PoE 3.21 Release Date & New League Season Patch Notes

PoE 3.21 Season Release Date

The release date of PoE 3.21 is about April 7, 2023. GGG is currently planning to launch the Path of Exile 3.21 expansion in early April. You may note that this means that The Forbidden Sanctum challenge league will be longer than normal. GGG is currently tinkering with a few ideas for some fun low-key things GGG can do in the final month before the 3.21 launches and will let you know how those ideas shake out in the coming weeks.

Date Description
April 7, 2023
  • The release date of PoE 3.21 League.

GGG has chosen this date so that GGG can make sure 3.21 gets all the development time it needs and that the release schedule for the year fits nicely alongside ExileCon and the release dates of other games.

Additionally, GGG is really happy with how well-received The Forbidden Sanctum expansion was and is hoping to keep the positivity rolling through 2023 with the upcoming releases. Having more development time really helps with that.

Buy PoE Currency Cheap

ExileCon

GGG announced last year that ExileCon will take place on July 29th-30th in Auckland, New Zealand. This convention will showcase everything you need to know about Path of Exile 2, Path of Exile Mobile and the Path of Exile 3.22 expansion. Many of you have purchased your convention tickets and will be about to make your travel plans.

PoE 3.22 Release Date

The release date of PoE 3.22 is about August 11, 2023. If you're coming to ExileCon and wanting to do some travel within New Zealand around that time, GGG is generally recommending that people travel before the convention rather than afterwards. The reason for this is that GGG is currently planning to reveal PoE 3.22 expansion at ExileCon and its launch will take place soon after, likely around two weeks afterwards(July 29 + 2 weeks).

You'll be wanting to play 3.22, so it's best to leave New Zealand a few days after ExileCon. Then you'll have enough time to make it back home and take care of your responsibilities before going full goblin-mode at launch.

Zizaran’s Class Gauntlet Event Starts on February 10!

Community streamer Zizaran is back with another 10-day Class Gauntlet Event which starts on February 10th PST. Racers will level characters and kill challenging bosses to earn points and compete to find out how each of the classes fare against some of Path of Exile's most difficult encounters. The event will take place in a Hardcore Solo Self-Found Sanctum Event League provided by us with a range of dynamic damage and life mods! The prize pool is funded by the community and Zizaran's event partners. Find out more information in this news post.

3.20.2 Patch Notes

This patch includes a number of bug fixes, offline party support and another batch of Voidborn reliquary submissions.

Improvements and updates:
Description
Added support for party members to go offline while staying in the party. When you log out, you can now stay in your party, though you can still be kicked from the party while offline. After you've been offline for 2 minutes, you will be automatically kicked from the party.
Added "Kick from Party" back to the options available when right-clicking another player's message in chat.
Added 845 more foiled Unique Item options that the Voidborn Reliquary can yield.
Added an area description for the "twice blessed" Darkshrine outcome.
The "Sacrifice a Corrupted Map. Create a new Corrupted Map of the same tier and rarity." Harvest crafting option now requires a Rare Corrupted Map to be sacrificed, and is no longer able to incorrectly create a new Corrupted Map of a higher tier.
Some Sanctum monsters can now be Spectred, and Spectred versions of Stalking Geist will now be able to attack enemies. Lowered the resistances and maximum attack distance of the Spectred version of Igneous Gargoyle.
It is now possible to view your Voidborn Reliquary submission on the website, and withdraw it for modification if it has not yet been confirmed.
Updated the description of the Corrupted Gaze Atlas Notable Passive to clarify that it only applies to Abyss Jewels dropped by Abyssal Troves in your Maps.
Updated descriptions for skills which grant critical strike chance through a buff, such as Precision and Aspect of the Cat.
Updated the description on Galvanic Field when supported by Increased Critical Strike Chance to be more clear.
Updated the targeting behaviour for Whirling Blades in Controller Input mode to target monsters rather than location.
The Solar Map Device microtransaction now has variations that can be scrolled through to set the maximum tier of effects to play while map portals are open.

Ruthless-specific changes:

  • Fixed a bug in Ruthless where Orbs of Binding could drop in Logbooks.
  • Fixed a bug where the Antagonist's modifier on Heist Contracts and Blueprints was not providing any stats in Ruthless.
  • Fixed a bug where certain Minion Delve Encounters were not giving any rewards in Ruthless.

