News Tag: Path Of Exile

A month ago, a teaser trailer for Path of Exile 3.27 was released, announcing its October release date. As expected, 3.27 is scheduled to release on October 31st., and Secrets of the Atlas League will conclude on October 27th, leaving players with approximately three weeks to continue polishing their builds.

So, should you relax and enjoy the game during this time, or make a few extra bucks? What happens to your character after the league ends? How should you prepare for the new league?

How To Prepare For The New League?

PoE 3.26 lasted for almost five months, which naturally brought in a number of new players. Some of these players may not be fully aware of what the league transition represents.

Simply put, it's similar to the season transition in Diablo. When 3.26 transitions to 3.27, all characters, items, PoE currency, experience, and progress in the current challenge league will be transferred to the permanent standard league. When you create a character in a new league, it won't be able to use any gear or currency from the previous league. This means any hard work you put into 3.26 won't carry over to the new league.

If you want to prepare for 3.27, you can pay attention to the official announcements about the new league content and skill adjustments, note your desired build and the best upgrade build, and find a suitable loot filter to save you time searching through junk during gameplay. This will help you prepare early.

Your first build shouldn't be the strongest in the meta, but rather the one you most want to play. Once you successfully reach the endgame with your desired build and accumulate some PoE currency and gear, you can switch to a Meta build, which will allow you to upgrade faster.

Is 3.26 Still Worth Playing?

Secrets of the Atlas League has fewer content updates than other leagues, leading players to call it the worst season.

Judging by Steam online users and views on various streaming platforms, PoE 3.26 has fewer players than previous seasons. This may be due to the period of inactivity leading up to PoE2's release, which caused some players (including veterans who never switch leagues) to skip or join later.

However, despite the decrease in total players, player retention is very high. Even amidst severe server issues (especially on European servers), a large number of players continue to play. So, if you continue playing now, you don't have to worry about finding someone to trade with. You can sell all your PoE currency before the league ends, and you might even make a small profit.

Tier 16.5 Maps

Tier 16.5 maps are one of the best features of 3.26, primarily due to the map layout options. Tier 17 maps have closed corridor layouts, which often restrict player movement, hinder ranged and AOE builds, and make certain activities (such as Breach and Legion) a poor experience.

Tier 16.5 maps allow players to choose their favorite old map layouts, which greatly improves the gameplay experience. Furthermore, better layouts allow for more interesting builds that rely on area-of-effect effects, rather than just targeting specific Tier 17 meta builds.

While Tier 17 maps may offer higher returns per map, Tier 16.5 maps, thanks to their efficient layouts, narrow the payoff per unit time, so even if you don't challenge Tier 17 maps, you won't lose much. Furthermore, farming efficiency on Tier 16.5 maps isn't much lower than Tier 17. Even after the mid-game fix for the bug that guaranteed Tier 17 modifiers with eight affixes, Tier 16.5 maps still offer good returns. Tier 16.5 maps are expected to be carried over to 3.27.

Mercenaries League

Mercenaries are a new mechanic added in 3.26. Mercenaries can serve as powerful support. You can equip them with special equipment to grant you auras or taunt enemies. You can even have them serve as your primary damage dealer, with you supporting them.

When choosing equipment, you need to balance making your mercenaries powerful enough to enhance your own abilities with ensuring their survival. The mercenary system makes many previously unpopular Path of Exile items valuable.

However, mercenaries significantly increase the power of all builds, making 3.26 easier. If this mechanic isn't added to the core game, players in 3.27 might struggle to adapt. If it is, the disruption to game balance caused by mercenaries could be devastating.

Doryani's Prototype is a classic example of a design error. If you put this item, which grants negative lightning resistance, on a nearly indestructible mercenary, it overpowers the lightning build, disrupting the balance. Therefore, 3.27 may only retain a few mercenaries or their corresponding gems, while most mercenary-related content may be removed.

Beyond the content of 3.26, there has been no official preview or announcement regarding 3.27's content. However, it is expected to include new bosses and PoE currency. Another long-awaited feature that will probably launch in 3.27 is Path of Exile 2's current asynchronous trading system. It performed almost flawlessly in 0.3.0, and this feature promises significant improvements to the trading system, making it well worth the wait.

Currently, Path of Exile 3.26's player base isn't at its peak, and with 3.27 still about three weeks away, finding players willing to trade with you might be challenging before the new trading system launches.

However, IGGM will offer trading services from the start of the season until the end, allowing you to buy reliable PoE currency and items to complete your build.

It's been almost three months since the release of Path of Exile 3.26 (June 13, 2025 PDT). Recently, they released a soft announcement that 3.27 will arrive in October.

While they haven't yet announced a specific date, we can make some inferences based on their update schedule and habits.

Path Of Exile 3.27 Release Date

Most Likely Dates:

• October 24th
• October 31st

The official goal is to release 3.27 at the end of October, with the specific date to be announced via a livestream in a few weeks. The current Mercenaries of Trarthus League typically ends about a week before the new league exam, leaving players plenty of time to complete their current league's challenges.

PoE developers typically release updates on Fridays US time, officially announced as the end of October. Therefore, an update on October 17th is unlikely. If October 21st is considered late October, then both the 24th and 31st are possible new dates.

Given that Path of Exile 2 wasn't announced until the end of August, October 31st is the most likely date.

