Path of Exile News

Next Thursday, July 24th at 1 PM PDT, we’ll be hosting an additional Boss Kill Event in Path of Exile where players can compete to kill the new Pinnacle Bosses from the Secrets of the Atlas expansion. The prize pool includes Godslayer’s Pride microtransactions and the opportunity to collaborate with our devs to create new Unique Items and Divination Cards.

[h3]How to Join[/h3]

The Boss Kill event will be held as an HC SSF Event League (SSF for Consoles) that is available to all players during the event by clicking "Join" in the bottom right corner of the character select screen. Registration opens 30 minutes before the event begins and everyone is welcome to participate!

Start time: July 24th at 1PM PDT. The event will last until all the prizes have been claimed.

[h3]Prizepool[/h3]

Prizes will be awarded to the first ten players who kill all three of the new pinnacle bosses, called "The Incarnations" in their non-quest variations (Area level 84).

Prizes for Top Placings - PC

• 1st: Design a Unique for new Pinnacle Boss: Incarnation of Dread or the future-released Uber variant of this Boss Fight & Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction.
  
  The first place winner will also get some additional design space with their item if they want to do something a little different. For example, if you would like to design a Unique Map or if you would like to design a Unique Item that requires a unique-piece from each of the three Bosses, then needs to be combined to create something more epic, this is something we will allow, so feel free to stray from the norm! This is something our team will help provide more details on during collaboration.
• 2nd: Design a Unique for new Pinnacle Boss: Incarnation of Neglect or the future-released Uber variant of this Boss Fight & Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction.
  
• 3rd: Design a Unique for new Pinnacle Boss: Incarnation of Fear or the future-released Uber variant of this Boss Fight & Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction.
  
• 4th-10th place: Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction.
  

There is also a set of prizes for defeating bosses that were historically significant to Zana, who has returned in this expansion. Bonus prizes will be awarded to the first players to defeat Uber Sirus, Uber Uber Elder, Uber Shaper or Uber Cortex. There is also a bonus prize for defeating Catarina.

Bonus Prizes - PC

• First Catarina Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from Catarina, you can even input on the custom Veiled Modifiers that will be able to be unveiled on this Unique.
  
• First Uber Uber Elder Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from the Uber Elder or Uber Uber Elder.
  
• First Uber Shaper Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from the Shaper or Uber Shaper.
  
• First Uber Sirus Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from Sirus or Uber Sirus, The Awakener.
  
• First Uber Cortex Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from Cortex or Uber Cortex.
  

[h3]Consoles[/h3]

The event will also be available on Consoles with separate prize pools from PC.

Prizes for Top Placings - (both Xbox and Playstation have separate prize pools)

• 1st-3rd place: Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction.
  
• 4th-10th place: A Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction.
  

[h3]Additional Rules[/h3]

• A player can win both a Placing prize and one or more Bonus Prizes.
  
• Winners of the first Boss Kill event can participate in the second one.
  
• Players who migrate from a private league to Mercenaries HC SSF during the event are ineligible for prizes.
  
• Placings and prize eligibility are entirely at the discretion of Grinding Gear Games.
  
• The prizes that consist of collaborating on the design of a Divination Card or Unique Item do not guarantee that the item will turn out exactly how you want. The design team will try to accommodate your suggestions as best as they can, but the final design is at their discretion. Because these Unique Items are likely to become chase content, it's critical that they fit the overall design vision of Path of Exile. The balance and drop chances of these items after their release is entirely at the discretion of Grinding Gear Games.
  
• While the event being SSF reduces a lot of scope for outside help, any form of account sharing (or other breaches of the Terms of Use) will disqualify a player from receiving prizes.
  Grinding Gear Games Employees (past or present) are not eligible for prizes.
  
• Dying or migrating your character out of the league doesn't remove prize eligibility as long as the kill occurred while in the league.
  
• Prizes cannot be transferred. Only the person who completed the achievements in the event can collaborate on the Unique Item and Divination Card designs. It's fine for these people to seek advice and help from other community members with their design.
  
• Upon winning, if you take too long to engage in the collaborative design such that the content may have changed context or been removed from the game then you will lose your design opportunity or it will be moved to another Pinnacle Boss or equivalent at Grinding Gear Games' discretion. We will notify you in advance where possible of course!
  

