Despite being busy with Path of Exile 2, the original Path of Exile isn’t slowing down with its fresh content. The Path of Exile Affliction is upon us and will serve as the 11th expansion in the free-to-play isometric ARPG. It’s also big and about as exciting as the Ascendancy expansion back in 2016. If you don’t believe us, here’s a rundown of the Path of Exile Affliction features to get you excited once more.
All New Path of Exile Affliction Features, Explained
This might just be one of Path of Exile’s biggest expansions so far. All of these new features are bound to keep you busy while waiting for Path of Exile 2.
- Viridian Wildwood Setting – There’s now a new area called the Viridian Wildwood. It’s similar to the Dark Forest tileset in the base game but with more treacherous traps and twists. There’s also a whole new gameplay mechanic embedded in the map.
- Transfigured Gems Mechanic – Here’s another big chance in the form of a peculiar new Gem mechanic called Transfigured Gems. It combines Quality Gems, Labyrinth Helmet Enchants, and Unique Threshold Jewels into a single Jewel system. This makes them less convoluted.
- New Skills – Of course, since there are Transfigured Gems now, they also introduced new Skills and Skill Gems such as that quirky Zombie bombing as a new zing to Corpse Explosion builds.
- New Ascendancy Classes – We did mention that Affliction is as exciting as the Ascendancy expansion; this is the reason why. These are specialty subclasses that you can unlock in the later stages of the game. Below are the following Ascendancy classes. The new Ascendancy Classes are also connected to the Viridian Wildwood setting.
- Warden of the Maji
- Warlock of the Mists
- Wildwood Primalist
- Respec Mechanic Rework – “Respeccing” individual points in the Ascendancy classes will now cost one Regret Orb instead of the usual five Regrets required for standard Ascendancy skill trees.
- Integration of Ultimatum League – The Ultimatum League and its Trials of Chaos are now part of the game as a permanent feature instead of being just a Challenge League mechanic.
- Tincture Flasks – A unique type of Flask in the game that adds bonuses with conditional effects compared to traditional Flasks. They do occupy Flask slots, so you need to weigh your options.
- Charms – Similar to Diablo 2, you can now craft charms that add incremental and small bonuses to your build.
- Core Gameplay Improvements – Tons of rebalances for old items and mechanics.
Overall, the Affliction expansion is a ripe opportunity for both veterans and newcomers to jump into the action. Some of the notable quality-of-life changes from the respec rework to help you in changing up builds. More importantly, you can expect a lot of new– possibly overpowered builds thanks to the added Ascendancy classes. Last but not least, all of this still comes for free.
