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• Grow A Garden Christmas Harvest Part 1 Guide | New NPCs, Mutations & Holiday Rewards Overview

  December is the last month of the year, and many people are looking forward to Christmas holidays. Grow A Garden also updated on December 6th with the first part of its Christmas Harvest event.

  Christmas Harvest event will last for three weeks, with a second and third part to follow. This update is quite extensive, and you're probably wondering what new seeds and pets this event brings.

  

  New NPCs And Events

  After entering the game, you'll see two platforms with several NPCs, each with different functions.

  Presenting The Elf

  Talking to her will reveal a 2025 Advent Calendar with 19 slots containing rewards. You need to complete daily tasks to unlock the daily rewards. Once unlocked, you can claim one Gingerbread Blossom seed, the best seed in the game.

  These tasks include playing with friends, harvesting 5 light cycle mutated plants, harvesting 75 apples, and more. If you find the task difficult, you can use in-game currency to skip it and directly claim all possible rewards for the day.

  Ribbon The Elf

  Talk to Ribbon the Elf to browse Gift Given menu. You can contribute gifts to Santa's Sleigh to unlock rewards. Rewards include personal contribution rewards and community-based rewards.

  You accumulate contributions by submitting Christmas-mutated fruits, while the community-based rewards are quite generous.

  • 100,000 Points: 1x Christmas Crate
  • 200,000 Points: Unlock Snow Day Weather
  • 400,000 Points: Reduce Shop Timer (45:00 minutes)
  • 800,000 Points: 1x Christmas Present
  • 1,400,000 Points: 1x Christmas Crate
  • 2,000,000 Points: 1x Yule Log
  • 2,800,000 Points: Unlock Festive Night Weather
  • 3,500,000 Points: Unlock Christmas Glow Track
  • 4,300,000 Points: 7x Rare Present
  • 5,000,000 Points: Unlock Santa's Surprise present
  • 5,800,000 Points: Unlock Penguin in Event Shop
  • 6,400,000 Points: 10x Santa's Surprise Present
  • 7,000,000 Points: Unlock Milk and Cookies Weather
  • 7,500,000 Points: Unlock North Pole Weather Controller
  • 8,200,000 Points: Reduce Shop Timer
  • 9,000,000 Points: Unlock Santa's Stocking in Event Shop
  • 9,900,000 Points: 1x Mega Lollipop
  • 11,000,000 Points: Unlock Pet Mutation Shard Hyper Hunger

  Seline The Elf

  Talking to Seline the Elf will open Santa's stash menu, where you can trade items. You'll see that some Grow A Garden items are locked because they need to be unlocked with Community-based rewards.

  Snowy Mutation

  A snow event occurs approximately every 10 minutes. During snowfall, plants in the garden will mutate into Christmas mutated plants. You can submit these mutated plants to NPCs to add gifts to your harvest and advance the event.

  Snow Shoveler Limited Time Event

  You obtain various gifts through digging. This event supports offline gain digs, so you don't need to be online all the time, and digging counts reset every 24 hours.

  Christmas Harvest New Items

  New Seeds and Plants: 

  • Gingerbread Blossom Seed
  • Peppermint Vine Seed
  • Cookie Stack Seed
  • Poinsettia Seed
  • Antlerbloom Seed
  • Holly Berry Seed
  • Gift Berry Seed
  • Frosty Bite Seed
  • Cryo Rose Seed
  • Bush Flake Seed
  • Rosemary Seed
  • Cryoshard Seed
  • Frostwing Seed
  • Pollen Cone Seed

  New Gears and Items:

  • Christmas Sprinkler
  • Christmas Firework
  • Gift Basket
  • Yule Log
  • Santa's Stocking
  • Pet Mutation Shard Hyper Hunger
  • Sleigh
  • Snowball
  • GingerBread Man Gear
  • Pet Mutation Shard Nocturnal
  • Areaclaimer
  • Player Gift
  • Bad Present
  • Normal Present
  • Rare Present
  • Christmas Present
  • Santa's Surprise Present
  • Exotic Santa's Surprise Present
  • Rainbow Exotic Santa's Surprise Present
  • Holiday Seed Pack
  • Exotic Holiday Seed Pack
  • Rainbow Exotic Holiday Seed Pack
  • Christmas Crate
  • Holiday Crate

  New Pets:

  • Penguin
  • Snowman Soldier
  • Snowman Builder
  • Snow Bunny
  • Mistletoad
  • Krampus
  • Gift Rat
  • Arctic Fox
  • Frost Dragon
  • French Hen
  • Christmas Gorilla

  New Cosmetics:

  • Penguin Statue
  • Christmas Ribbon
  • Gift Stack
  • Christmas Lights
  • Snowman
  • Santa Chair
  • Snowman Lights
  • Frozen Krampus
  • Winter Bridge
  • Winter Lantern
  • Winter Globe
  • Frozen Pond
  • Frost Rune
  • Winter Arch
  • Winter Fountain
  • Ice Table
  • Toy Horse
  • Winter Wheelbarrow
  • Christmas Lamp
  • Nutcracker
  • Christmas Bench
  • Christmas Tree Painting
  • Candycane Fence
  • Elf Chair
  • Christmas Gift Large
  • Christmas Gift Long
  • Christmas Gift Medium
  • Christmas Gift Small
  • Christmas Gift Tall
  • Christmas Gift Tube

  New Food:

  • Gingerbread Cookie
  • Candycane
  • Wreath
  • Holiday Roast
  • Holiday Stuffing
  • Fruitcake
  • Eggnog

  Items To Watch

  Peppermint Vine Seed

  At the very bottom of the seed shop is a Peppermint vine seed. Its effect is that when a nearby egg hatches, there is a 10% chance of hatching a pet with Peppermint pet mutation.

  Peppermint mutation effect is that every 15.5 minutes, 12 random Christmas-type fruits in the garden are sacrificed to immediately activate a pet ability, and the effect is random.

  Frost Dragon

  Frost Dragon is arguably the best pet in the game, as it can convert all Frozen mutations within 30 yards into Glacial mutations. Each conversion grants 600 experience points to all other pets in the garden. Additionally, when you sell fruit with Glacial mutation, there's a 6% chance that a random mutation from that fruit will be applied to other fruits in the garden.

  Snowman Builder

  Snowman Builder allows you to consume fruit with any cold-type mutation every 4 minutes, granting a snow-based cosmetic reward.

  How To Get More Rewards?

  To get more rewards, maximize the use of Snowy mutation event every 10 minutes. You can use this event to obtain mutated plants for rewards.

  It's recommended to fill every row of your garden with a large number of low-tier plants to quickly generate a large amount of snowy mutation fruit for submission. It's best to pair it with a pet that can copy or amplify mutation effects (like Frost Sprinkler) to more effectively utilize Snowy mutation event.

  Best Pets: 

  • T-Rex pet: Consumes a random mutation every 18 minutes, then spreads it to four other targets.
  • Polar Bear pet: Has a 10% chance every 90 seconds to turn nearby fruit into Chilled or Frozen.
  • Giant Ant pet: Has a chance to copy fruit, and can copy the mutation along with it.

  Christmas Harvest event has just begun, and the second and third parts will bring even more content until Christmas. Enjoy the event and the holidays, players!

• Diablo 4 Season 11 VS. Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 | Who Is Likely To Win In This Competition?

  In the developer livestream that concluded last week, several key pieces of information regarding Diablo 4 Season 11 were announced, such as its official name, Season of Divine Intervention, several further changes based on existing content, and its release date.

  Originally, everyone predicted the season would launch on December 9th, as almost every previous season update had been on a Tuesday evening, but the final date was set for Thursday, December 11th at 8:30 PM PDT.

  This change might lead to many speculations, as it coincides with the timing of this year's TGA awards, and the day after is the release of a new patch 0.4.0 for Diablo 4's old rival, Path of Exile 2.

  Since the news that the second DLC will be released in 2026 is no longer a secret, everyone suspects that Diablo 4 might announce information about the seventh class at TGA.

  However, honestly, whatever groundbreaking news they announce, it won't be added to Season 11 immediately, so the more pressing concern is the impact from Path of Exile 2.

  Next, we will analyze this upcoming new competition between these two old rivals based on the different update content from both games.

  

  Diablo 4 Season 11 Highlights

  Overall, this season follows Diablo 4's consistent update pattern: seasonal powers + new bosses and content + multiple updates. The most prominent features are the return of leaderboards and a major overhaul of the gear upgrade system.

  Unfortunately, on last week's livestream, the developers stated that the leaderboards and the accompanying The Tower dungeon will be delayed until 2026, which is bad news for players who follow the leaderboards.