Path Of Exile Development Cycle

Before the release of 3.26, the developers explained their upcoming update cycle for Path of Exile 1 and 2 in an interview. PoE 1 and 2 will release new content every four months, adding new mechanics and a new PoE currency. This alternating cycle means players will be able to enjoy new content every two months on average.

This model provides players with predictability and reliability; even if a particular release isn't satisfactory, players know there will be new content to play a few months later.

However, given the late release date of Path of Exile 2, subsequent updates may be delayed until the end of the month. That means Path of Exile 2 patch 0.4.0 will be released at the end of December, and PoE 3.28 will be released at the end of February 2026.

However, Path of Exile's development staff is clearly insufficient. Currently, only about two developers can make class balance changes without review.

These core balancers need to constantly switch focus between POE 1 and POE 2 projects. While they're balancing PoE 2, POE 1 may not receive meaningful balance updates. Furthermore, due to the holiday break, I strongly suspect both patch 0.4.0 and POE 3.28 will be delayed.

Possible Content In Patch 3.27

The league theme and new features for 3.27 have not yet been announced, but the next patch is very likely to bring Path of Exile 2's asynchronous trading system (Merchant Tab System) to Path of Exile 1.

This new trading system allows you to place your items for sale, acting like a merchant. Other players can trade with you using PoE currency even when you're offline, without both players being online. This functionality is similar to an auction house in an MMO.

This will significantly change the gameplay experience in PoE 1, as trading is much more frequent in PoE 1 than in PoE 2. Currently, trading in PoE 1 can be frustrating, especially when you find an item that perfectly matches your build, only to have it rejected. Time zone issues also make trading quite inconvenient. Merchant Tab System will effectively address these issues.

Furthermore, for players who want to succeed in the trade league economy, quickly reaching the endgame and then progressing to farm will be more important than ever.

What Content Will Be Retained In 3.27?

PoE 3.26 is a good and fun League, but it still gets a distance with a real big expansion. With each League update, not everything from the previous League is retained, as this could affect game balance and the economy.

Mercenaries of Trarthus will definitely not be retained, as these mercenaries are too powerful and would disrupt the game balance, making it too easy. However, most of the mercenary skill gems are weak, but they may be added to the core.

Other contents, such as new PoE currency, Tier 16.5 maps, new bosses and unique items, are likely to remain, as they all have a positive impact on the game.

Comparison Between POE 1 And POE 2

The current Path of Exile 1 league has been running for three months, and some players may have already shifted their focus to Path of Exile 2. Other players, lacking the energy to play two complex APRGs simultaneously, are undecided between the two.

As an unfinished game, Path of Exile 2 is improving faster and is the current focus of the developers, allowing you to experience more new content.

Path of Exile 1 currently has a faster pace in leveling and endgame, and its boss battles are less immersive and challenging. It's more suitable for newcomers and is currently the better of the two.

Path of Exile 3.27 is still a while away, but even if you're tired of patch 3.26, you won't be bored while you wait. Currently, there's Last Epoch Season 3, and the recently released Path of Exile 2 patch 0.3.0, and Diablo 4 Season 10 is coming at the end of September, so you can wait in busy.

In any Path of Exile expansion, to improve combat efficiency, you must craft and utilize builds. We all know that higher-level skills, rarer gear, and more orbs can make builds better, but it is difficult to have so many resources when entering a new league.

So for you, facing the official opening of 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas in just three or four days, the top priority is to find the right builds for “opening up the wasteland”.

Although the early content of the game is not too difficult, POE series has always been known for its hardcore. So these builds must be powerful enough without investing too many POE Chaos Orbs and other items.

It is undoubtedly difficult to develop such builds on your own, but fortunately, we will introduce 5 of them to you next!

1. Penance Brand Of Dissipation Inquisitor Templar Build

As its name suggests, this build is suitable for players with Templar as the base class and Inquisitor as Ascendancy class. As for Penance Brand of Dissipation, it is a spell that causes damage by adding energy to the branded enemy.

The working principle of this build is simple, but it can even kill Uber bosses in one second - provided that you complete or collect the items it needs as much as possible, the first of which is Inspired Learning jewel.

This jewel allows you to gain one of the monster’s attributes as a modifier for the next 20 seconds after killing a rare monster. This function is similar to Headhunter, although it is slightly weaker, but combined with the build will significantly improve your mapping efficiency.

As you know, in 3.26 gameplay, the status of mapping has become more important because of Zana-related plot and mechanism. So if you like Templar class, this build is not to be missed.

2. Flicker Strike Slayer Duelist Build

As a strength/dexterity hybrid class, Duelist’s damage output and damage avoidance are both reliable, and its Ascendancy class Slayer expands its offensiveness.

Based on this, this build further combines Flicker Strike, a melee attack skill, with the teleportation and short-term speed increase effect it provides, allowing you to quickly shuttle between maps while effectively clearing the field and causing more damage to single-type enemies.

However, correspondingly, this build’s defense capabilities will be relatively poor, especially against physical damage, and it will provide limited help for your character upgrades. Considering that this guide focuses on “start ability”, it is normal to have unavoidable shortcomings.

