end of the league and buying it then?
No. The Pass costs the same amount regardless of how many objectives you have already completed, and the relevant rewards will unlock instantly if you buy the Pass after completing objectives. There's no penalty for delaying your purchase until later in the league, though you'll need to purchase it before the league ends.

I'd like to earn some microtransactions without having to pay. Is there a free Pass?
In Siege of the Atlas, we bolstered Path of Exile's existing challenge system with additional free microtransactions that can be earned by completing challenges.

Can I pay more money to unlock rewards that I have not been able to unlock through gameplay?
You can't pay to unlock rewards (other than the first one, which comes with the Pass). Everyone you see with one of the unique item skins from Kirac's Vault will have completed the bonus objectives required to earn it.

Does the Pass give you the unique items that you need in order to be able to wear the skins?
No. Kirac's Vault provides you with no form of gameplay advantage or power. You must separately find the unique items that correspond to your cosmetic skins in order to be able to wear them.

Is the Pass available for Standard players?
No. At this stage it is only available to players in the current challenge league because many Standard players can instantly unlock their whole Atlas by completing a single map.

Will I have access to my cosmetic unique item skins in Standard or future leagues?
Yes. Any skins earned during this league will be available account-wide and can be equipped to any character you make in any league, as long as it uses that unique item.

Can I equip these unique item skins to other unique items than the one they are intended for?
No. They are designed to visually augment the special properties of the unique item that they reskin. For example, the Bloodthirsty Headhunter skin causes your enemies' heads to explode when their abilities are stolen. This wouldn't make sense to apply to other unique belts because those belts don't steal abilities.

Are the Pass or its cosmetic unique item skins available after this league ends?
No. The Pass can only be purchased during this league and its cosmetic unique item skins are exclusive to this Pass. They will not be available again. If you want to have them in your collection forever, you must purchase the Pass this league and complete the objectives for any skins that you want.

In the future we may release different cosmetic unique item skins for the same unique items.

What happens if I'm playing in multiple Archnemesis leagues? Which league does the Pass track progress from?
The pass tracks your highest Atlas progress from any Archnemesis league you are playing in (including private leagues based on Archnemesis).

How did you choose these unique items to reskin?
This is a Pass for end-game characters who are able to complete the bonus objectives of their Atlas, so we picked iconic "meta" uniques that top players are likely to use in their builds. We also wanted to experiment with these being more than just simple reskins - each one has special visual effects that interact with the core theme of each unique item.

These skins are exclusive to this Pass, but we will continue to pick iconic and powerful unique items to make skins for in future Passes (which could include additional skins for some of the unique items covered by this Pass).

Will the Kirac's Vault Pass be released on Console platforms?
Yes. It's not ready quite yet because we have to go through various platform-specific certification requirements, but we do intend to release it on Xbox and Playstation in the coming weeks.

Press 'm' in game to get yours!

In the upcoming 3.17.1 patch we'll improve the Archnemesis Panel so that you'll be able to filter your discovered Archnemesis recipes.

Here are the changes:

• We added a dropdown list that has all your discovered recipes, so it's easy to see which ones you have the components of.
  
• You can click one to highlight only that recipe, so you can filter its components without having to type it in the search filter.
  
• You can select multiple recipes at once to plan out what recipes you're working towards. They'll have an indicator to show if you can complete a selected recipe with the components you have (the little arrow in the corner goes red if no selected recipe is completable).
  

We're working hard to release the 3.17.1 update with the above changes and many other improvements as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience and feedback!

One of the best parts of adding new content to Path of Exile is watching your reactions to it! We've compiled a variety of our favourite reactions from the community that brought us a lot of joy. We had a blast in our last announcement livestream and are looking forward to the next! Check out the video below:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]