Path Of Exile 3.26 Pause Function: What Will It Do To Your Game Experience?
If you’re a fan of both games in Path of Exile series, you’ve been busy lately! You were originally only focused on POE 2 Dawn of the Hunt league, but the first game’s 3.26 new league was recently announced to be launched soon.
The league is named Secrets of the Atlas and is expected to be launched on June 13. Although more information will be announced at the press conference on June 5, some news about 3.26’s new features and mechanics have been leaked, and the most popular one is undoubtedly the addition of the pause function.
Based on this, we will introduce you to the information related to this feature and speculate on how it may affect the entire game after the launch of POE 3.26.
How Will The Pause Function Work?
Unlike the combat elements in casual games, in ARPGs like Path of Exile series, combat is the main source of your character’s survival and the core gameplay of the game. Therefore, it is normal for a virtual battle to take more than ten minutes. The higher the difficulty of the battle, the longer it takes.
But this is likely to cause real-life problems, such as when someone knocks on the door while you are fighting, or you receive an important call that you have to answer. If you ignore it and focus on the game, you may miss the instant message, but if you leave the battle, your character will be killed and you will lose XP and POE currency you have earned.
Obviously, the new pause function was born to solve this problem. To be honest, there is nothing to explain in terms of mechanism. It just allows you to pause the game in battle to solve real-life problems. Or you can also utilize this function to unlock more skill points for “temporary” upgrades during the battle to win more safely.
This Function Is Not Original
Considering the characteristics of ARPG, there should be other games on the market that have added similar pause functions, including even Path of Exile’s own sequel.
The pause function was added to the game when POE 2 was first released in December last year. Perhaps because it was well received by players, the development team decided to add it to 3.26 league after half a year.
But if you have played POE 1 before, you should have found that it also had an automatic pause function. When you open any full-screen menu in the game, or when there is an uncontrollable accident such as network delay, the battle will automatically pause to prevent you from suffering losses.
However, in order to prevent players from exploiting this loophole, such as trying to find more safe areas in the battle by repeatedly pausing so that the challenge of the battle is weakened, the game will not automatically pause when you fight a pinnacle boss or other difficult battles in Path of Exile.
Impact On Gameplay
Whether it is automatic pause or passive pause caused by your operation, the key issue is still “randomness”. It is not ruled out that you will encounter situations where you have to pause the battle due to accidents, but if you abuse the pause, it will undoubtedly destroy the balance and playability of the game.
Since 3.26 has not yet been launched, more details about the pause function may have to wait until the press conference to know. But in fact, according to the setting of automatic pause, it can be inferred that the development team will probably consider the problems you can think of.
The problem of possible abuse of the pause function should be solved by adding no-pause zones like automatic pause, or setting a maximum number of pauses for simple battles. After all, in general, the pause function is still necessary.
To be honest, as an ARPG player, you should also understand the feature of long game battles, so it is best to arrange your game time reasonably based on the pause function to ensure that you will not be disturbed by the outside world when entering the battle, especially the difficult boss battle.
Read More: What Exactly Does Path Of Exile Have In Content For The 3.26 Expansion: Secrets Of The Atlas?
Noteworthy 3.26 Endgame Changes
Based on the trailers that have been released and the names of the new leagues, it can be inferred that the endgame changes of 3.26 will focus on Atlas and the map device.
For example, you can reroll elder and conqueror guardian maps through Orbs of Horizon, or change the guardians on the area and map device. In addition, a new inventory grid will be added to the map device to facilitate the placement of areas you want to explore in order.
The Connection Between POE 1/2
As games belonging to the same series, the continuity of the main story of Path of Exile is not very strong, so the connection between the two games is not close from the perspective of the plot. But there are many connections between other elements.
Whether it is the setting and selection of classes, the way of fighting, or the currency and trading system, there are many similarities between Path of Exile 1 and 2. Of course, in order to ensure their respective playability, they also have some exclusive gameplay.
However, from a practical point of view, without affecting the independence of the game, the two games can completely introduce the basic functions that each other has, just like POE 2 pause function introduced by 3.26 this time.
As for POE 2, which is being improved, the first game has more places to learn from after more than ten years of development. If POE 2 wants to launch the official version as soon as possible, learning from 1 is an indispensable learning process.
In any case, from 3.26 League and the upcoming release of POE 2 patch 0.2.1, it can be seen that the entire Path of Exile series is moving forward steadily and is bound to occupy a more important position in ARPG market in the future.
