Path of Exile
Secrets of the Atlas Fan Art CompetitionJul 6, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsIt’s been a while since we’ve had a fan art competition for community artists, so we’re very excited to bring it back! We're launching a fan art competition themed around the Secrets of the Atlas expansion and everything introduced in it. The prize pool includes Path of Exile merchandise and in-game microtransactions. Prizes Top Three Winners Forum avatar based on the winning submission Path of Exile 1 Art Book Your choice of one signed Path of Exile poster Your choice of two Path of Exile T-shirts Chaos Orb Socks A random Path of Exile Pin Your choice of an Armour Set (an Armour Set from the list below) Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below) Your choice of Footprints Effect (any Footprints Effect from the store) 4-5th Place Path of Exile 1 Art Book Your choice of one Path of Exile T-shirt Chaos Orb Socks A random Path of Exile Pin Your choice of an Armour Set (an Armour Set from the list below) Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below) Your choice of Footprints Effect (any Footprints Effect from the store) 6-10th Place Your choice of one Path of Exile T-shirt Chaos Orb Socks A random Path of Exile Pin Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below) Your choice of Footprints Effect (any Footprints Effect from the store) 11-20th Place Your choice of a Portal Effect (a Portal Effect from the list below) Runners-Up Your choice of a Helmet/Helmet Effect (a Helmet/Helmet Effect from the list below) Microtransaction Prize Pool List of Armour Sets Arcane Armour Pack Alabaster Seraph Pack Arctic Crystal Armour Pack Automaton Armour Pack Black Armour Pack Bleached Demon King Armour Pack Blood Guard Armour Set Carnage Armour Pack Coldsnap Armour Pack Coliseum Armour Pack Corsair Armour Set Darkprism Armour Pack Deicide Armour Pack Demon Parasite Armour Set Deepwater Armour Pack Desert Armour Pack Dragon Armour Pack Elven Knight Armour Pack Elite Armour Pack Executioner Armour Pack Extinction Armour Set Faith Guard Armour Set Fallen Angel Armour Pack Fire Armour Pack Gargoyle Armour Set Ghostflame Armour Pack Gloom Armour Pack Gore Armour Pack Gorgon Armour Pack Gothic Armour Pack Gryffon Armour Pack Harpyon Armour Pack Heartseeker Armour Pack Huntsman Armour Set Ice Armour Pack Innocence Armour Pack Ivory Chaos Armour Pack Lightning Armour Pack Lunaris Armour Pack Mageguard Armour Set Malachai Armour Pack Merchant Armour Pack Miracle Armour Set Mystic Armour Set Necrotic Armour Pack Obsidian Seraph Pack Project Armour Pack Pure Light Armour Pack Purple Crystal Armour Pack Purple Pyre Knight Armour Pack Pyre Knight Armour Pack Radiant Armour Pack Raven Armour Pack Ringmaster Armour Set Scientist Armour Pack Seawitch Armour Pack Sin Armour Pack Sphinx Armour Pack Steam-powered Armour Pack Stormcaller Armour Pack Ultimate Chaos Armour Pack Vampiric Armour Pack Verdant Armour Pack Viper Armour Set Warlock Armour Pack Wasteland Armour Set Wasteland Warrior Armour Pack White Armour Pac...Development Stories - Who is the Originator?Jul 2, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsThe world building and lore introduced in Secrets of the Atlas has set us up for expansions to come! We asked our Audio and Narrative Director Kane, to delve into some of the intricacies of piecing all of its components together. Hello! Kane here. You may know me previously as the Audio Lead at GGG… Well I’m still one of those, but now also narrative falls under my wheelhouse. I often pinch myself as a reminder that I’m not dreaming because this is quite literally a dream combination of things I love… and let me tell you, it brings me a great deal of joy! Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Secrets of the Atlas. I should mention upfront, if you want to experience Secrets of the Atlas without spoilers, perhaps don’t read this. It is a bit tricky to discuss its narrative development without going into at least some of the details. As is the case these days, Mark (Neon) and I began with some bullet points for the basic narrative of what we’d be working towards. For Secrets of the Atlas, those were something along the lines of: Zana.… Brother?!