If you’ve ever looked at a Path of Exile beginner guide and sighed at the words “use Rolling Magma until Act 6,” rejoice — Grinding Gear Games is finally putting that particular rite of passage out of its misery. The 3.29 update, Curse of the Allflame, is launching with the most sweeping skill gem changes the original Path of Exile has ever seen, and it’s the perfect excuse to finally give this legendary ARPG a shot.
The biggest headline change is the removal of gem-specific socket colors from equipment. For nearly two decades, one of the biggest stumbling blocks for new players has been matching the right colored sockets on their gear to the gems they actually want to use. It’s a system that made sense in 2013 but has been wearing thin ever since. Now you can slot any gem into any socket, which means upgrading your gear no longer means agonizing over whether your new chest piece has enough blue links for your main skill.
On top of that, GGG has rebalanced more than 150 existing skills, with a particular focus on giving spellcasters the attention they’ve been craving. There are also 12 entirely new skills to hunt down, including a wild new mechanic called Pacts — skills that bind you to a demon, trading a serious power boost for a nasty negative affliction. It’s the kind of risk-reward design that Path of Exile does better than almost anyone.
The new league mechanic is also a winner for newcomers. You’ll sail across the ocean to explore underwater expeditions, casting giant bubbles of air across the sea floor to map out paths to the best loot. More importantly, its crafting system shows you multiple possible outcomes before you commit to an upgrade, which means you can learn how each crafting item works without the usual fear of bricking your gear on a bad roll.
Game Director Mark Roberts says he’s expecting “all kinds of new builds” to emerge from these changes, and hopes to finally break free of the Rolling Magma meta that’s dominated leveling guides for years. Even if Rolling Magma stays decent, the sheer volume of viable alternatives means new players finally have real choices from the start.
And here’s the thing — Path of Exile is completely free to play on Steam, and with Path of Exile 2 set to go free-to-play when its 1.0 update lands later this year, there’s never been a better moment to jump into the game that made the genre what it is. The 3.29 update, Curse of the Allflame, is live now.
Zoe Mitchell writes about games that start arguments. At SteamGamer.net, she covers gaming culture, unexpected indie hits, controversial design decisions, and releases that send the internet into a collective meltdown. She is most interested in the moment a game stops being entertainment and becomes a conversation. If everyone is asking, “Who thought this was a good idea?” Zoe wants to play it.
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