Path Of Exile The Black Star boost

Path of Exile series has been around for over a decade, and its overall size has snowballed. This is because the game not only regularly updates with new leagues but also often retains popular core mechanics from older leagues.

While this makes the game increasingly complex and difficult, once you get immersed, you might find yourself reluctant to quit due to the sheer amount of content to explore!

The latest 3.27 league, confirmed for release on October 31st, is coming soon. Although it doesn't carry over the mercenary mechanics from the previous league for various reasons, its core mechanic is essentially a sequel to Breach league from several years ago.

So how will Breach function in Keepers of the Flame league, and what kind of experience will it offer? We'll introduce it to you.

Keepers Of The Flame League Core Mechanic

While each new league release in Path of Exile brings multifaceted content, there's always a core mechanic that not only reflects the league's theme but also serves as the way you acquire limited powers within that league.

In 3.27 League, this mechanic is a completely reworked Breach.

What Is Breach?

In the base game after Breach league ends, Breach is a special farmable event, highlighted on the map as a glowing dark purple area and a giant hand.

Approaching and clicking on this giant hand will create a large, cracked circle around you, with a progress bar at the bottom representing the event's progress. The crack will then expand outwards, and the progress bar will slowly decrease over time.

You can fill the progress bar by defeating Breach enemies, delaying the event's end as much as possible. The closer the event gets to its end, the more enemies need to be defeated. When the progress bar is about to finish, the cracked circle will begin to shrink, and the event will end.

During the process of defeating enemies, you will continuously obtain various loot drops, and interacting with the hand that spawns in the cracked circle will grant additional rewards.

Breach In 3.27

Compared to the original model, 3.27 league integrates Breach mechanic with the main storyline of the league update. Based on the story within the Breach league, it introduces Ailith and Order of Keepers of the Flame she founded.

In the new story, the evil forces of Breachlords further spread and corrupt Wraeclast, manifesting as various Breaches and hidden enemies within them. You must work with Ailith to eliminate them.

Compared to the past, the new Breach gameplay is more systematic and strategic, as it is no longer a series of unrelated random events, but rather stems from the evil forces of a specific villain. The game also introduces several new Breach gameplay elements.

First, when you enter Mud Flats area in Keepers league, you will find Breach Hives created by Hiveborn. These are actually large dungeons that you can exploit, with bosses and other battles yielding loot.

As you progress through the league, you will randomly encounter new Unstable Breaches in various areas. Their gameplay is largely the same as regular Breaches: stabilizing areas by defeating emerging enemies to prevent the spread of corruption.

To completely shut down an area's Unstable Breaches and thwart Breachlords' plot, you must defeat the corresponding boss. To permanently shut down all Breaches, you need to defeat the final boss, Vruun, Marshal of Xesht.

It's worth noting that Ailith's purifying power from her flames is a significant aid in completing Keepers league's main questline centered around Breaches. She also provides a new way to enhance your character: Genesis Tree.

What Enhancements Does Genesis Tree Provide?

Genesis Tree is both a new mechanic in 3.27 league and closely linked to the league's core mechanics and new storyline. Once your relationship with Ailith is deep enough, she will guide you to Monastery of Keepers to activate Genesis Tree.

Genesis Tree, with its biomechanical appearance, can be considered a league-exclusive talent tree. Points can be invested to unlock and upgrade Grafts, granting new usable abilities. Up to 16 Grafts are available for acquisition and selection.

Note that the points used in this tree are Graftblood, obtainable only by defeating Breach enemies.

Therefore, Genesis Tree and Breach are essentially complementary in 3.27 league. The former is enhanced by completing the latter, which helps you clear Breaches and other league challenges more efficiently.

Other New Features To Note

Undoubtedly, the revamped Breach and all related mechanics are the highlight of Keepers league, but some new features are also worth noting, especially some long-awaited by PoE players, such as asynchronous trade.

After the introduction of automatic trading in Path of Exile 2, players have been calling for a similar feature in the first game to improve trading efficiency. Therefore, 3.27 league introduces asynchronous trade.

Enter Act 6 and find NPC Faustus to complete the relevant quests to unlock this feature. Afterward, even if you leave the game, the system will automatically sell your tradeable items, accelerating the circulation of goods and currency.

Another noteworthy new gameplay feature is Bloodlines system. It includes 10 specific Bloodlines, obtainable by defeating endgame bosses. Consuming Ascendancy passive skill points can enhance your Bloodlines.

More key changes brought by 3.27 league are briefly listed below:

• You can now get a gold refund for passive skill tree and Atlas tree points.
• Rogues in Heist gameplay start at max level, eliminating the need for lengthy leveling quests.
• More usable skills and support gems have been added.
• Three variants of Uber Pinnacle boss have been added, increasing endgame difficulty while also providing rarer rewards.

That concludes our introduction to Keepers of the Flame new content. With this league about to begin, get ready to start your Breaches-clearing journey!

Path of Exile 3.27, Keepers of the Flame League, will be released on October 31st. The new patch brings many changes, including new endgame content and adjustments and reworks to various classes.

