News Tag: Path Of Exile 3 28

Some of the changes introduced in PoE 3.28 have completely revolutionized the way players approach the game. One particularly notable change is the new ability for players to utilize pseudo 7-link gear, thereby significantly boosting their character’s power during the endgame phase.

For veteran Exiles, you are likely well aware that, under normal circumstances, items in Path of Exile are limited to a maximum of six sockets, a privilege typically reserved only for two-handed weapons and body armor. Most other gear slots are generally restricted to just three or four sockets.

Within these sockets, players can empower a skill gem by slotting it alongside up to 5 support gems in the remaining slots. Once all these support gems are linked together, they form what is known as a 6-link gem setup, the most powerful configuration available in the game.

However, PoE 3.28 Mirage League introduces a new currency item, Djinn Coin, that allows you to easily corrupt a skill gem, imbuing it with a random support enchantment to create a pseudo 7-link setup. While the process of obtaining a pseudo 7-link may seem straightforward, it is entirely dependent on RNG; therefore, securing your ideal configuration may ultimately come down to pure luck.

Next, let’s take a closer look at how to craft a pseudo 7-link and how exactly they function. This knowledge could be the key to helping you construct the most powerful character builds in PoE 3.28!

How to craft a Pseudo 7-Link?

In Path of Exile 3.28 Mirage League, the pseudo 7-link mechanic is of paramount importance. By effectively providing a free Level 1 support gem, it delivers a massive and incredibly cost-efficient damage boost, thereby substantively upgrading a standard 6-link setup into a 7-link configuration.

However, as previously mentioned, this effect is achieved through a unique mechanic specific to the new league: Coins of Knowledge, Power, or Skill. By using one of these coins to corrupt a Level 20 skill gem, you can generate a pseudo 7-link. This process grants the gem the effect of a random Level 1 support gem, effectively providing a 7th functional link for your primary skill. Consequently, this allows you to significantly boost your character’s damage potential in the endgame without incurring the high cost typically associated with acquiring expensive 6-link gear.

Djinn Coin system, exclusive to Mirage League, corrupts a Skill Gem, randomly adding an active Support Gem effect based on Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence. This grants you a free, additional damage multiplier (equivalent to a seventh link) without requiring specific 6-link gear or special affixes.

However, since the added Support Gem is always Level 1, and the outcome is random, the process is akin to gambling; it requires repeated attempts to find the optimal Support Gem and successfully craft a pseudo-7-link.

For instance, after using a Coin of Skill to corrupt Split Arrow, we immediately gained the effect of a Level 1 Vicious Projectiles Support Gem. Crucially, this transformation does not occupy a socket slot on your weapon or armor, leaving those slots free for other Support Gems. Essentially, this creates a 2-link setup which, when combined with five other external Support Gems, results in a pseudo-7-link gem configuration.

How do you obtain these Djinn coins?

In PoE 3.28, players primarily acquire Djinn Coins by defeating Afarud Necromancers to gain access to Mirage League zones. Before entering a Mirage zone, you can select a specific Djinn Wish from Varashta; this choice determines the type of Djinn Coins that monsters within that specific Mirage zone will drop.

You can obtain these Djinn Coins simply by defeating monsters within Mirage zones. It is worth noting that Mirage mechanic is influenced by Atlas Tree Passives and Scarabs, which can increase the frequency with which you encounter Mirages within your maps. Furthermore, Mirages can replicate other league-specific mechanics present in the map, thereby increasing monster density and potential loot drops.

Important Considerations

While the process of constructing a 7-link gem setup is not inherently complex, there are still a few important points I must bring to your attention.

First, you must be prepared for the fact that, although a 7-link setup can be incredibly powerful, the final result may not always be the one you desire. This is because the corruption effect can add any Support Gem effect compatible with Skill Gem; as we all know, every Skill Gem has a mix of both highly beneficial and less-than-ideal Support Gem interactions.

Additionally, the game doesn't allow players to equip two skill gems corrupted by coins simultaneously to prevent players from using two pseudo-6-links, which would disrupt game balance. Furthermore, only Level 20 gems can form a pseudo 7-link; gems below Level 20 will not be affected by Djinn Coins.

Is that extra link worth sacrificing a Level 21 gem? Whether you are playing Tornado Shot or Lacerate, master the new crafting mechanics of the 3.28 league to immediately push your build to its absolute limits!

The new batch of items introduced in Path of Exile's 3.28 league has once again reshaped the game's landscape, building upon existing content and necessitating corresponding adjustments to your offensive and defensive mechanisms.

Among these additions, the new Volatile Vaal Orb has a particularly significant impact on defensive strategies. More importantly, it creates powerful synergies when combined with features introduced in previous leagues, such as Foulborn unique items.

In this guide, we will use Volatile Vaal Orb as our focal point to demonstrate how to craft powerful defensive setups in Mirage League.

Defensive setups in PoE 3.28

In Path of Exile, the defensive setup primarily refers to the strategy of stacking multiple mechanisms to mitigate various types of damage, for instance, by boosting elemental resistances, Spell Suppression, or Armor values, or by incorporating other recovery methods.

Since physical damage can typically only be mitigated by increasing armor or evaded through movement speed, a common core defensive strategy involves finding ways to convert incoming physical damage into other damage types before applying defensive layers against them.

During 3.25 league, many methods capable of converting physical damage into other damage types for mitigation purposes were significantly nerfed or even removed entirely.

This change meant that many builds relying on this specific mechanism could no longer achieve 100% physical damage conversion, thereby losing their original competitive edge.

Fortunately, the game soon addressed this issue in the subsequent 3.26 league by introducing the new Prismatic Jewel: Bound by Destiny. The modifiers on this jewel allow it to provide a stat bonus that converts up to 10% of incoming physical damage into elemental damage.

If you felt that this single jewel wasn't enough to fully compensate for the loss, 3.27 league quickly offered a further solution by introducing Foulborn unique items, a mechanism that was subsequently retained and integrated into the core game following the release of 3.28 league.

What is Volatile Vaal Orb?

Building upon the defensive setup mechanics established in previous leagues, Path of Exile introduced Volatile Vaal Orb in 3.28 league.

When this special currency is applied to a piece of gear, there is a 50% chance that the item will be destroyed. If the item survives, however, the orb will re-roll all of its explicit modifiers, offering you a chance to significantly increase the item's overall value.