May-28-2025
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Path Of Exile 3.26 Endgame ...
As the official launch date approaches and the June 5th press conference is over, more information about Path of Exile 3.26 leagues has been revealed to you, and the most important and eye-catching ones are undoubtedly those related to the endgame. Perhaps because the arrival of 3.26 patch Secrets of the Atlas was more than half a year later than the expected normal time. In order to compensate players, this patch brought rich, interesting and challenging updates. Among them, the changes related to the endgame cover all aspects, but the most important ones are those related to the battles and quests you get loot. Based on this, we will introduce you to the relevant content. Mercenaries Of Trarthus Challenge League In order to make the game more hardcore, among the new mechanisms added to Path of Exile 3.26, the first one worth mentioning is the new mercenary challenge. These mercenaries are veterans from Trarthus, and each of them has a full set of gear and skills for you to learn. If you want to get more POE currency in the future battles with their help, you need to duel with them and win; or if you think that one person is enough, you can also take one item from their inventory and leave after winning the duel. It is worth noting that if you particularly hate some mercenaries, you can also temporarily prevent them from appearing in 3.26 mercenary pool again by winning the exile battle. However, once you add a mercenary to your team, it will actually increase the difficulty of the battles you will face later and the richness of the rewards. In addition, if you want to hire them, in addition to winning the duel, you also need to consume gold. Fortunately, 3.26 league has added the relevant gameplay of the previous league to the main game, so the content and resources including gold for hiring will be automatically provided to you after you enter Secrets of the Atlas endgame. Features Inherited From 3.25 In 3.25 league, the core gameplay is to help Kalguuran pioneers build the town of Kingsmarch and establish trade between Wraeclast and their homeland. To do this, you need to defeat those destructive enemies while engaging in fun gameplay such as trade and mining. Although the main gameplay of the game will change after the expansion update, several important features in the Settlers Challenge League have been retained. In addition to the gold just mentioned, there are also currency exchange tools for trading crafting materials, and a black market that allows you to gamble on items. Even more conveniently, these three features will also be available in other towns after 3.26 league is launched, and you will be able to continue to utilize the transportation mechanism in the game to conduct many gear, currency and other transactions. Of course, if you want to utilize all these features, you must complete the campaign and unlock the corresponding progress points. But unlike 3.25, 3.26 expansion will allow you to obtain the newly introduced passive skill Tattoos by completing Trial of the Ancestors at Karui ports, or exchange with Kalguur to obtain new tools Runegrafts that are similar to Tattoos. Runegrafts are mainly utilized to replace mastery nodes on the passive skill tree, and their specific functions include simply changing the type of bonus items and providing Runegraft of Time bonuses. Tattoos have a chance to refresh the cooldown of skills immediately. New Maps Brought By New Plots As you know, mapping is one of the most important contents of the endgame of POE series of games, which can provide you with a lot of loot in the difficult endgame stage. As the official name of 3.26 represents, after this plot update, many rifts caused by the twisted Threads of Consciousness appeared in Atlas, and master cartographer Zana was trapped in it. You need to cooperate with the new character Eagon to enter it and find her. These rifts are actually a series of maps, and the specific map presentation depends on how your Atlas tree, scarabs, fragments, etc. are combined. Once you enter the map, you will find that the enemies in it are surrounded by a special effect called memory petals, which can be absorbed by defeating the enemies. Once you have absorbed them, you will find that the relevant new skills will appear in the mini bar next to your common skills, and the skills provided by different map monsters are also different. These skills are not only powerful, but also stack as your mapping progresses. If you defeat the boss of the current map, you will also encounter a special altar that will apply a modifier to the remaining maps - the more bosses you defeat, the more these modifier stacks. New Pinnacle Fights When you follow Threads of Consciousness to the final map, you will face dangerous bosses. After defeating all of these bosses, you will get special map fragments to further unlock new pinnacle boss fights. Although the pinnacle bosses may not be as difficult as Uber bosses, the rewards they provide cannot be underestimated. Whether it’s Starcaller axe or Wine of the Prophet flask, they can provide reliable assistance for your 3.26 endgame battle. In fact, in addition to these major endgame content updates, the new league also brings a lot of effective optimizations to enhance your Path of Exile experience. Let’s look forward to it together!Jun-08-2025
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Path Of Exile 3.25: How To ...
