Path of Exile
Atlas Changes in Path of Exile: Conquerors of the AtlasNov 19, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsThe Atlas of Worlds will be undergoing a number of changes in the Conquerors of the Atlas expansion. Today, we're going to detail several new systems and clarify what will happen to any existing systems affected by these changes. The first thing that you'll notice when opening your Atlas that you no longer start at the corners, where the Tier 1 maps were previously. Instead, you'll now be starting next to the map device in the centre of the Atlas. The Zana questline in which you pursue the Shaper and Elder throughout the Atlas has been replaced with a brand new story immediately following those events. The Atlas has been divided up into eight regions. As you play through each region, completing maps as you go, you'll have the opportunity to fight new endgame bosses, who take up a Citadel on a specific map within a region. Upon defeating these bosses, they will drop a Watchstone. Watchstones can be socketed into your Atlas in any region of your choosing. Upon socketing a Watchstone, the associated region will be upgraded, increasing the tier of all Maps within that region and revealing previously hidden maps. Defeat each of the Conquerors and you'll be able to fully upgrade any given region, resulting in every map in that region ranging from tier 14 to tier 16. Repeatedly defeating conquerors will drop additional Watchstones, eventually allowing you to upgrade all eight regions. One neat result of this is that this means that all Unique maps will be able to drop at much higher tiers than previously possible. Sextants are no longer applied to individual maps on your Atlas. Instead, sextants are applied to Watchstones and will affect whichever region that Watchstone is currently socketed into. This means that each region can be affected by up to four sextants at any one time. You will also have the ability to move Watchstones between regions freely. Additionally, sextant modifiers are no longer shared between one another. Instead, Apprentice, Journeyman and Master Cartographer's Sextants each have their own pool of modifiers that they can apply to maps. Naturally, the rarer the sextant, the higher quality of modifiers it can apply. Shaper and Elder influence are no longer found on your Atlas. Shaper and Elder items will still be accessible through their usual means such as some league rewards, divination cards and drops from the Shaper and Elder encounters and Guardians. You will occasionally be able to obtain maps that have Shaper and Elder influence through the use of Scarabs, as well as maps that have a modifier which applies influence to the area. Shaper's Strongholds will also cease to exist. Shaper's Orbs and Elder's Orb will no longer be obtainable and existing orbs will be destroyed. Unshaping Orbs and Cartographer's Seals will no longer be usable. Shaper Guardian Maps are no longer found on the Atlas. Instead, you will be able to find them through Zana missions. They will continue to drop their unique items and fragments. Combining each of ...Path of Exile 2 fixes some of the biggest problems with the original gameNov 19, 2019 - PC GamerWhen Path of Exile creator Chris Wilson took the stage during ExileCon this weekend, I expected a big announcement. I didn't expect him to announce Path of Exile 2—a whole new campaign set 20 years after the first one. Though it's still all one game (players will choose which campaign they want when starting a new character), Path of Exile 2 will feature major overhauls of many core systems along with significantly upgraded graphics, all while avoiding the problems inherent with sequels. No extra costs, no divided playerbase, and every core expansion from the original campaign will be re-integrated into the new one. After playing through the first 45 minutes of its new campaign a few times, it's hard to overstate how much Path of Exile 2 feels like a proper sequel. It's an improvement over the original in nearly every way, and its smart refinement of its skill system makes Path of Exile's daunting complexity a lot more accessible—all without sacrificing an inch of depth. If anything, Path of Exile 2 is going to become even more of a theory crafter's dream come true. Return to Wraeclast Path of Exile 2 feels like a big improvement over the original. Set 20 years after the events of the original campaign, Path of Exile 2 is the story of a society trying to rebuild after the original cast of player characters killed every single god in existence and used their power to murder an even bigger god. Now all the gods are dead and humankind is left to clean up the corpses (there's a lot) and try and move forward. Path of Exile 2, Wilson tells me, is Grinding Gear Games' chance to preset the reset button on Path of Exile and tell a smaller-scale story that isn't about apocalyptic world-ending threats. You play as an entirely new exile who narrowly escapes their execution and washes up on the shores of Wraeclast again. Though it wasn't immediately clear from the early quests I completed, your goal is to investigate the Duke who sentenced you to die and the paranormal mysteries that surround him. Like Path of Exile's original campaign, that means clicking on enemies until they explode and good loot (hopefully) falls out of their dismembered corpses. Even in the first minutes of this adventure, Path of Exile 2 feels like a big improvement over the original. The original three acts of Path of Exile are now seven years old and their age is shown most in how one dimensional much of boss fights are. More often than not, you're standing in place clicking on a big monster until it stops moving. And after beating those bosses dozens of times, the lack of challenge is grating. Path of Exile 2's bosses clearly benefit from years of figuring out what makes these fights fun. One early quest tasked me with killing The Devourer, a monstrous worm living in an underground passage. Path of Exile's first bosses are usually pretty simple but The Devourer was a surprising challenge. ...ExileCon RecapNov 18, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsThis weekend we hosted ExileCon. We had more than 1100 international attendees plus a large New Zealand contingent (including our full development staff). We tried very hard to recreate Wraeclast at the venue, and had a great time entertaining our guests with presentations, interviews, impromptu Einhar appearances and the card game. Today's news post is a recap of some of the awesome memories from ExileCon. The Aotea Centre in Auckland Was decorated in a true Path of Exile style with stained glass windows from the Chamber of Innocence, a Map Device table, a giant Hangman's Tree and a statue of the Hooded Figure, an NPC from Path of Exile 2. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/2799ff8c466cc890a15a39109bb213455fe77727.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/f974046a9d897841985e9bedb09ba01ff7f22961.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/e87bcaf453bd52d0cf2d0019ae95c1b0c7f3e5fc.jpg We announced four projects at ExileCon: Path of Exile 2, Path of Exile: Conquerors of the Atlas and its accompanying Metamorph Challenge League and the experimental Path of Exile Mobile game. Path of Exile 2 is a new seven-act campaign, sitting alongside the original Path of Exile 1. The initial campaign will still be fully playable and we'll continue to maintain it with updates and improvements. We'll be posting more information about the ongoing development of Path of Exile 2 and its systems over the next year. In the meantime, check out its announcement page and a trailer here. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/789e138321d337281693a4e00d2f7bb3af384331.jpg Our next expansion is called Path of Exile: Conquerors of the Atlas and it will change the entire endgame system in Path of Exile by introducing a new Atlas storyline and five new endgame bosses. The Conquerors of the Atlas and its accompanying Metamorph Challenge League launch in less than a month, on the 13th of December (PST)! In the coming weeks we'll tell you more about changes to the Atlas system, new Bow Skill and Support Gems and new endgame bosses in the news. Starting from next Monday we'll be posting teasers until the launch day. While you're waiting, watch the 3.9 trailers and have a look at the announcement pages here. Over the two convention days, we held more than a dozen various panels with presentations and interviews featuring our developers, community streamers and our special guests. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/710821bcfedc504ab0207ce9f07aaa5c53b01576.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/d1c23af62b19efc965188c696fb4adf02d4e7286.jpg Some of these were streamed live, but we couldn't cover everything on the livestream, so we had each of the panels recorded for you to watch in the future. We're still sorting out all the video footage (over 30 terabytes of data!), so we'll be posting VODs of developer talks and interviews in the news over the coming weeks. If you'd like to rewatch everything that was livestreamed, there are two videos available at our YouTube channel (first day, second day). Attendees also got a chance to chat with community s...Path of Exile isn't scared of Diablo 4, creator says competition is 'good for the genre'Nov 17, 2019 - PC GamerThis weekend Path of Exile developer Grinding Gear Games surprised fans with the announcement of Path of Exile 2. Revealed during the opening ceremony of its first-ever ExileCon fan convention in New Zealand, Path of Exile 2 deceivingly isn't a standalone sequel, but rather a second campaign and a major overhaul that will be incorporated into the base game. With a vastly improved graphics engine, animations, and deep reworks of core systems, Path of Exile 2 is an exciting step forward for the small New Zealand studio. If both games are good, I think it's a win for everyone. Chris Wilson The elephant in the room, however, is Diablo 4. Announced just two weeks prior at BlizzCon 2019, Blizzard Entertainment's legendary action RPG is back in all its satanic, profane glory. And with an increased emphasis on MMO-esque features, Diablo 4 looks and sounds an awful lot like Path of Exile. But Grinding Gear Games co-founder Chris Wilson isn't worried. "One thing with Path of Exile 2 versus Diablo 4 is they're making a new product and they're going to try some new things," Wilson explains. "They're going to get some things right and some things wrong. may be amazing or it might be bad. We don't know. And won't know until people play it—until the die is cast—and they've released something." As Wilson explains, Diablo 4's situation is very different to Path of Exile, which already knows what its audience wants and how it can improve. "I know Path of Exile is good," he says. "I'm not planning to screw around with anything that makes it good. I know the new campaign has better quality and more fun than the old campaign. I know the new skill system lets you do everything with the old one while removing some frustrations and adding some new stuff. So I want to only make it better in a safe way. If we have a crazy change like a new idea for the skill tree that might just be dangerous. We probably won't do it." But Wilson also recognizes that despite Path of Exile's popularity, the studio can't stand toe to toe with Blizzard. "Look, Path of Exile is successful and is making good money, but it's not making Blizzard money at all," Wilson says. "The first week of Diablo 3 sales probably made more money than our company will ever make, I suspect. A lot of people have a lot of fun with Diablo 3 regardless of what the hardcore fans and Path of Exile fans happen to think of it." That disparity in the cultural influence of Diablo is something that Path of Exile can benefit from, Wilson says. " a retail game from what they've indicated, and we're a free game. They're also going to be spending a lot of money marketing their game, which is great and will be good for the genre. And that means that when people have enjoyed playing , they can also enjoy playing us because it costs them nothing to get into it. And...Path Of Exile doubles up on free expansions this DecemberNov 16, 2019 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunImpressive as Path Of Exile 2 looks, it’s probably not going to land for