See More: What New Changes Does Path of Exile 3.26 Secrets Of The Atlas Bring? - Endgame And New Mode

3. Molten Strike Zenith Juggernaut Build

This build is mainly based on the utilization of Juggernaut (the base class is Marauders) combined with the skill Molten Strike Zenith, combining unimaginable tanky attributes with damage output - the premise is that you can accept its slower clearing speed.

If conditions permit, you can add more reliable gear to this build to enhance it to reduce the negative impact of insufficient speed. For example, better two-handed weapons, because Molten Strike Zenith utilizes two-handed weapons to convert some physical damage into fire damage to hit the enemy.

Other gear worth having include Alpha’s Howl, Oro’s Sacrifice, Perseverance, and most rings with certain resistances, which are relatively easy to get in the early stage. On this basis, you need to get as many melee attack enhancements as possible to play the power of this build.

4. CWS Firestorm Chieftain Build

This is actually an AFK type build, which mainly utilizes Firestorm spell to launch a rain of flaming arrows in a certain area to cause fire damage. Chieftain is another Ascendancy class of Marauders, which is fire-oriented and supports fire damage bonus.

But in addition to this, the CWS element of the build (cast when stunned) requires you to ensure that all attacks can cause stun. Because although this build will form a huge storm when the enemy touches you, it also creates dependence.

That is to say, if you encounter bosses with no minions around, you will consume more time than others to deal with them. For this reason, it is best to further combine the power of the skill Penance Mark, because it can mark targets and summon phantoms that can be continue to attack when attacking these targets, further weakening the enemy.

5. Tornado Shot Deadeye Ranger Bow Build

In fact, this build is not only suitable for 3.26, it should be regarded as one of the most classic builds in POE 1. With just a reliable bow and basic class skills, you can quickly pass the level with this build.

However, in order to echo the theme of this guide, it is better to get a better elemental bow than jewels to maximize the role of POE currency in the early stage. And don’t forget to add an extra arrow module to the quiver.

Although the relevant content of the 5 builds introduced above is more suitable for you to utilize when you first start playing the new expansion, in fact, in the later stage when you have more currency and gear, you can upgrade these builds to make them also benefit your endgame experience, unless you want to try new tricks!

As the official launch date approaches and the June 5th press conference is over, more information about Path of Exile 3.26 leagues has been revealed to you, and the most important and eye-catching ones are undoubtedly those related to the endgame.

Perhaps because the arrival of 3.26 patch Secrets of the Atlas was more than half a year later than the expected normal time. In order to compensate players, this patch brought rich, interesting and challenging updates.

Among them, the changes related to the endgame cover all aspects, but the most important ones are those related to the battles and quests you get loot. Based on this, we will introduce you to the relevant content.

Mercenaries Of Trarthus Challenge League

In order to make the game more hardcore, among the new mechanisms added to Path of Exile 3.26, the first one worth mentioning is the new mercenary challenge. These mercenaries are veterans from Trarthus, and each of them has a full set of gear and skills for you to learn.

If you want to get more POE currency in the future battles with their help, you need to duel with them and win; or if you think that one person is enough, you can also take one item from their inventory and leave after winning the duel.

It is worth noting that if you particularly hate some mercenaries, you can also temporarily prevent them from appearing in 3.26 mercenary pool again by winning the exile battle.

However, once you add a mercenary to your team, it will actually increase the difficulty of the battles you will face later and the richness of the rewards. In addition, if you want to hire them, in addition to winning the duel, you also need to consume gold.

Fortunately, 3.26 league has added the relevant gameplay of the previous league to the main game, so the content and resources including gold for hiring will be automatically provided to you after you enter Secrets of the Atlas endgame.

Features Inherited From 3.25

In 3.25 league, the core gameplay is to help Kalguuran pioneers build the town of Kingsmarch and establish trade between Wraeclast and their homeland. To do this, you need to defeat those destructive enemies while engaging in fun gameplay such as trade and mining.

Although the main gameplay of the game will change after the expansion update, several important features in the Settlers Challenge League have been retained. In addition to the gold just mentioned, there are also currency exchange tools for trading crafting materials, and a black market that allows you to gamble on items.

Even more conveniently, these three features will also be available in other towns after 3.26 league is launched, and you will be able to continue to utilize the transportation mechanism in the game to conduct many gear, currency and other transactions. Of course, if you want to utilize all these features, you must complete the campaign and unlock the corresponding progress points.

But unlike 3.25, 3.26 expansion will allow you to obtain the newly introduced passive skill Tattoos by completing Trial of the Ancestors at Karui ports, or exchange with Kalguur to obtain new tools Runegrafts that are similar to Tattoos.

Runegrafts are mainly utilized to replace mastery nodes on the passive skill tree, and their specific functions include simply changing the type of bonus items and providing Runegraft of Time bonuses. Tattoos have a chance to refresh the cooldown of skills immediately.

New Maps Brought By New Plots

As you know, mapping is one of the most important contents of the endgame of POE series of games, which can provide you with a lot of loot in the difficult endgame stage.

As the official name of 3.26 represents, after this plot update, many rifts caused by the twisted Threads of Consciousness appeared in Atlas, and master cartographer Zana was trapped in it. You need to cooperate with the new character Eagon to enter it and find her.

These rifts are actually a series of maps, and the specific map presentation depends on how your Atlas tree, scarabs, fragments, etc. are combined. Once you enter the map, you will find that the enemies in it are surrounded by a special effect called memory petals, which can be absorbed by defeating the enemies.