  But don't despair, the more stable Masterworking and Tempering systems will allow for more consistent gear and affix enhancements, and you can also earn loot and seasonal power Divine Gifts through new boss battles.

  Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0

  This patch, officially named The Last of the Druids, will be released on Friday, December 12th at 11:00 AM PDT, just before a free weekend! Although it still follows the same regular update pattern, this patch brings the new Druid class to POE 2.

  Druids in Path of Exile 2 boast two Ascendancy classes and three transformable forms, offering highly innovative features and re-playability.

  In addition, other existing classes and mechanics have received varying degrees of optimization, and the launch of the new Fate of the Vaal league means you can start from scratch, exploring the secrets of Vaal Ruins through new adventures.

  Which Game Has The Advantage In This Competition?

  Although the first Path of Exile game launched in 2013, earlier than Diablo 4 which was released in 2023, Diablo series as a whole predates Path of Exile, and Path of Exile 2 was released at the end of 2024, and is still in early access.

  Of course, release date isn't the core factor determining a game's quality; we're mentioning this simply to illustrate the long-standing competition between the two games.

  As ARPGs, Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 have inherent differences in gameplay: the former focuses on simple and easy-to-understand combat, aiming for quick accessibility; the latter prefers to immerse you in complex mechanics for a more in-depth experience.

  If you pay attention to the art styles, you'll find they are also quite different. While both have a dark aesthetic, Diablo 4 emphasizes Gothic and mythological elements, while Path of Exile 2 features a medieval, retro aesthetic.

  Based on these significant differences, both games have their own loyal fan bases, but most players are more focused on the present: whichever game has more interesting new content is the one they'll play.

  Comparing Season 11 and Patch 0.4.0, POE 2 seems more appealing, mainly because of the introduction of Druid. Although D4 Season 11 also has new content, the overall re-playability hasn't improved much.

  More importantly, Path of Exile 2 will offer a 3-day free trial until December 15th, allowing anyone to try all content, including patch 0.4.0, regardless of whether they own the base game.

  Therefore, in the short term, at least throughout December, POE 2 is likely to be more attractive. However, since TGA awards haven't started yet, it's hard to say whether Diablo 4's next move will bring a reversal.

  Why Is This Competition Happening?

  When multiple games release new content simultaneously, players inevitably compare them, making it easier to expose the shortcomings of games with subpar content. After all, if you only have one option, you're more likely to tolerate its flaws.

  Furthermore, even if each game diligently develops new seasons or patches, simultaneous releases prevent players from focusing on a single game, leading to decreased engagement.

  Therefore, although Diablo 4 and Path of Exile are old rivals, they have mostly avoided direct confrontation in the past, especially Path of Exile, which usually avoids the hype surrounding Diablo 4's new seasons.

  However, whether D4S11 launches on December 9th as planned or is delayed to the 11th, it's only a few days apart from the release of POE 2 Patch 0.4.0, indicating that Path of Exile 2 is prepared to directly confront Diablo 4 this time.

  From the analysis in the previous section, we can see why POE 2 developers have such confidence: the new content, represented by Druid class, is indeed very attractive and breaks away from the conventional patterns of Druids in most ARPGs.

  So why did Path of Exile 2 choose to strike now? We believe it's because Diablo 4 hasn't had any truly groundbreaking innovations throughout 2025, and negative player feedback is increasing.

  Meanwhile, POE 2's patches 0.2.0 and 0.3.0, while not without flaws, generally showed good effort and innovation, building a solid foundation of popularity.

  Based on this, even though Diablo 4 likely has some tricks up its sleeve, Path of Exile 2 still chooses to engage in a direct confrontation as 2025 draws to a close. But for you, the player, all this competition simply means you can enjoy plenty of new game content!

  The Situation After The Start Of 2026

  Based on current information, POE 2 is unlikely to release any more explosive new information for the time being, but Diablo 4 has more possibilities, such as the return of leaderboards in update 2.5.2, and unknown new content to be announced at TGA.

  Speculations about possible new announcements include a major trailer for the future main storyline, pre-order bonuses, and a new class, possibly Paladin, which might be released in Season 11.

  To be honest, the idea of ​​a big announcement at TGA is just speculation; Diablo 4 hasn't given any clear information, but considering its rather lackluster performance this year, this timing is hard not to speculate about.

  If any of these speculations come true, Diablo 4 Season 11 will have more staying power than POE 2 and will show stronger performance in 2026.