another year. In the meantime, fans of the grisly action-RPG still have plenty to look forward to. Announced alongside the new game at ExileCon, they’re doubling up on free expansions for this December. Launching on December 13th is a new time-limited quarterly update; Metamorph, asking players to build their own bespoke boss fights out of slime and monster guts. Landing alongside it is Conquerors Of The Atlas, a more permanent overhaul to Path Of Exile’s massive Atlas Of Worlds endgame. (more…) Path Of Exile 2 announced at ExileconNov 16, 2019 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunWhen is an update not an update? When it’s a whole new game, patched in entirely free on top of one that you already play. Announced at ExileCon today – Path Of Exile‘s first fan convention – Path Of Exile 2 was the ace up Grinding Gear Games’s sleeve. Path of Exile 2 is an all new story set decades after the original action RPG, pitting a new set of characters (albeit in mostly-familiar classes) up against a fresh hell’s worth of grim and gothic ghouls and gribblies. Check out the debut trailer plus fourteen minutes of footage and new systems breakdowns below. (more…) Path of Exile's next update revamps the endgame and lets you design your own boss fightsNov 15, 2019 - PC GamerPath of Exile's developers just announced an expansion so big that it's practically a sequel (even though it's still one game). But long before Path of Exile 2 arrives in 2021, the game will continue pumping out new updates and temporary leagues for players to challenge, two of which are coming next month. Path of Exile's 3.9 update is called Conquerors of the Atlas and, among many smaller changes, features an entirely reworked endgame. Currently, once players beat Path of Exile's campaign they set out to explore the Atlas of Worlds, a map of randomized alternate dimensions that go from mildly challenging to batshit insane. Once the new Conquerors of the Atlas expansion releases next month, the Atlas of Worlds will be significantly changed to present an even stiffer challenge. Path of Exile's endgame is enormously complicated and hard to explain, but the gist is that after defeating the original villains of the Atlas, the players themselves have become corrupted and now need to be put down. To be clear, the character you will be playing isn't the boss, but Conqueror's of the Atlas adds five new endgame bosses that are based off the main character classes you choose. Like any Path of Exile update, there's going to be dozens of new changes and new items. One of the biggest is a complete rework of bows, including new skills and buffed damage. Bows will now be more viable as a weapon type, and abilities like Ensnaring Arrow, which prevents enemies from moving, will give bow users more options in a fight. This new update will also introduce an optional new league called Metamorphosis. For the uninitiated, these temporary leagues force players to start new characters but offer fun new systems that remix the core gameplay in interesting ways. In this case, Metamorphosis introduces a new character named Tane Octavius who will periodically join you while you play. Tane will take DNA samples from monsters you kill, and once you have enough you can call on Tane to combine them to create your own boss battle. Each DNA sample Tane collects will have different properties that will change what abilities this new boss has, with more powerful samples increasing your chances of getting more powerful rewards—assuming you can defeat your creation that is. Both the Conquerors of the Atlas update and the Metamorphosis league launch on December 13 on PC. Path of Exile 2 announced, but it's not a separate gameNov 15, 2019 - PC GamerPath of Exile 2 was announced today at ExileCon, the big show that's taking place at this very moment in Auckland, New Zealand. Despite the title, it's not actually a separate new game, but rather an expansion that also completely overhauls the base game in the process. Path of Exile 2 will add a new seven-act story that takes place 20 years after the end of the current game. It will overhaul many of the game's core systems and rework the mechanics of each of the game's seven character classes. It's also getting a major visual rework with physics-based rendering. For example, arrows will bounce off of some surfaces and stick into others depending on what they're made of. Path of Exile 2 characters will use the same "class archetypes" as those of the original game, but you'll have to create a new one in order to play the new story. PoE2 characters can select from 19 new Ascendancy Classes that differ from the old ones, which will still be available in the original Path of Exile campaign. Fortunately, all your cosmetics will carry over, as it all exists within a single ecosystem. Path of Exile 2 is still a long way off: Grinding Gear Games said it won't likely even begin beta testing until very late in 2020. For the more immediate future, Path of Exile expansions will continue to release on their regular three-month schedule, with content that will be available in both Path of Exile 1 and 2 campaigns. Our man Steven is on the scene in New Zealand and will have a far more in-depth report on what's coming soon. In the meantime, you can find out more at pathofexile.com, and check out the vastly improved Path of Exile 2 engine in action in the 14-minute gameplay video below. ExileCon is Tomorrow! Get a Free Mystery Box When You Spend PointsNov 14, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsExilecon is Tomorrow! We're almost at the finish line! In less than a day we'll be hosting ExileCon, our very first Path of Exile convention! The official livestream begins on Saturday the 16th at 9AM New Zealand time (Friday the 15th at noon PST) with a one-hour pre-show. If you're confused, just follow the countdown on the front page - the stream starts when this countdown ends! In case you've missed our schedule, check it out here. We have also prepared a special webpage with an embedded twitch client, the ExileCon schedule and all the upcoming announcement pages in one place (they will stay locked for now, until formally announced on the day!) This page will be available