Path of Exile’s new expansion expands the final game

Way of exileThe 2020 updates included some exclusive leagues for players to explore, such as Harvest and Heist. But the first expansion to 2021 contains more than just a handful of activities, new looting and new construction. Echoes of Atlas expands Way of exilethe ultimate game of new bosses, systems and skill trees.

A new live broadcast from developer Grinding Gear Games revealed the impending expansion and accompanying league, Ritual.

After Way of exile players reach the current version of the end game, some of the new Atlas Echoes the systems will take action. A mysterious entity known as The Maven requires players to fight bosses in various arenas, making fights more difficult with their presence.

As players impress Maven over time, she adds to the challenge by asking them to defeat family bosses simultaneously – up to 10 at once. Maven will eventually challenge players to a duel. Since she is the most powerful being players have faced so far, defeating The Maven comes with powerful and unique rewards, such as the ability to build a new type of skill tree.

Way of exile is famous for its ridiculous skill tree – a spider web of options to fully customize each character in a unique way. But the new Atlas Passive Skill Trees, in which players earn points by defeating Maven, are slightly different.

Image: Grinding Gear games

Rather than contributing directly to a character’s power, Atlas’s Passive Skill Trees shape the Way of exile experience. Players can invest points in a specific type of activity. For example, in the Lex Proxima region of the Atlas Passive Skill Trees, players who enjoy the Harvest activity can invest points that help them find more Sacred Woods (random Harvest events) or earn more Sacred Grove crafting rewards. Other regions offer similar benefits for certain activities, such as increasing Beyond Monsters’ experience gains.

This new customization system is a way for players to choose the type of final game content they want. Both Heist and Harvest return to Way of exile as part of the main game, adding even more random encounters to the world that players can find. Of course, some players will enjoy some of these activities more than others. With Atlas Passive Skill Trees, players can invest heavily in an activity they love, like Harvest, while moving away from upgrades to activities they don’t like, like Heist.

In addition to the points in the Atlas Passive Skill Tree, players can pick up new Maven Waystones, or a special item that allows them to change the properties of their items.

Atlas Echoes it also reworks numerous ancestry classes – advanced versions of the basic classes that players can choose after reaching a certain point in the game, giving them more customization options and skill trees. Elementalist, Inquisitor, Deadeye and Slayer will see improvements with Atlas Echoes. These reworks add new skills and, at the same time, develop the identity of each Ascendant more clearly.

Image: Grinding Gear games

Despite being a massive expansion and focused on the end of the game, Atlas Echoes also comes with a new Challenge League: Ritual. As with all other Challenge Leagues, players can choose to start Way of exile with a new character and run to the end of the game, facing new challenges.

With Ritual, players can come across Altars around the world. After killing the monsters around the altars, players can activate the altars to bring enemies back to life, strengthened by mysterious magic. Subsequent altars will spawn your unique enemies and the enemies of previous altars in the area. Players can increase the difficulty of their Rituals – and rewards – with items called Ritual Vases.

Image: Grinding Gear games

Depending on the Ritual, players will earn a new currency called Tribute. Players can spend Tribute to purchase new items from the defeated Ritual. Players lose their tribute when they leave an area, so it is impossible to accumulate it. If players find a desirable item that they cannot afford, they can make a partial payment to postpone the item. This ensures that the desired item will reappear, cheaper, in a later ritual.

Atlas Echoes it also comes with a series of new exclusive items and skill gems, which players can use to create powerful new buildings. This expansion also comes with 11 new maps for players to play.

Grinding Gear Games to be released The Exile Path: Echoes of the Atlas on January 15 for Windows PC and on January 20 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.