  It's also worth mentioning that although most of the new content in Season 11 isn't particularly innovative, many fundamental mechanics changes have made the game better. These subtle changes are very important for the overall improvement of the game.

  Summary

  Neither of the new content updates has been officially released yet, so we can't easily conclude which will be better, but it's clear that Diablo 4 hasn't shown all its cards yet, and is working hard to keep you on the edge of your seat!

  ---

  There are only two days left until the launch of Season 11. If you want to get ahead of others in gear upgrades in the new season, it's best to buy cheap Diablo 4 gold at IGGM, because it's one of the upgrade materials that cannot be refunded, so you need to stock up enough!

• WoW MoP Classic Phase 3 Class Nerfs Explained | Major 5.5.0–5.5.1 Rollbacks Before Throne Of Thunder

  The phase 3 of WoW Mists of Pandaria Classic expansion will begin on December 9th, along with one of the best raids in the expansion, Throne of Thunder (December 11th).

  The difficulty of Throne of Thunder is undeniable, but the developers have stated that temporary buffs granted to various classes in patches 5.5.0 and 5.5.1 will be rolled back or reset (PvE only).

  For players, these classes will be nerfed in Phase 3, meaning Throne of Thunder will require more consumables and WoW MoP Classic gold to conquer. Let's take a look at this major change.

  

  Death Knight

  Summon Gargoyle mechanics have been significantly changed. Gargoyles will now smoothly cast consecutive strikes without casting intervals. This removes Unholy specialization's skillful manipulation of stacking Haste to snap more strikes. Additionally, gargoyles will have a casting time of no less than 0.5 seconds and will disappear after a maximum of 26 strikes.

  In the fight against Lei Shen, using Death Strike will grant a 3-second Residual Blood effect, which can be used as active mitigation to counter the fatal Strike mechanic. And Raise Ally will no longer consume Runic Power, significantly improving the usability of Battle Resurrect.

  Shaman

  The spell critical strike chance for Healing Tide Totem and Healing Stream Totem will now be calculated based on the casting shaman's Intellect.

  Due to Elemental Shaman's overpowered performance in MoP Classic, all of its buffs have been reduced or rolled back in Phase 3. The damage bonus of Elemental Shaman's Lightning Bolt has been reduced from 20% to 5%. Chain Lightning bonus in Patch 5.5.1 has been removed, and Fulmination bonus has been restored to 0%.

  Warlock

  Fixed an issue where Warlock DoTs would refresh their duration when casting Fire and Brimstone, or Burning Ember when it affected a group of enemies. Its Affliction and Demonology damage bonuses have also been reduced.

  Affliction:

  • Corruption: Damage bonus reduced from +20% to 0%.
  • Agony: Damage bonus reduced from +5% to 0%.
  • Drain Soul: Damage bonus reduced from +50% to +25%.
  • Drain Soul: DoT proc bonus reduced from +40% to +20%.
  • Malefic Grasp: Damage bonus reduced from +50% to +25%.
  • Malefic Grasp: DoT proc bonus reduced from +20% to +10%.

  Demonology:

  • Bane of Doom: Damage bonus reduced from +50% to +25%.
  • Hellfire: Bonus reduced from +25% to +10%.
  • Immolation Aura: Damage bonus reduced from +25% to +10%.
  • Soul Fire: Damage bonus reduced from +20% to +10%.

  Druid

  • Balance: Moonkin Form damage bonus reduced from 25% to 10%.
  • Force of Nature: Damage bonus reduced from 9.1% to 3.64%.
  • Feral: Savage Roar's damage bonus has been reduced from 5% to 0%.
  • Guardian: Bear Form's damage bonus has been reduced from 15% to 8%.
  • Restoration: Meditation's mana regeneration from Spirit during combat has been increased from 50% to 55%.

  Mage

  • Arcane: Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage, and Arcane Missiles' damage bonuses have all been reduced to 5% (previously 15%, 19%, and 15% respectively).
  • Fire: Pyroblast's damage bonus has been reduced from 30% to 15%. Critical Mass's bonus multiplier has also been reduced from 1.5× back to 1.3×, which is the value in version 5.4.8.
  • Frost: Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, Ice Lance, and other abilities have had their damage bonuses significantly reduced in version 5.5.1.

  Since both Arcane and Frost Mage heavily rely on previous buffs, the nerfed Fire Mage may become the strongest.

