01-26-2024, 08:05 AM
Anyone who missed out on the previous league, Ritual, has nothing to worry about. While the Trialmaster's Ultimatum fights will take the spotlight, Ritual battles have been incorporated into the endgame Atlas, so you'll run into them occasionally. While largely leaning in the player's favour, there have been some nerfs made to the rewards of both Harvest and Talisman leagues, aiming to bring them more in line with other sources of loot POE currency trade . Naturally some players will be upset that an obvious path to victory has been closed off, but power inflation is very much a thing in Path of Exile. A level 70 character in 2021 is a vastly more powerful beast than one from 2018.
It's not a Path of Exile expansion without new ways to kill monsters, either. With Ultimatum, they're adding four new skill gems and four new support gems, all based around the classic Vaal themes of blood sacrifice and risk-taking. The Corrupting Fever and Exsanguinate skills allow you to literally use your own blood as a projectile. Reap allows you to invest health in sweeping magical scythe attacks that get more powerful and costly through repeated use.
Death comes quickly in Path of Exile—especially if you're literally hitting enemies with your own hit points—so there's some new risk-mitigation options too. The Petrified Blood spell makes the bottom half of your health bar "safer." With it equipped, potentially fatal damage will be dealt out over time instead of instantly, giving you a precious few seconds to chug a healing potion instead of instantly killing you.
(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)
The new support gems lean into this theme as well. Arrogance lets you empower passive Aura buffs by reserving part of your health bar instead of mana. Lifetap lets you power any skill through health instead of magic POE divine orbs , applying a buff to damage done if you invest enough HP. Bloodthirst provides damage buffs to skills used while on 50 percent or lower health. The last new support gem, Cruelty, stands out by being just a straight buff to damage done, but I suppose not everything can be fun, games, and blood sacrifice.
It's not a Path of Exile expansion without new ways to kill monsters, either. With Ultimatum, they're adding four new skill gems and four new support gems, all based around the classic Vaal themes of blood sacrifice and risk-taking. The Corrupting Fever and Exsanguinate skills allow you to literally use your own blood as a projectile. Reap allows you to invest health in sweeping magical scythe attacks that get more powerful and costly through repeated use.
Death comes quickly in Path of Exile—especially if you're literally hitting enemies with your own hit points—so there's some new risk-mitigation options too. The Petrified Blood spell makes the bottom half of your health bar "safer." With it equipped, potentially fatal damage will be dealt out over time instead of instantly, giving you a precious few seconds to chug a healing potion instead of instantly killing you.
(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)
The new support gems lean into this theme as well. Arrogance lets you empower passive Aura buffs by reserving part of your health bar instead of mana. Lifetap lets you power any skill through health instead of magic POE divine orbs , applying a buff to damage done if you invest enough HP. Bloodthirst provides damage buffs to skills used while on 50 percent or lower health. The last new support gem, Cruelty, stands out by being just a straight buff to damage done, but I suppose not everything can be fun, games, and blood sacrifice.