in several hours. We'll announce when it's live. As we mentioned yesterday, we've arranged the Twitch Drops promotion for the viewers of our livestream. By linking your Path of Exile account on PC, Xbox One or PS4 to Twitch and watching the ExileCon livestream at www.twitch.tv/pathofexile, you'll not only experience our announcements and developer presentations live, but will also get a chance to win cool microtransaction prizes. Find out more here. Get a Free Carnival Mystery Box When You Spend Points Although we don't have a weekend-long sale, we've prepared several single-day sales for Path of Exile's most popular microtransactions. Keep an eye on them in the 'Specials' section of the store, and don't forget to check your Watchlist. To make this weekend's sales even better value, we're offering a free Carnival Mystery Box when you spend any amount of points in the store! This offer is available on both PC and Consoles. Please note: it's only possible to get only one free Carnival Mystery Box from this promotion. Making additional microtransaction purchases will not grant additional mystery boxes. Purchasing a supporter pack will not grant a free Mystery Box but spending points from a supporter pack can grant a free Mystery Box. The offer will end at Nov 19, 2019 4:00 PM (GMT+13). Thank you for your support! We've been working on the convention for more than a year and we're very excited to finally show you everything tomorrow. Whether you're attending ExileCon, or watching it live from home, we hope you'll have a great time. See you all very soon!Watch the ExileCon Livestream and Win Microtransactions with Twitch Drops!Nov 13, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsPath of Exile has teamed up with Twitch to bring Twitch Drops to the viewers of the Exilecon Livestream! Link your Path of Exile account with your Twitch account, watch the big announcements and as much of the livestream as you want and you could win awesome microtransactions, including the complete armour sets! How to Participate Step 1) Link your Path of Exile account to Twitch (see below). Step 2) Watch the ExileCon Livestream this weekend (16-17 November NZT) at www.twitch.tv/pathofexile. Step 3) That's it! Simply by watching you'll have a chance to win every five minutes of view time. Every five minutes of view time you'll have a 1.5% chance to receive one of the prizes which means it would take an average of 5.5 hours of view time to receive a Twitch Drop reward. However, depending on your luck, you could receive one much sooner! Each microtransaction has its own drop rate which will dictate which cosmetic effect you'll receive if you're awarded a drop. To clarify: after every five minutes of view time, the system will 'roll the dice' and decide whether you've won at that time. If you have won something, it will then 'roll the dice' a second time to decide which cosmetic effect you've won. Each microtransaction has its own rarity and chance to be awarded. The microtransaction prizes and their rarities are listed further down this post. Please note: You can win multiple prizes per account. Duplicates are possible. Your chances of receiving a microtransaction do not increase by having multiple pages with the Livestream open simultaneously. Twitch Drops will run on the ExileCon weekend, from 9AM until 5PM on Saturday (November 16th NZT) and 10AM until 5pm Sunday (November 17th NZT). This promotion is available for PC, Xbox One and PS4 accounts. ExileCon Twitch Drops works only on our official channel www.twitch.tv/pathofexile and is not available on other channels streaming Path of Exile. You'll receive a PM on the website to notify you when you've won. Linking your Path of Exile Account to Twitch Step 1) Log into Path of Exile website. Step 2) Click here to check your Twitch Settings. Step 3) Link your Twitch account or click 'update permissions' if you've linked your account previously. Once your account is linked or your permissions have been updated, this page should say 'Your account is eligible to participate in Twitch Drops'. What You Can Win There are 18 microtransactions available to be won, as well as 2 bundles (each of them includes an armour set, a weapon effect and a character/aura effect). These cosmetic effects range in rarity: Common, Uncommon, Rare and Super Rare. Here are the odds of receiving a prize from each rarity. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/500024fe9d6511b640990bb3a4288c026600791c.png Tune in to www.twitch.tv/pathofexile in two days, watch our big announcements live and win rewards! See you there!Swag Bag for ExileCon AttendeesNov 11, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsYesterday we showed off some of the ExileCon merchandise available for purchase at the convention. Today we'd like to show you a few of the gifts that we have prepared for all attendees of our convention. You'll find these as well as some event information and maybe another small surprise in your Swag Bag. Upon registering at ExileCon, each attendee will receive a swag bag that includes a T-shirt with ExileCon logo (you'll be able to select the size), a Cloth Map of Wraeclast and an exclusive in-game Devourer Portal Effect. Look closely in your swag bag though, who knows what else you'll find in there! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/a64708d68b0c9ba7b3f5f34dfa85cee04f73180a.jpg We've received many questions from our community about the cosmetic effects for ExileCon Livestream viewers. While the Devourer Portal will remain exclusive to ExileCon attendees, we've arranged to have Twitch Drops enabled with some very cool free microtransactions including complete armour sets! We'll tell you the details in the coming days. Stay tuned.ExileCon MerchandiseNov 10, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsIn addition to watching developer presentations and meeting our team, special guests and fellow community members, ExileCon attendees will be able to check out and purchase a variety of Path of Exile merchandise we've made for this convention. Today we'd like to give you a glimpse of the goodies that are available. ExileCon merchandise includes a selection of clothing (T-shirts, hoodies and caps), very cute plush Path of Exile monsters and various small items, such as vinyl decals, iron-on patches and even Celestial Cat socks (the most popular item amongst our team)! Have a look at some of the goodies below: {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/d41194ab4379e4726971a58ce23d08e0d0879e58.