How to convert damage types?

Before the introduction of Volatile Vaal Orb, achieving 100% conversion of incoming physical damage into elemental damage required the use of specific unique items combined with the implicit modifiers provided by Eldritch affixes.

For instance, Lightning Coil converts 50% of physical damage taken on hit into lightning damage. Notably, its Foulborn variant converts 50% of chaos damage taken into lightning damage instead.

Alternatively, you could equip Dawnbreaker shield to convert up to 20% of physical damage taken into fire damage, thereby raising your total physical damage conversion rate to 70%.

Next, for the helmet slot, you can utilize the crafting bench to unveil a hidden modifier that converts up to 8% of physical damage taken on hit into elemental damage.

Regardless of the specific gear combination you choose, you can further supplement it with Bound by Destiny jewel; however, this jewel only takes effect if you simultaneously have four specific Conqueror-influenced items equipped.

Once you have maximized the affix values of all the aforementioned components to their absolute limits, you will be able to convert 88% of incoming physical damage into other damage types. The remaining 12% can be covered by utilizing Foulborn variants of Breach amulets.

It is worth noting that you should generally avoid letting your damage conversion rate exceed 100%, as doing so would result in the total damage you ultimately take being higher than the raw damage originally dealt by the enemy's hit. However, a slight overflow is generally harmless.

What is the significance of Volatile Vaal Orb's introduction?

While the setup described above is quite effective, it imposes rather strict constraints on the types of builds you can pursue. This is because, in order to achieve the desired defensive outcome, you are forced to lock down multiple gear slots with specific items.

However, the introduction of Volatile Vaal Orb allows you to transcend the standard numerical limits of affixes, either further boosting (or potentially lowering) the values of specific modifiers by a margin of up to 22% relative to their base values.

In practical terms, provided you have a sufficient budget, this means you can achieve 100% physical damage conversion using fewer gear slots. However, given the 50% failure rate associated with the process, you must be prepared to invest a substantial number of orbs.

This is particularly true for items with affixes that possess extremely wide numerical ranges; in such cases, attempting to obtain your ideal values through repeated re-rolls can prove to be an incredibly arduous task.

However, if successful - taking Lightning Coil as an example, the numerical value of its affix converting physical damage to lightning damage can be boosted to a maximum of 61%. This grants you an additional 11% damage conversion rate, a feat simply unattainable through conventional means.

Building upon this foundation, if you proceed to corrupt Dawnbreaker, its efficiency in converting physical damage to fire damage can be raised to 24%. With just these two pieces of gear alone, you can achieve a total physical damage conversion rate of 85%.

In short, the new possibilities introduced by Volatile Vaal Orb significantly enhance the flexibility of your build setup. Not only does it free up your Amulet slot, but it also allows you the freedom to choose a different helmet.

Beyond the strategies we have outlined here, you can also leverage the core mechanics of Volatile Vaal Orb to apply these effects to other gear pieces of your choice, allowing you to craft a truly unique and personalized defensive setup!

In Path of Exile 3.28, learning how to efficiently generate currency is arguably one of the most important aspects of the game. Currently, there are numerous farming strategies available, allowing you to choose one based on your progression stage and build strength.

Reality Fragment Farming strategy highlighted here is exceptionally straightforward and accessible. Apart from requiring a decent build, there are virtually no barriers to entry. The preparation is minimal, and the process of selling your loot is incredibly smooth, taking up almost no extra playtime.

Why Choose Reality Fragments?

Currently, Reality Fragments command a high value, each trading for around 100 Chaos Orbs. They are relatively easy to obtain, and their value shows a tendency to increase. This is because many players this league are focused on farming Maven. They require Reality Fragments to open portals to Uber Maven encounter.

To achieve our goal, we will be targeting the nightmare map, Abomination, and quickly farming its boss. Abomination boss fight has almost no phase transitions. You enter the boss room, swiftly defeat the three mini-bosses, and then take down the final large boss that appears. The entire process is clean and efficient.

Furthermore, Mirage in Abomination seems to spawn more frequently near the boss room. Successfully dealing with this Mirage can effectively double your yield from a run.

The whole cycle is very fast, and during this process, you will also incidentally acquire some Astrolabes and Black Barya map fragments. When you factor in these additional earnings, your hourly profit can exceed 20 Divine Orbs, and considering their rising value, it could potentially reach around 25 Divine Orbs.

Preparation

To execute this strategy, you simply need to select Nightmare Maps with base modifiers that are manageable for your gear. Aside from reflect damage, you just need to ensure the map doesn't have modifiers your build cannot handle. There's no need to take PoE currency on reforging; as long as there are no detrimental modifiers, you can run them immediately, prioritizing speed above all else.

If your build has sufficient speed and you don't encounter Mirage, you should be able to complete a map in about one minute (encountering Mirage might extend the total time to around two minutes). Of course, this does require a powerful build capable of dealing significant boss damage. Other profits come from bonuses provided by Atlas Tree and general drops.

When Mirage spawns close to the boss, you will see a distinct purple or pink ring of light within the boss arena. If you spot this ring, you should backtrack to find and defeat Mirage before returning to finish off the boss.

The core loop is simple: continuously run Abomination, rush through the map to the boss room, defeat the boss as fast as possible, leave the map, and repeat.

Atlas Tree Setup

The central principle for Atlas Tree in this strategy is to maximize the chance of the boss Mirage appearing.

You need to block out all other league mechanics on your Atlas Tree (i.e., allocate no points to them), as this significantly increases the probability of Mirage appearing near the boss.

Allocate all nodes that increase the chance to find maps within areas. This helps sustain your pool of higher-tier maps.

Take all explicit modifier nodes that increase item quantity found on maps to maximize drops.

Do not allocate any nodes related to Altars, as you are focused on quickly killing the boss and will generally not interact with them.

Beyond these points, it becomes a fairly basic tree configuration, with the core aim of maximizing all effects that boost item quantity. Since this strategy doesn't utilize any Fragments, there's no need for nodes that multiply their effects.

Regarding which eldritch influence to choose, you can opt for either Eater of Worlds or Searing Exarch. The difference is minimal, with the main benefit being Invitations they drop.