Bug fixes:

Description
Fixed a bug where being affected by a Shrine from Kirac's Memory of the Pantheon was not providing credit towards the Complete Beyond Encounters Challenge when you defeated a Beyond Boss.
Fixed a bug where the order of spells triggered through Arcanist Brand could be reset by using a Flask.
Fixed a bug where killing Breach Bosses in Maps was not providing credit towards the Terror Tearing at the Seams Challenge.
Fixed a bug in Legion Encounters where the timer for breaking out monsters could end prematurely.
Fixed a bug where Blazing Salvo's explode effects did not display correctly across different terrain elevations.
Fixed a client crash that could occur with Vaal Volcanic Fissure Earthbreaker Totems.
Fixed a bug where the Fiendish Wings Affliction was affecting the rotation speed of the firebeam hazard.
Fixed a bug where Rogue Exiles with additional rewards from the Rogue Trader Atlas Notable Passive would be displayed with a quest icon on the minimap.
Fixed a bug where soul gain prevention was sometimes not applied after using Vaal Blade Flurry.
Fixed a bug where duplicated Harvest monsters could not drop lifeforce.
Fixed a bug where Fractured modifiers on Jewels, Maps, or Heist Contracts could be changed when corrupting the item.
Fixed a bug that caused Delve Flares and Dynamite to be returned to you with the Nimis Unique Ring equipped.
Fixed a rare bug where Glyphic Fossilised Remains could be moved, causing the Time-Lost Cavern Delve encounter to be incompletable.
Fixed a bug where Keystone Passive Skill reminder text was missing when the Keystone was granted through an item, such as Replica Perfect Form.
Updated various Heist Enchantment descriptions to clarify they apply to Explicit modifiers.
The Ambushes monster modifier can no longer be found on Magic Monsters, as it had no effect on them.
Fixed an issue where increases and reductions to projectile speed had no effect on Volcanic Fissure. It now affects the speed of the molten projectiles.
Fixed a bug where the "Spawn Metamorph Vial" button was displayed when returning to an area where available Metamorphs were already defeated.
Fixed a bug where additional Cluster Jewels dropped from having the Paranoid Fixation Atlas Passive allocated were dropping with the wrong item level.
Fixed a bug where Spell Critical Strike Chance gained through Frost Shield was not working correctly with Sandstorm Visage.
Fixed a bug where Mirage Archer was not working with Rain of Arrows triggered by Lioneye's Paws.
Fixed an issue where Vaal Glacial Hammer had "60% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold". It has been updated to 100% to match the non-Vaal Glacial Hammer.
Fixed a bug where Tempering Orb could not be used on items with fixed sockets.
Fixed a bug where Olroth, Origin of the Fall could become unresponsive under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug that could cause Uber Maven to fail to transition phases, making them unkillable.
Fixed a bug where Riker's Trapped Chests in Betrayal Safehouses were providing item level 100 items.
Fixed an issue where Ancestor Totems did not display their name or what they provide when hovering over the buff icon.
Fixed the Ritual and Infernal Summon Ring microtransactions having their models switched.
Fixed a bug where importing a Hideout layout with a Scourge Hideout Decoration would fail to place decorations across both planes of existence.
Fixed a wonky interaction between the Ice Crown microtransaction and the Cat's Stealth buff visual effect.
Fixed an issue where the Prospero's Ring microtransaction was missing audio when trading with other players.
Fixed a bug that caused characters to appear bald when wearing the Forgeguard Body Armour and specific Helmet Attachment microtransactions.
Fixed a bug where other players were unable to view gems you had socketed when wearing the Gemling Artificer Body Armour microtransaction.

3.20.1c Hotfix

  • Added 563 more Voidborn Reliquary submissions.
  • Fixed two crashes.

3.20.1c Patch Notes

Description
Stackable items dropped by Map Bosses affected by Eldritch Altar modifiers that cause them to drop additional currency items are now collated into a single combined stack of the item.
Added a confirmation in controller input mode when returning to your hideout through the Delve Map.
Fixed a bug where Curses could be applied to dead enemies when applied through Cast on Melee Kill or Cast on Critical Strike.
Fixed a bug where Static Strike beams would not fire while attacking with Static Strike.
Fixed a bug where increased Buff Effect on Anomalous Vampiric Link was not working correctly.
Fixed a bug where the camera was not zoomed-out upon re-entering The Searing Exarch's arena if you died during their "Fire of a Thousand Suns" phase.
Fixed a bug where very long Passive Skill or Atlas Passive descriptions could overflow their text container.
Fixed a bug where the font size on Guild Stash panel could be wrong after the game window was resized.
Fixed a visual bug where your Ward value could be obscured by the user interface when using the Impenetrable Olroth's Resolve microtransaction.
Fixed a client crash that could occur when starting Legion encounters.

