Path of Exile 3.27, dubbed ‘Keepers of the Flame,’ marks a historic moment as the ARPG’s first-ever sequel league. While much of the spotlight has been on PoE 2 since its early access debut, its predecessor continues to thrive. With over a decade of dedicated development, the original Path of Exile has evolved into one of the top RPGs available on PC – and it’s completely free to play. This latest update provides an excellent reason to dive back in, introducing wonderfully dark systems that allow players to profoundly modify their characters through body grafting and the creation of grotesque, warped gear.
Game director Mark Roberts describes Path of Exile: Keepers of the Flame as “a true sequel to the Breach league.” Introduced to the game in 2016, Breach has long been a cherished core mechanic, celebrated for its straightforward yet thrilling loop of battling through hordes within a rapidly expanding circle. This refreshed version begins early in your campaign, as you first encounter the titular Keepers in Act One’s starting area, The Coast.
The Keepers of the Flame are dedicated to safeguarding Wraeclast from the Breachlords. Their founder, Ailith, will join you in these warped encounters. In areas obstructed by the hiveborn, she’ll grant you a spark of purifying fire, enabling you to breach their defenses and clear a path for her to unleash a powerful blast that demolishes the hive. In other instances, she’ll accompany you in more traditional Breach-style engagements, where sufficient progress can stabilize the rift.
Successfully stabilizing a breach will provoke Vruun, Marshal of Xesht, initiating a boss battle you must win to permanently seal the entry point and claim your rewards. You’ll also encounter full-blown Breach Hives, described as “visions of the Breachlords made real in Wraeclast.” Venture in, fight through the toughest hiveborn enemies, and assist Ailith in detonating the structure. Just be sure to escape before it collapses!
Roberts emphasized, “We’ve applied all the insights gained since Breach’s release nine years ago, improving upon it in every possible way. However, a significant part of Breach’s appeal lies in its simplicity. While we aimed to modernize the mechanic, we were careful not to compromise the core experience. Players will still largely be slaughtering hordes of enemies in a confined circle.”
For your efforts, Ailith will guide you to the Monastery of the Keepers, where the Genesis Tree awaits. Yes, Path of Exile has another tree, and this one is both a literal, massive plant and an entirely new specialization network for players to invest points into. This system allows you to modify the “fruits” of the Genesis Tree, including various items, equipment, currency, and even new limbs.
These unique “breach-hands” are known as Grafts, and they are “fused directly to your body in a completely safe process,” granting you the power of the Breach. Some Grafts offer passive benefits, while others unlock active skills to complement your existing abilities. There are sixteen distinct Graft types to discover, and you’ll eventually gain the power to equip a second Graft, further amplifying your power. Your grafted arm also serves another purpose: it collects Graftblood from defeated monsters, which can then be fed to the Genesis Tree to cultivate your chosen rewards.
Your investments into the Genesis Tree determine the specific equipment you can grow and the modifiers applied during its creation. Roberts explained, “You could target boots with a dexterity requirement, for instance, increasing the chance of speed modifiers while reducing cold modifiers.” While these influencing nodes don’t guarantee specific outcomes, they provide substantial multipliers, heavily favoring your desired results.
Grafted gear usually resists modification by standard crafting currencies. However, a passive point in the Genesis Tree offers a solution: it enables the tree to forge “fleshy mockeries of currency orbs” that perform the same function. You might even find rare ‘Foulborn’ variants of these orbs or unique items. Foulborn items can feature mutated modifiers that significantly alter their utility, and Foulborn currency orbs can restrict lower-value rolls, guaranteeing better outcomes – similar to PoE 2’s new tiered offerings.
Another potent addition in 3.27 is Bloodlines, which function like a secondary Ascendancy, imbuing you with the powers of Path of Exile’s most iconic bosses. These are unlocked by defeating the respective foes; for example, completing the Trialmaster’s final challenge in Ultimatum grants the Chaos Bloodline, boosting Vaal skills and corrupted items. Defeating Oshabi at the climax of Harvest allows you to absorb abilities from the three types of Azmerian lifeforce. Each character can specialize in one Bloodline and one Ascendancy, allocating points as they see fit.
For those who experienced PoE 3.26’s Secrets of the Atlas, you’ll recall Zara’s questline introduced three new pinnacle boss battles. Prepare for their return as even more formidable “uber” variants, unlocked by fragments from tier-17 map bosses. The Incarnation of Fear and Incarnation of Neglect are formidable on their own, but the new Incarnation of Dread fight will demand you conquer both prior bosses as it progresses. Good luck, Exiles!
Asynchronous trade, a feature successfully tested in PoE 2’s recent season, makes its way to the original game. While precise statistics are hard to pinpoint due to player-to-player gear swaps, Grinding Gear Games indicates that roughly “40-50% of trades” since The Third Edict update have utilized the new Merchant tabs. This is a game-changer that has finally encouraged many, including long-time players, to sell unwanted items, a truly welcome improvement.
Naturally, PoE 3.27 brings many other enhancements, including new skill and support gems, and a wealth of quality-of-life improvements. Among the most valuable is the ability to mass-identify your entire inventory in town without consuming Scrolls of Wisdom. Players can also disenchant items in towns and hideouts, level multiple skill gems with a single click, reset their Atlas passive tree with gold (even the entire tree at once), and rapidly open stacked decks, directing items to either their inventory or the ground.
Finally, the Heist mechanic receives a much-needed overhaul. Heist has always been a thrilling experience, with its premise of infiltrating heavily guarded facilities, grabbing as much loot as possible, and then executing a daring escape amidst blaring alarms and swarming guards. However, the tedious grind to level up accomplices often deterred players. Thankfully, Grinding Gear Games has removed this requirement; your rogues will now instantly start at maximum level.
Path of Exile 3.27 ‘Keepers of the Flame’ is set to launch on Friday, October 31. This free-to-play ARPG is available on Steam or via its standalone client. Get ready to explore the new mechanics and challenges!
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