General News

Path of Exile 3.27 was released on November 19th at 5 PM. This patch primarily focuses on improving quality of life and also fixes some abnormal boss behavior.

This patch was released relatively late, meaning it was quickly, or even already, implemented in the game. Let's take a look at the key changes it brings.

Breach Fortress Quality Of Life

In Breach Hive Fortress encounters, there is now an ability that instantly destroys all surrounding walls. This ability is available at the start of the encounter.

These walls were originally designed for players with less gear, serving to slow down monsters and provide a buffer. However, many players (especially late-game players) found these walls annoying because they slowed down the game's pace. Therefore, this is a significant improvement, allowing players to adjust the pace of encounters according to their own strength.

Stronger players can now choose to destroy walls, allowing monsters to rush towards them more quickly, thus speeding up map progression. Players whose builds are not yet fully complete can still choose to retain the walls, making the fight safer and more controllable, but it will take longer.

Sirus Adjustments

In Patch 3.27, Feared Maven Invitation was dropped by Sirus and Incarnation of Dread, but Sirus performed poorly in The Feared fight.

In Patch 3.27.0d, Sirus will now use a wider range of abilities than in regular combat, which may make the fight more dangerous. However, he no longer has the same health threshold as in the regular Sirus fight and can be one-shotted.

For players who can instantly kill Sirus in The Feared, this change may make the fight easier, but for players who cannot finish it quickly, the fight may become more difficult.

However, players who can usually challenge The Feared have already achieved Ailment immunity and Corrupting Blood immunity, so even with more abilities, Sirus's threat is relatively limited.

Currency QoL Improvements

In version 3.27.0, holding down the Alt key while using Orb of Alteration automatically activated Orb of Augmentation function. This has now been extended to Orb of Alchemy and Orb of Chance. Holding down Alt while using Orb of Alchemy or Orb of Chance will automatically consume Orb of Scouring.

This change undoubtedly provides a smoother crafting experience, eliminating the need for players to manually switch PoE currency. For Orb of Chance and Orb of Alchemy (especially when used on the map), this is almost a complete buff, as players typically don't care about the specific numerical range of mods, only whether the mod is feasible.

However, the Alt key is also a shortcut for viewing item mod details. When using Orb of Alteration, if you want to check whether the recently rolled mod is Tier 1 or Tier 2, or whether it's a Perfect Roll, holding down the Alt key will interrupt the crafting process, causing inconvenience.

Ideally, there should be an option to rebind this crafting shortcut, allowing players to enjoy the convenience of new features without interfering with viewing modifier information.

Sales History Upgrade

On the official trading website, players can clearly see detailed information about sold items and modifiers. However, currently, the in-game sales history only displays item names, not detailed information.

This patch makes some minor improvements to the in-game version, but these improvements don't bring substantial experience enhancements, as the in-game version is still far less user-friendly than the website version.

Additionally, some issues with the in-game Market Browser have been fixed, such as some items requiring manual number input instead of dropdown options.

Currently, most players only use the in-game Market Browser for very basic transactions; for any complex searches, players still prefer to use external trading websites.

Bug Fixes

The Feared Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where Sirus would remain stationary and not be counted as part of map completion in Valdo's Maps with "The Feared" affix.
• Fixed a bug where Portals were unusable during the fight against The Feared in Valdo's Maps.
• Fixed a bug where Breach Tul and Esh fights could not be completed.
• Fixed an issue where the chilled ground in Incarnation of Dread would sometimes spawn in the wrong location during the encounter in The Feared on Valdo's Maps.

This fix made these maps more dangerous because Sirus now attacks normally. His Dive Bomb skill deals significant damage, making encounters in The Feared more difficult.

Other Bug Fixes And Balance Adjustments

• In Ruthless Mode, fixed a bug where the uber Incarnation Boss did not drop loot.
• Ice Nova slam and Ice Comets in Incarnation of Neglect dealt more damage than expected and have now been nerfed.

Controller-Related Fixes

• Added a Leave Hideout option to the pause menu for controller players in other players' hideouts.
• Fixed a bug where controller players couldn't switch scouting report affinity on the currency stash page.
• Fixed a bug where controller players couldn't use Corruption Altar on Gem items in Vaal Ruins area of the story.
• Added the same currency switching functionality to controllers as to keyboard players; players can switch by pressing Y or the triangle key.

PoE 2 Patch 0.4.0 will be released in about three weeks, so the official team may not have much time to thoroughly fix PoE 3.27. Therefore, this patch mainly focuses on quality-of-life updates and doesn't address the fixes players care about, but it's still a very good update.

As you know, Path of Exile series is known for its complex and extensive game system, which is reflected in every aspect, including the currency system: there are multiple currency types, each with a unique function.

Therefore, once any new league starts, your immediate priority is to quickly accumulate enough currency to smoothly experience the new league's exclusive content. Of course, the simpler the method for farming currency, the better.

Based on this, this guide will use the current 3.27 league as a foundation to show you how to obtain a large amount of currency in Path of Exile by farming strongboxes.