With the official announcement from the game developers, POE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League will be officially released on July 26, and players have also ushered in their long-awaited melee enhancements and Gladiator remakes. So now that the release time is getting closer, have you chosen which league starter to choose in Settlers of Kalguur League? As we all know, a strong league starter can develop your early league economy more efficient and easily obtain your POE Currency and gear in the build. This guide will introduce some suitable builds for POE 3.25, most of which focus on melee. Each of them is very stable and has been enhanced to a certain extent at this stage, which can make your exploration in Settlers of Kalguur League easier. Boneshatter Juggernaut Boneshatter Juggernaut has received certain enhancements in both the basic version and the complex trauma version. Some players may still worry about whether Juggernaut class’s previous Unbreakable Ascendancy will change in this POE 3.25. In fact, this worry is unnecessary. Endurance charges now reduce the elemental damage provided, instead of just changing elemental resistances and physical damage as before. You will find that the new configuration may be more powerful now, and the role of the new Unbreakable Ascendancy node is the same as before, without any changes. If you put divine flesh into this build, Boneshatter Juggernaut will become even more powerful. In addition, Quality multiplicative changes will also have a very big impact on this build, especially to increase damage and enhancing offense. I think this should offset the nerf in Determination Aura. Gear Weapon: Brood Etcher Despot Axe Helmet: Glyph Star Ezomyte Burgonet Armor: Forth Vow Devout Chainmail Rings: Eagle Finger Amethyst Ring, Carrion Hold Amethyst Ring Amulet: Eternal Struggle Onyx Amulet Gloves: Tanu Ahi Wyrmsclae Gauntlets Belt: Magnate Studded Belt Boots: Brood Sole Goliath Greaves Frostblades Trickster In Path Of Exile 3.25, the second best league starter build is Frostblades Trickster because of its high speed, high evasion, and higher damage. Many players worry that it is an early build that will only be dominant in the early stages and weaker in the later stages. This worry is unnecessary and absolutely not a problem. And in POE 3.25, Frostblades Trickster has not been affected at all. In this build, Frostblade skill gem not only increases its own damage by 265 but also enhances its own basic freezing effect. This makes Frostblades Trickster even more powerful. In this version and stage, Frostblades Trickster has undergone many nerfs, but it is still strong and has the potential to become an absolute beast in this league. This is also a Path of Exile Settlers of Kalguur melee build that you should try. Gear Weapon: Essence Only Claw Offhand: Day 1 Shield Helmet: Heatshiver Armor: Day 1 Chest Rings: Maming, Day 1 Amulet: New Item Gloves: Day 1 Gloves Belt: Day 1 Belt Boots: Day 1 Boots Shield Crush Juggernaut Shield Crush Juggernaut has been around for a few leagues, and in POE 3.19 it was a very slow league start build, but now in POE 3.25 it’s become very powerful. The way this build works is that you stack your armor with your shield soldiers to protect yourself. In addition to Energy shield, it also adds fixed damage per 75 armor, and also increases your crit based on Energy shields' stats. This means that this is a very powerful crit stacking build. According to the patch notes, the two skills in this build come with two buffs themselves. One of them has a fixed base damage DPS buff, and the other has a high-end DPS buff that scales with armor, which makes Shield Crush Juggernaut one of the most powerful builds in Path of Exile 3.25. In addition, this build is one of the few builds in the game that can scale to extreme armor levels through shield quality, and its multiplicative changes will greatly increase the DPS of this build. Gear Weapon: Dream Feather Replica Offhand: Emperor’s Vigilance Helmet: Enemy Horn Armor: Fourth Oath Rings: Cataclysm Knot, Storm Ring Amulet: Adur’s Uprising Gloves: Tanu Ahi Belt: Perseverance Boots: Cataclysm Slippers Perforate Slayer Although Perforate Slayer does not have a complete end-game configuration, players believe that it has the potential to become the best POE 3.25 league starter. In Perforate Slayer, the damage of the perforate skill gem is increased from 265% to 622%, which will make your battles easier. But it also has certain risks. If you are not an experienced player, it is not recommended for you to use this build. Because it is very likely that when you use this build to kill people, your own health may not be very healthy. Gear Weapon: Death Roar Offhand: Crown of Sorrow Helmet: Enemy Horn Armor: Death Jack Rings: Mind’s Eye, Dusk Eye Amulet: Doom Amulet Gloves: Death Knuckles Belt: Chaos Trap Boots: Vortex Slippers That’s it for the best builds you can try out in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur. Let’s get started on July 26!Jul-22-2024
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Path Of Exile 3.24: This Ha ...