Good luck in the event!

The launch of Secrets of the Atlas introduced two new series of supporter packs; the Cryptkeeper series and the Phrecian Magistrate series. Check out some of the concept art for these packs below.

[h2]Hallowed Cryptkeeper Armour Pack[/h2]








[h2]Burrowing Bramble Bash Hideout Decoration[/h2]


[h2]Sacred Archives Map Device[/h2]


[h2]Phrecian Grand Magistrate Armour Pack[/h2]


[h2]Phrecian Imperial Magistrate Back Attachment[/h2]




[h2]Spiderblossom Pet[/h2]


The Phrecian Magistrate and Cryptkeeper supporter pack series are currently available in both Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2.

Last week, we launched a Fan Art Competition themed around the Secrets of the Atlas expansion. We've gathered up some highlights from the submissions so far. Check them out below!

[h2]Origami Incarnation of Dread by caminschi[/h2]


[h2]I Will Save Her by SaltySpook[/h2]


[h2]Zana's Therapy Isn't Exactly Working by Sabacu[/h2]


[h2]Pixel Art Incarnation of Fear by steelsoldier[/h2]


[h2]Zana, The Catalyst by Zuzanne[/h2]


There's still plenty of time to make submissions in this competition, good luck to everyone participating!

It’s been a while since we’ve had a fan art competition for community artists, so we’re very excited to bring it back! We're launching a fan art competition themed around the Secrets of the Atlas expansion and everything introduced in it. The prize pool includes Path of Exile merchandise and in-game microtransactions.

[h2]Prizes[/h2]

Top Three Winners

• Forum avatar based on the winning submission
  
• Path of Exile 1 Art Book
  
• Your choice of one signed Path of Exile poster
  
• Your choice of two Path of Exile T-shirts
  
• Chaos Orb Socks
  
• A random Path of Exile Pin
  
• Your choice of an Armour Set (an Armour Set from the list below)
  
• Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below)
  
• Your choice of Footprints Effect (any Footprints Effect from the store)
  

4-5th Place

• Path of Exile 1 Art Book
  
• Your choice of one Path of Exile T-shirt
  
• Chaos Orb Socks
  
• A random Path of Exile Pin
  
• Your choice of an Armour Set (an Armour Set from the list below)
  
• Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below)
  
• Your choice of Footprints Effect (any Footprints Effect from the store)
  

6-10th Place

• Your choice of one Path of Exile T-shirt
  
• Chaos Orb Socks
  
• A random Path of Exile Pin
  
• Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below)
  
• Your choice of Footprints Effect (any Footprints Effect from the store)
  

11-20th Place

• Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below)
  

Runners-Up

• Your choice of a Helmet/Helmet Effect (a Helmet/Helmet Effect from the list below)
  