Strategy Overview

As a core gameplay element of Path of Exile series, map running is actually a general term, as running different maps utilizes various buffs to bring different benefits, allowing you to selectively farm according to your needs.

The method we introduce this time focuses on acquiring currency, so you can utilize maps like T17 boss rushing or T16 Kalguuran farming, combining numerous map affixes, and stacking class skills on the passive talent tree to obtain better strongboxes.

This allows you to maximize your final currency and other loot gains beyond regular farming, maximizing rewards within a limited number of farming attempts.

What Are Strongboxes?

As a comprehensive form of loot, strongbox farming has become a well-established farming strategy, especially when combined with Atlas passive tree.

This approach allows you to maximize currency, scarabs, and other gains by investing in strongboxes nodes on Atlas skill tree and farming strongboxes on high-tier maps, particularly Tier 17 maps.

More importantly, once you've acquired enough Chaos Orbs through farming, you can use this currency to roll strongboxes again to increase their rarity, further boosting subsequent farming rewards - this currency consumption is essential.

How To Maximize The Effectiveness Of Strongbox Farming?

Building upon the core strategy above, you first need to unlock truly effective strongboxes nodes, rather than unlocking every node related to strongboxes, which will only waste your points.

Generally, it's recommended to prioritize unlocking nodes that can duplicate currency and divination cards, increasing the chance of reopening strongboxes, or corrupting them to make them rarer.

Additionally, Niko-related Atlas passive tree nodes deserve special mention. These nodes increase your chances of encountering Niko on the map, increasing the number of additional strongboxes you find and maximizing your rewards.

When choosing maps, prioritize running T17 maps, as they contain additional barrels that drop bonus loot. However, ensure you can handle the enemies spawned by strongboxes on higher-level maps, as losing to them will actually reduce your rewards.

If you're unsure which maps to farm, we recommend Defiled Cathedral and Jungle Valley.

Best Maps

Defiled Cathedral has a circular layout with a main corridor and numerous platforms along the way. Potential bosses include Woad, Mockery of Man. Here, you simply need to defeat all the enemies you encounter.

In contrast, Jungle Valley offers a more in-depth farming strategy. You can combine Legion or Breach encounters, or other nodes and passive skills, on this map to maximize enemy density and high-value drops.

When farming Jungle Valley using map devices with the legion affix, you can maximize encounters by clearing all monster groups. Overlapping Legion and Breach encounters further speed up the clearing process.

It's worth noting that when farming currency using legions on the map, you can choose to avoid bosses, as they will take more time, but the rewards are not proportional to that.

Also Read: Path Of Exile 3.27 Genesis Tree Guide | Best Nodes Recommendation For Maximum Rewards

It's also worth noting that you can increase the reward drop rate of Jungle Valley by allocating frequently used map slots to it, or by placing a slot on an adjacent map.

At the same time, don't forget to utilize Eater of Worlds influence. It allows related altars to consistently provide more valuable currency drops, such as Chaos Orbs or Unmaking Orbs. Furthermore, enemies affected by this influence are easier to control.

In summary, the steps to running maps to obtain more strongboxes or direct currency drops are as follows:

• 1. Obtain the map through trading, crafting, or drops.
• 2. Add usable affixes and scarabs.
• 3. Prioritize finding and activating altars to gain valuable buffs.
• 4. Utilize the buffs from other map devices.
• 5. Clear the entire map.

How Profitable Is It?

The most frequently dropped currency type using this farming strategy is Divine Orbs. Based on the rarity of this currency and the changes to 3.27 league drop mechanics, on average, even with bad luck, you'll find one Divine Orb in various junk drops per map run.

Combined with the investment in increasing map value and the average time to complete a map (approximately five minutes if you're skilled), the overall return is quite good, as you can't always be unlucky enough to only get the minimum value.

This concludes the guide to using map running to obtain strongboxes and thus complete currency farming in Path of Exile Keepers League. If you're accumulating currency, this should help!

Path of Exile announced that the second week's patch for 3.27 will be released this week. In addition to fixing some bugs and improving the game, this patch adds over 80 previously unfinished Foulborn Unique items.

The official preview of PoE Patch 3.27.0c has been released, which fixes issues such as Breach, Scarabs, and other bugs, bringing numerous changes.

QoL Bug Fix

Patch PoE 3.27.0c fixes a bug that allowed players to consume PoE currency stored in their Map Device when using it on maps, including Strongboxes and Essences.

Some players are quite surprised by this, as many considered it a very convenient and beneficial feature, saving inventory space and improving map clearing efficiency, so this fix seems to be a nerf.

Boss Related

• 1. Fixed a bug where the endgame bosses' Ignite damage was too high; it is now 2–3 times the normal amount.
• 2. Incarnation of Dread can no longer be stunned while casting Fire Circle skill.