3.20.1b Patch Notes

Sanctum changes

  • The Death Toll Major Affliction no longer causes monsters to drop no Aureus Coins. Instead, it now causes you to Lose 250 Resolve after completing 8 rooms. This change does not affect existing Sanctum runs.
  • Herald of the Scourge's lightning waves skill now spawns more lightning bolts with each wave, though the lightning bolts are now smaller. The delay between each wave has been slightly increased, and the damage of the skill has been lowered by 20%.
  • Improved the visibility of the ground degen effect when fighting Lycia, Unholy Heretic.
  • Added an error message for attempting to change your Relics while you have an active Sanctum.
Improvements and other changes
  • Introduced the Voidborn Reliquary Key. The Voidborn Reliquary currently has 1231 options for foiled Unique items that it can yield. We are still working through the list of submissions from Voidborn Supporters to get the others in as soon as possible.
  • Improved the description of the Sandstorm Visage Unique stat to clarify it only modifies spell critical strike chance of spells, and will not affect spells dealing non-spell damage (such as heralds).
  • Updated various descriptions to clarify which stats only apply to Summon Skeletons, and which apply also to Vaal Summon Skeletons (such as the modifier on Alberon's Warpath). Melee Skeletons from the Vaal Summon Skeletons are now referred to as "Soldiers" rather than "Warriors" in descriptions.
  • The visual effect applied to monsters with modifiers that cause Minions to Fire, Cold, or Lightning Explode on Death has been removed as it caused visual issues in some circumstances.
  • Betrayal crafts that reroll socket numbers, links or colours a certain number of times can no longer be used on items with fixed socket numbers, links or colours respectively.
  • The "Geared Up" achievement no longer requires a Rare or Unique item in the Relic slot.
Ruthless-specific changes

  • The Imagined Pursuits Atlas Passive in Ruthless now causes Cluster Jewels from Delirium Rewards to have a 10% chance to be Rare and Corrupted, instead of "800% increased Rarity of Cluster Jewels from Delirium Encounters in your Maps".
  • Fixed a bug where Vaal Venom Gyre was able to be obtained in Ruthless.

3.20.1 Patch Notes

This patch introduces new Sanctum content, improvements to the current Kirac's Vault Pass and adds support for the 2023 Core Supporter Packs as detailed in our news post last week. It also contains a variety of improvements and bug fixes to both Sanctum and non-Sanctum content, and some buffs to the modifiers applied to Blighted Maps through anointing them with Oils.