In Path of Exile 3.24, Harbinger in SSF proves useful for several reasons, particularly for farming currency. It adds numerous monsters to the maps, and acquiring scarabs is relatively straightforward. This strategy is not overly complex to execute, and the investment required is minimal and can effectively complement other strategies. Strategy Overview The idea of this strategy is incredibly straightforward: we aim to maximize the number of Harbingers in the map, buff them as much as possible. Despite its simplicity, it's a fun strategy. Harbingers can also spawn as a map modifier, resulting in some completely ludicrous maps filled with blue Harbingers. They drop many hard-to-get currency orbs like Exalted Orbs, Orb of Annulment, Ancient Orbs, and even Fracturing Orbs, which are incredibly rare. You can use all the Ancient Orbs on unique belts in SSF. On average, you can take 3 to 4 Ancient Orbs per map, plus an Orb of Annulment and maybe an Exalted Orb. To give you an idea of the loot that is in Tier 16 maps, with perhaps on average 80% map quantity, but that map quantity doesn't actually affect the results. You would maybe think that Harbingers drop the Beachhead map or the Landing Divination Card, which can be traded for the Beachhead. Harbinger Scarabs For scarabs, I'm typically using 2 regular Harbinger Scarabs for 6 additional Harbingers, then one Harbinger Scarab of Discernment to increase their currency to be rare and drop one type. This means you either get a ton of the currency that you want or you don't get anything at all. But it saves you a lot of clicking. The fourth scarab is the Harbinger Scarab of Regency, giving us a 50% chance for a Harbinger boss. The total chance of this is now 75% thanks to the passive tree. Sometimes, you will have enough of the Harbinger Scarab of Warhoards, which doubles the currency that you're getting, which is obviously amazing. Atlas Tree Setup Let's talk about the atlas passive tree. First, we definitely choose the Harbinger nodes. First Wave gives a 25% chance for a more powerful Harbinger. Unspeakable Offensive makes them spawn their monsters much faster and speeds up the mechanic. Then you can take Rogues, as they drop tons of loot, and combined with the increased item quantity from Unrelenting Torment. I’m skipping shrines entirely on this strategy. The Harbinger isn’t all that difficult. It’s a lot easier than Essence monsters or Rogues, so we can do without the shrines and spend those points elsewhere. I recommend running the Searing Exarch influence as it provides a steady stream of currency and scarabs, which is useful in SSF. Running the league nodes for more corpses, more Allflame, and more buffs and debuffs on the monster packs. These synergize once more because the extra quantity and rarity modifiers are amazing in your maps. But also, we're playing the Necropolis League, and that means you should engage with the league mechanic. To sustain, scarabs are crucial, so you can prioritize acquiring most scarab nodes on the Atlas tree. However, opt out of certain nodes that enhance map modifier effects. While these nodes don't boost map rewards, they make maps overly challenging and less enjoyable, which is unnecessary. Final Thought I found a few pros of this strategy. The scarabs are fairly easy to find, and it works with a lot of combinations of Harbinger scarabs, so you can run this with whatever you want. You’re not really bound to one specific scarab. You can mix and match, and everything will basically just work. The loot is very consistent, and it’s also loot that you otherwise cannot get, like Fracturing Orbs. However, there are also some cons too. The first is that the maps take quite a long time to complete with the Harbinger. You still have to wait quite a while before all the monsters show up. The second con is that the mechanics don't really interact with many other strategies, as the monsters despawn on death, and seemingly they're not affected at all by the Allflames. And the Harbinger currency isn't affected by item quantity or item rarity, so you have very few ways to juice the rewards.Apr-18-2024
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The Wormblaster Unleashed: ...