Breach Enhancements

Breach mechanics have been significantly improved. While there's no direct increase in loot, the number of monsters has increased. Here are the main changes to Breach in this patch:

• The amount of Graftblood players can obtain in level 83 Maps has increased by 25%.
• The number of monster groups spawning per wave in Breach encounters and maps has increased, with an 80% increase in level 83 Maps.
• The number of destructible Hive pack generators has increased by 40%.
• Ailith provides slightly more skill objects in Breach Hive encounters.
• Destroying a burnable Hive pack spawner releases a purple fire wave that destroys all walls within a 7.5-meter radius and may trigger a chain reaction.
• Fixed an issue where the visual effect of burns breach Hive walls did not match their actual effective range.
• A confirmation prompt will now appear if there are unsaved changes when Genesis Tree is closed.

Although many players dislike Breach mechanic, this patch significantly improves it. Destroying a burnable Hive pack spawner now burns a large area of walls and can trigger a chain reaction, making it easier for players to rush to the center and start combat with minimal deviation. This will make Hivebrain Gland maps much more juicy.

Additionally, monster spawn rates will be greatly increased, as will wombgifts and Graftblood, with a reduced Graftblood consumption. While this doesn't solve all problems, it's certainly an improvement.

Scarabs Enhancements

This patch includes numerous adjustments to scarabs:

• Scarab of Divinity: Maximum number increased from 2 to 3. The number of rare monsters affected by Pantheon-Touched in the area also increased from 2 to 3.
• Horned Scarab of Nemeses: Maximum number increased from 1 to 2.
• Torment Scarab of Possession: Maximum number of Possessions reduced from 4 to 3, and increases the chance of rare monsters in the area being possessed by up to 3 tormented spirits.
• Titanic Scarab of Legend: Now grants unique monsters in the area 4 additional modifiers (up from 2), significantly increasing their drop rate and difficulty.
• Torment Scarab: Possessed monsters have a 50% chance to be released (up from 25%).
• Allflame Ember of Propagation: Increases the number of monster groups in the area by approximately 50%.
• Legion Scarab of Eternal: Within the affected area, the rewards for defeating Legion monsters increase by 30% with each subsequent Legion monster killed.
• Abyss Scarab of Profound Depth: Monsters spawning from Abyss gain rewards based on the depth of Abyss cave from which they originate.
• Horned Scarab of Bloodlines: Now grants Magic Monsters an additional modifier in addition to its existing effects.
• Beyond Scarab of Haemophilia: Killing Beyond Rare Monsters has a 30% chance to temporarily grant their modifier, equivalent to a Headhunter. The effects of these buffs are significant.

The above scarabs have received substantial enhancements, which will spur many new farming methods. Their market value skyrocketed after the announcement. For example, Legion Scarab of Eternal, Horned Scarab of Bloodlines, and Horned Scarab of Nemeses can generate insane profits.

Impact On Builds

The bug that caused players to convert monster physical damage to elemental damage has been fixed. This bug would convert all monster physical damage into elemental damage. Players with low elemental resistance would take more damage.

Additionally, monster elemental damage affixes have been increased by up to 300%, making the penalty for adding physical damage as additional elemental damage in map affixes more severe. This bug also affects Elementalist passive skills Shaper of Flames, Pyroshock Clasp Unique Belt, and Kaom's Binding Unique Belt.

This bug had a huge impact on Elementalist builds, almost destroying them. After it was fixed, Elementalist builds. are definitely worth trying.

Overall, while the official update brought several fixes, player feedback suggests it didn't bring any revolutionary changes. They even fixed a bug that could have increased QoL (likely for game file security).

Most player complaints focus on insufficient loot drops. Although the patch increased the frequency of encounters and the number of monsters, this is essentially a multiple of zero, and ground loot drops haven't been effectively improved. However, after the patch goes live, players can try using the modified scarabs to see if they get a more significant increase in loot drops.

Upon entering a new PoE league, to quickly farm sufficient resources, you'll need to learn new content and adapt to updates to existing mechanics, especially if these updates enhance your combat power.

Take the recent Keepers league as an example. This league introduced a new crafting system called Genesis Tree, which, once unlocked, grants various bonuses, one of which is granting Foulborn Uniques.

Returning to our initial point - Foulborn Uniques aren't a completely new mechanic. Instead, they utilize Genesis Tree to replace the original modifiers of your existing Uniques with new and potentially more powerful ones.

As you know, enhanced affixes mean a more powerful piece of gear, and the changes brought by "Foulborn" mean you can utilize the gear to create more build crafting possibilities.

Next, we'll explain the workings of Foulborn Uniques in 3.27 league, as well as Uniques and their affix effects that significantly impact the meta game.

Overview Of Foulborn Unique Items

First, not all unique items have a chance to unlock a Foulborn variant; this mechanism only exists in certain gear. Once the variant is unlocked, the corresponding gear's name will be marked with a purple "Foulborn" prefix.

Aside from the affix replacement, Foulborn Uniques are no different from other unique items. Items with Foulborn variants typically have about 2-4 affixes that can be replaced.

To obtain Foulborn unique items in 3.27 league, the following methods are possible:

• Add Ancient Wombgift to Genesis Tree, which increases the chance of obtaining Foulborn affix by affecting the type of item generated.
• Obtain Grasping Coffer chest in Hive Fortress or Hive Colony.
• Defeating It That Was Esh in Hive Colony as a drop.

