Path of Exile: Secrets of the Atlas Reveal

INTRODUCTION

The Secrets of the Atlas update for Path of Exile  (PoE ) has been revealed, and it’s packed with exciting new content, including a revamped endgame, new systems, and an engaging Mercenary mechanic. The 3.26 expansion has the potential to significantly alter the gameplay loop, introducing fresh mechanics, powerful loot, and deepened complexity for endgame players.

Let’s take a closer look at everything you need to know about the upcoming Mercenaries of Trathus Challenge League, as well as all the features and adjustments that will come with the 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas update.

PoE 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas Trailer (Video)

Mercenaries of Trathus Challenge League

In this new league, players will encounter Mercenaries in each zone. These Mercenaries come with unique personalities, abilities, and loot. The league introduces an exciting way to interact with NPCs who can join your team or provide loot based on how you handle them.

Key Features:

• Mercenary Types: There are two main types of Mercenaries:

  1. Regular Mercenaries: These come with different builds and items. Players can hire them after a duel, with the ability to freely change their gear.

  2. Infamous Mercenaries: Rare and significantly stronger, these Mercenaries have more powerful items and can drop Transfigured Gems (special skill gems).

• Mercenary Interactions:

  • Hire: Pay an upfront gold cost to hire a Mercenary, and they will join you in combat. You can switch their gear and even dismiss them, with a level restriction based on the area.

  • Take Item: After defeating a Mercenary, you can loot one of their items, including currency or skill gems.

  • Exile: Exiling Mercenaries temporarily removes them from your roster, making them unavailable for future encounters.

Special “Of Trathus” Mercenaries: These Mercenaries can have special skill gems, and their items can offer unique effects. Infamous Mercenaries drop “Infamous” items with unique modifiers.

Endgame Changes: Secrets of the Atlas Mechanics

The endgame in PoE  will see a significant overhaul with the Secrets of the Atlas system. This mechanic brings a new, immersive layer to the game, rewarding players with powerful upgrades and items for their efforts.

Key Features:

• Memory Petals:

  • Monsters inside the Thread of Memories will be imbued with Memory Petals. These petals are collected after each monster kill and are used to unlock special abilities that enhance your gameplay. These abilities can be used in different areas and combinations for a variety of effects.

• Warped Memory Bosses:

  • The final map in each memory thread features a Warped Memory Boss, which is an altered version of an existing boss. After defeating this boss, players will receive special map fragments that are key to progressing through the new endgame content.

• New Pinnacle Bosses:

  • The new Pinnacle bosses are the pinnacle of this content update, with bosses such as The Incarnation of Dread, Neglect, and Fear. These bosses offer new unique drops, including powerful items like the Starcaller Axe and the Wine of the Prophet Gold Flask.

• Memory Influenced Tier 16 Maps:

  • Completing the new Pinnacle bosses will unlock Memory Influenced T16 Maps. These maps feature challenging new mechanics and the opportunity to receive high-level rewards, with Memory Strands being a key part of crafting better items.

Memory Strand Modifiers

Items in Memory Influenced T16 Maps will have the ability to be influenced by Memory Strands, a new modifier system. These Strands can enhance the strength of items and affect crafting results.

• Orb of Remembrance: Used to manipulate the memory strands.

• Orb of Unraveling: Used to break down items and extract their strands.

• Orb of Intention: Used to manipulate the outcome of crafting processes.

These Memory Strand modifiers make crafting and loot acquisition more strategic, allowing players to fine-tune the strength of their items.

Runegrafts and Kingsmarch Goes Core

In the 3.26 update, Runegrafts are introduced as a way to enhance your Passive Skill Tree. Players can acquire Runegrafts as rewards from the Shipping system and use them to modify their tree.

Kingsmarch from the Settlers of Kalguur league will also go core, with notable changes such as the ability to respec Passive Skill Points for gold and the introduction of Atlas Passive Nodes. The Currency Exchange system will also be available starting from Act 6.

Recombinators and Betrayal System Rework

• Recombinators remain in the game with two new modes for recombination:

  • Random Mod Combination: Random base and mod combinations.

  • User-Selected Mod Combination: Players can select mods from two items and recombine them with a set percentage chance.

The Betrayal System also gets a much-needed rework, including new rewards like Veiled Exalted Orbs and the ability to manipulate the Board state. Catarina’s immunity phases have been reduced, and she now drops Veiled Chaos Orbs for crafting progression.

Quality of Life Improvements

GGG has introduced a variety of quality-of-life improvements in Secrets of the Atlas:

• Pause Function: Players can pause the game at any time via the Escape menu, especially useful during lag or disconnection issues.

• Currency Quick Bar: Added below Strongboxes and Essences to eliminate the need to open the inventory.

• Horizon Orbs: Can now be used to reroll Elder Maps.

• Vendor Improvements: Vendors now remember your last search, and there’s an expanded text limit for items.

• Improved Strongboxes: Players can now directly interact with items in Strongboxes, improving crafting and resource management.

3.26 Secrets of the Atlas Q&A Insights

In the Q&A session with Mark Roberts and Jonathan Rogers, several insights into the development of PoE  were shared:

• Mercenaries are designed to be fun, rewarding, and impactful for your character progression.

• WASD controls are still on the roadmap for PoE 1, but it’s a challenging implementation.

• Recombinators will remain an exciting part of crafting, with a balance of risk and reward.

• Betrayal System will offer more interesting crafting rewards with Crafting Spree and Veiled Items.

CONCLUSION

The 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas update marks a major shift in how endgame content is approached in Path of Exile. With the introduction of Mercenaries, new Memory-based mechanics, Pinnacle bosses, and a variety of crafting improvements, players can expect an engaging and immersive expansion. The update not only brings new challenges and loot but also makes key quality-of-life improvements that will enhance the overall player experience.

Prepare yourself for the most exciting Path of Exile update yet! Whether you’re farming Memory Strands, battling Pinnacle bosses, or experimenting with Mercenaries, 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas promises to offer a ton of new gameplay opportunities for everyone. Thank you for reading and if you need help with anything in Path of Exile, feel free to check our Services, or contact us on Livechat or Discord Support. We are up 24/7!

To finish things off, we will leave you with a video where you can look into the content reveal that was presented on the GGG livestream.

Path of Exile 3.26: Secrets of the Atlas Content Reveal (Video)