Managing Expenses

When calculating net profit, you need to account for your expenses. Currently, the going rate for Nightmare Maps is around 20 Chaos Orbs each. So, if you can farm 30 maps per hour, using the current exchange rate between Chaos Orbs and Divine Orbs, this translates to an expense of nearly 3 Divine Orbs.

After deducting this cost, even without accounting for extra drops like Astrolabes, your net profit per hour lands in the range of 20-22 Divine Orbs. If your build is exceptionally fast, your profits will naturally be even higher.

Alternative Nightmare Maps

You could certainly apply this fast-farming strategy to other Nightmare Maps, but you need to be mindful of efficiency. If your build isn't strong enough to handle Abomination boss efficiently, it's advisable to adjust map modifiers or try executing the same strategy on a map like Fortress.

In summary, boss rushing is incredibly profitable in PoE 3.28, particularly because Exceptional Gems dropped by Maven are in high demand, fueling the need for related access items. May this strategy help you amass even more currency!

Kingsmarch content in Path of Exile's Mirage League has received adjustments, but this isn't entirely a negative development. The primary official change is a reduction in its importance, transforming it into optional farming content that players who dislike the mechanic can now bypass.

However, this content still holds significant potential, which requires understanding the specific mechanics and changes in Kingsmarch to optimize your approach.

Kingsmarch Changes

Several core changes in Mirage League have fundamentally altered the gameplay logic of Kingsmarch. The most notable change is that the functions of Ore and Crops have been completely swapped.

• Ore: Now, by sending any amount of ore via your port, your ships will return with PoE currency upon their arrival. This is your new method for acquiring the primary currency of the game.
• Crops: Sending Crops will instead bring back equipment, which consists of armor pieces for different slots. More importantly, this provides a consistent way to target the color of Tattoos you desire.

Gem and Scarab Removal

This is the core reduction in power Kingsmarch has received. Currently, regardless of your actions, you can no longer obtain Gems or Scarab rewards from Kingsmarch. If you previously engaged with this mechanic primarily for these two rewards, it will now hold less appeal for you.

Kingsmarch Strategies

After understanding the changes to Kingsmarch, you may need to adjust your strategies.

Shipment Cargo Ratios

Regardless of the shipment size you plan to send, you should aim to maintain a total cargo value composed of half Dust and half ore. Remember to never send Dust along with crops, as this is not profitable.

Port Selection

When you decide to send Crops, you'll need to choose a destination port, which determines your bonus rewards.

Sending to Kalguuran Ports will grant you Runegrafts, and Sending to other ports will provide you with Tattoos of a specified color. Some rare green Tattoos command extremely high values, while among blue and red Tattoos there are also valuable options.

Bounty Mission Refresh Mechanic

The refresh mechanic for bounty missions is a very practical improvement. You can now refresh port bounty missions using 15,000 gold. If a bounty mission requires resources you don't have in abundance, simply click to refresh.

Continue refreshing until all three required resources match the types of ore you plan to send. This way, you can reliably obtain bounty rewards with every large shipment, essentially gaining extra income at no additional cost. Previously, you might have only been able to complete a bounty once per league due to resource mismatches. Now, you can ensure every significant shipment triggers a bounty, greatly enhancing your returns.

Risk

When sending shipments, be sure to keep your eyes on the risk. Especially when your shipment value reaches 50 million, the risk for certain ports will inevitably increase to 10%. Risk events can result in significant cargo loss, such as losing half your crops.

Therefore, you should only send ships to ports displaying a 0% risk bar. Regardless of your shipment's scale, if the risk is 0, it's safe to send.

Smelting

One unit of ore can be smelted into one Smelted Bar, and one Smelted Bar is worth five times as much as the ore. Consequently, it's essential to wait for ore to be smelted into Bars before shipping them to maximize profits. You can utilize Atlas Passive Tree or other strategies to have ore convert directly into Smelted Bars, bypassing the waiting time.

You can set all your smelters to smelt the rarest ore types. They will automatically process all ore types in descending order of rarity, eliminating the need for manual assignment.

The same logic applies to your miners; assign them all to a single ore type, and they will automatically prioritize mining from the rarest to the most common.

Workers

Workers can now only be leveled up to a maximum of level 5. When refreshing workers, be sure to only use the refresh option costing 4,000 gold. This option has a higher chance of revealing high-level workers.

When hiring workers, be mindful of those with additional tags like "Mapper." While they may have decent levels, their wages will be significantly higher. If you accidentally hire them, this elevated wage will continuously drain your gold.

A typical effective configuration is five level-5 mappers and one level-4 mapper. If a mapper is kidnapped, it's worthwhile to give the ransom, even if it costs 50,000 gold.

You can bulk trade for maps with 8 mods. Equipping your mappers with these 8-mod maps can yield a good return in currency.

Scarab Loadouts

If you intend to delve deeply into this mechanic, here are recommended Scarab combinations.

• Kalguuran Scarab x2: Provides two additional Ore Deposits.
• Kalguuran Scarab of Refinement: Causes ore picked up in maps to convert directly into Smelted Bars, bypassing the smelting step.
• Kalguuran Scarab of Enriching: Increases the amount of ore yielded per deposit.
• Sulphite Scarab: Causes Niko to appear in your maps, which can lead to more ore Deposits.

Other Influencing Factors

Atlas Passive Tree contains a notable that doubles the spawn frequency of Crimson Iron deposits. Allocating this notable will speed up your map clearing, and these deposits will drop a significant amount of Divine Orbs. However, the trade-off is that you will frequently encounter the least valuable ore, potentially reducing the total value of your large shipments.

Mirage can duplicate ore, but it may also convert your ore into low-value Dust. Additionally, be aware that if cargo is "lost in transit" within Mirage, you will directly forfeit the corresponding ore and Smelted Bars.

The above are all the significant changes and strategic details for Kingsmarch content in Path of Exile 3.28. If you choose to participate, understanding these new rules will greatly benefit you.

Path of Exile 3.28 has launched, and players are currently busy leveling up and farming currency. Due to adjustments to Atlas system, players now have greater freedom in their farming approaches, leading to the emergence of many new strategies.

Here is an introduction to an early-game farming strategy utilizing Divination Scarab of The Cloister. Its output is remarkably consistent, essentially providing roughly one Divine Orb per map.