Which Foulborn Uniques Have Significant Impacts On The Meta Game?

While there is just a part of gear with Foulborn variants, not all of them have equally powerful effects. Some effects only improve the experience of certain parts of the battle, while others can impact the entire league's mechanics.

Midnight Bargain

Of the two Foulborn variants of this item, the one that increases the maximum number of Golems summoned by +2 is more important, as this effect works exceptionally well when combined with The Dark Monarch.

The Dark Monarch randomly generates some summon types, including Golems. While you cannot summon other types of summons during this time, combining it with Foulborn variant of Midnight Bargain expands the maximum number of Golems available.

Undoubtedly, this is a very useful effect for summoner classes and builds, but its effectiveness depends on overcoming its health and energy shield loss drawbacks.

Because this Foulborn unique works by causing you to lose a certain percentage of health per second, you will die once this percentage accumulates to a sufficient level. Therefore, you must ensure you have a way to continuously regenerate health.

Generally, methods that can help you do this include equipping skill gems with regeneration effects or unlocking Eternal Youth keystone passive skill. There are many options; once you find one, you can use Midnight Bargain without hesitation.

Warped Timepiece

This Foulborn unique item has only one alternative affix, which increases the rate at which debuffs on you disappear by 100%. The best way to maximize this affix's effect is to combine it with Beacon of Madness boots.

These boots grant you the level 1 Embrace Madness skill, which is beneficial, but it constantly applies debuffs, once every two seconds in 3.27 league. This means that every two seconds you will be randomly affected by one of four debuffs.

These debuffs might reduce movement speed, increase damage taken, or reduce regeneration speed - all generally bad, and each lasts for 20 seconds.

However, Warped Timepiece solves this problem. Its Foulborn affix reduces the chance of Beacon of Madness debuff reappearing, preventing it from stacking and eliminating most of the negative effects, allowing you to focus on enjoying the boots' benefits.

The Oppressor

This Foulborn unique shield has two affix effects. While their specific functions differ, both provide damage reduction, enhancing your defense and survivability.

The original affixes were designed with the same principle in mind, but combining them actually weakened the overall effect of the shield. Therefore, the game addressed this through Foulborn mechanic.

Now, The Oppressor's two Foulborn variants offer a 10-15% chance to completely avoid all damage and a 20-30% chance to block spell damage.

This makes the spell suppression chance provided by this shield even stronger than the highest-tier affix of a normal rare shield. Combined with a similarly high attack block chance, it will make your character extremely resilient in the current league.

Kiloava's Bluster

This is another excellent shield-type shield we'll discuss. Previously, one of its affix effects gave you a 30-40% chance of having your elemental resistance treated as 90% when attacked by enemies. The problem with this affix is ​​that if it fails to trigger, it's completely useless.

Now, in 3.27 league, Foulborn affix in Kiloava's Bluster can replace the old affix with a more aggressive one, giving you a 25% chance to reverse monster elemental resistances.

This means that when you attack a single enemy, there's a 25% chance their elemental resistances will be treated as reduced by 50%. In simpler terms, three out of four times you'll deal half damage, but once you'll deal triple damage, resulting in a 50% increase in total damage.

Combined with other bonuses provided by Kiloava's Bluster, such as considerable dodge and block chances, it will help you progress through league faster by dealing more damage.

That's all for this time. In fact, there are many more powerful Foulborn Uniques available in the game, and more will be added after 3.27.0c Patch this week! Stay tuned!

Genesis Tree in Path of Exile 3.27 is a powerful mechanic that allows you to select specific item categories and modifier combinations. It reliably generates items with Fractured affix. It's similar to, but not entirely like, crafting, allowing you to easily acquire craftable gear.

While it looks somewhat like the Atlas Tree, the actual operation is quite different. If you master this mechanic, crafting both currency and gears will be much easier.

How To Unlock Passives?

First, you need to obtain Graftblood by completing breach encounters. Then, you can use Graftblood to progress in the passive trees of Genesis Tree. Additionally, completing breaches will also yield green quest items, which directly unlock additional nodes.

Graftblood And Wombgifts

During unstable breaches, Graftblood and Wombgifts provide the highest yield per unit of time, while Hive Fortress also offers good returns but is more time-consuming.

Graftblood

Graftblood is stored in Grafts, and its capacity is determined by the combined capacity of the two Grafts you equip. However, you can increase Graftblood capacity through specific modifiers and quality bonuses on Grafts. Quality is randomized by a node on the passive skill tree.

Note that Graftblood is untradeable, so Grafts modifiers that increase its yield are very useful. Also, you don't need to worry too much about capacity, and your focus should be on upgrading Grafts to improve capacity and modifier quality.