So, what build should you use for the new league? A comfortable leveling build can shorten your early leveling time. If you want to switch to a different build, your leveling build's farming ability will also affect your ability to switch builds. Below, we recommend some starting league builds based on PoE 3.27 patch.

1. Cyclone Gladiator

Cyclone Gladiator is a classic build that can handle maps of all difficulty levels, but it depends on PoE currency you invest.

It gets a recommendation because Cyclone skill has received a 20% buff at all levels. If you already use this build, you'll find it performs even better in 3.27. Its core mechanic uses Dancing Dervish Reaver Sword. It triggers Rampage, allowing the sword to automatically clear monsters.

Pros And Cons

Cyclone Gladiator build can defeat all Ubers when well-equipped, though it's not designed for hard bosses. Its high tankiness allows you to fight virtually unhindered from the start to T7 maps.

However, it's not unkillable and can still die in T17 maps or if you're unfamiliar with the final boss mechanics. If you're willing to invest enough PoE Divine Orbs in this build, you can even use it to handle all endgame content.

• Hundreds of Divine Orbs: It can handle everything in the game, including Uber bosses, T17 maps, Scarab of Risk, and Delirium maps. While it may occasionally die, it's still very powerful overall.
• Around 20 Divine Orbs: The most cost-effective level. It can clear Simulacrum Wave 15 and most Tier 17 maps, but it struggles on really juiced maps with very difficult affixes.
• A few Chaos Orbs: Most gear is worth only one Chaos Orb or less, but it's enough for the campaign.

2. Siege Ballista Hierophant

Siege Ballista Hierophant has been a very strong build for the past few seasons. Not only has it survived patch nerfs, but its Siege Ballista variant, Siege Ballista of Trarthus, even received a 35% damage buff. Siege Ballista Hierophant is perfect for the new League's Breach playstyle.

Siege Ballista is a Totem build, or one-button build. Its operation is simple: simply place a totem, and it automatically attacks, making it easy for even new players to figure out how to use it.

Its early game requirements are low, and all you need is a Divine Orb to get all the gear you need (by trade). Its survivability is quite good, and once you meet the required gear and skills, it boasts high dodge, spell suppression, and life regeneration, so it is not a glass cannon.

League Start Progression:

• Early Game: Use Holy Flame Totem.
• After Chapter 3: Switch to Explosive Arrow.
• Mid-Level 70s: Finally, transition to the core build Siege Ballista.

3. Reap And Exsanguinate Hierophant

Reap & Exsanguinate Hierophant is a tried-and-true build in multiple leagues, but it's relatively not very popular compared to other builds. But Reap and Exsanguinate have been continuously buffed, and the new Bloodline Ascendancy added in patch 3.27 provides stronger talent nodes, eliminating the need for a useless fourth talent point.

You can directly equip Reap at level 28, but this requires you to take Recovery Mastery (which provides 50 health regeneration per second) on the talent board to maintain the skill consumption. Or, you can use standard Templar levelings like Rolling Magma and Armageddon Brand, and then re-level later.

The two core skills of this build, Reap (Single Target) and Exsanguinate (Clear Skill), are both physical damage. Therefore, the core idea of Passive Tree is to find nodes for Life, Physical Damage Over Time, and Spell Suppression. Focus on health and damage early on, then head to the right path point to reach the Spell Suppression Cap and gain Elusive effect (via the Lethe Shade cluster).

4. Kinetic Wander Elementalist

Kinetic Wander Elementalist benefits from a host of new wand abilities (such as Wind Blast, Kinetic Rain, Wall of Force, Kinetic Fusillade) and the new wand base types Blasting Wand and Kinetic Wand.

Combined with Assassin class rework, Kinetic Wander Elementalist build has the potential to be very powerful, becoming a meta build for new leagues, but it's probably not suitable for pure new players.

It has advantages in the early game, such as smooth leveling, fast farming, good survivability, and low PoE currency required for item crafting. However, its drawbacks, such as lack of defense and damage, only become apparent in the endgame.

Also Read: Path Of Exile 3.27 Keepers of The Flame Predictions: 5 Expected Unique Items And Trarthus Gem Changes

5. Earthshatter Zerker

Earthshatter was not nerfed in PoE 3.27, and its overlapping spikes mechanic can deal significant damage.

Pros

• Easily handles early maps (Tier 5 and below) even with minimal gear.
• Large AOE range and fast clearing.
• With increased investment, damage and tankiness can be increased to extremely high levels.

Cons

• During Acts 4-6, you may feel vulnerable if gear (especially resistances and weapons) isn't updated regularly.
• It relies heavily on a high-damage Two-Handed Axe, which requires constant upgrades.
• While it's not a high-frequency build, you need to adapt to the rhythm of alternating attacks and Warcry.
• Not recommended for new Hardcore players, as the early stages require a precise balance of defense and damage.

Also, this build can be used with Slayer, Juggernaut, or Chieftain classes, depending on whether you prefer more damage or defense.

The above builds aren't necessarily optimal for the endgame, but most of them can easily clear Tier 17 maps if you're willing to invest heavily in Divine Orbs.