Action RPG fans are marking their calendars for a dark new chapter as Path of Exile‘s Keepers of the Flame expansion ignites on October 31 (PDT). The highly anticipated expansion reignites the legacy of the fan-favorite Breach league, twisting it into a sinister new challenge for players.
Keepers of the Flame pays homage to the iconic history of the Breach league, introducing players to Ailith, founder of the secretive, monastic order sworn to protect Wraeclast from the invading Breachlords. These monstrous entities claw their way from a desolate realm, intent on claiming the land and establishing their ominous presence.
Players will be tasked with protecting Ailith as she channels the Flame, a powerful force used to blast away the Breachlords’ twisted infestations. As players work with Ailith and engage with more Breach encounters, they can grow the Genesis Tree, which sprouts new limbs offering different kinds of strength: Currency, Uniques, Equipment, and Grafts.
Grafts are described as “living augmentations” infused directly into the flesh, embedding deadly new skills or defenses. Examples include the Battering Uulgraft, which calls massive arms to erupt from the earth, and the Squalling Tulgraft, which casts Dance in the White, a deadly, enemy-tracking ice tornado. With sixteen different Grafts to discover, players can mix and match flesh-sewn horrors to their heart’s content.
Gameplay Updates
- New Skill and Support Gems: The Kinetic Rain is a new wand attack that blankets the ground in unstable kinetic energy, dealing devastating damage to anything in its area of effect. On the support side, Living Lightning Support allows the user to wield living sparks of elemental minions that quickly shock through packs of enemies.
- Bloodline Ascendancies: This new system allows characters to absorb the very essence of the foes they slay, unlocking ten different Classes, each associated with bosses from past leagues. Each Bloodline Class is unlocked by defeating certain endgame bosses on a character-by-character basis. Players can then strategically allocate points between their original Ascendancy and their new Bloodline Class.
- New Uber Incarnation boss fights: Manifested from the tortured memories of Zana, these grim reflections of her torment offer formidable challenges and equally powerful endgame rewards. Access to these fights is earned through fragments dropped by Tier 17 Map Bosses, with five fragments required for each attempt.
- Fully Asynchronous Trade: Upon reaching Act 6, players will encounter Faustus, who takes on a new role as the steward of players’ Merchant Tabs. This allows users to list items for sale and enables instant, direct purchases from other players, even when the seller is offline.
- Keepers Challenge League: Featuring 40 new challenges to complete, which unlocks the Keeper of the Flame Armour Set. Players can start earning pieces after completing twelve challenges.
- New Supporter Packs: The Champion of Theopolis and Verdant Magus are both available at three different price points with exclusive cosmetic effects.
Path of Exile 2 is available on PC, Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Epic Games Store.