Wombgifts

Wombgifts are actual items added to the crafting tree, specifying the type of item you want to create. They fall into the following categories:

• Provisioning Wombgift: Grows into equipment.
• Lavish Wombgift: Grows into currency.
• Ancient Wombgift: Grows into unique items.
• Growing Wombgift: Grows into Graft items.
• Mysterious Wombgift: Produces hybrid items, including maps, quality gems, and stacked decks. Other types of Wombgifts can also be produced after selecting Parthenogenesis notable node.

Wombgifts can be traded asynchronously to focus on crafting specific types. You can bias the drop type of Wombgifts by using affixes on Grafts.

Genesis Tree Branches

Genesis Tree is mainly divided into several areas, corresponding to Wombgift types. You can use talent points to make it produce the corresponding items. Genesis Tree talent tree can be reset at will without consuming any items.

Graft Item Womb

Graft item wombs produce Grafts. You can use nodes to bias the drop of Grafts type you want. If you need Grafts from two types, you can assign the corresponding two Notable nodes to make the drop roughly even. If you need three or all types, don't assign any Notable nodes.

Other nodes are used to obtain more and better Grafts and the currency for crafting affixes. You can add additional affixes to Grafts using Transmutation Orbs, Augmentation Orbs, Alteration Orbs, Regal Orbs, and Exalted Orbs.

Current Item Womb

Currency Item Womb obviously produces currency, and its talent node strategy is relatively fixed:

• Fertile Genesis
• Prodigal Offspring
• Wild Growth

These three nodes provide more and better currency, with a chance to drop full stacks of POE currency. Reflexive Contractions node is also an option, which can be used to gamble on Pioneer-related items. But remember not to choose Encrusted Fruit, as it may replace valuable currency with a large amount of gold.

Additionally, Foulborn Currency Chance node at the top of the tree can convert regular currency into Foulborn Currency. However, if you need more currency for trading with other players, you can avoid this node and choose other nodes at the top of the tree.

Unique Item Womb

Unique Item Womb produces unique items. It allows you to specify item categories and attributes, and even improve sockets, increasing or decreasing the chance of an item becoming Foulborn.

One of the affixes in Foulborn uniques will be replaced. Although the effect is random, some are very powerful, and you can try your luck.

When you have a clear goal, specify the category and attributes, reduce unwanted attributes, and select the socket and quality nodes. Unstable Growth can randomly grant more than 20% quality, which is very useful for items like chest armor.

Mysterious Item Womb

Mysterious Item Wombs produce hybrid items, such as special boss maps, scarabs, Hivebrain Gland, Stacked Deck, etc. However, after selecting Parthenogenesis, they can also produce other Wombgifts.

The passive tree for Mysterious Item Wombs isn't very large, but Parthenogenesis is a key node because high-item-level Wombgifts are generally more valuable than other items in the hybrid item tree. You can specialize in one type of Wombgift, but currently the differences between the various Wombgift types are not significant.

Related: Path Of Exile 3.27 Explosive Arrow Champion: Best Starter Build - Easy And Powerful Guide In Keepers Of The Flame

Equipment Item Womb

Equipment Item Womb has the largest tree. When you select an item category, you can use the upper half of the tree to reduce the chance of unwanted affixes. Using the lower half of the tree, you can increase the chance of desired affixes and add additional bonuses such as quality, sockets, connections, and fracturing. Here are the important nodes:

Solid Cysts

Gives a 33% chance to make an affix Fractured (locked, immutable). This is an excellent starting point for advanced crafting, and Fractured items can be valuable in themselves.

Severing

Removes the lowest item level affix from an item. When used with Fractured, it increases the average quality of Fractured affixes and frees up space for bench crafting. However, it may remove lower item level affixes you want, so use with caution.

Modifier Tier Rating

This type of node depends on the type of item you are crafting. It increases the minimum affix value, making it easier to obtain higher-tier affixes.

Divine Rolls

This node works similarly to PoE Divine Orbs, allowing items to roll better values, but it has no effect on the affixes that cannot be divined.

Additionally, the passive tree contains nodes that increase item level. If you use item level 83 Wombgifts in conjunction with these nodes, you can produce item level 86 gear. These nodes are very helpful if you need high-level gear.

You don't actually need a fixed optimal Genesis Tree; instead, you should configure your Genesis Tree based on your gear needs. Choose nodes based on the base stats and required affixes of the gear you want to upgrade. Besides using it yourself, you can also monitor market trends and craft rare gear for popular builds to farm currency.

PoE 3.27 league is now live! While this update doesn't bring a huge amount of new content, fully exploring it will still take some time. Therefore, I guess you haven't unlocked Bloodline system yet, as it requires defeating the corresponding endgame boss.

If you have a general understanding of Keepers of the Flame league, you'll know that most of the league's new mechanics focus on adding usable buffs, such as Genesis Tree and Bloodlines.

As a holistic system, Bloodlines are also called Bloodline Ascendancy because they are similar to your secondary Ascendancy classes. There are currently 10 known Bloodlines.

Next, we'll explain how Bloodlines work and delve into the combat effects and acquisition methods of all 10 Bloodlines.

Bloodline System Overview

This system was added to Path of Exile after the release of Keepers of the Flame league. Each one must be unlocked by defeating the corresponding endgame boss or completing the relevant encounter.