Once you have absorbed them, you will find that the relevant new skills will appear in the mini bar next to your common skills, and the skills provided by different map monsters are also different.

These skills are not only powerful, but also stack as your mapping progresses. If you defeat the boss of the current map, you will also encounter a special altar that will apply a modifier to the remaining maps - the more bosses you defeat, the more these modifier stacks.

New Pinnacle Fights

When you follow Threads of Consciousness to the final map, you will face dangerous bosses. After defeating all of these bosses, you will get special map fragments to further unlock new pinnacle boss fights.

Although the pinnacle bosses may not be as difficult as Uber bosses, the rewards they provide cannot be underestimated. Whether it’s Starcaller axe or Wine of the Prophet flask, they can provide reliable assistance for your 3.26 endgame battle.

In fact, in addition to these major endgame content updates, the new league also brings a lot of effective optimizations to enhance your Path of Exile experience. Let’s look forward to it together!

After nearly 11 months of waiting, the new league of the first Path of Exile game, Secrets of the Atlas, will finally be launched on June 13, and there will be a related press conference on June 5, when you will learn more about it.

Based on past experience, you should know that every time a new expansion is released, POE 1 will appropriately nerf or enhance the existing content based on the performance of the previous leagues and player opinions to make the game more balanced.

So, although the press conference has not yet started, you can speculate on what changes will be made to 3.26 league based on the performance of 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur.

Nerf - Lightning Strike

As an effective melee attack skill in POE 1, Lightning Strike converts your output physical damage into lightning damage to increase the damage effect. In addition, it can also cause damage based on your weapon by firing projectiles.

Entering 3.25 league, the skill and the builds built around it have become even more powerful, as it not only attacks multiple times, but also has a huge single-target damage bonus, allowing you to earn more and rarer POE currency by killing bosses.

While this is useful for completing your resource farming, any skill that is too powerful will disrupt the game’s combat balance. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that Lightning Strike may be nerfed in 3.26, or a more powerful new skill will be introduced to replace it.

Nerf - Archmage

The nerf prediction for this support gem is actually based on Lightning Strike, because Archmage’s role is to increase the lightning damage output of the supported skills based on your maximum unreserved mana.

In addition, although the 3.25 nerf to defense aura caused a lot of damage to top caster builds, Archmage can help avoid most of the negative changes. Because most of the attack potential of the genre comes from stacking mana, which can be obtained through Archmage.

Additionally, you’ll find that Archmage’s mechanics normally make it a contradiction in terms: you want to increase mana consumption to deal more damage, but you also need to control it to avoid losing all effective hits in the process.

But as of 3.25, Archmage allows you to stack maximum mana to increase damage and effective hits, while also reducing the mana consumption of skills, allowing you to stay at full health most of the time.

Obviously, this invisibly undermines the balance of Archmage itself, emphasizing its powerful side too much. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that this feature of the support gem may be nerfed after 3.26 goes online.

Nerf - Ephemeral Edge

This weapon functions similarly to Energy Blade and can be scaled similarly, but the difference of Ephemeral Edge is that its attacks add maximum lightning damage equivalent to 20% of your energy shield.

It is expected that this weapon may be nerfed in either attributes or rarity to achieve a better balance of strength. However, if the rarity is weakened, it will bring a series of chain reactions, because this means that the way to obtain or redeem the weapon must be changed accordingly.

Buff - Self Cast Spells

This actually refers to a type of builds that output damage by manually casting spells. But in 3.25, with the addition of other new skills, the effectiveness of this build has decreased, so the usage rate is not as good as before.

Buff - Top-Side Passive Tree Defenses

If you have been playing POE 1, you will find that defense with spell-casting as the main gameplay has already seemed a bit strange before 3.25.

Most casters will choose to invest in suppression in the upper right area of ​​the passive tree and utilize stats such as dodge to enhance defense against enemy spells and attacks. Some casters will unlock armor and energy shield masteries on the left side of the passive tree.

But in patch 3.25, both masteries were replaced by other options, and determination and grace were also weakened, forcing you to get enough attributes to equip those new armor or dodge levels, but this is actually difficult to do because 3.25 also strictly restricts the acquisition of these attributes.

Buff - Remake Two Ascendancy Classes

As you know, whether in POE 1 or 2, you can get a richer and more powerful class combat experience by unlocking Ascendancy class. According to the performance of each Ascendancy class in 3.25, we predict that Assassin and Elementalist should be remade to enhance.

The problem with Assassin is that it is too mediocre, so 3.26 league can completely learn from the design ideas of some Ascendancy classes in POE 2 and thoroughly transform it, so that it can be more powerful while reflecting more characteristics.

As for Elementalist, the places where it should be modified are mainly reflected in the nodes, such as Bastion of Elements or Damnation. In addition, the golem branch of Elementalist also needs more improvements.

The above content is just our prediction of Path of Exile 3.26 based on the performance of 3.25. The actual content changes will not be confirmed until at least after the press conference. But at least we can be sure that 3.26 will definitely be committed to bringing you a better gaming experience!

If you’re a fan of both games in Path of Exile series, you’ve been busy lately! You were originally only focused on POE 2 Dawn of the Hunt league, but the first game’s 3.26 new league was recently announced to be launched soon.