…… THREE SHAPER-ESQUE BOSSES?! OMG! After those initial conversations, I knew we were off to a strong start and I was hyped to get started and piece together the dialogue and events for the narrative design. The initial premise here was to uncover what Zana has been doing since we lost track of her in the Atlas. That expanded into three main components to the expansion's story, with Zana’s plight at the core of it all. The first component: Eagon Introducing Eagon, a mysterious fellow claiming to be Zana’s brother, gave us a lot of interesting angles to explore Zana’s mission from. Like us veteran Exiles, he knows a lot about Zana and feels a connection to her, yet she is essentially a stranger to him. He believes that she simply must have all the answers to his burning questions about his heritage… and yet life is never so simple. He has spent his life trying to uncover and realize who he is and perhaps, why he is. Working towards unraveling who Eagon is and helping him try to piece things together makes him quite relatable as a person. Despite his rather pompous sense of entitlement (we are all flawed), he just wants to understand who he is, his place in the world and to save who he believes to be his sister. The Voice of Eagon When casting this character, I knew we needed a voice actor who could fully embody Eagon’s unique personality and portray it correctly. One audition immediately stuck out as the right fit. Leon Wadham brought Eagon to life in a perfect way. The second component: ZanaInterestingly for this expansion, Zana doesn’t exactly occupy screen-time a great deal. It is what she has created that we are able to explore, and trying to understand why she has done so is what drives the story forward. Eagon discovers that Zana has been experimenting with the Atlas and manifesting memories, and even ideas, into reality. But why? We are able to see what has mattered most to her, in the very areas we traverse and...Mercenaries of Trarthus StatisticsJul 1, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsThe Mercenaries of Trarthus have joined us for a few weeks now, and they've been a blast in more ways than one! In today's news post, we go over some fun and interesting stats related to the loot they've been hauling from Trarthus or looting from Wraeclast. These stats were collected on Day 12 of the league. Check them out below! Tabula Rasa has spawned on 128,311 Mercenaries in the campaign. 61,547 of them were skipped. Wanderlust has spawned on 97,173 Mercenaries in the campaign. 50,120 of them were skipped. The Squire has spawned on 2 Mercenaries. One player didn't interact with the Mercenary. The other decided to instead receive 2 Chaos Orbs. Rakiata's Dance has spawned on Mercenaries 4 times. The Mercenary was not interacted with for 2 of them. One player chose to receive the sword. The other player preferred 8 Chaos Orbs and 4 Vaal Orbs. Defiance of Destiny has spawned on Mercenaries 8 times. On 3 of them, the Mercenary was not interacted with. 3 players could not defy destiny and lost their duels The remaining 2 were successfully claimed. Soul Taker has spawned on Mercenaries 9 times. On 6 of them, the Mercenary was not interacted with. 1 player lost the duel and had their soul taken away instead. 1 player chose assorted low-value currency. 1 player successfully took the Soul Taker. Kalandra's Touch has spawned on Mercenaries 356 times. On 88 of them, the Mercenary was not interacted with. 268 players interacted with the Mercenary. 34 players lost their touch, and lost their duels. 47 duel winners chose assorted low-value currency instead. 1 player hired the Mercenary. 7 players sent their Mercenaries to Exile. Headhunter has spawned on Mercenaries 211 times. On 42 of them, the Mercenary was not interacted with. 149 players won their duels against their Mercenaries. 11 of those players chose to receive an assortment of low value currency from the rucksack instead of picking the Headhunter as their reward. 2 duel winners chose to banish the Mercenary. Of the remaining Headhunters, 20 players had their skulls added to the belt of Mercenary, including one player chose to hire the Mercenary, but failed to defeat it. Mageblood has spawned on Mercenaries 157 times. On 34 of them, the Mercenary was not interacted with. 11 players lost their duels. 112 players won their duels. 14 of these duel winners chose to receive an assortment of low value currency from the rucksack. 2 duel winners sent their Mercenary, and thus also their Mageblood, to Exile. Mirror of Kalandra has spawned on 14 Mercenaries. Of these, 7 were skipped, so a year of bad luck for each one results in seven years of bad luck! 5 players successfully claimed their Mirror(s). 2 players lost their duels, losing 2 Mirrors each. One of these players didn't even die to the Mercenary, but got third partied by a Vendigo they had neglected to kill before beginning their duel. Infamous Warpriest of the Ruckus has spawned a single time, but was not interacted with. Sad! Hopefully another one ...Update on Server Issues, Compromised Accounts and Visual FlickeringJun 26, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsWe'd like to provide an update on a few important things that have been happening in Path of Exile. Server Issues We've been very focused on improving DDoS protection for our servers. Unfortunately, some of the protective measures have blocked legitimate traffic, causing instances to unexpectedly close. We're working closely with our server providers to finish setting up protection and resolve these issues as soon as