Sanctum Updates and Improvements

Description
Introduced 7 new Unique Relics that drop from the final form of the Sanctum Boss. These Relics challenge you to complete an entire run of The Forbidden Sanctum at area level 80+ under special rules. If you're able to complete such a run, you'll be rewarded in new and special ways. However, the Unique Relic will be destroyed regardless of the outcome of your run, so if you fail to complete it, you'll forfeit your potential rewards.
Some of these Unique Relics cause the Herald of the Scourge to drop additional or specific items, while others causes Aureus Coins to be converted to certain outcomes upon defeating the Herald of the Scourge.
We've also introduced a new Unique Ring that can be earned by defeating the Herald of the Scourge with one of the new Unique Relics active.
Introduced 41 new "Lycia's Invocation" currency items. These can be applied to non-Corrupted Sanctified Relics to add their respective Keystone to the Relic.
Boons and Afflictions that provide increases and reductions to the effect of your Relics now specify that they do not affect Unique Relics.
Characters that are up close to their target now take even less damage to their Resolve.
Sanctum Quests are no longer hidden with the "Enable Quest Tracking" option disabled. We've also made improvements to these Quests to reduce the chance they are missed when first entering the relevant town area.
Party Members are now able to view the Map of the area owner's Sanctum, if they currently have a run active.
Party members can now store a Sanctum room for later when the map owner runs their Sanctum room for the area.
The Resolve bar now flashes when you heal or damage your Resolve.
Added a display to show which Affliction was removed when you cleansed an Affliction.
The Sanctified Relic Slot has been moved from the Sanctum Map and is now located in the Inventory panel.
Sanctified Relics can now be compared with your equipped one by using the Compare Item Descriptions keybind (Ctrl, by default).
The wave skill used by the final form of the Sanctum Boss now spawns far fewer lightning bolts with each wave, though the lightning bolts are slightly larger. The delay between each wave has also been slightly increased.
You can no longer gain a new multi-stage Boon or Affliction, such as Lilting Melody, if you already have a later stage of that same Boon or Affliction.
The Hungry Fangs Affliction and Wooden Effigy Boon now impact Resolve multiplicatively, instead of being additive with stats that impact resolve on Relics.
Tweaked the position of the skulls that fire tracking beams in the third floor of the Sanctum.
Updated the Prayer Beads Boon to clarify Resolve is able to be lost after the next room has been completed.
Other Improvements:
Description
Added support for the new Core Supporter Packs.
Added five more microtransactions to Kirac's Vault Pass in the form of these additional mystery boxes from Path of Exile's past: Warlord, Polaris, Twilight, Harmony and Sin/Innocence.
Huck now brings along his Rogue Equipment when accompanying you in Maps.
Significantly increased the experience gained from killing Metamorph Monsters.
You can no longer animation-cancel Vaal Venom Gyre, Vaal Volcanic Fissure, Vaal Blade Flurry, Vaal Caustic Arrow and Vaal Molten Strike before the point in the animation that damage is dealt.
The Balance of Terror Unique Jewel no longer has a level requirement.
Completing the Mastermind's Lair now awards credit towards the Suspicious Syndicate challenge.
Updated one component of the Complete Harbinger Encounters challenge to "Use any Harbinger, Ancient or Fracturing Orb", instead of just Fracturing Orb.
Updated various descriptions of conditional modifiers, such as the increased Damage against Ignited Enemies modifier on Gang's Momentum, to clarify the kinds of damage they can apply to.
Updated the "Cycling Resistances" monster modifier text to "Cycling Damage Reduction" as it is more accurate.
The Cartographer Divination Card has received new flavour text.
Blight Atlas Passive Changes:
  • The Blight Atlas Passives that provided your Maps with Blight Encounters a chance to contain an additional Blight Encounter have irreconcilable issues that result in areas with two Blight Encounters failing to generate reliably, so we have replaced these stats.
  • The small Atlas Passives now provide "5% chance on Completing your Maps to gain a free use of the Blight Map Crafting Option."
  • The small Atlas Passive at the entry of this cluster that provided your maps a +4% chance to contain a Blight Encounter now provides "Lanes of Blight Encounters in your Maps have 5% chance for an additional Reward Chest" and "2% chance on Completing your Maps to gain a free use of the Blight Map Crafting Option."
  • The Mycelial Swarm Notable Atlas Passive now provides "Blight Map Crafting Option is always available" and "50% reduced cost of the Blight Map Crafting Option."
Blighted Map Changes:
Description
The values for modifiers anointed on Blighted Maps have been buffed:
Clear Oil: 12% reduced Monster Movement Speed (previously 6%).
Sepia Oil: Towers deal 25% more Damage (previously 20%).
Amber Oil: 25% reduced Cost of Building and Upgrading Towers (previously 20%).
Verdant Oil: 45% increased Experience gain (previously 35%).
Teal Oil: Blight Monsters spawn 30% faster (previously 25%), Encounter duration is 50 seconds shorter (previously 40).
Azure Oil: Varieties of Items contained in 5 Blight Chests are Lucky (previously 4).
Violet Oil: Lanes of Blight Encounters have 25% chance for an additional Reward Chest (previously 20%).
Crimson Oil: Varieties of Items contained in 12 Blight Chests are Lucky (previously 10).
Black Oil: 7% chance for Blight Chests to contain an additional Reward (previously 6%).
Opalescent Oil: Varieties of Items contained in 18 Blight Chests are Lucky (previously 15).
Silver Oil: +80% to Item Quantity (previously +65%).
Golden Oil: 30% chance for Blight Chests to contain an additional Reward (previously 25%).
Oils also now provide +6% to Monster Pack Size (previously +5%).
Blighted Map's Item Quantity Modifiers now affect Blight Chest count at 25% value (previously 20%), with a value of 50% for Blight-ravaged Maps (previously 40%). This also now applies to Blighted and Blight-ravaged Maps in Ruthless.
Ruthless-specific Changes:
Description
The Mycelial Swarm Notable Atlas Passive now provides "Lanes of Blight Encounters in your Maps have 20% chance for an additional Reward Chest" in Ruthless.
The two small Atlas Passives prior now provide "Blight Encounters in your Maps spawn 3% more Non-Unique Monsters" in Ruthless, instead of "Lanes of Blight Encounters in your Maps have 5% chance for an additional Reward Chest."
The following Oils have been changed in Ruthless:
Clear Oil: 12% reduced Monster Movement Speed (previously 6%).
Sepia Oil: Towers deal 25% more Damage (previously 20%).
Amber Oil: 25% reduced Cost of Building and Upgrading Towers (previously 20%).
Verdant Oil: 15% increased Experience Gain (previously 10%).
Teal Oil: Blight Monsters spawn 30% faster (previously 25%), Encounter duration is 50 seconds shorter (previously 40).

PoE 3.20 New Items

PoE 3.20
Gems:
Passive & Endgame:
Currency
Uniques:
Relic:
Balance Manifesto:
Divination Cards:

PoE 3.20 New Skill Gems

Name Description Requires Tag
Frozen Legion Frozen Legion

Frozen Legion: This spell consumes multiple cooldown uses to summon icy Statues in a ring. Each Statue uses your Frozen Sweep attack once before vanishing. Requires an Axe, Mace, Sceptre, or Staff. This skill cannot be triggered, supported by Spell Echo, or Unleash, or used by Totems, Traps, or Mines.

  • Consumes one Cooldown Use per Statue Summoned

Frozen Sweep is used by your Statues to deal damage in an area around them while stepping forward. This skill cannot repeat and can only be used by Statues from Frozen Legion.