The league is named Secrets of the Atlas and is expected to be launched on June 13. Although more information will be announced at the press conference on June 5, some news about 3.26’s new features and mechanics have been leaked, and the most popular one is undoubtedly the addition of the pause function.

Based on this, we will introduce you to the information related to this feature and speculate on how it may affect the entire game after the launch of POE 3.26.

How Will The Pause Function Work?

Unlike the combat elements in casual games, in ARPGs like Path of Exile series, combat is the main source of your character’s survival and the core gameplay of the game. Therefore, it is normal for a virtual battle to take more than ten minutes. The higher the difficulty of the battle, the longer it takes.

But this is likely to cause real-life problems, such as when someone knocks on the door while you are fighting, or you receive an important call that you have to answer. If you ignore it and focus on the game, you may miss the instant message, but if you leave the battle, your character will be killed and you will lose XP and POE currency you have earned.

Obviously, the new pause function was born to solve this problem. To be honest, there is nothing to explain in terms of mechanism. It just allows you to pause the game in battle to solve real-life problems. Or you can also utilize this function to unlock more skill points for “temporary” upgrades during the battle to win more safely.

This Function Is Not Original

Considering the characteristics of ARPG, there should be other games on the market that have added similar pause functions, including even Path of Exile’s own sequel.

The pause function was added to the game when POE 2 was first released in December last year. Perhaps because it was well received by players, the development team decided to add it to 3.26 league after half a year.

But if you have played POE 1 before, you should have found that it also had an automatic pause function. When you open any full-screen menu in the game, or when there is an uncontrollable accident such as network delay, the battle will automatically pause to prevent you from suffering losses.

However, in order to prevent players from exploiting this loophole, such as trying to find more safe areas in the battle by repeatedly pausing so that the challenge of the battle is weakened, the game will not automatically pause when you fight a pinnacle boss or other difficult battles in Path of Exile.

Impact On Gameplay

Whether it is automatic pause or passive pause caused by your operation, the key issue is still “randomness”. It is not ruled out that you will encounter situations where you have to pause the battle due to accidents, but if you abuse the pause, it will undoubtedly destroy the balance and playability of the game.

Since 3.26 has not yet been launched, more details about the pause function may have to wait until the press conference to know. But in fact, according to the setting of automatic pause, it can be inferred that the development team will probably consider the problems you can think of.

The problem of possible abuse of the pause function should be solved by adding no-pause zones like automatic pause, or setting a maximum number of pauses for simple battles. After all, in general, the pause function is still necessary.

To be honest, as an ARPG player, you should also understand the feature of long game battles, so it is best to arrange your game time reasonably based on the pause function to ensure that you will not be disturbed by the outside world when entering the battle, especially the difficult boss battle.

Read More: What Exactly Does Path Of Exile Have In Content For The 3.26 Expansion: Secrets Of The Atlas?

Noteworthy 3.26 Endgame Changes

Based on the trailers that have been released and the names of the new leagues, it can be inferred that the endgame changes of 3.26 will focus on Atlas and the map device.

For example, you can reroll elder and conqueror guardian maps through Orbs of Horizon, or change the guardians on the area and map device. In addition, a new inventory grid will be added to the map device to facilitate the placement of areas you want to explore in order.

The Connection Between POE 1/2

As games belonging to the same series, the continuity of the main story of Path of Exile is not very strong, so the connection between the two games is not close from the perspective of the plot. But there are many connections between other elements.

Whether it is the setting and selection of classes, the way of fighting, or the currency and trading system, there are many similarities between Path of Exile 1 and 2. Of course, in order to ensure their respective playability, they also have some exclusive gameplay.

However, from a practical point of view, without affecting the independence of the game, the two games can completely introduce the basic functions that each other has, just like POE 2 pause function introduced by 3.26 this time.

As for POE 2, which is being improved, the first game has more places to learn from after more than ten years of development. If POE 2 wants to launch the official version as soon as possible, learning from 1 is an indispensable learning process.

In any case, from 3.26 League and the upcoming release of POE 2 patch 0.2.1, it can be seen that the entire Path of Exile series is moving forward steadily and is bound to occupy a more important position in ARPG market in the future.

After nearly ten months of waiting, Path of Exile will finally launch a new league on June 13 this year! According to the regular schedule, 3.26 league should have been launched around October last year, but the development of POE 2 obviously delayed this process.

In fact, until the first trailer of 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas, there were still opinions in the game community that the launch of the new league might be postponed indefinitely, but fortunately this situation is finally coming to an end.

However, it is precisely because 3.26 came too late that you may have almost forgotten how to utilize those unique mechanics in the first game. Based on this, we will utilize heist as an example to introduce you to how to earn POE currency as soon as possible in the 3.26 patch.

What Is Heist?

First of all, you need to review how heist works - after all, there seems to be no similar gameplay in POE 2. The heist in POE is in Rogue Harbor. To enter here, you need to collect Rogue’s Marker by completing daily tasks, and then click it in your backpack to travel to Rogue Harbor.