possible. Compromised Accounts There have recently been an increased amount of reports regarding players having their accounts compromised. We've looked into as many reports as we could, and will continue to do so, however we have found no evidence of any kind of security breach on our end. If you're not already, we strongly recommend using secure and unique passwords. If you login through Steam but previously used the Standalone client, your email and password is still a valid login method and you should ensure this password is secure and unique. Visual Flickering We're aware that gameplay elements and the game's UI will start to flicker in and out when gameplay gets a bit hectic. The engine team is urgently looking into this and we're hoping to have an update on this issue next week. Thank you all for your patience as we work through these issues. Secrets of the Atlas Original SoundtrackJun 25, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsNo expansion is complete without a soundtrack to set the tone, and the score for Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas certainly doesn't neglect this. Check out the tracks for the Secrets of the Atlas Original Soundtrack by Kamil Orman-Janowski and Michael James Collier in today's news post! These tracks, along with the rest of the Path of Exile Extended Digital Soundtrack, are available for download with the purchase of any Supporter Pack here. Boss Kill Event WinnersJun 23, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsThe Secrets of the Atlas Boss Kill Event for PC has now concluded! The race for the top 10 was close, and all bonus boss kills have been claimed! Top 3 Placings - PC: Congratulations to the top 3 racers, who will each get a Godslayer's Pride Amulet, a Divination Card design, and a Unique Item design for the newest bosses: The Incarnation of Dread, The Incarnation of Neglect and The Incarnation of Fear! Ben_#4007 allexpleblord#4962 nickexile11#5507 Top 10 Placings - PC: Congratulations to the rest of the top 10, who will also get a Godslayer's Pride Amulet as well as a Divination Card design! Sarge2#0184 Dsfarblarwaggle#7862 Wyrm_GG#3008 akuryo#0061 Kunagi_JP#6612 CARNDARAK#3163 김겨울#7178 Bonus Prizes - PC: The following players were the first to slay the bosses listed below, allowing them to design a Unique Item for that boss: First Catarina Kill: allexpleblord#4962 First Uber Uber Elder Kill: Ben_#4007 First Uber Shaper Kill: Ben_#4007 First Uber Sirus Kill: Ben_#4007 First Uber Cortex Kill: CARNDARAK#3163 As we stated during launch weekend, we will be running an additional Boss Kill Event for PC where the prize structure will be exactly the same as the first event. The postponed Console Boss Kill Event will also be run at the same time. More info on when this will start will be provided soon, so keep your eye on the news. Congratulations again to all winners of the first Secrets of the Atlas Boss Kill Event!CardiaDarkhill, Jousis & Balormage interview OctavianJun 22, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsYesterday, Game Designer Octavian joined CardiaDarkhill, Jousis and Balormage to talk about Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas. If you missed seeing it live, you can check it out in the video below. We hope you enjoyed Octavian's unique insights. Mercenaries Vault Pass Concept ArtJun 19, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsThe Mercenaries of Trarthus edition of Kirac's Vault Pass has an exclusive cosmetic armour set as a reward from the premium track, themed around Path of Exile's first ever Pinnacle Boss - the Shaper. Check out some concept art for this set below! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/cc13ce669cfea4ddb9a3b5a7b8e9178c902ba51a.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/8288e41646c220398295e8be706d185572016f9f.jpg {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/786bfd2f373a30ef867b1a310c4808c4f88ce2ea.jpg To get the Vault Pass, press M to open the store in-game. You can also see how it looks in-game in the video below! Path of Exile dev "deeply sorry" for disrupted service during new league launchJun 18, 2025 - PCGamesNThe Path of Exile Secrets of the Atlas launch has largely marked a successful return for the free Steam ARPG, but it's not without issues. While it works on the next PoE 2 update, developer Grinding Gear Games addresses some of the disruptions affecting the Diablo rival's new season. It also lays out a handful of balance changes, with nerfs incoming for overpowered mercenary skills that are blowing up players in an instant, and some buffs for memory skills. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Path of Exile flies past PoE 2 as the free Steam ARPG's new update lands Path of Exile 3.26 gets bigger right before launch, as GGG adds mercenary renown Path of Exile 3.26 pushes the free ARPG away from PoE 2, so both can coexist How Secrets of the Atlas Launch WentJun 16, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsWe wanted to give an update talking about how the launch went and what we’re immediately working on. Over the weekend we launched Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas. We are so thrilled to see the number of people who joined us for launch day. Welcome back, Exiles! Starting with the elephant in the room, unfortunately our European servers have been facing a barrage of DDOS attacks. We understand that this issue has ruined such an anticipated launch for many players. This is unacceptable service and we are deeply sorry. We want to assure you that we are taking this very seriously and it is the highest priority problem for our company to solve. Due to the nature of these attacks, we’re unable to provide a timeframe on when it will be resolved but we do want to acknowledge that we do see the issue and are doing everything we can to mitigate this. Another thing we caught just prior to the launch was an issue with our final console builds which did not affect our internal realms so couldn’t have been caught sooner than it was. Because this required brand new builds to be created, tested and then certified, this process took quite a long time to fix, but the console realms are now fully operational and players are able to login and play. We are implementing measures to prevent this occurring in the future. While our system administration and backend team address the issues with the European servers, our development team continues to monitor feedback. Currently the leading issue we’re looking to address with the league is that a number of Mercenary skills, especially once you get to the middle of the campaign start to deal overwhelming amounts of damage to the player, often instantly killing you, you should expect a patch in the near future that puts all these skills more in line. This will not affect the Mercenary balance when they are your ally. Additionally we’re looking at making some improvements to the Memory Skills granted in maps influenced by The Originator, we’ll have more updates on this later this week. We also just wanted to give a huge thank you to all our players, be it those who have returned to play Path of Exile after a year with no expansions, and all those who are new to the game. We’re very excited to not only once again be delivering content, but playing the game alongside you all. Thank you Exiles!Path of Exile flies past PoE 2 as the free Steam ARPG's new update landsJun 14, 2025 - PCGamesNPath of Exile is back, as the long-awaited PoE 3.26 update Secrets of the Atlas finally lands almost a year on from the free Steam game's last season. The original Grinding Gear Games ARPG, built as a spiritual successor to Diablo 2 and now well over a decade old, continues to prove why it's so beloved among the loot-grinding faithful even set against its own sequel. With a major endgame overhaul and the introduction of mercenary companions, Secrets of the Atlas and the new Mercenaries of Trarthus league make now the ideal time to give Path of Exile a try. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Path of Exile 3.26 gets bigger right before launch, as GGG adds mercenary renown Path of Exile 3.26 pushes the free ARPG away from PoE 2, so both can coexist Path of Exile 3.26 brings a big endgame upgrade and mercenaries to the free ARPG Path of Exile 3.26 gets bigger right before launch, as GGG adds mercenary renownJun 13, 2025 - PCGamesNPath of Exile 3.26 just got even bigger right before launch. Seemingly not content with the sweeping overhauls and additions in its Secrets of the Atlas update, developer Grinding Gear Games has introduced a bonus mechanic right at the last minute. The renown system expands this season's challenge league, Mercenaries of Trarthus, by rewarding you for your successes in battle and punishing you for ducking out of dangerous fights. If you need any more reasons to be excited for the new Path of Exile league start, GGG has your back. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Path of Exile flies past PoE 2 as the free Steam ARPG's new update lands Path of Exile 3.26 pushes the free ARPG away from PoE 2, so both can coexist Path of Exile 3.26 brings a big endgame upgrade and mercenaries to the free ARPG Mercenaries of Trarthus - RenownJun 12, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsSince the Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas reveal last week we’ve continued to make changes to the Mercenaries league. One such change is the introduction of the Renown system. We’ve made a quick video for you to checkout but if you’d prefer to read it at your own pace we’ve included that too! As you defeat Mercenaries, you will gain Renown among the Trarthan arrivals to Wraeclast. Successfully defeating a Mercenary will push you up one rank of Renown, to a maximum of three, whereas either losing