Path of Exile: Crucible has been announced by Grinding Gear Games as the next expansion for Path of Exile. Players will not have to wait long either as Crucible will be available for PC and Mac on April 7th, and on PlayStation and Xbox on April 12th. The expansion will add a Crucible Challenge league, Atlas Pathways, and reworks for Abyss and Breach mechanics. There will also be nine new Vaal skills.
The full Crucible features have been detailed as follows by Grinding Gear Games.
- Crucible Challenge League – Introducing the Crucible Challenge League, a new expansion to Path of Exile that pushes the boundaries of Path of Exile’s item system by letting you augment your weapons with their own skill trees. These trees provide bonuses that improve or augment your character’s playstyle. Skills in the trees consume experience from Crucible encounters to unlock but can have quite powerful effects. In Crucible encounters, players choose a weapon to improve by channeling it at an ancient forge. As you channel your weapon, molten monsters will combine into larger and more fearsome foes. Pushing your limits is the fastest way to level up your weapon, but doing so increases the risk of failing the challenge. In its exclusive endgame area, The Forge of the Titans, these trees can be combined together to create weapons of unprecedented power.
- Atlas Gateways – A new addition to Path of Exile’s Endgame, Atlas Gateways are new nodes that allow instant traversal between two locations in the Atlas Passive Tree, easing the amount of travel points which lets players focus on building the tree that lets them play the content they want.
Endgame Content Revamp – Breach/Abyss – Two older league mechanics, Breach and Abyss, have been revamped. Both mechanics have had a reduction in clutter and improved gameplay, resulting in a more streamlined experience with highly-focussed rewards.
Passive Tree and Masteries Rework – Around half of the Masteries have been reworked, with the new Masteries having more interesting effects that will shake up many builds and provide additional options for new ones. - New Vaal Skills – Nine new Vaal Skills have been added to the game. These are versions of existing skills that improve and augment the original skill, giving players a periodic boost when they need it, whether it’s to focus on defeating a boss or mitigating burst damage in an emergency.
Ascendancy Reworks – The Saboteur and Pathfinder ascendancy classes have been reworked by giving them new and exciting tools that are more impactful and push their themes even further. - Ruthless Improvements – Several improvements to the Ruthless game mode have been made, including the return of Eternal Orbs and the introduction of a Ruthless-specific set of challenges to complete.
In 2019, Grinding Gear Games announced Path of Exile 2. The campaign runs alongside the campaign of the first Path of Exile, adding seven new acts that adds to the story of the world. The story of Path of Exile 2 will lead to the Atlas endgame which will be shared with Path of Exile. A release date for the sequel is yet to be confirmed.
Source: Press Release
