With Path of Exile 2 launching into Early Access last year, it’s been interesting to see how Grinding Gear Games continues to differentiate Path of Exile from its sequel. Recently, Path of Exile 2 saw the launch of The Third Edict, a patch that improved several pain points we had with the game when it first entered Early Access. It was a ton of fun hopping back in for dozens of hours in August, and now we might do the same with Path of Exile when Keepers of the Flame launches on October 31.
The team at Grinding Gear Games has pulled the cover off this massive update that brings a Breach-themed sequel league, a raft of new systems, and numerous quality-of-life changes, one of which comes from Path of Exile 2: asynchronous trading. Whether you’re a veteran or a newcomer to the original Path of Exile, Keepers of the Flame looks to be an excellent time to (re)visit the world of Wraeclast.
To kick things off, the expansion is a full sequel to the Breach league, which was first introduced to Path of Exile in 2016. Players will meet Ailith early in Act One on the Coast. Throughout the campaign, players will run into massive Breach hands opening Unstable Breaches that they can stabilize by doing what they do best: killing. Sometimes, it may spawn Vruun, Marshal of Xesht, and killing Vruun will permanently seal that Breach. For the endgame, neglected constructions evolve into Breach Hives, which players will have to raid and evacuate before Ailith destroys them. That’s where Breachlords may appear.
When it comes to loot, there’s a lot to look forward to in 3.27. At some point, Ailith will guide Exiles to the Monastery of the Keepers where they’ll find the Genesis Tree. In true Path of Exile fashion, the Genesis Tree has its own tree that grows as players complete more Breach encounters. Each of those tree limbs has its own inventory, which can be used to craft new items. Along with growing currency, uniques, and equipment, there’s a new otherworldly item called Grafts. These are breach-hands grown from the Genesis Tree that fuse directly to players’ characters. Benefits range from passive buffs to powerful skills, which are intended to be a flexible way to fill gaps in your character’s build. One example that was shown was the Squalling Tulgraft, which casts Dance in the White. It’s a powerful ice tornado that seeks enemies and shoots off bursts of projectiles on crit. In total, there are 16 different Graft types players can grow, each with its own skill. Eventually, each character can unlock a second Graft slot for some game-breaking combinations.
Along with Grafts, the Genesis Tree is also home to better currency like a Foulborn Exalted Orb. While it behaves like a normal Exalted Orb, it guarantees a higher tier modifier by locking out a large portion of the lower rolls found on a normal one. There’s also the ability to grow rare equipment, allowing players to target specific pieces and modifiers. The same can be done for Uniques, although to balance that, they can sometimes grow with defects, becoming Foulborn. This mutates one of the existing modifiers into a new one and sometimes it can be more powerful. For example, a Foulborn Quill Rain could swap out “mana gained on hit” for “insufficient mana doesn’t prevent your bow attacks.”
Like other Challenge Leagues, Keepers of the Flame comes with a set of 40 Challenges for players, and completing them grants the Keeper of the Flame Armor Set. They can also look forward to a slew of new Skill and Support gems, like Conflagration, a Bow attack that rains down fiery bolts from the sky into the ground that pulse. Once players get close enough to these bolts, the bolts will detonate and ignite, causing a chain reaction that creates fields of flame. Full details of all the new Skill and Support gems are in the official patch notes for 3.27.
Another major addition is a new set of Ascendancy class options called Bloodlines. These classes are meant to be a new way to customize characters in the endgame, and they are secondary Ascendancy classes unlocked on a character-by-character basis by defeating specific endgame bosses. They do share the same pool of Ascendancy points, though, so players will have to decide how many points go into their original Ascendancy and how many are allocated to their Bloodline class. With 10 Bloodline classes to discover, we’re expecting a greater variety of builds for this expansion.
As someone who plays a lot of Path of Exile 2, I’m happy to hear that a recent feature added to the game is finding its way to Path of Exile: asynchronous trading. Upon reaching Act 6, Faustus in Lioneye’s Watch can serve as a steward for Merchant’s tabs. As in Path of Exile 2, players can place items for sale in these tabs for direct and instant purchase by other players without being online. Previous ways of trading will still be in the game, of course, and there is a gold sink involved with asynchronous trading. But anyone who has played either Path of Exile or its sequel knows how great an addition this is.
Power creep is nothing new to Path of Exile, and we expect it to happen with Keepers of the Flame. That is why Grinding Gear Games has added three new Uber Pinnacle boss fights, manifested from the memories of Zana. Accessing these involves gathering fragments dropped by Tier 17 map bosses, and each attempt at the new fights will require five of them. Each fight puts a twist on the original to make it much more difficult, but the rewards look to be worth it. GGG shared a few examples, such as Festering Resentment, a poisoned blade that makes triggered spell capable of proccing poison.
There’s also a collection of quality-of-life updates, some of which have already been shared in the pre-livestream teasers. Veterans will appreciate many of these, such as the ability to refund Atlas Passive Tree points with gold and the removal of Bestiary Orbs, as players will be able to itemize Beasts for free directly from the Bestiary. Another quality-of-life update comes from Path of Exile 2: it gives players the ability to mass-identify items at an NPC in every town starting in late Act 1, and it won’t require Scrolls of Wisdom.
Those looking to take a break from Path of Exile 2 have a lot to look forward to in the original Path of Exile with the launch of Keepers of the Flame. It’s been great seeing Grinding Gear Games find ways to keep the two games separate while adding this level of content to both titles.
Path of Exile: Keepers of the Flame Gallery