  • 100% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage
  • You cannot use this Skill yourself, your Statues will use this Skill for you

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–10)% increased Area of Effect

 Level 34 Spell, Cold, Attack, AoE, Melee
Volcanic Fissure Volcanic Fissure

Slam the ground, creating a winding fissure that deals area damage while travelling outwards. When it reaches the target location it erupts, releasing a burst of molten projectiles. Requires an Axe, Mace, Sceptre, Staff or Unarmed.

  • Fires 4 additional Projectiles
  • 60% of Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage
  • Projectiles deal 50% less Damage with Hits and Ailments

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–20)% increased Fire Damage

 Level 12 Melee, Attack, Projectile, AoE, Slam, Fire
Cursed Ground Support Cursed Ground Support

Supports non-aura hex curse skills.

  • Supported Skills create Cursed Ground with a base Duration of (15–34) seconds
  • Hexes from Supported Skills have no Duration
  • Enemies on the Cursed Ground from a Supported Skill are Cursed with that Hex
  • Maximum 1 area of Cursed Ground

Additional Effects From Quality: Supported Skills have (0–10)% increased Skill Effect Duration

 Level 31 AoE, Duration, Support, Hex
Hex Bloom Support Hex Bloom Support

Supports hex curse skills. Hexes from auras or cursed ground cannot transfer.

  • Supported Skills have (0–28)% increased Hex Transfer range
  • Hexes from Supported Skills Transfer to all Enemies in a range of 30 when Hexed Enemy dies

Additional Effects From Quality: Supported Skills have (0–10)% increased Curse Duration

 Level 38 Support, Hex
Vaal Cleave Vaal Cleave

The character swings their weapon (or both weapons if dual wielding) in an arc, damaging monsters in an area in front of them. Killing Blows on Rare or Unique enemies grant a buff that improves Cleave for a duration. Killing Blows on Rare Enemies also steal their modifiers for a secondary duration. Only works with Axes and Swords.

  • When Dual Wielding, Deals 60% Damage from each Weapon combined
  • Base duration is 20 seconds
  • Base secondary duration is 20 seconds
  • +0.8 seconds to Attack Time
  • (2–75) to (3–113) Added Attack Physical Damage
  • Modifiers to Skill Effect Duration also apply to this Skill"s Soul Gain Prevention
  • +(15–24) to radius
  • Culling Strike
  • Can"t be Evaded
  • Buff grants Culling Strike with Cleave
  • Buff grants 60% more Cleave Area of Effect
  • Buff grants 60% more Cleave Damage to Enemies that are on Low Life
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–10)% increased Attack Speed

 Level 1 Attack, AoE, Physical, Vaal, Duration, Melee
Vaal Flicker Strike Vaal Flicker Strike

Repeatedly teleports to enemies and hits them, inflicting a wound but dealing no damage. After the repeating finishes, each enemy is hit by the total damage of their wounds, which are removed.

  • This Attack Repeats 25 additional times
  • 10% increased Attack Speed per Frenzy Charge
  • 70% less Damage with Ailments
  • 30% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Hit
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–5)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Hit

 Level 10 Attack, Melee, Strike, Movement, Vaal, Duration
Vaal Blade Flurry Vaal Blade Flurry

Channel to create an expanding circle area around you that blinds enemies within it. When you stop channelling, deals damage in a smaller area around each enemy in the circle. Requires a Dagger, Claw or One-Handed Sword.

  • (14–75) to (20–113) Added Attack Physical Damage
  • Blind enemies on hit
  • Can"t be Evaded
  • (30–68)% increased Blind Effect
  • 50% less Damage Taken while Channelling
  • Base Circle Radius is 10
  • +5 to Circle Radius per Stage
  • Channelling stops when Total Circle Radius reaches 90
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–10)% increased Attack Speed

 Level 28 Attack, AoE, Channelling, Physical, Vaal, Melee
Vaal Venom Gyre Vaal Venom Gyre

Creates already-caught projectiles without firing them first, both immediately and over a secondary duration. Caught projectiles spiral outwards when you use Whirling Blades and do not return. Requires a Dagger or Claw.

  • Base duration is 12 seconds
  • Base secondary duration is 6 seconds
  • 60% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage
  • Modifiers to Skill Effect Duration also apply to this Skill"s Soul Gain Prevention
  • 40% chance to Poison on Hit
  • Can catch up to 50 Returning Projectiles
  • Maximum caught Projectiles
  • Creates up to caught Projectiles immediately
  • Creates 15 caught Projectiles per second
  • 40% chance to keep each caught Projectile fired with Whirling Blades
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–20)% increased Poison Duration

 Level 12 Attack, Projectile, Chaos, Duration, Vaal
Vaal Molten Strike Vaal Molten Strike

Infuses your melee weapon with molten energies to attack with physical and fire damage. This attack causes balls of molten magma to launch forth causing AoE attack damage to enemies where they land.