or backing out of a fight will cost you one rank. Backing out means that you speak to a Mercenary, view their gear and skills, then walk away and never fight that Mercenary. Returning to them in the same area will allow you to fight them without penalty. Only leaving and never returning to fight them will cost you Renown as they will spread the word of your cowardice amongst the other Trarthans. For each rank of Renown that you have, you have increased odds of encountering Infamous Mercenaries, who come from far and wide to test their mettle against you. Infamous Mercenaries are tougher fights, but have better Rucksack loot, are equipped with more powerful rare items, always have at least one unique item equipped and are the only source of Infamous modifier items. As we mentioned in our FAQ post, you will also encounter Infamous Mercenaries more often in maps with higher numbers of modifiers, to reward you for making the content more difficult. To spot an Infamous Mercenary, keep an eye out for this fancier golden border, as well as the prefix "Infamous" before their archetype! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/156df6b7e427ca689c86297064deac00d3c0038f.jpg Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas Launches SoonJun 12, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsPath of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas will launch on PC and Console soon! In this news post, we’ve gathered all the information you need to know about what happens on launch day and how to start downloading early. The PC realms will go down and patching begins at: 10am June 13th PDT The servers go live for PC and Console at: 1pm June 13th PDT The above times are displayed in your local time zone. You’ll need to be logged into your account to see these. To change your local time, go to “My Account”, “Manage Account” and “Edit Preferences”. If the time zone is displaying incorrectly for you, please disregard the above timer and refer to the countdown on the front page. Three hours before the end of the countdown, the realm will go down and patching will begin shortly after. When the countdown ends, the servers will be live and you'll be able to join the Mercenaries League. The patch size for the update will be around 9.6GB on the standalone client, Steam and Epic. The estimated size of the patch for Consoles is 10GB. We’re aiming to have predownload available for our console players prior to the release, keep an eye out for this. We’ve also made a torrent available for PC. Please keep in mind that this method, while available earlier, makes it a larger update as it includes all the existing client content. When patching begins for Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas you’ll also have a few remaining files that you’ll need to update as well. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/40f0ad34352224c811cce2cc4be6ca36c64165e6.jpg This torrent only includes the GGPK file, so you’ll need to copy it into your actual install folder once the patching server is up, no earlier than three hours before Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas launches. Please note that you can’t use this GGPK file with the Steam client, Epic client and macOS. In case you’ve missed it, since posting we have updated the Item Filter post, be sure to check out the changes before launch if you maintain your own Loot Filters! This is also your last chance to get the Settlers of Kalguur Mystery Box! It will leave the store when Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas launches! If you need some extra points, check out the new Cryptkeeper and Phrecian Magistrate Supporter Packs. In case you still haven’t decided which build to play, check out the Class subsection on the forum for suggestions from the community. Many of our community streamers are also providing build guides on YouTube! We can’t wait to see your latest adventures through Wraeclast. We’ll see you at launch! Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas Launch Twitch DropsJun 11, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsTo celebrate the launch of Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas, we'll be running two weeks of Twitch Drops starting from June 13th PDT! Week 1 Twitch Drops - Syndicate's Demise Unique Finisher Effect Start Time: June 13th 1:00 PM PDT End Time: June 21th 4:59 AM PDT You will get the Syndicate's Demise Unique Finisher Effect after 3 hours of accumulated watch time on any channel streaming Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas during the first week of launch. Week 2 Twitch Drops - Rose Charge Effect Start Time: June 21st 5:00 AM PDT End Time: June 29th 4:59 AM PDT You will get the Rose Charge Effect after 3 hours of accumulated watch time on any channel streaming Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas during the second week of launch. The drops are guaranteed