Profitability and the Strategy

First, let's examine Divination Scarab of The Cloister. It generates many monster packs within a map that have a chance to drop Stacked Decks. The primary source of profit for this strategy comes from these Stacked Decks. Currently, approximately 100 decks can be exchanged for 1 Divine Orb, and this method allows you to obtain between 80 to 100 decks per map.

Beyond the decks themselves, maps will also yield a substantial quantity of other currency and items. Additionally, each map triggers standard Rituals and Mirages, providing opportunities for extra rewards. Overall, the value generated from a single map consistently exceeds that of one Divine Orb.

You might consider the associated costs, but they are actually quite minimal. Due to the high supply of scarabs in the current league, Divination Scarabs of The Cloister are abundantly available, with a single Divine Orb able to acquire several dozen of them.

Another required investment is the maps themselves. You should select maps with open and spacious layouts to maximize efficiency. Such maps typically cost around 1 Chaos Orb each. Therefore, to initiate this strategy, an initial investment of one Divine Orb can provide you with over a dozen sets of materials.

Scarab Setup

To execute this strategy, you need to properly configure your map device with the correct scarabs and have enough slots unlocked. You will need to place five Divination Scarabs of The Cloister into the device.

If you haven't unlocked the fifth scarab slot yet, you must do so by completing The Maven's ten-boss encounters and defeating the map boss within a Nightmare Map (accessed after Act 4).

If you need to defeat a Nightmare Map boss to unlock a slot, it's advisable to use a Scarab of the Sinistral and a Scarab of the Dextral. These will render the map's modifiers ineffective, significantly reducing the encounter's difficulty.

Atlas Tree

Since Stacked Decks drop from Doedre's Devoted mobs, larger monster packs lead to more decks. Therefore, your Atlas Tree selection should focus on a single core objective: maximizing pack size.

You need to allocate all passive points that enhance map explicit modifier effects and pack size. Furthermore, you should aim to run eight-modifier maps, as they possess the highest base pack size.

Ritual Mechanics

Monsters slain within a Ritual will respawn and be killed again when you activate the altar. This effectively provides Doedre's Devoted mobs—the source of Stacked Decks—with a second opportunity to drop them.

Additionally, after clearing the entire map, pay attention to the number of decks that dropped within each Ritual's area. The altar surrounded by the most decks indicates its area contained the highest concentration of Doedre's Devoted mobs. You should prioritize activating this altar first. This is because subsequent altars you activate will inherit all monsters previously slain in earlier altars. Consequently, later altars will also contain these special mobs, allowing for continued deck generation.

Mirage Mechanics

Upon entering Mirage, prioritize selecting the reward option that provides "20% more pack size." This will substantially increase deck drops both inside and outside Mirage. Additionally, altars also appear within Mirage, so don't forget to check their rewards.

Altar Rewards

In both standard and Mirage altars, if you encounter a highly desirable, high-value item you cannot immediately afford, you have the option to defer it. You can then accumulate enough tribute over subsequent maps to eventually claim it.

Regardless of which altar you are engaging with, prioritize selecting options that offer a "Chance to duplicate currency." This effect applies to all forms of PoE currency, meaning any dropped Stacked Decks have a chance to be duplicated, effectively doubling that portion of your profit.

Note that affixes like "100% more currency drops" are ineffective for stacked deck drops, but affixes that duplicate upon drop are effective.

Build Requirements

Because Doedre's Devoted Mobs possess a proximity shield, you will need a build capable of effectively dealing with this mechanic. Specific setups or high burst damage can break the shield quickly. If you feel your damage output might be insufficient, consider using a DoT build. Damage over time effects, such as poison or ignite, can bypass the proximity shield entirely, killing the monsters within.

Alternatively, if your build cannot rapidly penetrate or bypass the proximity shield, you must bolster your defenses. Whether stacking Energy Shield, Evasion, or other layers of defense, ensuring your character's survivability is crucial to safely harvest the abundant decks from the dense monster packs.

In summary, this is a low-investment, high-reward, and straightforward mapping strategy. By simply leveraging the current league's item values and mechanics, each map can yield significant profits. Once you have accumulated some initial currency, you can consider upgrading your build's power. This will enhance your efficiency, whether you choose to continue with this strategy or transition to another one.

Path of Exile 3.28 introduces a huge number of changes. They've not only significantly reworked the map system but also added and redesigned many Scarabs. So, when you're choosing your League Start build, it's a good idea to keep your endgame farming strategies in mind.

What reliable farming methods are available in Mirage League? Given the vast number of strategies in PoE 1, let's break them down.

Economic System Changes

The map system isn't the only major change. The developers removed two primary sinks for Chaos Orbs: Map Device and T17 maps. Without these consumption methods, the value of Chaos Orbs will take a significant hit, potentially becoming very low.

The developers have increased the drop rates of currencies like Exalted Orbs and Regal Orbs. These might replace Chaos Orbs as the standard PoE currency for basic trading. This directly weakens any strategy that relies on generating Chaos Orbs.

The developers also explicitly stated that they've roughly doubled the drop rates for most high-value currencies. This indirectly nerfs mechanics that involve choosing rewards, like Ritual.

Another key factor to consider is Mirage mechanic itself. It allows you to experience many league mechanics twice within a single map. This is particularly advantageous for one-off mechanics like Expedition, potentially making it quite profitable.

With these changes in mind, let's dive into an evaluation of the pros and cons for each mechanic.

Tier S

Legion

Since Mirage League seems to favor monsters dropping currency directly, Legion should be one of the strongest mechanics right now. Its Scarabs have also been buffed, with the old ones being replaced by the new Legion Scarab of Treasures.

This new Scarab gives Legion monsters a chance to drop chest rewards upon breaking free. The monsters are tougher, but the rewards are significantly better. This makes any build specializing in fast Legion clearing highly sought after in the new league.

Heist

While Heist didn't receive new Scarabs, the developers buffedAtlas passive tree nodes related to Smuggler's Caches. By allocating all relevant passives, you get a 100% chance for a Smuggler's Cache to appear in your maps.

The rewards from Smuggler's Caches have also been buffed, offering more Blueprints, Rogue's Markers, and other items. Even just selling these findings can net you a decent amount of currency. If Mirage mechanic opens a second cache, the rewards would be absolutely immense.

The Maven

Maven farming strategy got a substantial boost due to the rework of Chisels. In short, the various individual Chisels have been consolidated into just Maven's Chisel of Avarice, and that's the only one you'll need.