Each heist requires you to sign a contract and cooperate with up to one rogue, who must have reached a certain level of his job. Find Adiyah, the Wayfinder in Rogue Harbor and deliver the heist contract and other required materials to her to reach to the official heist location. The rogues that can be recruited and their jobs are:

• Karst, the Lockpick: Lock-picking, Perception, Agility
• Tibbs, the Giant: Brute force, Demolition
• Isla, the Engineer: Engineering, Trap disarmament
• Tullina, the Catburglar: Agility, Lock picking, Trap disarmament
• Niles, the Interrogator: Counter-thaumaturgy, Deception
• Nenet, the Scout: Perception, Counter-thaumaturgy
• Vinderi, the Dismantler: Demolition, Trap disarmament, Engineering
• Gianna, the Master of Disguise: Deception, Counter-thaumaturgy, Perception
• Huck, the Soldier: Lock-picking, Brute force, Demolition, Engineering

After a successful heist, in addition to the regular monetary rewards, you may get most types of game items as dropped loot. If you defeat a specific boss in the process, you may also get rare gear or jewels.

3.26 Best Heist Plan For The League

Although the heist offers a wide variety of rewards, it is still mainly based on currency. Therefore, if you want to utilize this mechanism to accumulate currency as soon as possible after the launch of Secrets of the Atlas, it is important to first choose the right rogue.

Based on the different jobs, each rogue has different perks and functions. To accumulate enough currency in the early stages of the league, it is recommended that you choose Vinderi, Gianna, and Tullina. The bonuses they bring are as follows:

• Vinderi: Increases the chance of Heist chests copying their contents by 6-14%, and increases alert level by 14-30%
• Gianna: Reduces Blueprint revealing consumption by 10-30%, discovers a blueprint reveal upon completion of a heist contract mission
• Tullina: Increases your chance of finding additional heist targets in secret reward rooms by 10-26%, and reduces alert level by 6-14%

These three rogues can maximize the blueprints and reveal you get, and then you can view as many unlockable rooms as possible by uploading blueprints to ensure that the rooms that can bring you more rewards are unlocked first.

Or after 3.26 is launched, you can farm specific rooms according to your character’s situation. Generally speaking, it is best to prioritize currency and divination cards in the early stages of the league, and go straight to the ultimate reward room in the later stages.

Specific Operation Process

After understanding the basic information, the first step is to determine the rogue you want to recruit, as well as the plan and blueprint. Then enter Rogue Harbor to start grabbing heists and enter the rooms you find to search for rewards according to the contracts you need to execute.

When you find and decide to take the currency treasure chest and divination card treasure chest, don’t rush, pay attention to the escape route in the room (indicated by a small ladder), you need to open it before reaching the last room to leave in time.

If you are running grand heists, you will come to Curio Display after reaching the end, which has many additional high-value rewards, including POE Divine Orbs, one of the available currencies.

It is worth noting that if your character dies in battle during the heist, you will lose all the contraband you picked up, so be sure to treat every battle carefully. When you and your rogue complete all the tasks, you can return to Rogue Harbor through the escape route to settle the loot.

In addition, when 3.26 league is launched, if you enter the middle and late stages and think that your character can stably complete each heist, you can find Whakano, the Barber, one of the support NPCs, before starting the heist and exchange more demolition contracts with him.

This type of contract has a high probability of giving you an extra random chest when the loot is settled, and opening the chest will get at least one Chaos Orb. So you can definitely accumulate extra currency in the early stages of 3.26 league in this way.

To be honest, this classic mechanism combines resource farming, fun and strategy very well, which is probably why it has been preserved since it was launched. Maybe POE 2 should also try to develop a similar mechanism.

The above is our plan for effective heist in the upcoming POE 3.26. I hope it will be helpful to you!

It’s worth the wait! The developers of two major MMOs have finally released the next league update for Path of Exile, which they released more than a decade ago. The very stable league update cycle has been the core of the developers’ marketing of Path of Exile and attracting a wider audience over time.

In fact, they have done a great job so far, especially POE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League, which has attracted the most concurrent players on Steam. However, it must be noted that this league has been running for nearly ten months, and even though it has excellent game content, players are gradually getting tired of it.

So when the developers finally announced that they would provide a new league for the original game, all players were excited and said that they would finally turn their attention back to the firstborn, because this is the first time that the update window has been so long since the league system was first introduced in 2013.

According to the developers, Path of Exile 3.26 will have the theme Secrets of the Atlas and will be officially released on June 13th. In fact, when the name of this league appeared, many players were wondering whether this update would bring the long-awaited Atlas Expansion into the game?

The specific content of this new league requires you to participate in GGG Live, which will start at 1 pm on June 5, so we can only guess that it will be introduced one by one, after all, now is the best time to launch this expansion. If you are interested in it, then follow this guide to find out!

The Importance Of 3.26

As we all know, this developer announced that it would release a sequel with a completely different game style from the original in 2022, nearly 10 years after the release of Path of Exile. But unfortunately, this slogan has been shouted from 2022 to 2024. It was even announced that the official release of the early access version in November 2024 was delayed to December because of micro-transaction issues.

During this process, many players who wanted to try new game content were fooled and gradually lost confidence in exploring POE 2. However, thanks to its long-term marketing, the sequel set a record for the number of concurrent online players on many gaming platforms as soon as it was released.