  Paladin

  • Hand of Sacrifice: No longer triggers Global Cooldown to improve its utility.
  • Templar's Verdict: Damage bonus increased from 20% to 27%.
  • Seal of Insight: Attack speed bonus reduced from 10% to 5%.
  • Protection: Grand Crusader proc chance changed to 12% (triggered by dodging, parrying, or using specific abilities), instead of the previous higher 30%. (Previously triggered by dodging/parrying)

  Grand Crusader nerf will reduce the number of instant casts of Avenger's Shield, potentially slightly reducing Protection Paladin's output. Seal of Insight adjustment weakens Retribution Paladins.

  Priest

  • The previous healing reduction setting for Divine Hymn has been changed to reduce healing by 50%, further weakening its group healing ability.
  • Renew duration increased from 12 seconds to 15 seconds, which also increases the direct healing of Rapid Renew.
  • Damage bonus to Shadow Word: Pain reduced from 18% to 7%, while the overall damage bonus of Shadowform also decreased from 10% to 7%.
  • Chakra cooldown reduced, and an issue with Chakra's incorrect scaling on some abilities fixed.
  • Divine Hymn healing increased.
  • Divine Star healing reduced by 15%.
  • Prayer of Healing cast time reduced by 0.5 seconds.

  Warrior

  The trigger mechanism of the 4-piece Throne of Thunder tier set has been changed. For DPS warriors, it is now triggered by Recklessness instead of Skull Banner (this increases flexibility as Skull Banner is typically used as a raid burst ability).

  The +2s duration bonus Fury provided to Enrage and Berserker Rage in 5.5.0 has been completely removed, returning to +0 seconds, essentially reverting to the original. Attack Power bonus (+11%) to Protection's Shield Barrier has been removed, reverting to 1.8 times the shield's AP as in 5.4.8, a significant nerf.

  Hunter

  Explosive Shot: bonus reduced to 0%.

  Monk

  Windwalker: Tigereye Brew base damage bonus reduced from 5% to 3.5%.

  Some of these changes are already implemented in-game, with the remainder to be added after Phase 3 arrives. However, one thing is certain: you will feel that your character's tanking, healing, and DPS will decrease, or become closer to the difficulty of the original version. This requires you to be more cautious when facing the challenge of Throne of Thunder raid.

• Diablo 4 Season 11 New World Boss Azmodan Guide | How To Defeat Him To Get Rewards?

  As an ARPG with a dark Gothic aesthetic and bloody visuals as its main art style, in addition to new playable content, the art design of new characters, scenes, and items is often a highlight of Diablo 4 updates.

  Unfortunately, in recent seasons, Diablo 4 hasn't introduced enough noteworthy changes in these areas, except for Belial's return in Season 8, and the new boss Azmodan, who will appear in Season 11.

  Both of these bosses appeared in Diablo 3 and have a close relationship. So, in what capacity does Azmodan return in Diablo 4 Season 11, and how should you defeat him? We will answer these questions for you.

  

  Azmodan Background Story Summary

  As the latest installment in Diablo series, Diablo 4 doesn't provide much explanation of many characters from previous games through the storyline, so you only know what you can gain from them, but not their origins.

  While this doesn't affect the gameplay itself, knowing more is always a good thing, so we will briefly introduce Azmodan based on Diablo 3 main story.

  Azmodan is one of the seven Lesser Evils, second only to Prime Evils. After collaborating with Belial to overthrow Prime Evils, they turned against each other, and Azmodan invaded Sanctuary to gain more power.

  In the story of Diablo 3, Azmodan was defeated by the protagonists and imprisoned in Black Soulstone. However, due to the presence of a traitor, Diablo was summoned again and eventually defeated and imprisoned in Black Soulstone.

  Afterward, Diablo and the souls of other Lesser Evils merged in Black Soulstone until Black Soulstone was destroyed, at which point they separated - these demons would escape and bring new disasters.

  What Are World Bosses?

  Azmodan joins Diablo 4 Season 11 as a new world boss and will be added to the game's spawn and rotation schedule along with the three existing world bosses.

  World bosses appear at their respective locations every 3.5 hours, and you have 15 minutes to fight them. If you exceed the time limit, the boss will escape, but if you win within the time limit, you have a chance to obtain rare items and other seasonal rewards.

  To help you find these bosses in a timely manner, the system will notify you when they are about to appear after you unlock World Tier 3 in Diablo 4.