Although the effect of a single chisel has been nerfed, demand will likely skyrocket since everyone will be using one per map. An added bonus is that you can now have Conqueror or Elder/Shaper influence on a map simultaneously with Maven witnessing the fight, allowing you to stack rewards.

Blue Eldritch Altars

With the reduced value of Chaos Orbs, and Orb of Scouring rewards being moved to Red Eldritch Altar track, a negative outcome has effectively been removed from Blue Altar pool. This significantly boosts their overall profitability.

Tier A

Expedition

The new Expedition Scarab of Infusion is incredibly powerful. It causes dropped Logbooks to have four implicit modifiers, and each Remnant you detonate increases both the difficulty and the rewards of all Expedition monsters. If you can detonate 5-10 Remnants, the reward multiplier becomes substantial. Additionally, Expedition monsters themselves have very rewarding drops. This strategy has the potential to be Tier S.

Beyond

As a mechanic that spawns a high volume of extra monsters that drop currency directly, Beyond is inherently strong. The only downside is the rework of Beyond Scarab of Resurgence, which now summons an additional boss – an effect that isn't particularly desirable for efficiency.

Ambush

Ambush mechanic didn't receive any new Scarabs, and the existing Ambush Scarab of Discernment was actually nerfed. With the removal of Cartographer's Chisels, the pool of currencies that can drop from Artisan's Strongboxes is smaller. This means you'll likely see more Gemcutter's Prisms, which is a small indirect buff. Overall, however, it probably won't feel much different from last league.

Delirium

Delirium generates a massive number of monsters, which is always a plus. A notable buff from Mirage League is the ability to re-roll a single implicit modifier on a Cluster Jewel without affecting the others. The new Delirium Scarab also adds one layer to the fog for each boss present. This is a very strong effect; the better your build is at clearing, the better the rewards from this mechanic will be.

Delve

With Fossils being consolidated back into Delve, it could be a worthwhile strategy to explore. However, Fossils aren't a mandatory consumable, so their value will be self-regulated by the market. If too many players are Delving, the profit margin might not be that high.

Tier B

Abyss

The situation for Abyss has improved slightly, but the new Scarab simply guarantees an Abyssal Depths spawn. It's not a game-changer.

Kalguur

Kalguur mechanic feels much worse after its rework. It's hardly worth investing Gold into within settlements. However, completing Settlers of Kalguur event in maps is significantly more rewarding, allowing you to ship ores for currency. While it has the theoretical potential to be a Tier S strategy, many players dislike the mechanics involved.

Red Eldritch Altars

Following the devaluation of Chaos Orbs, the profitability of Red Eldritch Altars has diminished. While they can still drop decent Scarabs, the value of their other currency drops has taken a hit.

Breach

Breach 2.0 wasn't universally popular, but it has been integrated into the core game. The developers have made several optimizations. Some of the more powerful unique items remain, while others were nerfed. It certainly has potential, but its viability will depend on whether players are willing to engage with it.

Tier C

Blight

Blight has been hit hard by nerfs. It received no new Scarabs, existing ones were weakened, and popular maps for Blight farming have been removed from Atlas. Its only remaining advantage is how quickly it can be completed.

Ritual / Ultimatum / Harvest

These three mechanics received virtually no substantial buffs. While Harvest and Ritual got new Scarabs, they aren't particularly strong. Any mechanic based on choosing rewards seems to be in a weaker position this league.

Tier D

There's little point in discussing the Tier D league mechanics. Strategies like Anarchy, Domination, and others all have various flaws. They either offer poor rewards or present a very high risk of dying to specific, tough monsters, leading to a frustrating experience.

That concludes a brief evaluation of the various mechanics for PoE 3.28 League. Many of them have great potential, and the strategies in Tier S are especially recommended for you to try out.

Players have shown immense enthusiasm for Path of Exile Legacy of Phrecia event, and in response, the developers have modified one of the event's most interesting Ascendancies, Scavenger, and moved it into the core game.

PoE 3.28 Reliquarian Ascendancy is quite interesting because, unlike traditional Ascendancies, its nodes rotate each new league. This means players can experience different build possibilities every league. Let's take a look at its abilities and nodes.

Armour Display

The nodes in Armour Display area are the first notable skills players encounter.

Veruso's Ambition

This skill is relatively useless because in practice, it's difficult to guarantee that you'll have the same type of corpses during a boss fight. However, it might have an effect if combined with Desecrate skill, or by utilizing many of the same type of monster corpses generated in Ritual areas, but it's not worth actively choosing.

Maw of Conquest

This is a fairly good defensive node. Immunity to poison is very useful, and the 40% slow damage regeneration provides good survivability. This node is very attractive for this melee playstyle.

Victario's Influence

This node increases aura effects by 40%, skill mana retention efficiency by 12-15%, and the level of any Aura Skill Gems carried is increased by 2. This node is extremely powerful for any aura-based playstyle or build that relies on auras.

The Brass Dome

It provides very solid physical damage reduction and elemental resistance cap, especially immunity to critical hit damage. It significantly reduces damage taken against high-critical-hit monsters, making it a very solid defensive option in itself. You can also use it in conjunction with The Brass Dome.

Kiloava's Bluster

Its effect is a 25% chance to avoid elemental status ailments. It also has a 40% chance to make your elemental resistances count as 90% when attacked by monsters. This chance-based effect is somewhat unreliable, although its overall effect is decent. Overall, it's a relatively weaker choice in this area.

Martial Weapon Display

Nodes in this area are mostly related to weapon, helmet, and boot effects.

Terminus Est

This node increases your movement speed and grants Frenzy Charges on Critical Strike.

This is a crucial node for players who enjoy Flicker Strike. The consistent acquisition of Frenzy Charges has always been key to this playstyle, and this node directly solves that problem.

Widowhail

This node provides a bonus to projectile damage. Although the bonus has been nerfed from 100%, it's still worth choosing if you're playing a projectile build.

Kitava's Feast

Its effect is that melee strike skills deal splash damage to surrounding targets. Defeating an enemy restores 5% health, and the corpses of enemies killed by your hits are destroyed.