In view of this, the developers assigned all the staff who should have worked on the original game to update the sequel, forcing Path of Exile to be robbed of a lot of attention by its sequel. However, as the negative reviews of POE 2 0.2.0 patch increased, the developers paid more and more attention to the development of the sequel and ignored the need to update the league in the original game, even though a new event was launched during the period.

So in this case, where the players of both games have not been completely pleased, the developers can prove through the latest league update in Path of Exile 3.26 that many of their promises to players are entirely true. Among them, introducing this Atlas-focused expansion into the game would probably be the easiest to accomplish.

Why Is Atlas The Key To This Expansion?

It is worth affirming that the developers really want to make some substantial changes in this POE 3.26 update to satisfy the players. Whether it is to add in-game mechanisms or change some gameplay, it is very effective. But why is it speculated here that the focus of this new expansion is Atlas map?

First of all, no matter which game manufacturer, developing and releasing a new expansion that includes the entire game content is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive task. For Path of Exile, most developers and innovators are still developing POE 2, and the in-game resources are not enough to support the development of this type of expansion.

And as the end of POE 2’s early access is getting closer, players are more and more eager to have a game with a similar gameplay style and new things to explore as a replacement after it exits the game world. Therefore, if POE 3.26 really brings an excellent expansion of the Atlas map, players of the original and sequel can enjoy a smooth gaming experience.

Another reason is to think from the developer’s perspective. This Atlas Expansion is sure to bring players so many interesting and challenging boss encounters, maps, and ways to farm POE Currency that players may explore it for months and gradually forget about the official release of the sequel.

This could give the developers some time to polish POE 2 so that they can provide a long-polished and perhaps successful sequel to the players who still love this dark game in a few years, or even longer. Not only that, during this polishing process, the developers can still make a high profit from the original game with a large player base.

Of course, this is just my unilateral speculation, and the specifics may need to wait for the developer to admit it. But who will admit it? In addition, from the trailer released by the developer for POE 3.26, Atlas and its secrets are mentioned many times, which is a very clumsy way of leaking.

In general, no matter how high the developers’ expectations are for POE 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas, most players are still waiting to see. Although there is a lot of discussion in the player community and on social platforms about whether a prefect Atlas Expansion will be released in this update, the final information still needs to be learned from the live broadcast next month. I wish you a happy game!

Whether you are fascinated by Path of Exile 2 or have switched to other ARPGs, now is the time to remember the first game of Path of Exile! It has been almost a year since the release of its last league, and now 3.26 expansion is finally here!

After releasing a mysterious preview image, POE brought the official trailer of 3.26 on May 23. The trailer is still the dark style you are familiar with and tries to preview a new adventure for you through vague lines.

As the development team is focused on the development of POE 2, the arrival of 3.26 league has been more than half a year later than normal. If it wants to attract back those players who still love POE 1, it must bring effective new content and mechanism optimization based on 3.25.

Based on this, we will bring you an introduction to 3.26, as well as suggestions and guesses that hope it can perform well.

Known 3.26 League Information

First of all, it can be confirmed that the official name of the league is Secrets of the Atlas, which will be launched on June 13. Before that, the development team will also hold a live broadcast at 1 pm Pacific Daylight Time on June 5 to announce more specific content about the patch.

Plot And World View Extension

From the preview image and the first trailer, a mysterious unknown force asks you to find Originator. In connection with the name of the league, this may mean that you need to go through adventures to reveal the secrets behind Atlas, the core component of the game.

From the fact that the unknown force seeks help rather than power, this should not be an evil force from the boss, and the identity of “Originator” may remind you of Zana, an important character who disappeared after the end of Echoes of the Atlas.

Although the second trailer still does not show any substantial content, it shows a distorted world built on memory, which is waiting for you to repair and maintain order before it can return to normal.

Possible New Mechanisms

What specific new content will be confirmed after the live broadcast on June 5, but what is known now is that 3.26 should apply the following new mechanisms:

• Introduce fractured or mirrored versions of existing maps.
• Expand the role of memory fragments in the game.
• Non-linear Atlas discovery or repair.
• Dynamic map states.

They are obviously mainly map changes, which are also related to the theme of the new league and Atlas. As the main source of resources for POE series of games, both early map exploration and mapping in the endgame are important, so these changes are likely to completely update your POE Chaos Orbs farming method.

How Can 3.26 Be Better?

Although the production rights of the game are not in the hands of you or other players, and the final right of interpretation belongs to the development team, your suggestions are also based on your game experience and are still valuable.

To be honest, after years of operation, compared with the second game, which is still in the early access stage, Path of Exile 1 has become more perfect in all aspects. Instead of launching more new features, you may hope that the game will not blindly cancel those practical, classic features!

Auction House

Although POE 2 has launched an official trading website, there are still players who hope that it can launch an exclusive auction house in the game like the first game. Because compared with the external market, the auction house can set more specific rules to regulate transactions, and the experience will be better.

In POE 2 trading market, you will find that the value of items always fluctuates greatly, and the trading experience is affected. But the gold-respect, or regret mechanism of the auction house in the first game can always solve these problems well.

Trade-Related Mechanisms Introduced In 3.25

In 3.25 league Settlers Of Kalguur, the game requires you to help Kalguuran pioneers to build the town of Kingsmarch and establish trade between Wraeclast and their homeland. Based on this, the patch launched a series of related trade gameplay, including shipping and mining, etc.

