In today’s livestream, Grinding Gear Games showcased what is to come with update 3.25 for Path of Exile. Settlers of Kalguur will bring its new challenge league and campaign content, Ascendancy Class changes, and much more.
At the core of the July expansion is the Settlers of Kalguur Challenge League, which will see players help build the town of Kingsmarch to establish trade. As showcased in the live stream, players will hunt down materials, including Orichalcum, Verisium, and more—though each of these deposits is guarded by deadly foes that need exterminating.
Players will need to hire miners and builders to help achieve these ends, which all costs gold. Gold now drops throughout the world, and GGG says you’ll have complete control over who you hire, spending that cold, hard cash to meet your ends.
Path of Exile’s Settlers of Kalguur looks a bit like a town simulator in the ARPG, as you’ll construct buildings, interact with the Kalguuran pioneers who are helping to establish the town of Kingsguard, recruit townspeople to help you build out trade with the rest of the world, and more. While it stops short of being a full-on survival builder, it certainly looks like an interesting new wrinkle in the long-running ARPG.
All of this townbuilding is with the aim of building up trade, which will allow players to then openly trade with the world. You’ll be able to buy and sell currencies, items, and more on the Currency Trade Market, and the Runesmithing Table will let Exiles craft new powerful weapons.
Settlers of Kalguur also brings with it changes to two Ascendancy Classes, namely replacing the Raider class with the new Warden class. This new class will see a focus on damage mitigation and elemental attacks, while the Gladiator class will see a revamp allowing players to use the new Retaliation skill, which does exactly what it sounds like it will do: give players the ability to retaliate when meeting certain criteria.
The Path of Exile devstream today also had some good news for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series console owners, as a native version of the ARPG is available. This new version takes full advantage of the hardware, and players should expect faster loadtimes, less pop-in and higher-quality visuals throughout.
Path of Exile 2 also got some news, with the team announcing that a closed beta test is coming to the much-anticipated ARPG sequel. Initially slated to begin its beta last month, PoE 2 was delayed to later this year on PC, so the news that a closed beta test is incoming is welcome indeed. No date was revealed as to when this will happen, but you can sign up for a chance to join on the official website.
Path of Exile Settlers of Kalguur will launch next week on PC and consoles on July 26th.