Destroying corpses is an excellent affix, effectively preventing monsters from resurrecting or triggering certain death effects. Gaining splash damage for strike skills usually requires selecting it from the bottom left of the talent tree or using Anointing. This node saves you an oiling slot. However, overall, it's not particularly strong.

Grace of the Goddess

Provides +2 Sacred Wisps. Excellent for Wand builds, directly increasing the core mechanic's stack cap.

Beltimber Blade

If you've recently used a Movement Skill, your Projectile Skills will fire 2 additional projectiles. Also, gain 80% dodge chance while moving.

This is a very powerful node, almost giving you a Deadeye-like projectile bonus while providing decent defense. Ideal for ranged builds that require frequent movement for damage output.

Jack, the Axe

This node is essentially the same as Blood Reaper weapon. For Bleed-focused builds, this is a very good node that balances damage and sustain.

Caster Weapon Display

This side of the nodes is mostly related to spells and summons.

Mystic Refractor

Provides additional projectiles, but they disappear after hitting an enemy. A relatively weak node, as there are already many ways to obtain additional projectiles for free in the game.

Replica Heartbreaker

This node allows you to build a spell impale playstyle. This playstyle is usually only possible in the late game, but this node allows you to achieve it early on, although this playstyle may not become mainstream.

Maata's Teaching

Its effect is to give your minions a critical strike chance and critical strike damage based on your main-hand weapon, which is suitable for players who play a summon critical strike build.

The Burden of Shadows

Increases spell damage by an amount equal to 5% of your maximum health as additional chaos damage.

The Burden of Shadows is somewhat like a lower-tier version of Blood Magic. This ability allows you to convert skill mana consumption into life consumption, costing 50% of the original mana. While the numerical difference might be slight, it's a viable option for players who want to experience some mechanics without investing all their points.

Cybil's Paw

Its effect is to restore 20 life on each spell hit. For every 5% attack damage block chance, spell damage is increased by 8%.

This is a very useful node. Spell hit life restoration is a rare affix, especially on rings. If you can achieve a 75% attack block chance, this node can provide up to 95% spell damage, which, while not a must-have, is very valuable.

Cadigan's Authority

Cadigan's Authority allows you to place more totems simultaneously, but it restricts the types. This restriction is significant and may only be effective with certain unique equipment.

Jewellery Display

This area primarily focuses on the effects of rings, necklaces, and other trinkets.

Astral Projector

It allows you to enhance your Nova Skills. It will be cast at the target location, not centered on you. This is a core mechanic node that completely changes the feel of the skill, a game-changer for many builds that rely on Nova skills.

The Burden of Truth

This node is excellent. It allows you to easily build a Blood Shield Hybrid build. Similar to the effect provided by a certain Timeless Jewel, it allows you to take damage from both health and shield simultaneously, thus utilizing the healing from both to significantly improve overall survivability and recovery.

Astramentis

A very simple attribute boost, extremely useful for playstyles that require stacking attributes.

Warped Timepiece

Warped Timepiece increases the decay rate of negative effects on you by 100%. It can be used in conjunction with playstyles that apply many negative effects to themselves, quickly removing debuffs.

Prospero's Protection

It doubles the armor provided by your equipped shield and grants a 10% chance to block attack damage, but you won't gain any armor from your equipped chest armor.

If you are using a high-armor giant shield, and your chest armor itself has low armor, such as an evasion or energy shield base, this node provides a massive amount of armor, offering considerable defensive capabilities.

Tear of Purity

Tear of Purity provides a level 30 Purity of Elements aura and increases the aura's mana retention efficiency by 100%.

This is a very useful aura for early game progression. It provides a significant amount of elemental resistance and status ailment immunity, allowing you to focus on increasing damage without worrying about survivability in the early game.

Overall, while none of these nodes seem overwhelmingly powerful at first glance, most are useful and powerful. For Scions, these nodes enhance its early game progression capabilities; whether it becomes powerful later in the game is well worth exploring.

Since Path of Exile 3.27 League was released at the end of October 2025, and after months of waiting, we finally have 3.28. The map and loot changes are incredibly exciting, making this potentially the best league yet.

Many players will probably return to this league, so let's look at which builds are best suited for progression after the rebalancing adjustments.

Environment Changes

Before discussing the best starting builds, we need to examine the changes in Mirage League. Compared to the previous league, the core game mechanics haven't changed drastically. For Softcore league, Slam-type builds in PoE 3.28 may no longer be the top choice, although they still perform well in Hardcore league.

Furthermore, in PoE 3.28, the new season's gameplay primarily revolves around maps. This means that builds with fast map clearing speeds will be the best choice for progression, allowing you to quickly advance through Atlas and accumulate early PoE currency. Therefore, nerfed builds like Penance Brand and Poisonous Concoction are no longer suitable for early game progression.

Glacial Cascade of The Fissure Miner Elementalist

Even with the slightly weakened golem buff of Elementalist Ascendancy, this build remains incredibly powerful. Its biggest advantage is that it requires no unique gear or significant investment to easily reach 15 million DPS, enough to destroy everything in the early game, and its damage is further boosted in endgame.

Its gameplay is also very easy, as you don't need to manually aim at monsters, and the mines automatically target them, making clearing maps exceptionally simple.

This build also boasts decent defensive capabilities. You can use Righteous Fire as a transitional option during the early game, providing extremely high damage. Because it uses mines, it can also instantly kill most bosses within seconds, easily defeating all Uber bosses in the late game.

Lightning Arrow/Elemental Hit of The Spectrum Deadeye

This is a very classic leveling build, and the two skills play similarly. They've remained almost unchanged over the past few leagues, still the bow-wielding character with extremely fast map clearing speed, but their weakness is also obvious: insufficient survivability.

It boasts a smooth leveling experience and extremely fast progression, and doesn't rely on legendary gear. With Memory Vault mechanic, crafting bows and equipment has become very easy.

Many players may find them somewhat tiresome, but it's recommended here because the game has removed the troublesome T17 maps, so the biggest threat to all bow builds has disappeared.

Now, you can use this character with confidence without worrying about dying too many times on a lucrative map and causing it to disappear.

Of course, if you want to use this build to speed-farm the most difficult Pinnacle bosses, it's not suitable, as it requires an extremely large currency investment. However, as a character used during the early game to farm high-yield maps and quickly enter the red map, it's a good choice regardless of which skill you use.