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/9d670c0c8374f0e7937e0944ced150e876599660.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/b051a845260524e295c5b7429f3a22daae8d2c8f.jpg As we mentioned before, the easiest way to purchase our merchandise for now is to attend ExileCon this weekend, but in case there is any leftover stock, we will find a way of making it available for the wider community online.ExileCon Schedule and Information for AttendeesNov 7, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsExileCon, the first official Path of Exile convention, is in a week! We have updated the ExileCon web page with the schedule for the event. We'll continue to tweak the schedule over the next week if various presentations or speakers change. This news post is primarily aimed at attendees. If you're interested in just information about the ExileCon announcement livestream, then we've been slowly updating our Livestream post over time. Apply for an NZeTA before travelling! The first and most important reminder is that New Zealand has introduced a system where you must apply for an "NZeTA" online before arriving in the country. As far as we can see, almost all ExileCon visitors from overseas must apply for one. We recommend doing this as soon as possible. Thankfully, the process does not look difficult. Full details and the application form are on this page. VIP Dinner For attendees with a VIP or Ultra VIP pass, the weekend kicks off with a VIP dinner on Friday evening at the Wildfire Churrascaria. It's primarily a meat restaurant but vegetarian options are available. The 250 player VIPs will be joined by 50 Grinding Gear Games staff members, intermingled at the same tables. The dinner starts at 6pm on Friday November 15, and the restaurant is located at Shed 22, Auckland. That's seriously the address. Registration In the Aotea Square (next to the Aotea Centre where the event is taking place), we're building a big registration tent where you can pick up your badge. In order to do so, you'll need to show the QR code that is visible on your Path of Exile account page on the website. We'll also email you a copy of this code for convenience. The registration tent is open during these hours: Friday: 2pm - 8pm Saturday: 7am - 5pm Sunday: 9am - 5pm You must show photo ID that matches the name on your ticket, and because we need to check your age (the event is a Restricted 16 event). You'll also need to carry your ID for the whole event because we will be spot checking that people's badges match their name when they enter the venue. When to Arrive on Saturday The keynote presentation (with the big announcements) starts at 10am, but there's an hour of seating time and pre-show speculation (streamed both to the internet and the main theatre) beforehand. We recommend picking up your badge on Friday and then arriving around 9am to get seated and comfortable before the big show. Regular badges will indicate either "Stalls" (bottom floor) or "Circle" (middle floor) for seating, so that attendees know which floor has room for them on. Cosplay Weapon Policy All cosplay weapons brought to the venue will be checked to make sure that they are not capable of harming anyone. Race Finals Rules Four racers have qualified for positions in the ExileCon race finale. Important rules for this event are as follows: Event Goal: Kill Kitava in the Cathedral Rooftop in Act 5 Winning Criteria: Fastest time Game Version: 3.8.2b This event is not hardcore, but when your character dies...The Blight Supporter Packs Are Ending SoonNov 6, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsThere are only a few weeks left until the current Blight Supporter Packs leave the store and the ones for the next expansion become available for sale. Normally, we'd do this replacement alongside the announcement of the new expansion, but with ExileCon coming next weekend, we've decided to slightly change our plans and release the new Supporter Packs approximately a week after the convention. There are two pairs of Blight Supporter Packs available in the store, the Sentinel and the Lich. Each of the two pairs is designed in its own style and has different contents, so you can choose whichever one you prefer (or both). You can upgrade from the smaller one in a pair to the larger one. All of the microtransactions from the Supporter Packs are exclusive and will not appear in the store again. If you're interested in getting one of the Blight Supporter Packs but you're not sure you'll be able to do so in time, we'd recommend setting up a payment plan which can reserve a pack for you for up to three months after the commencement of your plan. Just email us in advance at [email protected], we'll be happy to help you! Additionally, if you have purchased any plain points packs since August 21st (PDT), you can use this in an upgrade to one of the Blight Supporter Packs! You can credit up to 80% of the value of your desired supporter pack towards an upgrade. For example, if you purchased a $10 point pack you could then upgrade to the Sentinel or Lich Supporter Pack for $20. You'd then receive the remainder of the contents of the pack, excluding the points you already purchased before the upgrade. Thank you so much for your support!What You'll See on the ExileCon LivestreamNov 5, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsIn just over a week, we'll be hosting ExileCon, the first official Path of Exile convention, in Auckland, New Zealand over the weekend of November 16-17 (NZ Time). Approximately half of the content of the event will be streamed live for free online, with the rest recorded to be posted in our news later. We're planning to post a full schedule for ExileCon later this week, but today we wanted to give a rundown of the type of content you can expect on the livestream if you're watching from home! The livestream kicks off when the big countdown on pathofexile.com