The similarity between Bloodline Ascendancy and regular Ascendancy classes lies in the shared allocation of Ascendancy passive skill points. The difference is that Bloodline selection is not restricted by the base class, allowing for free choice and the ability to change it later.

After completing a related boss battle, an altar will appear nearby. Interacting with it unlocks the corresponding Bloodline. Interacting with new altars unlocks new Bloodlines and allows you to switch between them.

Because they share the same allocation points, you need to be more careful and strategic when allocating points for Bloodlines and regular Ascendancy classes. However, reallocating points is not difficult, as points can now be refunded or returned in gold.

1. Oshabi Bloodline

This Bloodline requires defeating Oshabi, the Avatar of the Grove, the final boss you encounter while exploring Harvest mechanic, provided you consume Sacred Blossom to summon him in the corresponding map.

To obtain this summoning item, you need to kill T4 enemies like Janaar, the Omen in Harvest Mechanic to get it as a drop. Then, enter The Sacred Grove and interact with a tree you encounter to meet Oshabi.

Originally, killing this boss would reward you with items, including PoE currency. After 3.27 league launch, you will also be able to get Oshabi Bloodline, a special power based on Azmeri magic, from the altars that appear.

2. Chaos Bloodline

The boss corresponding to this Bloodline is The Trialmaster, who only randomly appears in T14 and higher-level maps with a very low probability. If you want to unlock Chaos Bloodline, it's best to use Ultimatum Scarab of Duelling to increase its spawn rate.

Sometimes this boss will also appear as the ultimatum encounter boss in areas of level 81 and above, teleporting you to the arena for a duel. After defeating him, you will be able to master Vaal skills or corrupted powers through Chaos Bloodline.

3. Aul Bloodline - Primordial Knight

The corresponding boss, Aul the Crystal King (also known as Ahn), will randomly appear in Crystal King's Throne nodes of Primeval Ruins biome after you've explored more than 130 levels of Azurite Mine.

Generally, the boss's appearance frequency only becomes more stable after you've explored at least 200 levels of Azurite Mine, so obtaining Aul Bloodline is highly dependent on luck.

As for its effect, regardless of your base class, this Bloodline provides an opportunity to unlock a unique node, preventing your movement speed from being reduced.

4. Lycia Bloodline - Herald

This Bloodline is unlocked after defeating the boss Lycia, Herald of the Scourge. She is the boss of T17 Sanctuary map. You need to obtain Forbidden Tome by killing other normal enemies on the map before you can unlock her encounter.

The effect of Lycia Bloodline is that when equipped, it unlocks a Herald node, granting the power of elemental conversion and profane ground options.

5. Delirious Bloodline - Impostor

Unlocking Delirious Bloodline doesn't require defeating a specific boss, but rather completing enough Delirium encounters to obtain 300 Simulacrum Splinters to complete Simulacrum.

Generally, you need to complete at least 15 Delirium encounters to get enough Simulacrum Splinters. Unlocking Delirious Bloodline will increase your defense and attack power.

6. Olroth Bloodline - Runesmith

The corresponding boss, Olroth, Origin of the Fall, has a chance to appear in level 81+ logbooks while exploring Knights of the Sun site. The original loot included Olroth's Resolve, Cadigan's Crown, and Vorana's March.

Defeating him will now unlock the altar to obtain Olroth Bloodline, helping you improve or better utilize Ward's power.

7. Catarina Bloodline - Lich

First, you need to kill the leaders in Betrayal Safehouses in areas of level 78 or higher to obtain Syndicate Medallion, which may drop. Then, use this item to enter Mastermind's Lair to unlock Catarina encounter.

Catarina Bloodline grants summoning power, allowing you to summon additional minions for assistance. If your base or Ascendancy class is already summoning, you can choose this Bloodline to further enhance yourself.

8. Farrul Bloodline - Animist

As the easiest Bloodline to obtain, Farrul Bloodline's boss is Farrul, First of the Plains, located in Farrul's Den. You can unlock the portal to this location by Farric Tiger Alpha and any three yellow beasts.

Once you obtain Farrul Bloodline, you will unlock nodes that allow summons or spells to deal more damage, making it a Bloodline focused on damage enhancement.

9. Breachlord Bloodline

To obtain this Bloodline, you need to defeat both It That Was Tul and It That Was Esh. These two bosses usually appear simultaneously in Hive Colony added in 3.27 league.

10. Nameless Bloodline - Ritualist

This Bloodline currently lacks a specific name, perhaps because the corresponding boss, King In The Mists, is quite challenging and difficult to defeat quickly.

You need to clear enough Rituals to obtain the drop An Audience With The King, then use it in the map device to enter the boss arena, Crux of Nothingness.

More information about Bloodline corresponding to King In The Mists will likely be revealed as the league progresses further. For now, your task is to choose Bloodline that best suits your abilities from the first nine Bloodlines!