Kinetic Fusillade Ballista Hierophant

Kinetic Fusillade Ballista Hierophant is likely to be very popular in this League. In fact, it was already ridiculously strong in PoE 3.27. And in Mirage League, all Totems skills have received significant buffs. Totems now start attacking or casting faster, meaning this build could become even stronger.

This build is very well-rounded, and its survivability, damage output, and leveling experience are all excellent, but the only thing that might be unfamiliar to some players is the totem playstyle.

Exsanguinate Miner Trickster

Exsanguinate Miner Trickster was almost unaffected by any changes in version 3.28, and due to map improvements, this build has become extremely powerful.

Thanks to the excellent mechanics of Exsanguinate and the strong survivability provided by Trickster, this build is safe and efficient when farming. It's also extremely comfortable to use Remote Mine against bosses. In the late game, with sufficient investment, this build can easily reach around 200 million DPS.

This build allows you to freeze enemies, preventing them from attacking you. The downside is that you need to switch skill gems when facing final bosses.

However, the mine-based playstyle does require some getting used to the short delay of mine detonation. Regardless, if you like the visual effects of this build and don't mind the mine-based playstyle, choosing it will be fun from the beginning to the end of the league. As long as you're willing to invest in it, its damage will keep increasing.

Ice Nova/Frost Bolt Hierophant

This build is incredibly fun. Besides the fantastic visuals, you only need one skill to kill a large group of monsters. Thanks to the automatic triggering of Frost Bolt via Frostblink or Orb of Storms in conjunction with Kitava's Thirst helmet, its map clearing speed is extremely fast.

You can use an entire league to upgrade it for maximum potential. By infinitely stacking your character's maximum mana, you can simultaneously gain massive damage and strong survivability, easily achieving hundreds of millions of DPS in endgame.

Righteous Fire Chieftain

This build is very safe to play, and you basically just need to run around, and everything around you will be melted by your Righteous Fire aura. It boasts good map clearing speed and a smooth leveling process.

It's used in multiple season mechanics, and due to its high resistances, it's also a pretty good choice in hardcore leagues. However, its drawbacks are also obvious: its completion speed isn't particularly fast, and its single-target damage is slightly lacking. But as a leveling build, it's incredibly simple to play.

These are the recommended builds for Path of Exile 3.28 Mirage League. These builds not only provide a smooth leveling experience in the early game, but also offer very good damage in the endgame. You don't need to change your builds.

PoE 3.28 Mirage update text is staggeringly long. Besides the new league mechanics, the massive changes to the endgame mechanics will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the endgame experience.

Let's take a look at which currency farming methods have changed significantly this season, and which methods are better than before.

Atlas Map

First, one of the most significant changes is the removal of Favored map system. Map drops are no longer specific maps, but map tier items. When a map drops, you can choose which map to unlock on Atlas Tree, and it will remember your choice if you repeatedly farm the same map.

As a result, the core talent point in Atlas Tree, Singular Focus (which increases the drop rate of Favored maps), has also been removed. Some players in PoE 3.27 relied entirely on trading maps, but new league players will have to start picking up maps again.

One point mentioned here is that Hunted Traitors has been officially removed, which might be considered a nerf. This special enemy could help you attack other enemies, making it a decent free helper for players with lower survivability.

However, it had some issues, consuming a lot of your device's resources. The developers may have removed it for this reason, and they might add it back after optimization.

Tier 17 Maps (Nightmare Maps)

At the same time, T17 maps have also been nerfed. They are now renamed Nightmare Maps, no longer T17 tier, and many annoying affixes have been removed, so the difficulty has decreased, but the rewards may also have decreased. They are now more focused on producing Boss Shards rather than being farmed maps for general loot.

Cartographer's Chisels

Cartographer's Chisels will no longer drop, but Maven's Chisel will remain, as it increases the map's quality by 20% with a single use. However, its effectiveness has been nerfed: item rarity has been reduced from 60% to 40%, monster group size from 20% to 10%, and the drop rate bonus for Divine Cards, Scarabs, and PoE currency has been reduced from 100% to 50%.

This makes the map more efficient for casual players, as a single Maven's Chisel is all it takes to start farming. However, it's a nerf for late-game players aiming for maximum efficiency.

Fortress Map

The official patch notes also mention a significant reduction in the number of items dropped by explosive barrels in Fortress map. In PoE 3.27, this was a very effective farming strategy; you could simply rush into the barrel piles and detonate them to collect a large amount of loot. Now, the drop rate of these barrels will be adjusted to be similar to barrels in other maps. Therefore, Scarab farming strategy in Fortress maps may be coming to an end.

Blight

Blight gameplay has undergone significant adjustments, or rather, a major nerf.

Scarab Nerf

• The bonus reward for Blight Scarab of Invigoration has been reduced by 20%.
• Blight Scarab of Blooming no longer adds an extra wave of non-boss monsters to each withered portal.
• Blight Scarab of the Blightheart no longer doubles the number of waves in a Blight encounter. It now guarantees two additional waves of monsters per portal, with a chance of a third and fourth wave.

In the previous league, with these Scarabs, you'd be overwhelmed by hordes of common, magical, and rare monsters; a single Blight encounter could spawn a massive number of rare monsters. Simultaneously, due to the sheer number of waves, each wave counted as an encounter, resulting in a huge number of Blight bosses.

Now, according to the patch notes, this appears to be a massive nerf. The number of waves has been reduced from near-infinite to a maximum of four extra waves, significantly decreasing monster density and the number of bosses.

Atlas Tree

Immune Response passive node now makes Blight monsters spawn faster, but the affix that caused Blight encounters to spawn 50% more non-legendary monsters has been removed.

Additionally, minor talent points near this talent point now spawn more non-unique monsters. Instead of increasing the number of Blight monster drops, this update penalizes gold and map drops from Breach and Blight monsters.

Gold Penalty

This update adds a penalty to gold and map drops from Breach and Blight monsters. This means Blight gold farming strategy popular in the last league is also coming to an end.

Since almost all Blight-related strategies have been nerfed, this may encourage players to try other strategies.

Harbinger

Harbinger will no longer be a core gameplay mode. This may be bad news for many players who enjoy this style of play.

In Path of Exile 3.27 League, players could use map advantages and value to push all Harbingers aside on Dunes map, allowing for rapid farming. This strategy was highly efficient and profitable, even leading to a surplus of Fracturing Orbs (added to the core drop pool in PoE 3.28).