[h2]Microtransaction Prize Pool[/h2]
List of Armour Sets

• Arcane Armour Pack
  
• Alabaster Seraph Pack
  
• Arctic Crystal Armour Pack
  
• Automaton Armour Pack
  
• Black Armour Pack
  
• Bleached Demon King Armour Pack
  
• Blood Guard Armour Set
  
• Carnage Armour Pack
  
• Coldsnap Armour Pack
  
• Coliseum Armour Pack
  
• Corsair Armour Set
  
• Darkprism Armour Pack
  
• Deicide Armour Pack
  
• Demon Parasite Armour Set
  
• Deepwater Armour Pack
  
• Desert Armour Pack
  
• Dragon Armour Pack
  
• Elven Knight Armour Pack
  
• Elite Armour Pack
  
• Executioner Armour Pack
  
• Extinction Armour Set
  
• Faith Guard Armour Set
  
• Fallen Angel Armour Pack
  
• Fire Armour Pack
  
• Gargoyle Armour Set
  
• Ghostflame Armour Pack
  
• Gloom Armour Pack
  
• Gore Armour Pack
  
• Gorgon Armour Pack
  
• Gothic Armour Pack
  
• Gryffon Armour Pack
  
• Harpyon Armour Pack
  
• Heartseeker Armour Pack
  
• Huntsman Armour Set
  
• Ice Armour Pack
  
• Innocence Armour Pack
  
• Ivory Chaos Armour Pack
  
• Lightning Armour Pack
  
• Lunaris Armour Pack
  
• Mageguard Armour Set
  
• Malachai Armour Pack
  
• Merchant Armour Pack
  
• Miracle Armour Set
  
• Mystic Armour Set
  
• Necrotic Armour Pack
  
• Obsidian Seraph Pack
  
• Project Armour Pack
  
• Pure Light Armour Pack
  
• Purple Crystal Armour Pack
  
• Purple Pyre Knight Armour Pack
  
• Pyre Knight Armour Pack
  
• Radiant Armour Pack
  
• Raven Armour Pack
  
• Ringmaster Armour Set
  
• Scientist Armour Pack
  
• Seawitch Armour Pack
  
• Sin Armour Pack
  
• Sphinx Armour Pack
  
• Steam-powered Armour Pack
  
• Stormcaller Armour Pack
  
• Ultimate Chaos Armour Pack
  
• Vampiric Armour Pack
  
• Verdant Armour Pack
  
• Viper Armour Set
  
• Warlock Armour Pack
  
• Wasteland Armour Set
  
• Wasteland Warrior Armour Pack
  
• White Armour Pack
  
• Wrangler Armour Set
  

List of Portal Effects

• Arcane Portal
  
• Arcane Voidgate Portal Effect
  
• Arctic Crystal Portal Effect
  
• Arctic Portal Effect
  
• Automaton Portal
  
• Balefire Portal Effect
  
• Black Portal Effect
  
• Corsair Portal
  
• Daresso Portal Effect
  
• Darkprism Portal Effect
  
• Demon King Portal Effect
  
• Divine Arcane Portal
  
• Divine Demon King Portal
  
• Divine Stygian Portal Effect
  
• Dreadspire Portal Effect
  
• Fire Portal Effect
  
• Frost Viking Portal Effect
  
• Ghostflame Stygian Portal Effect
  
• Golden Angel Portal
  
• Gore Portal Effect
  
• Havenwood Portal
  
• Huntsman Portal
  
• Infernal Demon King Portal
  
• Infernal Stygian Portal Effect
  
• Innocence Portal
  
• Kaom Portal Effect
  
• Kraken Portal Effect
  
• Legion Portal Effect
  
• Madcap Portal
  
• Malachai Portal Effect
  
• Maraketh Portal
  
• Miracle Portal
  
• Mist Portal Effect
  
• Myrmidon Portal Effect
  
• Mystic Portal
  
• Necrotic Demon King Portal
  
• Project Portal Effect
  
• Pure Light Portal Effect
  
• Ringmaster Portal Effect
  
• Scientist Portal Effect
  
• Seraph Portal Effect
  
• Spectre Portal Effect
  
• Steam-powered Portal Effect
  
• Stormcaller Stygian Portal Effect
  
• Sulphite Portal
  
• Temple Portal Effect
  
• Vampiric Portal
  
• Wasteland Portal
  
• Wild Portal
  

List of Helmets and Helmet Effects

• Abyss Eyes
  
• Antlers
  
• Apocalypse Helmet Attachment
  
• Aquila Crest Helmet Attachment
  
• Arcane Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
  
• Arcane Halo
  
• Arcane Mark of the Phoenix
  
• Arcane Visage
  
• Arctic Crown
  
• Arctic Skull
  
• Assassin Halo Helmet Attachment
  
• Assassin Seer Helmet Attachment
  
• Aureate Halo
  
• Automaton Halo
  
• Bent Horns
  
• Black Headband
  
• Black Pirate Bandana
  
• Bleached Skull Helmet
  
• Blood Guard Helmet Attachment
  
• Brilliant Crown
  
• Brilliant Feathers
  
• Cephalopod Tricorne
  
• Chaos Orb Helmet
  
• Coliseum Helmet Attachment
  
• Corrupted Skull
  
• Cow Skull
  
• Curved Horns
  
• Darkprism Helmet Attachment
  
• Demon King Horns
  
• Despair Helmet Attachment
  
• Divine Ice Crown
  
• Divine Sign
  
• Divine Skull
  
• Dragon Mask
  
• Druidic Helmet
  
• Eye Patch
  
• Faith Guard Helmet Attachment
  
• Fiery Eyes
  
• Fiery Visage
  
• Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
  