  • (2–75) to (3–113) Added Fire Damage
  • Fires 8 additional Projectiles
  • Chains +8 Times
  • 60% of Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage
  • +4 to radius
  • Can"t be Evaded
  • Projectiles can Chain when impacting the ground
  • Projectiles do not change direction when Chaining
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–20)% increased Fire Damage

 Level 1 Attack, Projectile, AoE, Melee, Strike, Fire, Chaining, Vaal.
Vaal Caustic Arrow Vaal Caustic Arrow

Fires a slow-moving serpentine arrow which deals chaos damage while piercing enemies, and leaves a trail of caustic ground. Enemies standing on the caustic ground take chaos damage over time.

  • Projectiles Pierce all Targets
  • Deals (21.2–4622.5) Base Chaos Damage per second
  • Base duration is 6 seconds
  • 60% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage
  • Modifiers to Projectile Damage apply to this Skill"s Damage Over Time effect
  • Modifiers to Skill Effect Duration also apply to this Skill"s Soul Gain Prevention
  • Can"t be Evaded
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–10)% increased Area of Effect

 Level 1 Attack, Projectile, AoE, Duration, Chaos, Vaal, Bow
Vaal Volcanic Fissure Vaal Volcanic Fissure

Slam the ground, creating a winding fissure that deals area damage while travelling outwards. When it reaches the target location it erupts, releasing a burst of molten projectiles. After erupting, the fissure continues moving towards enemies to cause further eruptions. Requires an Axe, Mace, Sceptre, Staff or Unarmed.

  • Fires 8 additional Projectiles
  • 60% of Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage
  • 50% more Area of Effect
  • Fissure erupts 5 times
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–20)% increased Fire Damage

 Level 12 Melee, Attack, Projectile, AoE, Slam, Fire
Vaal Smite Vaal Smite

Calls lightning down to infuse your weapon, then performs a melee attack and causes lightning to strike nearby enemies, dealing damage in an area around each. Hitting an enemy grants an aura, giving you and your allies additional lightning damage for a duration, and additional lightning bolts with Smite. Requires a Sword, Axe, Mace, Sceptre, Staff or Unarmed.

  • 50% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage
  • Base duration is 8 seconds
  • Modifiers to Skill Effect Duration also apply to this Skill"s Soul Gain Prevention
  • +(0–6) to radius
  • Can"t be Evaded
  • Aura grants (10–19)% chance to Shock
  • Lightning strikes 30 targets
  • Aura makes Smite strike +1 target with lightning
  • Aura grants (1–17) to (7–330) added Lightning Damage
  • Corrupted

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–10)% increased Area of Effect

 Level 1 Lightning, Attack, AoE, Duration, Melee, Strike, Aura, Vaal

PoE 3.20 Season News & Patch Notes

The Forbidden Sanctum Challenge League

The December expansion introduces the Sanctum challenge league and improvements to Path of Exile's endgame, alongside two new Skill Gems, seven new Vaal Skill Gems, over 15 new Unique Items, significant balance changes to jewels, hexes, monster modifiers, unique weapons and more. We are also proud to introduce Ruthless, an optional new way to play Path of Exile with extreme item scarcity.

  • Challenge leagues are a great opportunity for a fresh start in a new economy. All of your old characters and items are still present in the Standard and Hardcore leagues, but you're encouraged to join the new leagues, complete challenges and demonstrate your mastery of Path of Exile!
  • The Forbidden Sanctum is a roguelike that takes place within Path of Exile. You will explore the Templars' sanctum which is rumored to be hidden beneath the Fellshrine Ruins. Long abandoned, a malevolent presence has taken hold. In each area of Wraeclast you play through, you will have the opportunity to explore one room of the Sanctum as you search for its treasures.
  • With 3.20.0, there are Standard, Hardcore, Solo Self-Found and Ruthless variations of the Sanctum challenge league available. They have the same core mechanics and items. You can create private league versions of these leagues, with mods that make the game harder.
  • The new challenge league includes a set of 40 new challenges, with microtransaction rewards for completing challenges. These rewards are only obtainable in this league.

In this league, you'll discover The Forbidden Sanctum, an ancient Templar enclave hidden beneath the Fellshrine Ruins. Abandoned for a long time, it is now controlled by a malevolent entity. You must explore it, uncover its secrets, and deal with the evil that lurks within.

Discover The Forbidden Sanctum

Boss kill event

There is no boss kill event for this league.

New Vendor Recipes

Added a vendor recipe that can be used to upgrade Scarabs between tiers using the usual 3:1 ratio (up to Gilded Scarabs).

Outcome Upgrade Vendor Recipes
1x Polished Scarab 3x the same Rusted Scarab
1x Gilded Scarab 3x the same Polished Scarab

Sanctum Rooms

Inside the Sanctum, you'll uncover a map that reveals a few of the rooms ahead of you. Sparse details of the room and its rewards are shown, so you must plan carefully as each mistake will dwindle your resolve. When your resolve runs out, your Sanctum run ends.