While Harbinger gameplay has been removed, it will have a series of chain reactions. Chests that previously yielded Harbingers in Blight gameplay will likely be gone as well, but specific details will need to be tested after the official release.

Delve

In the official Q&A session, it was confirmed that Fossils will now be an exclusive drop for Delve strategies. This means that the profitability of Delve strategies will increase significantly. This will change players' Delve farming strategies, and Delve darkness farming strategy will return to the mainstream.

Although the value of Fossils in PoE 3.27 is not high (approximately 1 Chaos Orb). However, the situation will be drastically different in the new season. With the emergence of numerous new builds, the demand for different Fossils will surge, and these Fossils will no longer be obtainable in large quantities through other in-game content.

Therefore, Fossil mechanic will revert to the levels seen several seasons ago. Not only will more currency be earned from the valuable Hollow Fossil, but the value of all smaller Fossils will also become extremely substantial.

All these above are the main changes to currency farming strategies in Path of Exile 3.28 Mirage Challenge League. If you need to earn currency after entering endgame, then Delve and map farming are good methods.

The official PoE 3.28 update is packed with content. The official trailer lasted over 40 minutes and was very comprehensive, covering everything from the new league mechanics to improvements to the endgame system - basically everything players care about most.

Due to the amount of content, you might miss the key points if you watch it all yourself. Let's take a look at the amazing changes this league will bring.

League Mechanism: Mirage

The core of Path of Exile 3.28 update is a brand new league mechanic called Mirage. Judging from the official trailer, it will offer considerable benefits.

Wish

You will guard an entity called Djinn in the area through which you enter Mirage. Before entering Mirage, you can choose a wish from three, which will significantly alter the performance of monsters and loot within the mirage.

You can even wish to not die in the map, which is an absolute buff for Hardcore players. Other wishes can significantly change loot or monster attributes.

Map Mechanics

Mirage will recreate all content activated in your current map through Scarabs, Atlas Passives, and League Mechanics. This means that if you've activated Blight or similar content on the map, you essentially get a free replay in Mirage.

Furthermore, these recreated mechanics may be enhanced by wishes, yielding unique rewards such as new catalysts or special PoE currency related to Delirium. Djinn will automatically spawn near these mechanics, eliminating the need to search the entire map. The number of monsters in Mirage is directly added to the total monster count on the map, meaning you'll get more kills and loot even if you just pass through without entering Mirage.

Map System Rework

This is the most exciting part of the update. The developers have combined the strengths of Path of Exile 1 and 2 maps, making significant changes to Atlas map system.

Map Tiers

In the new Atlas system, maps will no longer have specific names but will only drop in Tier tiers. You will now receive currency items such as Tier 1 maps or Tier 16 maps.

Atlas talent tree is now a visual star map, with each specific map existing as a node on this star map. You need to explore and complete them step-by-step through the fog of war to unlock the entire map.

Once a map is unlocked, you can insert any map currency of the corresponding tier into that node to start farming that map. This is a significant departure from the previous experience of repeatedly farming to obtain a specific map.

Shaped Regions

Atlas Tree has added several Shaped Regions. You can use Astrolabe to change the state of a region, or Shaped Region. Each time you complete a map, the remaining maps within Shaped Region become more difficult, but the rewards also improve.

If you want to quickly clear a Shaped Region for the final reward, you can choose to run the map in the center of the region, which will split the region in two and eventually make it disappear. Alternatively, you can farm all the maps in the region one by one to maximize the reward stacking.

Once a Shaped Region is completely cleared, you will gain access to a Memory Vault. There are four types of Memory Vaults, each with different rewards. The developers have considered the possibility of players only wanting to farm a single map and have stated that nodes in Atlas Tree will allow you to help clear Shaped Regions by farming your favorite maps.

More Changes

• Unique Maps are now also located on the star map, and the number of unique maps required to complete Atlas Completion has been reduced from all to 10 (out of 20).
• Many annoying negative affixes on the maps have been removed, such as Action Speed penalties and inability to deal damage penalties.
• Regular Chisels have been removed, and their effects have been integrated into Atlas progression, resulting in even higher quality rewards than before. Maven Chisels are retained, with one providing a 20% quality bonus.
• The developers acknowledged the design flaws of Tier 17 maps; there will no longer be Tier 17 maps, which have been replaced with Nightmare maps.

Item Optimizations

Exceptional Support Gems

This update introduces a new batch of Exceptional quality support gems, replacing the existing Awakened Support Gems.

These new gems change how skills work, rather than simply increasing stats. You'll need to defeat the new originator Voidstone-related Endgame Bosses to obtain them.

New Coins

You can use Exceptional Support Gems to affect level 20 skill gems. After use, the gem will be corrupted, but you will gain an Inherent Support corresponding to the gem's color.

• Coin of Knowledge: Intelligence Support effect.
• Coin of Power: Strength Support effect.
• Coin of Skill: Dexterity Support effect.

This means your skill gems will come with a built-in support skill, making them potentially stronger than the +1 skill level affix in many situations. However, it's important to note that each equipment slot can only equip one such Imbued Gem.

Core League

Expedition Rework

Kingsmarch content has been adjusted. The requirements for Ore and Crops in crafting items have now been swapped. This means you'll need to farm Ore more on the map, instead of relying solely on gold and crops in Hideouts.

Keepers of The Flame League

Keepers of the Flame League join the core league. Any damage can now destroy Incursion Walls, and the overall size of walls and Hives has been reduced, decreasing their obstruction of map view. There are even nodes in Atlas tree that allow you to completely ignore walls.

However, Genesis Tree has been significantly nerfed due to its previous overpowered nature. The drop rate for 6-Link gear has been reverted, and this feature will no longer produce Weapons and Quivers.

Loot Drops

In the subsequent Q&A session, the developers further addressed players' most pressing questions about loot drops. The developers acknowledged that ground loot drops were problematic; good gear rarely dropped directly, and the loot was often filled with junk. The developers reduced the drop weight of junk items, shifting that weight to more valuable currency.

Overall, Path of Exile 3.28 update is of very high quality, with Atlas map revamp being the most popular feature. The developers have loosened map restrictions, resulting in a significantly improved endgame experience compared to 3.27.