• Flambeau Helmet
  
• Frost Viking Alternate Helmet
  
• Frost Viking Helmet Attachment
  
• Ghostflame Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
  
• Ghostflame Skull
  
• Glowing Red Eyes
  
• Glorious Helmet
  
• Gore Skull
  
• Gorgon Snakes Helmet Attachment
  
• Guardian Mask
  
• Harmonious Helmet Attachment
  
• Harmonious Hood
  
• Holy Eyes
  
• Ice Crown
  
• Ice Horns
  
• Incursion Hood
  
• Infernal Skull
  
• Innocence Laurel Helmet Attachment
  
• Iron Brand
  
• Iron Maiden
  
• Lightning Eyes
  
• Lightning Skull
  
• Mark of the Phoenix
  
• Medusa Snakes
  
• Misery Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
  
• Misery Helmet Attachment
  
• Nightfall Helmet Attachment
  
• Oriath Helmet Attachment
  
• Oshabi's Headdress
  
• Phoenix Helmet
  
• Plague Doctor Helmet
  
• Purple Divine Sign
  
• Purple Eyes
  
• Purple Flaming Head Helmet Attachment
  
• Purple Skull Helmet
  
• Purple Smoking Hood
  
• Rapture Helmet Attachment
  
• Red Headband
  
• Red Pirate Bandana
  
• Rose Skull
  
• Serrated Mohawk
  
• Shardcrown
  
• Sin and Innocence Helmet Attachment
  
• Sin Talon Helmet Attachment
  
• Skull Hood
  
• Smoking Hood
  
• Spirit Charm
  
• Steam-powered Skull
  
• Suffering Helmet Attachment
  
• Sunrise Helmet Attachment
  
• Swan Crest Helmet Attachment
  
• Thorned Skull
  
• Twilight Helmet Attachment
  
• Twisted Bone Horns
  
• Twisted Horns
  
• Undead Outcast Helmet
  
• Vaal Orb Helmet
  
• Wasteland Horns
  

[h2]How to Enter[/h2]

Create still art that is inspired by anything introduced in the Secrets of the Atlas expansion. This excludes video submissions but does include any painting, drawing or model creation. Then just submit your work in this thread.

Multiple submissions are welcome and encouraged. Please note that the submission needs to be your own work and needs to have been created after the launch of the competition.

If you're unsure how to share an image on the forum, check the instructions at the bottom of the announcement on the Path of Exile website here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3808679

[h2]Conditions[/h2]

• The competition starts at the time of this post and will end on Tuesday the 29th of July at 10PM PDT. Submissions made after this time will not be counted. We'll post the winners sometime in the following days.
  
• Any work that is submitted must be your own and must be created after the launch of this competition.
  
• AI generated art will not be accepted. We reserve the right to disqualify your entry if we believe that it is AI generated.
  
• Multiple submissions are welcome.
  

Best of luck to everyone who is participating in the competition!

[p]The world building and lore introduced in Secrets of the Atlas has set us up for expansions to come! We asked our Audio and Narrative Director Kane, to delve into some of the intricacies of piecing all of its components together. [/p][p][/p][p]Hello! Kane here. You may know me previously as the Audio Lead at GGG… Well I’m still one of those, but now also narrative falls under my wheelhouse. I often pinch myself as a reminder that I’m not dreaming because this is quite literally a dream combination of things I love… and let me tell you, it brings me a great deal of joy! Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Secrets of the Atlas. I should mention upfront, if you want to experience Secrets of the Atlas without spoilers, perhaps don’t read this. It is a bit tricky to discuss its narrative development without going into at least some of the details. As is the case these days, Mark (Neon) and I began with some bullet points for the basic narrative of what we’d be working towards. For Secrets of the Atlas, those were something along the lines of: [/p]

• [p]Zana.[/p]
• [p]… Brother?![/p]
• [p]…… THREE SHAPER-ESQUE BOSSES?! OMG!
  [/p]

[p]
[/p][p]After those initial conversations, I knew we were off to a strong start and I was hyped to get started and piece together the dialogue and events for the narrative design. The initial premise here was to uncover what Zana has been doing since we lost track of her in the Atlas. That expanded into three main components to the expansion's story, with Zana’s plight at the core of it all.