For those who relish chaos, crave devastation, and dare to dance on the edge of danger in Path of Exile, Suzu520's Herald of Ice Wormblaster build is a revelation. This unique and audacious build unleashes the power of worms in a symphony of destruction. So, prepare your POE currency and embark on this exhilarating journey into the unknown. Introducing Suzu520's Herald of Ice Wormblaster for POE 3.22 If you've never encountered a worm-based build before, this is your opportunity to delve into the extraordinary world of Suzu520's Herald of Ice Wormblaster. This audacious build defies convention and promises an experience like no other in Path of Exile. How Does It Work? At the heart of this build lies the enigmatic worm. Each flask slot is occupied by a Writhing Jar, a vessel that releases two tiny worms upon use. These worms, though enemies, interact with on-hit and on-kill effects. The secret to this build's success lies in the Mother's Embrace belt, which acts as a nurturing guardian for these wormy minions. Whenever you summon minions, they partake in the essence of all five flasks simultaneously, spawning multiple worms. For example, summoning a single skeleton can lead to the creation of ten worms. With a setup of four skeletons, you can unleash an army of 40 worms. But what's the purpose of this wriggling assembly? Just as a good mother protects her offspring, we detonate them. The Tattoo of Arohongui Warmonger is the key. This tattoo has a chance to shatter slain enemies. By accumulating a sufficient number of these tattoos, you can achieve a 100% chance to shatter on kill. Suzu520 discovered an explosive synergy between these tattoos and the Herald of Ice skill. When active, the Herald of Ice causes Shattered enemies to explode. This means you can create a legion of worms and trigger a chain reaction of 40 explosions by simply stepping on them. Offensive Strategies Ensuring your flasks don't run dry is essential to this build's success. To maintain flask charges, Suzu520 has harnessed the power of the Soul of Ryslatha Pantheon option. It provides three flask charges every three seconds, provided you haven't used a flask recently. The beauty of this strategy is that your minions use the flasks, ensuring charge recovery remains uninterrupted. This build also invests in charge gain by selecting specific passive clusters, such as "2 Flask Charges Gained" and "1 Careful Conservationist." Cluster jewels, like Mender's Wellspring, further enhance charge recovery. As a result, Suzu's build regenerates an impressive 17.5 flask charges every three seconds, enabling a continuous stream of worms. However, the real challenge is scaling damage. Herald of Ice explosions do not benefit from spell damage scaling, requiring creative solutions. Generic Damage, Elemental Damage, and Critical Strikes are your pathways to success. Suzu has identified several unique items that significantly boost the build. The Annihilating Light triples elemental damage at the cost of resistances, a trade-off well worth it for the damage increase. Calamitous Visions, a unique jewel providing the Lone Messenger keystone, contributes a substantial 100% damage boost to the Herald of Ice. While this prevents the use of other Heralds, it's a minimal sacrifice. The Heatshiver helm allows the use of cold damage to deal fire damage, adding an extra layer of scaling. To maximize cold damage, the Cold Mastery debuff is utilized. It causes enemies you shatter to spread Frost, increasing the cold damage they receive. The Bonechill Support further elevates the cold damage by enhancing the debuff. In tandem with a well-structured curse setup, your damage output reaches formidable levels. The Complex World of Critical Strikes This is where the build becomes pricier and more complex. Suzu employs three Voices jewels, allowing for extensive customization of the passive tree. The build focuses on Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, which grants critical strike chance to Heralds. These costly clusters also provide an opportunity to enhance your area of effect, which would otherwise be limited. Notably, Herald of Ice does not expand further as its gem levels increase. The piece de resistance of this intricate structure is a unique jewel known as "Impossible Escape." It enables the allocation of passives in the vicinity of a particular keystone without the need for direct pathing. In this case, Suzu incorporates the Elegant Hubris timeless jewel, which dramatically alters the nearby passive nodes. Elegant Hubris transforms these notables into a 10% generic damage boost per frenzy charge or power charge. By acquiring all these notables, the build achieves a colossal damage increase, approximately 440% more damage. Furthermore, Pain Attunement is converted into Supreme Ostentation, which allows the disregard of attribute requirements on gear. To maximize this, small passive allocations are directed toward tattoos instead of attributes. A Fragile Yet Potent Defense In this audacious build, your most robust defense is to shed your fear. Fear is the mind-killer, the little-death that leads to obliteration. The key to surviving lies in releasing fear and allowing it to pass through you. A portal, linked to Cast on Death, is your final safeguard. Suzu520 has crafted a meme glass cannon build, renowned for its immense power and minimal survivability. As Suzu humorously states, "With great power comes no survivability." However, the immense damage output is undeniable. With skilled evasion and dodging, it's entirely possible to defeat Uber Bosses with nothing but your army of worms and your tactical wit. In the world of Path of Exile, Suzu520's Herald of Ice Wormblaster build is a testament to the creative and daring spirit of the player community. While it may not be the most conventional approach, it certainly offers a thrilling and unique gameplay experience.Oct-17-2023