Path of Exile series has been around for over a decade, and its overall size has snowballed. This is because the game not only regularly updates with new leagues but also often retains popular core mechanics from older leagues.

While this makes the game increasingly complex and difficult, once you get immersed, you might find yourself reluctant to quit due to the sheer amount of content to explore!

The latest 3.27 league, confirmed for release on October 31st, is coming soon. Although it doesn't carry over the mercenary mechanics from the previous league for various reasons, its core mechanic is essentially a sequel to Breach league from several years ago.

So how will Breach function in Keepers of the Flame league, and what kind of experience will it offer? We'll introduce it to you.

Keepers Of The Flame League Core Mechanic

While each new league release in Path of Exile brings multifaceted content, there's always a core mechanic that not only reflects the league's theme but also serves as the way you acquire limited powers within that league.

In 3.27 League, this mechanic is a completely reworked Breach.

What Is Breach?

In the base game after Breach league ends, Breach is a special farmable event, highlighted on the map as a glowing dark purple area and a giant hand.

Approaching and clicking on this giant hand will create a large, cracked circle around you, with a progress bar at the bottom representing the event's progress. The crack will then expand outwards, and the progress bar will slowly decrease over time.

You can fill the progress bar by defeating Breach enemies, delaying the event's end as much as possible. The closer the event gets to its end, the more enemies need to be defeated. When the progress bar is about to finish, the cracked circle will begin to shrink, and the event will end.

During the process of defeating enemies, you will continuously obtain various loot drops, and interacting with the hand that spawns in the cracked circle will grant additional rewards.

Breach In 3.27

Compared to the original model, 3.27 league integrates Breach mechanic with the main storyline of the league update. Based on the story within the Breach league, it introduces Ailith and Order of Keepers of the Flame she founded.

In the new story, the evil forces of Breachlords further spread and corrupt Wraeclast, manifesting as various Breaches and hidden enemies within them. You must work with Ailith to eliminate them.

Compared to the past, the new Breach gameplay is more systematic and strategic, as it is no longer a series of unrelated random events, but rather stems from the evil forces of a specific villain. The game also introduces several new Breach gameplay elements.

First, when you enter Mud Flats area in Keepers league, you will find Breach Hives created by Hiveborn. These are actually large dungeons that you can exploit, with bosses and other battles yielding loot.

As you progress through the league, you will randomly encounter new Unstable Breaches in various areas. Their gameplay is largely the same as regular Breaches: stabilizing areas by defeating emerging enemies to prevent the spread of corruption.

To completely shut down an area's Unstable Breaches and thwart Breachlords' plot, you must defeat the corresponding boss. To permanently shut down all Breaches, you need to defeat the final boss, Vruun, Marshal of Xesht.

It's worth noting that Ailith's purifying power from her flames is a significant aid in completing Keepers league's main questline centered around Breaches. She also provides a new way to enhance your character: Genesis Tree.

What Enhancements Does Genesis Tree Provide?

Genesis Tree is both a new mechanic in 3.27 league and closely linked to the league's core mechanics and new storyline. Once your relationship with Ailith is deep enough, she will guide you to Monastery of Keepers to activate Genesis Tree.

Genesis Tree, with its biomechanical appearance, can be considered a league-exclusive talent tree. Points can be invested to unlock and upgrade Grafts, granting new usable abilities. Up to 16 Grafts are available for acquisition and selection.

Note that the points used in this tree are Graftblood, obtainable only by defeating Breach enemies.

Therefore, Genesis Tree and Breach are essentially complementary in 3.27 league. The former is enhanced by completing the latter, which helps you clear Breaches and other league challenges more efficiently.

Other New Features To Note

Undoubtedly, the revamped Breach and all related mechanics are the highlight of Keepers league, but some new features are also worth noting, especially some long-awaited by PoE players, such as asynchronous trade.

After the introduction of automatic trading in Path of Exile 2, players have been calling for a similar feature in the first game to improve trading efficiency. Therefore, 3.27 league introduces asynchronous trade.

Enter Act 6 and find NPC Faustus to complete the relevant quests to unlock this feature. Afterward, even if you leave the game, the system will automatically sell your tradeable items, accelerating the circulation of goods and currency.

Another noteworthy new gameplay feature is Bloodlines system. It includes 10 specific Bloodlines, obtainable by defeating endgame bosses. Consuming Ascendancy passive skill points can enhance your Bloodlines.

More key changes brought by 3.27 league are briefly listed below:

• You can now get a gold refund for passive skill tree and Atlas tree points.
• Rogues in Heist gameplay start at max level, eliminating the need for lengthy leveling quests.
• More usable skills and support gems have been added.
• Three variants of Uber Pinnacle boss have been added, increasing endgame difficulty while also providing rarer rewards.

That concludes our introduction to Keepers of the Flame new content. With this league about to begin, get ready to start your Breaches-clearing journey!

Path of Exile 3.27, Keepers of the Flame League, will be released on October 31st. The new patch brings many changes, including new endgame content and adjustments and reworks to various classes.