  Here are other world bosses besides Azmodan and their locations:

  • Ashava, the Pestilent: May appear in The Crucible (Fractured Peaks), Scosglen (Caen Adar), and other arenas.
  • Avarice, the Gold Cursed: May appear in Seared Basin (Kehjistan), Saraan Caldera (Dry Steppes), and other arenas.
  • Wandering Death: May appear in Fields of Desecration (Hawezar), and other arenas.

  Azmodan In D4S11

  After Season 11 is officially released, from the perspective of the world boss mechanism, you may unlock Azmodan encounter in the following locations:

  • The Crucible (Fractured Peaks)
  • Scosglen (Caen Adar)
  • Saraan Caldera (Dry Steppes)
  • Fields of Desecration (Hawezar)
  • Seared Basin (Kehjistan)
  • The Cauldron (Nahantu)

  In addition, as one of Lesser Evils, Azmodan has three other "companions" in Sanctuary who will appear in different endgame events. Defeating these Lesser Evils will unlock Season 11 seasonal power, Divine Gifts.

  The other three Lesser Evils and their locations are as follows:

  • Duriel - Helltides
  • Belial - Pit of Artificers
  • Andariel - Kurast Undercity

  Azmodan And Divine Gifts

  Divine Gifts include Corrupted and Purified powers. After defeating each Lesser Evil, you will obtain the corresponding Corrupted Essences and immediately unlock their corrupted slot.

  Note that unlocking the purified slot requires you to reach a specific reputation level. The level corresponding to Azmodan is Rank VI, and the essences you can obtain are Essence of Sin and Essence of Hellfire.

  How To Defeat Azmodan?

  This boss is proficient in dealing fire and spell damage, so close combat is not recommended. Instead, with gear that increases movement speed and mobility, you should always attack from a medium to long distance behind the boss during the fight.

  The boss's skills that last throughout the entire battle mainly include constantly moving fire spikes and lava waves. The spikes move slowly but deal high damage, while the lava waves constantly expand, making them difficult to avoid.

  When you reduce the boss's health to 80% through attacks, he will periodically release a lava breath attack; you can avoid this damage by dodging in time. When Azmodan's health drops to 60%, he will summon a group of Balrogs to attack you.

  All the above skills are manageable, but the real challenge comes when Azmodan's health is reduced to about 5%, at which point he summons many meteors that move towards him. You need to constantly dodge while attacking the boss until he dies.

  After winning the battle, you can expect to receive items such as Exquisite Blood and Tribute of Radiance as rewards. Furthermore, the first time you defeat Azmodan each week, you'll receive exclusive loot and unlock even more rewards!

  

  Can This Boss Battle Be Completed Solo?

  Although world bosses aren't typically considered difficult, as a new boss, Azmodan will undoubtedly be challenging enough to highlight his uniqueness and importance.

  Also, as you know, the overall difficulty of Diablo 4 will be increased after Season 11's release, so completing this boss battle solo is very risky - but not impossible.

  To do this, you should first complete leveling and acquire several good unique items. Secondly, if you're playing Necromancer class, be sure to try Golem builds!

  After Season 11 begins, there may be some changes to the details of Azmodan boss battle. You just need to pay attention to these changes based on this guide to confidently handle the fight. Good luck!

• Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 Best League Starter Builds | Wyvern, Pathfinder And Titan Bear

  When starting a new patch or league in Path of Exile 2, choosing the right build is crucial if you want to progress quickly. Generally, powerful builds are recommended, but sometimes novelty and new changes must also be considered.

  Taking the upcoming Fate of the Vaal league, launching on December 12th, as an example, you can play the new Druid class, so builds related to it are not to be missed. Furthermore, various changes to combat mechanics mean that old builds may gain new vitality.

  Based on the above, we will recommend three builds worth crafting and playing first in the new patch.

  

  The Wyvern Form-Focused Build

  If you're keeping up with the latest PoE 2 news, you'll know from livestreams and announcements that Druid can transform into three forms: wolf, bear, and wyvern, by using new weapon Animal Talismans.

  The wyvern is the last and most unique form announced. Transforming into a flying dragon and spewing flames with Flame Breath skill will undoubtedly feel incredibly cool.

  While this is only one type of attack in wyvern form, it's the most important because its actual attack speed is very fast, with a base attack speed of up to 800%, and you can continuously channel it for 4 seconds to deal 750% fire damage.