ends with an hour of pre-show hosted by some streamers you'll definitely recognise. As they'll have had a chance to look around the venue, their speculation about what we'll be announcing should be pretty interesting. After the pre-show, we'll switch over coverage to the main theatre where Chris, Jonathan and Erik will host the keynote presentation, which includes various Path of Exile announcements including the massive 4.0.0 mega-expansion. After the keynote, we'll cut back to the same streamers who hosted the pre-show, so we can watch their initial reactions to the announcements and see how accurate their speculations really were. We'll get a senior developer to join the streamers after a while, to answer specific questions about the new expansions. After an hour of post-keynote discussion, we're going to have a streamer play a gameplay demo of 4.0.0 while a developer answers their questions. Once the gameplay demo is over, we'll be hosting a deep dive into the 3.9.0 expansion in the main theatre, which will also be livestreamed. This presentation is the same type of format that journalists usually see on the Press Tours that we host for upcoming expansions and leagues. We'll present a lot of details about the new expansion and league mechanics as well as information about new skills, support gems, unique items, etc. If there's time, we'll field questions from audience members. After the 3.9.0 deep dive, we'll head straight into a similar deep dive for the 4.0.0 mega-expansion, going into a lot more detail than we covered in the keynote earlier in the day. We expect to also be able to answer questions from the audience in this presentation. Once the 4.0.0 deep dive is over, there are two more hours of streamed content on the first day as well as another seven hours the second day (culminating in the Racing Finale). We'll post a detailed schedule of these sessions later in the week! While attending ExileCon in person is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we are really looking forward to bringing to players who can make it, we have tried very hard to make sure that the free online livestream is also as interesting and informative as possible. We can't wait to show you what we have been working on!Fan Art Competition Runners-UpNov 4, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsLast week we announced the winners of our recent Fan Art Competition. Due to a high amount of submitted artwork of great quality, we have decided to reward more entries with runners-up prizes. a3person {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/e968790c3a9f1fe07f3b91f7494d922bdff1ba2d.jpg DragonClaudz {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/6b15de602c02e353ada114a8b0e25f008933e4c1.png Leucoma {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/e9351d3853485613ac0eec46feacd81e32a8ec3c.jpg Kassiopea_M {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/5c534f0d03fc768783caf99d5592afee5e6e7a91.jpg Check out more runners-up in this thread! We're very happy with how this competition turned out and want to thank our players once again for their amazing talents and creativity. Until next competition, Exiles!Patch Notes 3.8.2bNov 3, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsThere are just two weeks left until ExileCon and we can't wait to meet our players in person and to show everyone what we've been working on! In the meantime, we've prepared a small update with several fixes which will be deployed this week. Check out a preview of its patch notes below. Please note that these patch notes may not be final and are still subject to change before the patch. The Menagerie's World Panel pin is now hidden until you've actually unlocked it. Fixed a bug where you would be incorrectly warned that the "Temple of Atzoatl is ready to be explored" when opening an Alva Atlas Mission if you still had active portals to the Temple. Fixed a bug where Lava Lake Map could spawn slightly fewer monsters than intended. Fixed a bug where the Minion Modifiers on the Convoking Wand basetype did not display their tiers when viewing their Advanced Mod Descriptions. Fixed a bug where Wave of Conviction's travel distance could be shorter than intended if a previous use of the skill was stopped short by hitting a wall or some other object. This corrected itself when the player moved. Fixed a bug where some Trap Throwing Speed and Mine Throwing Speed modifiers were not reflected in the character sheet. This was solely a visual bug. Fixed a bug where the Cleave skill used by Kitava's Herald and Blight Herald was missing its visual effects. Fixed a bug where the skeleton effect from Stygian Flame Dash did not always display correctly on Predictive networking mode. Fixed a bug where the Vaal Seal hideout decorations were not granted to players that bought the Corrupted Hideout. We will be manually granting these to players that have already purchased the Corrupted Hideout if they did not receive them. Fixed a bug where some buffs displayed a buff icon and description that wasn't meant to be seen. Oops! Fixed a client crash that could occur when applying various weapon effects to a weapon with the Harlequin Weapon Skin applied to it. Frontier Microtransactions on Sale This WeekendOct 31, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsWe've just released the Eye in the Back, a back attachment that literally adds a blue eye to the back of your Exile. If you can't get enough of the blue eyes from the Sentinel Overlord Supporter Pack, why not enhance your sharp look with another eye? Have a glance at the new back attachment by watching the video below or press M in game to get yours. In addition, this weekend we're running a sale on all cosmetic effects introduced in the Frontier Mystery Box. 40 microtransactions are available at discounted prices, including the community-popular Wrangler Portal and the Wild Panther Pet. This sale will run from the time of this post until Nov 04, 2019 7:00 PM (PST) in your local time. Check out the Frontier Mystery Box trailer below to see everything that's available or press M in game to view the full selection of discounts. Thank you for your support! Have a great weekend!Fan Art Competition