This kind of gameplay that is related to the plot but more interesting than combat is a wonderful improvement to the game, so that you don’t just keep killing enemies in the game, but can feel more fun by running your own business.

Although there are always many differences between the various leagues, this mechanism of 3.25 is completely worth keeping in 3.26, not just a time-limited experience.

Further Expand Other Mechanisms

Whether it is the basic class, Ascendancy class or the available skills and weapons, Path of Exile should try to further expand them through 3.26 league to bring more diversified combat experience and build crafting possibilities.

In general, as a new league in POE 1, Secrets of the Atlas has much less to consider than POE 2 Dawn of the Hunt, because the first game is more complete in all aspects.

However, due to the long interval between 3.26 and the previous league, you may have increased your expectations for it invisibly, making the game face unnecessary pressure. In fact, all you have to do is relax and enjoy the long-lost new expansion of POE 1!

There is no doubt that the most eye-catching ARPG in recent times is Path of Exile 2, which was launched at the end of 2024. Although it is still in the early access stage and has not yet shown its full version charm to you, POE 2 is better than the recent performance of another strong competitor Diablo 4 - after all, the latter’s Season 7 has not yet arrived.

But perhaps you have a question, since Path of Exile 2 is in full swing, is it still necessary to experience the first game in the same series in the new 2025? Based on this, we will make a comprehensive comparison of the recent performance of POE 1, POE 2 and Diablo 4 to provide you with some reference.

Path Of Exile 1 Performance Review

In the past year, from 3.24 Necropolis to 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, even though it has been more than ten years since its official release, POE 1 has always been committed to maintaining its freshness by constantly updating the league, which is one of the main reasons for its enduring popularity.

POE 3.24

The league was officially launched on March 29, 2024, and added a lot of new content based on the past leagues, such as the league mechanism that allows you to configure the difficulty of monsters and POE Currency rewards, and Embers of the Allflame items that allow you to encounter abnormal monsters with special rewards.

POE 3.25

As the most recent Path of Exile 1 league released to you, POE 3.25 can be said to have made many special updates to the game. In terms of combat, version 3.25 has completely changed your melee mode and introduced Warden class to replace Raider. But besides these, the most eye-catching is the challenge league mechanism that allows you to build and manage your own town.

It is worth noting that it is this league mechanism that allows you to experience a new and more complete trade system in POE 1, allowing you to obtain more necessary materials by hiring workers and port trade besides obtaining POE Divine Orbs through battle.

Compared To Path Of Exile 2

As a sequel, POE 2 must innovate in many aspects to ensure that it will not be overshadowed by the brilliance of the previous work, and based on the current performance, it has completely done this.

First of all, it is worth mentioning that it responds to the response and expectations of fans in the past, and launched the couch co-op that POE 1 did not have, as well as cross-platform games and cross-platform progress. In view of the continuous evolution of current game devices, it is imperative for a large-scale ARPG to keep you and provide you with more convenience in playing.

In the specific game content, POE 2 allows you to provide more unique mechanisms for game characters through support gems based on skill and class differences. This undoubtedly gives you more control and customization, giving you more personality than Path of Exile 1 for any class and weapon you want to experience.

If you like the boss battles of POE series, then POE 2 will never let you down. It brings more than 100 unique bosses to fight. Besides the improved boss battles in the endgame content, you also have the opportunity to get a brand new combat experience through dedicated maps for each boss. And the bosses in POE 2 are more challenging, requiring you to use critical thinking to deploy strategies and make the battles more interesting.

Based on the above changes, there is no doubt that Path of Exile 2 is better than the first game in these aspects, especially the narrative method of the second part is also better. In addition, all the playing threshold of the first and second parts are actually not low. So if you are an old player of the series, you can experience an upgraded version of Path of Exile through POE 2 in the new year.

But if you haven’t come into contact with POE yet, then I think you can also consider playing POE 1. Because compared to the second part, it still has some unique mechanisms, such as the fun league and trade system in 3.25. And the first game has been running for ten years, so it may be more stable.

And if you plan to play POE 1 in the near future, you still can solve the possible POE Currency shortage through the giveaway information and activities in IGGM Discord, avoiding worries.

Compared To Diablo 4

In the past year, Diablo 4 has always been popular and discussed, especially after October, with the launch of DLC Vessel of Hatred and Season 6, it quickly attracted a group of new players.

Although Diablo 4 was launched in 2023, the development history of the entire Diablo series is much longer than Path of Exile. So although POE 1 also has its own characteristics, Diablo 4 is better than Path of Exile 1 in terms of the smoothness of the game and the exquisiteness of the picture, and the experience will be better.

Although in the face of 2025, except for Season 7 which will be launched soon, Diablo 4 has not yet revealed whether it will launch new DLC or other major activities, but there is no doubt that Diablo 4 is the current core of Diablo series, so any updates will basically be launched in Diablo 4, and the development focus of POE series in 2025 is undoubtedly the second part. So from this perspective, in 2025, Diablo 4 may bring you more surprises than POE 1.

Based on the above review and comparison, if you are only interested in POE series, then in the next year you can choose to play the first or second part according to your own preferences; but if you have to choose between Diablo 4 and POE 1, the former will be better. I hope you can continue to enjoy the fun of ARPG in the new year! Thank you for reading!