  If you want to extend the channeling time of Flame Breath, you can do so by consuming six Rage per second. Additionally, when using this skill, for every energy charge consumed, you gain a 50% lightning damage bonus and a 50% reduction in Rage consumption speed.

  This means that only three Rage per second are needed to achieve all the effects mentioned above, and since the base Rage limit is 30 points, this means you can gain an additional 10 seconds of channeling time with the help of energy charges.

  According to the developers' recommended playstyle, choose the wyvern form and its fire-breathing skills, along with Ascendancy class Shaman, and then buy PoE 2 currency to further enhance the appropriate gear, and you will become an invincible Druid.

  The Modified Pathfinder

  Pathfinder is one of Ascendancy classes of the base class Ranger, specializing in damaging enemies through mechanisms such as poisons and flask throwing.

  If you find the overall movement speed of Druid Wyvern fire-breathing build too slow, then a Pathfinder-based build is worth trying: this Ascendancy class can reduce the movement speed penalty by 50% by unlocking specific nodes.

  In addition, patch 0.4.0 also brought several Ascendancy passive skill options to Pathfinder, allowing you to leverage the strengths of other classes, including:

  • Path of the Warrior: Allows you to allocate initial Warrior passive skill points.
  • Path of the Sorceress: Allows you to allocate initial Sorceress passive skill points.

  Each option rewards you with 4 passive skill points. Based on this, if you want to make your Pathfinder builds more elemental, you can choose Sorceress passive skills; if you value attack power more, you can start with Warrior.

  In fact, although the nodes and passive skills between different Ascendancy classes are not interchangeable, theoretically, all active skills are universal across all classes due to the skill gem mechanism.

  Therefore, after determining your passive skill style, you can incorporate Druid's wyvern fire skill, Flame Breath, into your Pathfinder builds, converting your damage type from physical damage to fire damage.

  More importantly, Pathfinder also received some additional bonuses through Patch 0.4.0, with damage, global defenses, and cost efficiency all increased by 5%.

  To this end, you can first allocate some energy shield talent nodes, and then a bunch of attribute nodes to gain a large amount of energy shield.

  At this point, you will find that you can combine reduced movement speed penalties and energy shields to craft fast and sturdy Pathfinder builds. This is theoretically possible, but it is difficult in practice and requires time to explore.

  Titan Bear Build

  After combining Pathfinder and Druid wyvern, another cross-class build type worth trying is Titan bear.

  Titan is Warrior's Ascendancy class, specializing in overwhelming physical power. As one of Druid's transformation forms, the bear has a certain tank style, capable of knocking down and stunning enemies, similar to Titan.

  In the changes brought by Patch The Last of Druids, Titan gained a new Ascendancy talent node, Mountain Splitter. It allows every third slam skill you cast that doesn't create a fissure to generate an additional aftershock on each side of the initial area.

  Correspondingly, the previous Surprising Strength node has been removed, and Crushing Impacts now deals 25% increased damage to heavily stunned enemies.

  The skills available to Druid's bear form, such as Maul, Furious Slam, and more, mostly emphasize heavy hits and effects like Warcries, which synergize well with Titan skills.

  For example, you can continuously slam the ground, generating a series of aftershocks, while simultaneously gaining 50% of the small passive node effects through Titan's class characteristics, as well as other AoE attack nodes.

  Overall, the three builds introduced here are essentially based on the new Druid class. Thanks to skill gems, the addition of this new class to Path of Exile 2 also brings many build crafting possibilities to other classes.

  Whether you are interested in these three builds or want to try more uses of Druid form after the new league officially starts, it's all possible. We hope your exploration goes smoothly and you have fun!

• ARC Raiders Expedition Requirements & Fast Coin Farming | How To Reach 5 Million Stash Value Before The Deadline?

  The official requirements and rewards for ARC Raiders Expedition have been released. However, to gain the extra 5 skill points, you need items worth 5 million coins in your stash (including your own coins).

  While participation in Expedition isn't mandatory for all players, it provides extra stash space and skill points, which players who want to experience it long-term definitely won't want to miss. The remaining challenge is accumulating enough coins before the window closes.

  

  Expedition Requirements And Rewards

  Expedition's start date has been slightly delayed; it begins on December 17th and closes on December 22nd. Only players level 20 and above can participate. Players who meet the level requirement can submit items during this period to fulfill the conditions and reset their level, inventory, blueprints, etc.