WinnersOct 30, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsEarlier this week we concluded our Fan Art Competition where we encouraged our community to submit their artwork and hand-made entries inspired by any Path of Exile content. Having looked through hundreds of great submissions, we've selected the winners and are ready to announce them today! Top Three Winners Aul, The Crystal King by Qque {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/b74de6e2876963d5192effcc0b1e0ab7295b2df8.jpg Fair Lady Merveil by TheMuzzak {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/bed4f60a6acf4897dc27bcbde6bc0b07982eb1f4.jpg Enough Roots for Today by JoeDuncan {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/f471004dce26f92cbdca51c0d136ecdbb7b7e80c.jpg Check out other winners here!A Selection of Halloween OutfitsOct 29, 2019 - Community AnnouncementsWhile the developers are busy preparing for the upcoming ExileCon and 3.9.0 release, the community team is sorting out the Fan Art competition entries in order to choose the winners, Wraeclast is ready to celebrate Halloween (and we don't even need to look for scary and gory decorations)! What could be better for Halloween than a proper spooky costume for your Exile? We've selected several outfits for this special occasion, so be sure to check out the video below if you're looking for an inspiration! Here are the microtransactions our models have been using: Demon Parasite Body Armour Demon Parasite Gloves Demon Parasite Boots Gore Skull Devil Horns Carnage Wings Ultimate Chaos Sword Ultimate Chaos Character Effect Blood Guard Footprints Demonic Leap Slam Malachai Body Armour Extinction Gloves Extinction Boots Extinction Helmet Bleeding Eyes Extinction Back Attachment Gore Character Effect Grasping Hands Pet Sawblade Blade Vortex Skill Wrangler Body Armour Wrangler Boots Wrangler Gloves Bane Lich Hood Sin Sword Lich Weapon Effect Sin Character Effect Gloom Wings Raven Raging Spirit Effect Vampiric Body Armour Scare Mask Helmet Vampiric Gloves Vampiric Boots Tentacle Wings Ultimate Chaos Character Effect Gothic Horror Ghost Child Pet Malachai Portal Effect Executioner Body Armour Executioner Gloves Executioner Boots Stag Hood Helmet Spider Back Attachment Fire Character Effect Infernal Bow Demonic Split Arrow Effect Thank you for your support!Path of Exile Proves Once Again It Has One of the Most Loyal Fan Bases on SteamJun 4, 2018 - GitHypLast August, Path of Exile came just two thousand players short of hitting 100k for the first time ever. A bittersweet moment for the developers at Grinding Gear Games who certainly would have liked to finally break six figures, but who had also more than doubled the player base of their four-year-old game in a year's time.
Now, after its usual seasonal player base slump, Path of Exile has once again come just shy of breaking six figures with the free-to-play game’s new 'Incursion' update. The latest time-traveling expansion saw an impressive peak of 96k players on Steam over the weekend with recent reviews from players remaining Very Positive.
[caption id="attachment_351571" align="aligncenter" width="770"]
Path of Exile Peak Concurrent Players on Steam via GitHyp[/caption]
By doubling May’s peak of only 42k players, Grinding Gear Games have again proved they have one of the most loyal followings on Steam. Since 2013, Path of Exile has seen its share of highs and lows, but continued updates and improvements from the developers have always managed to keep players coming back for more.
At the moment, Path of Exile is back to being the #4 most played game on Steam and it's just a matter of time before one of these big updates finally puts PoE over the 100,000 mark.Path of Exile Hits New Milestone at #4 on Steam Just Short of 100k PlayersAug 12, 2017 - GitHypBack in December, we reported that Path of Exile had reached its highest player count ever on Steam with 46k concurrent players. Now, eight months later, the popular action role-playing game has already doubled that prior record bringing in a new all-time high of 98k players and reaching #4 on Steam.
When looking at PoE’s player counts over the past few months, you might think the game was in trouble seeing a 73% drop in its playerbase. Yet, the recent spike comes as no surprise. PoE has one of the most unique and loyal playerbases on Steam and the developers at Grinding Gear Games know how to keep fans always coming back for more.
The most recent spike in players comes after the release of "The Fall of Oriath" expansion on August 4th. The first big update since March, which adds new acts, leagues, divine powers, and of course a whole lot more highly-anticipated loot.
[caption id="attachment_283819" align="aligncenter" width="795"]
Path of Exile's Peak Concurrent Players on Steam via GitHyp[/caption]
Aside from constant waves of new content released by the devs every few months, PoE’s success has also come from its free-to-play business model which has been embraced by the community. The latest microtransaction reveal currently sits at a 99% approval rating on YouTube and the game has maintained very positive reviews on Steam.
Another big factor contributing to PoE’s success has been Twitch. Some of the most popular streamers such a LIRIK, DansGaming, and itmeJP have all helped boost the game to a new all-time high of 76k peak viewers. Again, more than double the previous record of 34k viewers back in March on Twitch.
As expected, Path of Exile’s playerbase is already on the decline since the release of the latest expansion. Dropping 24% one week after its record-setting weekend. Still, even with another potential 70%+ dropoff in players in the coming months, ARPG fans are sure to come back and help Path of Exile break 100k players in the coming months when the next big update hits.Path of Exile Reaches Its Highest Concurrent Player Count Ever on SteamDec 12, 2016 - GitHypReleased a little over three years ago back in 2013, Path of Exile’s playerbase continues to grow with each new content update that developer, Grinding Gear Games, releases on Steam. Most recently, the playerbase for PoE reached a new all-time high just two days after the December 2 release of Content Update 2.5.0: Breach.