for everyone who has watched any Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas stream for the amount of time specified above. This promotion is available for all accounts. Support a Streamer To support our community streamers, we'll also be offering the Originator's Portal for purchasing or gifting 2 Twitch subscriptions of any tier from June 13th 1:00 PM to June 29th 4:59 AM PDT. To participate: Log in to your Twitch account. Visit any Twitch channel streaming Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas. While the channel is live streaming Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas, purchase a cumulative of two subscriptions of any tier to earn the Originator's Portal (Prime Subs are excluded). New and Changed Gems in Path of Exile: Secrets of the AtlasJun 11, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsPath of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas introduces several new Trarthan Gems available as a reward for a victorious duel with Mercenaries. In this expansion we’ve also made some changes to existing Skill and Support Gems. Today we’ve prepared the gem data at level 20 with 20% quality for all new and changed gems to help you theorycraft your builds for the upcoming launch. We can’t wait to see what you come up with! Click here to check out new and changed gems! Path of Exile 3.26 pushes the free ARPG away from PoE 2, so both can coexistJun 11, 2025 - PCGamesNPath of Exile 3.26, Secrets of the Atlas, launches this week alongside the new Mercenaries of Trarthus challenge league. It's a long-awaited moment for the hardcore champion of ARPGs; the free-to-play game hasn't had a new season since Settlers of Kalguur in July 2024, with PoE 2's early-access launch taking all of developer Grinding Gear Games' attention. As it makes its grand return, I sat down with game director Mark 'Neon' Roberts to talk about the new PoE league, returning to a four-month cycle, and whether the success of Path of Exile 2 has changed how GGG approaches its predecessor. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Path of Exile 3.26 brings a big endgame upgrade and mercenaries to the free ARPG The Path of Exile 3.26 update introduces a highly requested but divisive feature While we wait on Path of Exile 3.26, new custom leagues are here to fill the gap Additional Secrets from Secrets of the AtlasJun 9, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsWith Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas launching soon, there will be a multitude of new Trarthan Skills and Infamous item modifiers to customise your characters with. Check out some examples of the new things you can find below! We highlighted Siege Ballista of Trarthus during the Secrets of the Atlas Content Reveal and two more Trarthan gems can be found on the Secrets of the Atlas Announcement Page, but we know that those of you wanting to try out new skills will be keen to see some more! Wave of Conviction of Trarthus Heavy Strike of Trarthus {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/351815d9360e01e39f9e0f8d237d92d85abd0ea1.png New skills aren't the only thing you'll be able to get from the new Trarthan arrivals. Here are some more items with Infamous modifiers that you can obtain by defeating Mercenaries. Infamous Modifiers {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/3c306749ce9f18e690486c144fe634d2299ee0cc.png There's a whole lot more secrets to uncover yet! We look forward to them being found when Secrets of the Atlas launches at 1pm on June 13th (PDT). See you there!Secrets of the Atlas Frequently Asked QuestionsJun 9, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsIn our recent GGG Live stream, Mark and Jonathan sat down for a Q&A with ZiggyD. In today's news post, we've provided answers to some of the most frequently asked questions that didn't make it into the livestream. Check them out! How does equipping Mercenaries with items work? Can any Mercenary be equipped with any item? Each Mercenary is associated with Attributes. Mercenaries will generate with gear that matches the Attributes they are associated with, and will only be able to be equipped with new Armour gear that matches their Attributes in the following way: For Mercenaries with a single Attribute, any Armour gear that requires that Attribute is valid. For Mercenaries with multiple Attributes, any Armour gear that requires an Attribute not associated with that Mercenary is invalid. As an example: A Strength Mercenary will be equippable with gear requiring just Strength, Strength + Dexterity or Strength + Intelligence. A Dexterity/Intelligence Mercenary will be equippable with gear requiring just Dexterity, just Intelligence or Dexterity + Intelligence. Mercenaries do not need to meet attribute requirements outside of the above rule. Mercenaries need to be within 70% of level requirements of an item to equip it. Mercenaries also