  Players who successfully reset their progress will receive the following rewards:

  • The Patchwork Raider outfit
  • Scrappy Janitor Cap
  • Expeditions Indicator icon
  • Skill points (depending on Stash value)
  • +12 Stash space

  To maximize skill point rewards, you need to optimize your inventory, ensuring each slot contains high-value items, while low-value basic materials and common shields should be sold or dismantled.

  PVE Farming Strategy

  • Location: Buried City

  If you don't want to engage in PvP, Buried City is the best map for you, as it's safe and yields between 70,000 and 100,000 ARC Raiders coins per run, and you only need to quickly loot a few resource-rich and safe indoor locations, then immediately evacuate via a nearby hatch or extraction point.

  Loot Spots

  Red Tower

  Red Tower is located in the south of the map. You can enter from the top or bottom to check drawers and weapon cases, which may contain security breaches.

  Santa Maria Houses

  Santa Maria Houses are a few houses north of Red Tower. You can first clear the drawers and security breaches in the neighbor's attic, then enter Santa Maria Houses attic to loot drawers and find a third security breach. You can then descend from the attic to the rooms. There are many valuables on the tables, sofas, and drawers, while weapon cases are usually found in the yard.

  Building Underneath The Bridge

  You can enter rooms with breachable doors, which often contain valuables, blueprints, and weapons. You can also use Buried City Residential Master Key to open the door to a hidden building ,and the room contains weapons, valuables, grenades, blueprints, etc.

  Key Tips

  This route prioritizes efficiency. You can bring some adrenaline to speed up map traversal. Both solo and dual teams can find good loot at these locations.

  You can plan your search route, but there's no need to stick to a fixed one. It's best to flexibly visit these hot loot spots based on your spawn point and the current battle situation. Also, ammo boxes may contain valuable items, so don't forget to search them. After each run, to maximize your profits, sell all your loot and don't hoard it.

  PVP Farming Strategy

  • Location: Stella Montis

  Stella Montis has a high PVP density. How much loot you collect depends on your strategy and PVP ability, so the rewards fluctuate greatly. Generally, each run yields over 50,000 to 120,000 coins.

  For skills, you can bring Broad Shoulders to increase carrying capacity and Loaded Arms to reduce weapon weight, allowing you to carry more loot.

  Stella Montis's main resource points are distributed in the four corners of the map:

  • Medical Research area on the west side has valuable loot throughout.
  • Assembly Workshops on the north side have two room groups; clearing them out yields highly valuable items.
  • In the southernmost Seed Vault, each seed is worth 100 coins; you can usually loot 60-70, worth approximately 6000-7000 coins.
  • Security Room near the lobby is also rich in resources, but PvP often breaks out there.

  Zero-risk Approach

  You can enter using free loadout, then prioritize looting Seed Vault or nearby resource points, fill your inventory, and leave. Each run yields a stable 50,000 to 80,000 coins; even if you die, you only lose seeds, with virtually no risk.

  High-risk, High-reward Approach

  You can also enter with high-level gear and a big looting bag, looting high-level resource points and participating in PvP to plunder other players' equipment. Even a well-equipped level 5 Stitcher can earn you 10,000 to 18,000 coins.

  This method can easily yield over 100,000 coins, but the risk of participating in PvP is extremely high because Stella Montis battleground is chaotic and requires excellent adaptability. You can sell all your items after evacuating and then re-enter, repeating this cycle to quickly accumulate wealth and PvP experience.

  Matriarch/Queen Events

  The last method is rather underhanded and unethical. If you're willing to be a rat, this method can also earn a lot of coins.

  In raids containing Matriarchs and Queen events, all players enter with their best gear, so defeating them yields extremely high rewards. If you can successfully kill several teams each round, you can earn 200,000 to 300,000 ARC Raiders coins. While other player teams attack the boss, your team focuses on eliminating the remaining players. Ideally, when the boss is defeated, only one team remains on the map to deal with. Eliminating them allows you and your team to claim all the loot.

  However, this requires precise control over the pace of eliminating other player teams. Too fast and you'll have to fight the boss yourself; too slow and other teams will take the loot. This method is highly unethical and will likely result in you being wanted by other players, so you had better not use the method.

  You can run Buried City multiple times, and with your previous accumulation, reaching a stash value of 5 million coins before Expedition deadline shouldn't be too difficult.