[/p][h3]The first component: Eagon [/h3][p]Introducing Eagon, a mysterious fellow claiming to be Zana’s brother, gave us a lot of interesting angles to explore Zana’s mission from. Like us veteran Exiles, he knows a lot about Zana and feels a connection to her, yet she is essentially a stranger to him. He believes that she simply must have all the answers to his burning questions about his heritage… and yet life is never so simple. He has spent his life trying to uncover and realize who he is and perhaps, why he is.

Working towards unraveling who Eagon is and helping him try to piece things together makes him quite relatable as a person. Despite his rather pompous sense of entitlement (we are all flawed), he just wants to understand who he is, his place in the world and to save who he believes to be his sister.

[/p][h3]The Voice of Eagon[/h3][p] [/p][p]When casting this character, I knew we needed a voice actor who could fully embody Eagon’s unique personality and portray it correctly. One audition immediately stuck out as the right fit. Leon Wadham brought Eagon to life in a perfect way. [/p][p] [/p][h3]The second component: Zana[/h3][p]Interestingly for this expansion, Zana doesn’t exactly occupy screen-time a great deal. It is what she has created that we are able to explore, and trying to understand why she has done so is what drives the story forward. Eagon discovers that Zana has been experimenting with the Atlas and manifesting memories, and even ideas, into reality. But why?

We are able to see what has mattered most to her, in the very areas we traverse and the figures we fight. In many ways, this exposure to Zana is more effective than even talking to her directly.
Her memory threads are split into 3 groups of paired themes, based on Loneliness and Neglect, Trauma and Fear, and Reverence and Dread.

[/p][h3]Loneliness and Neglect[/h3][p]This is first touched on by encountering a form of Sirus at a time unfamiliar to us, exploring the deeper part of their connection and her regrets with what became of a relationship she neglected.

Once we defeat this part of the thread, we can enter the ‘Moment of Loneliness’ where we witness Zana as a child, trying and failing, to get her father’s attention. This moment then transforms into the ‘Incarnation of Neglect’, where a permutation of her father is presented as a monstrous creation that we must overcome on her behalf.


[/p][h3]Trauma and Fear[/h3][p]These themes are explored by her residual trauma from the Templars and how they treated her and her father, exemplified by the fight with the Cardinal of Fear.

This allows us entry into the ‘Moment of Trauma’ where we witness young Zana making her father quite cross. This moment then becomes the ‘Incarnation of Fear’, a frightening imagining of someone her father never truly was.


[/p][h3]Reverence and Dread[/h3][p]This theme is shown in the form of Innocence, a God, taking the main stage as a revered but deceitful figure - yet another whose promises are to be broken. This thread line shows that even with good intentions, the grip of power can subvert even divine motivations.

After beating this form of Innocence, we can enter the ‘Moment of Reverence’ where we witness child Zana watching her father deliver a speech in Oriath. This moment is then reshaped into the ‘Incarnation of Dread’, showing just how much her fathers notoriety and influence affected her.



[/p][h3]The Voice of Zana[/h3][p] [/p][p]Zana is back, baby! It was fantastic to have Katherine Kennard back to reprise her role, and she did so quite effortlessly. It is quite amazing how actors can return to a role after some time and immediately lock-in and become the character again.

[/p][h3]The third component: Valdo[/h3][p]At the core of Zana’s plight is her father, as it has always been. But what do those memories mean to Zana? Moments that mean little to grown adults, but leave a permanent imprint on a child. Eagon construes these moments as mutations by the Atlas, overblown realisations of a child's memories - but are they? Or is this intentional on Zana’s behalf? And why? Good questions!

[/p][h3]The Voice of Valdo[/h3][p] [/p][p]That deep and rich presence and voice… Daryl Habraken returns, but not exactly as The Shaper. This time, we hear a little more from Zana’s father, rather than who he became.

[/p][h3]Who is the Originator?[/h3][p]Finally, at the end of this part of the story, we learn part of Zana’s true ambitions. We learn that Eagon’s situation remains further complicated. And most importantly: we learn that we have more to learn. And I for one, cannot wait to unravel these threads even further.

Hang on… who is the Originator again? It is Zana, right? Hmm…

Until next time, friends!
[/p]