PoE uncover Sanctum Rooms

The Sanctum's rooms hold many secrets. Some contain ancient fountains you can rest at to restore a portion of your resolve. Others will curse you with an affliction, hindering your progress. These afflictions stack up as you explore deeper and deeper within the Sanctum.

PoE uncover Sanctum Rooms secrets

We didn't announce this in the livestream, but we can confirm that you will be able to save up consecutive Sanctum rooms (up to a limit of eight total - one entire floor), to play later.

Boons, Blessings

You can also receive boons, blessings that help you overcome the Sanctum's dangers. Each time you enter the Sanctum, you will encounter a unique layout that you must assess and adapt to as you explore.

PoE Boons, Blessings

Sanctum Aureus Coins

In the Sanctum, you will find gold coins, Aureus, inside chests and from monsters. These coins cannot leave the Sanctum with you but can be traded with a merchant you may occasionally meet. Spend wisely as your Aureus may be used to purchase a crucial boon when the time is right.

Sanctum Aureus Coins

Accursed Pact

The sinister powers at play may present you an Accursed Pact. These pacts offer a powerful benefit with a dangerous cost. You will be tempted but must choose with care. Your decision could signal the end of your time in the Sanctum or be the turning point in your success.

PoE Accursed Pact

Sanctum currency items

Many rooms in the Sanctum will offer you a choice of currency items. You can take the reward now or leave it behind, with the promise of a larger reward later. Deferring your reward to the end of the current floor or the end of the entire Sanctum escalates it with great risk.

Offer Sanctum currency items

If you run out of resolve before reaching this goal, you lose everything you gambled. Do you believe in yourself enough to take the risk and potentially reap a massive reward? Or do you play it safe and leave with what you have?

reward Sanctum currency items

Relic Altar

As you explore the Sanctum, you'll discover a special altar that Templar Relics can be placed on. These relics make you more powerful in the Sanctum and persist from run to run. Their continued power is the key to making it deeper into the Sanctum's vaults each time you enter.

PoE Sanctum special altar

You may also uncover Sanctified Relics, a very rare type that directly affects your character's build. You may use only one of these, but its benefits stay with you beyond the Sanctum walls and bestow the Templars' power on you as you journey through Wraeclast.

uncover Sanctified Relics

Sanctum Bosses

The Forbidden Sanctum is home random miniboss encounters, bosses at the end of each floor and an ultimate showdown against the entity that controls the Sanctum. These fights yield valuable rewards including Relics, piles of Aureus coins, masses of experience, and more.

Discover Sanctum Bosses

Fracturing Orb

We've improved the Atlas Passive Tree so that players don't need to respec between mapping and boss-killing and can invest even further into content that they enjoy. We've also added a new currency item called the Fracturing Orb which drops from Harbingers.

Fracturing Orb Fracturing Orb can be used to fracture a random modifier on a rare item with at least 4 modifiers, locking it in place. This can’t be used on Influenced, Synthesised or Fractured items.

New Atlas Memories

We've added two new Atlas Memories themed around Domination and Bestiary, with nine new Beastcrafting recipes.

Einhar's Memory of Crystal Prisons Einhar’s Memory of Harvest Beasts is an Atlas Memory. Item Level: 81 – 85. Drop Level: 81.

  • Areas contain Einhar
  • Areas can contain capturable Harvest Beasts
  • Unmodifiable

Right-click on this, then left click on a completed Map on your Atlas to apply this Memory.

 Kirac's Memory of Phaaryl Kirac’s Memory of the Pantheon is an Atlas Memory. Item Level: 81 – 85. Drop Level: 81.

  • Areas contain additional Shrines
  • Area contains Shrines guarded by Pantheon Monsters
  • Unmodifiable

Right-click on this, then left click on a completed Map on your Atlas to apply this Memory.

Rebalanced Eldritch Altars

We've also rebalanced Eldritch Altars and have made Maven-witnessed map bosses a source of Awakened Gems.

PoE Rebalanced Eldritch Altars

New unique items

There are over 15 new unique items to be found from within the Forbidden Sanctum and throughout Wraeclast and the Atlas.

We've also massively increased the power and rarity of ten existing endgame unique weapons to bring them in line with some of Path of Exile's most iconic unique items.

Jewels and Ailment Mitigation

This expansion includes a number of changes to Path of Exile's mechanics. We have improved Jewels as a source of ailment mitigation and have replaced most existing unique Jewels with some powerful new ones.

Curses

We've also rebalanced Hexes to make them stronger against endgame bosses and have reworked most curse mechanics and curse uniques as a result.

Monster Mods and Archnemesis

Say Goodbye to Archnemesis: The Archnemesis monster mod system has been replaced with a system that more closely resembles Path of Exile's initial monster mods, but with modernised balance and effects.

