This week was a huge one for Path of Exile with the announcement of The Fall of Oriath expansion. Fans were treated to a number previews, including one right here at MMORPG.com, that discussed the big changes coming in 3.0.0. With this an other announcements this week, it was ag reat week to be an Exile.
The Fall of Oriath
Nothing makes a game more fun than extending its world, something that The Fall of Oriath aims to do. Last week, Grinding Gear finally unleashed a tsunami of information about 3.0.0, both through the official site and through a number of online previews. Of course, the best one was right here at MMORPG.com by our own Neilie Johnson!
The Fall of Oriath is packed with new content, including new areas like a snowy zone and Templar Courts. Players will finally get to head back to the seat of Templar power to give them their due. For those who are vested in lore, 3.0.0 is sure to please. Between exploration and questing, players will flesh out the game lore throughout the entire expansion.
There's plenty here to explore, and though Acts V through X have you revisiting some old haunts, you'll notice they've become unrecognizable. Thanks to your previous efforts, places that were rank and ruined have been cleaned up, and places that were dead are seeing new growth. We got to see how the Fetid Pools were coming along and found they'd turned into a sunny green veldt called the Verdant Pools. They're still packed with hostile creatures ready to eat you of course, but man are they pretty!
There's so much coming in The Fall of Oriath that players should be busy and productively happy for a good long while. Be sure to check out the links above to learn more about the expansion and let us know you thoughts in the comments.
Breach Game Play Isn't Going Anywhere
For those who have fallen in love with Breach game play, there is good news on the horizon. In a new "manifesto" on the official site, players are informed that Breach will remain in the game on a permanent basis, though with some necessary alterations in the way it will play versus how it is currently iterated.
- Breaches will be more rare
- monsters, lords and mechanics will not see any significant changes
- uniques will remain as-is, though the current plan is to continue to rebalance older unique league-specific items
When we look at Breach we can see it has the right recipe for being added into the game in a variety of ways. It has world interactable encounters that players can come across, and these open up the rest of the league's content (as well as the dangerous opening to another dimension that the monsters and Breachlords flow in from). This leaves us the questions of how should it be available. Randomly in the world, or only from Maps? From Zana? As a sextant mod? By some other means? How common should it be?
Celebrating the Past in the Legacy Challenge League
Players will be able to revisit the past when the Legacy Challenge League debuts in v3.0.0. Finding and equipping three leaguestones means that the next area entered will be "a supercharged version of all of those leagues".
Legacy Challenge League also gives a unique opportunity to soloists with the Solo Slef-Found Mode:
Many Path of Exile players enjoy playing with the challenging restriction of not partying or trading with other players. This self-enforced playstyle has become more popular over time, so we're including an officially supported Solo Self-Found mode in Content Update 2.6.0. This mode is completely optional and you can opt-out at any time, enabling trading and partying on your character. Your progress of how far you got in this mode is recorded on a Solo Self-Found ladder for the league, letting you prove your ability to play without outside assistance. For more information, check out this article.
New Rogue Exiles Incoming
In v2.6.0 coming on March 3rd, players will be introduced to five new Rogue Exiles: Ailentia Rac, Aurelio Voidsinger, Oyra Ona, Ulysses Morvant and Bolt Brownfur. You have to see them to believe them, so be sure to check out their preview video below.
Environment Artist Interview
Blake is the star of the latest in-house interview. He is an environmental artist and the interview focuses on his background and what he is currently working on for GG.
What can the community look forward to in terms of things you're working on at the moment?
There's a couple of dungeons I've been working on that I'm really looking forward to players seeing. I'm not sure how much I can really talk about, but one of the dungeons I had the idea for way back when was making the Library in 2013. At the time we were too far through the production of the Library to implement it, so when this new Act 5 dungeon came along I thought, "I have the perfect idea for this!". So far I think it's looking pretty damn cool.