have preferred weapon types, and will not equip weapons that do not match their preferred types. Generally, they are going to prefer weapons that they can actually use their skills with. Will Map modifiers affect rewards from Mercenaries? Increased Quantity on a Map Area from Map Modifiers will increase the chances that you find an Infamous Mercenary in that area. Are Link skills able to target allied Mercenaries? Yes, you can link to an allied Mercenary. Just make sure they don’t die on you. Can Gold appear as a reward in a Mercenary's pouch? No. Can Mercenaries be renamed? No. Can Mercenaries use items with influenced trigger skills (like Shaper weapons with Cast on Crit)? Short answer - No. Longer answer - Mercenary Skills are not socketed into gear in the way that player skills are. They are inherent to the Mercenary rather than being the result of a socketed gem, so in the case of something like a Cast on Crit weapon, it would be hard to determine what skill should even be triggered - or indeed, do the triggering. Will Mercenaries be tradable with other players? Mercenaries are not tradeable. Are Mercenaries account bound or character bound? Account bound. Do Mercenaries get passive skills from gear, such as the anointed notables on amulets or keystones from Uniques? Anointed passive skills will work. Keystones from Uniques also will work. Will the Trarthan gems also appear in the Divine Font at the end of the Labyrinth, or are they only available from Mercenaries? Trarthan Gems are only available from Mercenaries (starting in level 68+ areas), and each individual Gem is only available from a specific variety of Mercenary. Will Animate Guardian get an equipment interface similar to Mercenaries? How will that work?...Secrets of the Atlas Boss Kill EventJun 8, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsTo celebrate the launch of Secrets of the Atlas, we’re hosting a Boss Kill Event where Path of Exile players can compete to kill the new Pinnacle Bosses in the Mercenaries HC SSF League. We have put together a prize pool that gives the winners the opportunity to collaborate with our design team to create new Unique Items and Divination cards that will be added to Path of Exile. Prizes will be awarded to the first ten players who kill all three of the new pinnacle bosses, called "The Incarnations" in their non-quest variations (Area level 84). Prizes for Top Placings - PC: 1st: Design a Unique for new Pinnacle Boss: Incarnation of Dread or the future-released Uber variant of this Boss Fight & Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction. The first place winner will also get some additional design space with their item if they want to do something a little different. For example, if you would like to design a Unique Map or if you would like to design a Unique Item that requires a unique-piece from each of the three Bosses, then needs to be combined to create something more epic, this is something we will allow, so feel free to stray from the norm! This is something our team will help provide more details on during collaboration. 2nd: Design a Unique for new Pinnacle Boss: Incarnation of Neglect or the future-released Uber variant of this Boss Fight & Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction. 3rd: Design a Unique for new Pinnacle Boss: Incarnation of Fear or the future-released Uber variant of this Boss Fight & Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction. 4th-10th place: Collaborate on the design of a Divination Card + Godslayer's Pride Microtransaction. To celebrate Zana's return, there will also be a set of prizes for defeating bosses that were historically significant to her. Bonus prizes will be awarded to the first players to defeat Uber Sirus, Uber Elder, Uber Shaper or Uber Cortex. To celebrate Betrayal's rework, there is also a bonus prize for defeating Catarina. Bonus Prizes - PC: First Catarina Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from Catarina, you can even input on the custom Veiled Modifiers that will be able to be unveiled on this Unique. First Uber Elder Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from the Elder or Uber Elder. First Uber Shaper Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from the Shaper or Uber Shaper. First Uber Sirus Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from Sirus or Uber Sirus, The Awakener. First Uber Cortex Kill: Collaborate on the design of a Unique Item that will drop from Cortex or Uber Cortex. Console players can also participate in this event with separate prize pools from PC. The Console Boss Kill Event will take place in the SSF Mercenaries League. Prizes for Top Placings - (both Xbox and Plays...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.
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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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