This system has been streamlined so that each modifier only does one specific thing and describes exactly what it does. While you'll still encounter modifier combinations that get your heart racing, these will be rarer than before and easier to understand in the heat of combat.

We are balancing around having between 2 and 4 mods per rare monster.

PoE Monster Mods and Archnemesis 3.20

Ruthless Mode

Ruthless is an optional new game mode which offers a more challenging way to play Path of Exile. Ruthless players can expect extreme item scarcity, limited crafting and many other changes such as support gems being drop-only.

You can access Ruthless during character creation by selecting it as an additional flag alongside Solo Self-Found and Hardcore.

PoE Ruthless Mode 3.20

Atlas Changes

Maven-witnessed Map Bosses now have a chance to drop an Awakened Gem (inclusive of the Awakened Gems that are typically exclusive to Maven herself).

Map tiers and locations have been shuffled.

PoE 3.20 Season Release Date

The name of PoE 3.20 is The Forbidden Sanctum and the release date is December 9, 2022. You'll be able to play The Forbidden Sanctum expansion for free on December 9th (PST) on PC and Mac and on December 14th (PST) on Xbox and PlayStation.

Release Date Description
December 9, 2022
  • The Release date of PoE 3.20 season on PC and Mac is December 9, 2022.
December 14, 2022
  • The release date of PoE 3.20 on console(Xbox and PlayStation).
  •  On consoles, the Kalandra League will end.

PoE 3.20 Release Date

Path of Exile Release Date & Next League 2022

Release Season Version Release Date(Timezone is UTC) League End Date Season
PoE 3.20 2022-12-9 Forbidden Sanctum
PoE 3.19 2022-08-19 2022-12-6 Kalandra league
PoE 3.18 2022-05-13 2022-08-16 Sentinel league
PoE 3.17 2022-02-04 2022-05-10 Archnemesis league
PoE 3.16 2021-10-22 2022-02-01 Scourge league
PoE 3.15 2021-07-23 2021-10-18 Expedition league
PoE 3.14 2021-04-16 2021-07-19 Ultimatum league
PoE 3.13 2021-01-15 8:00:00 PM 2021-04-12 Ritual league
PoE 3.12 2020-09-18 8:00:00 PM 2021-01-11 9:00:00 PM Heist league
PoE 3.11 2020-06-19 8:00:00 PM 2020-09-14 10:00:00 PM Harvest league
PoE 3.10 2020-03-13 2020-06-15 Delirium league
PoE 3.9 2019-12-13 8:00:00 PM 2020-03-09 9:00:00 PM Metamorph league
PoE 3.8 2019-09-06 2019-12-09 9:00:00 PM Blight league
PoE 3.7 2019-06-07 2019-09-03 Legion league
PoE 3.6 2019-03-08 2019-06-03 10:00:00 PM Synthesis league
PoE 3.5 2018-12-07 2019-03-04 9:00:00 PM Betrayal league
PoE 3.4 2018-08-31 2018-12-03 9:00:00 PM Delve league
PoE 3.3 2018-06-01 2018-08-27 10:00:00 PM Incursion league
PoE 3.2 2018-03-02 8:00:00 PM 2018-05-28 10:00:00 PM Bestiary league
PoE 3.1 2017-12-08 8:00:00 PM 2018-02-26 9:00:00 PM Abyss league
PoE 3.0 2017-08-04 8:00:00 PM 2017-12-04 9:00:00 PM Harbinger league
PoE 2.6 2017-03-03 2017-07-31 10:00:00 PM Legacy league
PoE 2.5 2016-12-02 8:00:00 PM 2017-02-27 9:00:00 PM Breach league
PoE 2.4 2016-09-02 2016-11-28 Essence league
PoE 2.3 2016-06-03 2016-08-29 Prophecy league
PoE 2.2 2016-03-04 2016-05-30 Perandus league
PoE 2.1 2015-12-11 2016-03-04 Talisman league
PoE 2.0 2015-07-10 2015-10-02 Warbands league
PoE 2.0 2015-07-10 2015-10-02 Tempest league
PoE 1.3 2014-12-13 2015-03-24 Torment league
PoE 1.3 2014-12-13 2015-03-24 Bloodlines league
PoE 1.2 2014-08-20 2014-11-20 Beyond league
PoE 1.2 2014-08-20 2014-11-20 Rampage league
PoE 1.1 2014-03-05 2014-07-05 Invasion league
PoE 1.1 2014-03-05 2014-07-05 Ambush league
PoE 1.0 2013-10-23 2014-02-23 Domination league
PoE 1.0 2013-10-23 2014-02-23 Nemesis league
PoE 0.11 2013-06-07 2013-10-07 Anarchy league
PoE 0.11 2013-06-07 2013-10-07 Onslaught league