A recent Livestream of Grinding Gear Games has revealed a new round of content for Path of Exile which includes a new Expedition expansion and the return of the battle royale mode, which is out now for a limited time. With new content for the 3.15 expansion, some sweeping quality-of-life changes are also introduced in a game, that could be controversial to the state of the game.
Expedition Expansion
Grinding Gear Games CEO Chris Wilson in the stream discussed what’s new for Path of Exile, which included the revelation of the latest league event called Expedition, which would launch on July 23 for PC and on the 28th for consoles. A new group called the Kalguurans is given the task of exploring a new region called Wraeclast with ancient treasures and the lost history of the new group and history that Ancient Kalguurans once controlled this land, but they would eventually lose control due to the region’s supernatural forces.
The Expedition content allows the gamers to explore a new landscape with hidden chests and undead monsters hiding underneath the surface which can be unearthed by planting explosives at these sites.
With this new league, brand new pieces of armor and weapons can also be acquired. Gamer can also meet Kalguuran NPCs, from whom many things could be learned, and even resources could be traded to gain new items and gear for your character.
Return of Battle Royale Mode
Another reveal in the stream was the announcement of the return of the Royale mode to Path of Exile. It is a loot-driven action RPG spin on the popular mode, putting players against other players in a fight to the death for the number one spot. The new Royale mode will have a re-designed map and refined core gameplay. The Royale mode is available now and will be free for all players but will only be open for 48 hours at launch, but throughout the Expedition league, the Royale mode will go live during weekends.
The new league has some new quality-of-life improvements and gameplay tweaks to improve the game for the long haul. Along with new support gems that can be applied to existing builds, gives everyone new gems to try out and enhance their character’s playstyle. With the same, some work has been done on the game’s current difficulty settings.
In next year, the campaign will see some new changes, such as overhauls on some combat encounters and rebalancing current builds so as not to make them too overpowered. Wilson also claimed that the game will move closer to its 2013 beta, for its difficulty. Furthermore, the current Flask system will also see something of an overhaul that includes health, speed, defense, and other stat buffs, which have been altered with the new Expedition expansion. But this time flasks are offering less of a massive, permanent buff to your character when used in quick succession.
The live stream was mainly focused on new content for the current game, Wilson also stated in a follow-up chat with GameSpot that more details on Path of Exile 2 are on the way for later this year.