The Diablo-inspired action RPG has been one of Steam’s most played games for years, but on December 4, Path of Exile broke its previous all-time peak player record by bringing in an impressive 46,733 concurrent players in a single hour. And in doing so, the Breach update also helped PoE reach its highest ranking ever on Steam coming in at #5.
[caption id="attachment_224765" align="aligncenter" width="770"]
Path of Exile's Peak Player Count Per Hour Data via GitHyp[/caption]
The previous highest peak for PoE was back in March 2016 when the game’s fourth major expansion, Ascendancy, brought in 36,913 players during its launch week. So when comparing the two record-setting peaks, Breach’s launch has crushed Ascendancy with a 21% increase in players -- an impressive number, especially considering the age of the game.
As expected, Breach's second weekend had a slight dip, but still managed to pull in 40k+ peak player days. The player counts for PoE always dip back down over the months following a big new update or season, but the developers at GGG seem to always find a way to bring players right back with enticing new features. Their latest launch has proven this once again becoming their most successful update yet which has grown the game’s playerbase significantly.
With the current player counts higher than ever and recent user feedback on Steam being overwhelmingly positive, the future looks bright for both new and returning players venturing into Path of Exile’s dark fantasy world of Wraeclast.
Path of Exile Peak Concurrent Players on Steam via GitHyp[/caption]
By doubling May’s peak of only 42k players, Grinding Gear Games have again proved they have one of the most loyal followings on Steam. Since 2013, Path of Exile has seen its share of highs and lows, but continued updates and improvements from the developers have always managed to keep players coming back for more.
At the moment, Path of Exile is back to being the #4 most played game on Steam and it's just a matter of time before one of these big updates finally puts PoE over the 100,000 mark.Path of Exile Hits New Milestone at #4 on Steam Just Short of 100k PlayersAug 12, 2017 - GitHypBack in December, we reported that Path of Exile had reached its highest player count ever on Steam with 46k concurrent players. Now, eight months later, the popular action role-playing game has already doubled that prior record bringing in a new all-time high of 98k players and reaching #4 on Steam.
When looking at PoE’s player counts over the past few months, you might think the game was in trouble seeing a 73% drop in its playerbase. Yet, the recent spike comes as no surprise. PoE has one of the most unique and loyal playerbases on Steam and the developers at Grinding Gear Games know how to keep fans always coming back for more.
The most recent spike in players comes after the release of "The Fall of Oriath" expansion on August 4th. The first big update since March, which adds new acts, leagues, divine powers, and of course a whole lot more highly-anticipated loot.
[caption id="attachment_283819" align="aligncenter" width="795"]
Path of Exile's Peak Concurrent Players on Steam via GitHyp[/caption]
Aside from constant waves of new content released by the devs every few months, PoE’s success has also come from its free-to-play business model which has been embraced by the community. The latest microtransaction reveal currently sits at a 99% approval rating on YouTube and the game has maintained very positive reviews on Steam.
Another big factor contributing to PoE’s success has been Twitch. Some of the most popular streamers such a LIRIK, DansGaming, and itmeJP have all helped boost the game to a new all-time high of 76k peak viewers. Again, more than double the previous record of 34k viewers back in March on Twitch.
As expected, Path of Exile’s playerbase is already on the decline since the release of the latest expansion. Dropping 24% one week after its record-setting weekend. Still, even with another potential 70%+ dropoff in players in the coming months, ARPG fans are sure to come back and help Path of Exile break 100k players in the coming months when the next big update hits.Path of Exile Reaches Its Highest Concurrent Player Count Ever on SteamDec 12, 2016 - GitHypReleased a little over three years ago back in 2013, Path of Exile’s playerbase continues to grow with each new content update that developer, Grinding Gear Games, releases on Steam. Most recently, the playerbase for PoE reached a new all-time high just two days after the December 2 release of Content Update 2.5.0: Breach.
The Diablo-inspired action RPG has been one of Steam’s most played games for years, but on December 4, Path of Exile broke its previous all-time peak player record by bringing in an impressive 46,733 concurrent players in a single hour. And in doing so, the Breach update also helped PoE reach its highest ranking ever on Steam coming in at #5.
[caption id="attachment_224765" align="aligncenter" width="770"]
Path of Exile's Peak Player Count Per Hour Data via GitHyp[/caption]
The previous highest peak for PoE was back in March 2016 when the game’s fourth major expansion, Ascendancy, brought in 36,913 players during its launch week. So when comparing the two record-setting peaks, Breach’s launch has crushed Ascendancy with a 21% increase in players -- an impressive number, especially considering the age of the game.
As expected, Breach's second weekend had a slight dip, but still managed to pull in 40k+ peak player days. The player counts for PoE always dip back down over the months following a big new update or season, but the developers at GGG seem to always find a way to bring players right back with enticing new features. Their latest launch has proven this once again becoming their most successful update yet which has grown the game’s playerbase significantly.
With the current player counts higher than ever and recent user feedback on Steam being overwhelmingly positive, the future looks bright for both new and returning players venturing into Path of Exile’s dark fantasy world of Wraeclast.
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