So, what build should you use for the new league? A comfortable leveling build can shorten your early leveling time. If you want to switch to a different build, your leveling build's farming ability will also affect your ability to switch builds. Below, we recommend some starting league builds based on PoE 3.27 patch.

1. Cyclone Gladiator

Cyclone Gladiator is a classic build that can handle maps of all difficulty levels, but it depends on PoE currency you invest.

It gets a recommendation because Cyclone skill has received a 20% buff at all levels. If you already use this build, you'll find it performs even better in 3.27. Its core mechanic uses Dancing Dervish Reaver Sword. It triggers Rampage, allowing the sword to automatically clear monsters.

Pros And Cons

Cyclone Gladiator build can defeat all Ubers when well-equipped, though it's not designed for hard bosses. Its high tankiness allows you to fight virtually unhindered from the start to T7 maps.

However, it's not unkillable and can still die in T17 maps or if you're unfamiliar with the final boss mechanics. If you're willing to invest enough PoE Divine Orbs in this build, you can even use it to handle all endgame content.

• Hundreds of Divine Orbs: It can handle everything in the game, including Uber bosses, T17 maps, Scarab of Risk, and Delirium maps. While it may occasionally die, it's still very powerful overall.
• Around 20 Divine Orbs: The most cost-effective level. It can clear Simulacrum Wave 15 and most Tier 17 maps, but it struggles on really juiced maps with very difficult affixes.
• A few Chaos Orbs: Most gear is worth only one Chaos Orb or less, but it's enough for the campaign.

2. Siege Ballista Hierophant

Siege Ballista Hierophant has been a very strong build for the past few seasons. Not only has it survived patch nerfs, but its Siege Ballista variant, Siege Ballista of Trarthus, even received a 35% damage buff. Siege Ballista Hierophant is perfect for the new League's Breach playstyle.

Siege Ballista is a Totem build, or one-button build. Its operation is simple: simply place a totem, and it automatically attacks, making it easy for even new players to figure out how to use it.

Its early game requirements are low, and all you need is a Divine Orb to get all the gear you need (by trade). Its survivability is quite good, and once you meet the required gear and skills, it boasts high dodge, spell suppression, and life regeneration, so it is not a glass cannon.

League Start Progression:

• Early Game: Use Holy Flame Totem.
• After Chapter 3: Switch to Explosive Arrow.
• Mid-Level 70s: Finally, transition to the core build Siege Ballista.

3. Reap And Exsanguinate Hierophant

Reap & Exsanguinate Hierophant is a tried-and-true build in multiple leagues, but it's relatively not very popular compared to other builds. But Reap and Exsanguinate have been continuously buffed, and the new Bloodline Ascendancy added in patch 3.27 provides stronger talent nodes, eliminating the need for a useless fourth talent point.

You can directly equip Reap at level 28, but this requires you to take Recovery Mastery (which provides 50 health regeneration per second) on the talent board to maintain the skill consumption. Or, you can use standard Templar levelings like Rolling Magma and Armageddon Brand, and then re-level later.

The two core skills of this build, Reap (Single Target) and Exsanguinate (Clear Skill), are both physical damage. Therefore, the core idea of Passive Tree is to find nodes for Life, Physical Damage Over Time, and Spell Suppression. Focus on health and damage early on, then head to the right path point to reach the Spell Suppression Cap and gain Elusive effect (via the Lethe Shade cluster).

4. Kinetic Wander Elementalist

Kinetic Wander Elementalist benefits from a host of new wand abilities (such as Wind Blast, Kinetic Rain, Wall of Force, Kinetic Fusillade) and the new wand base types Blasting Wand and Kinetic Wand.

Combined with Assassin class rework, Kinetic Wander Elementalist build has the potential to be very powerful, becoming a meta build for new leagues, but it's probably not suitable for pure new players.

It has advantages in the early game, such as smooth leveling, fast farming, good survivability, and low PoE currency required for item crafting. However, its drawbacks, such as lack of defense and damage, only become apparent in the endgame.

Also Read: Path Of Exile 3.27 Keepers of The Flame Predictions: 5 Expected Unique Items And Trarthus Gem Changes

5. Earthshatter Zerker

Earthshatter was not nerfed in PoE 3.27, and its overlapping spikes mechanic can deal significant damage.

Pros

• Easily handles early maps (Tier 5 and below) even with minimal gear.
• Large AOE range and fast clearing.
• With increased investment, damage and tankiness can be increased to extremely high levels.

Cons

• During Acts 4-6, you may feel vulnerable if gear (especially resistances and weapons) isn't updated regularly.
• It relies heavily on a high-damage Two-Handed Axe, which requires constant upgrades.
• While it's not a high-frequency build, you need to adapt to the rhythm of alternating attacks and Warcry.
• Not recommended for new Hardcore players, as the early stages require a precise balance of defense and damage.

Also, this build can be used with Slayer, Juggernaut, or Chieftain classes, depending on whether you prefer more damage or defense.

The above builds aren't necessarily optimal for the endgame, but most of them can easily clear Tier 17 maps if you're willing to invest heavily in Divine Orbs.

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.