Welcome back to another issue of the Path of Exile - The Exiled Tribune. In this week's discussion, we turn our attention to the forthcoming v2.4.1 update that will include some brand new Sextant mods that will add a lot of interesting mechanics, and not just a bit of spice, to maps. In addition, the Art Contest found its final three, the Build of the Week features a Deadeye Ranger and the community shines again in a brand new Hideout Showcase.
New Sextant Mods Developer Q&A
When the v2.4.1 update goes live later today, it will feature a number of new Sextant mods that are sure to raise a few eyebrows both in terms of their functionality and to the unique ways in which the game play is altered. For instance, there is a mod for Terrace Map that gives players 100% reduced reflected damage. That's huge! Add in the *cue spooky voice* clusters of mysterious barrels and there's a lot to look forward to in the content patch.
We had the opportunity to ask the PoE team a few questions about these new Sextant mods:
MMORPG: Some of the upcoming mods are very player-friendly (i.e. less reflected damage, slipstream, etc.). How do the monsters scale to compensate or offset the boon to players?
GGG: Since certain mod combinations can disrupt a player's ability to complete a map, some Sextants provide workarounds. For the most part, Sextants are now beneficial, and can be rerolled by using another sextant on that same Atlas map. There is a cost, of course -- you are consuming something that could be sold to another player.
MMORPG: Mysterious Barrels, eh? What does -that- mean? :D
GGG: Maps with this mod contain a lot of barrels. As to what those barrels contain, well, it'll depend on how lucky you are. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise!
MMORPG: How to older, currently available mods fit in to the scope of the new ones?
GGG: Some of the existing Sextant mods have been reworked for Content Update 2.4.1 and some have even been removed. While we've revealed some of these to the community already we are looking forward to seeing how the update set of Sextant mods will affect player's gameplay decisions.
MMORPG: Some of the existing mods do not work, according to players. Have some of these been fixed?
GGG: There have been a lot of fixes, changes, and even removals of previous sextant mods. Broadly speaking, Sextants will be more beneficial than detrimental.
MMORPG: Which of the new mods is / are your favorite?
GGG: My personal favourite is the Hunted Traitors Sextant mod. It was absolute chaos in each map that I visited while trying to get a screenshot to showcase in the news. I'm really looking forward to watching people streaming these maps.
Which of the new Sextant mods are you most looking forward to?
Build of the Week - A Deadeye Ranger Build
This week's Build of the Week comes to us from C9Q9MD and is called 10 Siege Ballista Build with a core in the Deadeye Ranger. The key, as the name implies, is to summon as many ballistae as possible using the Iron Commander Unique bow.
Alright this build started off as a joke build initially. I didn't plan to clear endgame and my only goal for this build was to summon 10+ totems. Man was I wrong. While getting 12 totems is theoretically possible with both scion and Hierophant, I decided not to play as them because of the drawbacks they got.(Scion is ok I guess, while hierophant is trash)
Be sure to check out the accompanying video before heading over to C9Q9MD's page on the Path of Exile site to read the details.
The Community Art Gallery
This week, the community got to show off its artistic flare in a trio of ways:
The Art Contest that has been underway for a number of weeks has come to its conclusion. Three winners were selected to receive a shop armor set and a custom avatar. In addition, the top eight entries also received an armor set from the in-game store and as a special thank you to the community for its participation, all entrants received a generous 200 points for their contributions.
The community also got to spruce up their private hideouts and submit a screenshot of their decorative abilities for the Hideout Showcase. Hideout entries came with a number of great titles including The Dusky Keep, Konstanz Outpost, Undead Settlement and Voodoo Sanctuary. The screens are breathtaking, so be sure to head to the Hideout Showcase for a look-see.
Lastly, Path of Exile community member and YouTuber 'MirekLeFou' has made a fantastic new trailer called the Atlas of Worlds Community Highlights Trailer that uses footage pulled from Twitch streams and is a perfect way to shine the spotlight on the game for the newer players. We'll just leave off with this amazingly fun video.