Return of
the Ancients

Destroy a unique item to extract its unique rune. The rune can be traded or socketed — major crafting economy mechanic.

Upgrades a rune past its normal cap. Tradeable.

Attacks cost +20% of maximum Ward as additional cost; grant +25% of Ward cost as added physical damage.

Trigger Runic Shockwave on Heavy Stun. Requires Ward to fire.

Tap into the Triskelion Flame to Empower the next area spell you cast. The Empowered Spell centres on your location and targets six additional areas in a Triskelion pattern.

• 800% of Empowered Skill's cast time added to cooldown
• Empowered Skill has 40% less area of effect
• Empowered Skill deals 30% less damage
• Maximum Buff duration 4 seconds

Wave that leeches onto Ignited enemies, converting the leech into simultaneous freeze and burn.

• Leeches onto Ignited enemies
• Converts leech to simultaneous freeze + burn

Sacrifice your Runic Ward to send out an energy pulse that grants nearby Allies Guard.

• Spends 100% of Runic Ward
• Allies gain Guard equal to 35% of Ward spent
• 3 metre pulse radius
• 6 second Guard duration

Apply a mark that triggers an explosion and knockback when the enemy reaches the ailment threshold.

• Triggers explosion + knockback at 200% ailment threshold

• 8 challenges total
• Reward: Knight of Aldur Armour Set — pieces unlock progressively (first piece at 2 challenges, full set at 8)
• Completing all 8 challenges also rewards a hideout statue
• First ever challenge system in Path of Exile 2

Hiveborn enemies drop Wombgifts. Deposit them into the Genesis Tree and fertilise with Hiveblood to birth random rare jewellery (amulets, belts, rings) or eventually Breachstones. Atlas nodes let you influence which Wombgift types drop.

Paradigm-shift rework — single-source cap, and leech calculation now based on damage dealt cap.

• Only one leech source applies at a time (single-source cap)
• Leech amount is now calculated against a damage cap
• Major impact on attack builds that relied on stacking multiple leech sources

Ghost Dance specifically nerfed, not just a general ES slight nerf.

• Ghost Dance passive nerfed significantly
• General ES adjustments also present but Ghost Dance was called out specifically

⚠ Brief generically said "ES slightly nerfed" — the specific target is Ghost Dance

Full companion build overhaul beyond just Tame Beast changes.

• Tame Beast: Wisp duration 8–11.8s (scales with gem level)
• Tame Beast: Retains 4 monster modifiers
• Tame Beast: Hinder applies 30% movement speed reduction on ensnared beast
• Tame Beast mana cost: 22–99
• Tame Beast level mismatch confirmed — GGG says "we have a solution"
• Overall companion system overhauled beyond Tame Beast alone

Several Huntress passive tree nodes updated — Projectile Damage converted to Attack Damage in multiple places.

• "10% increased Projectile Damage" → "10% increased Attack Damage" (multiple nodes)
• "8% increased Projectile Damage" → "8% increased Attack Damage"
• "15% chance to Pierce / 15% increased Projectile Damage" → "30% increased Melee Damage if dealt Projectile Attack Hit recently"
• "33% increased Damage vs Ailment enemies" → "+30 Accuracy, 10% increased Accuracy"
• Attack speed nodes adjusted

Existing two trials being improved; third ascendancy trial is "coin flip" for 1.0.

• Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos both receiving improvements
• Third ascendancy trial design is uncertain — described as "coin flip" for whether it ships at 1.0

Broad defence rework: deflection equation revised, armour/evasion passive notables buffed, hybrid nodes added, Ghost Dance specifically targeted.

• Deflection equation revised — was "too rewarding for very little investment"
• Armour and Evasion notable passives were "hyperconditional" and many didn't even grant armour or evasion — being buffed
• New hybrid armour/evasion nodes added to the passive tree
• Ghost Dance specifically nerfed — the differential between pure evasion and evasion + 1k ES was too large
• All defensive base types buffed from Act 3 onwards

⚠ Ghost Dance is the most prominent change but is part of a broader defensive system overhaul. QA transcript: "the deflection equation is honestly kind of not good enough."

Portal loss formula changed to −1 per 2 modifiers; Atlas tree and crafting master provide additional revives.

• Revised formula: −1 portal per 2 map modifiers (previously −1 per 6)
• Atlas passive tree includes nodes that grant additional map revives
• Crafting master provides one additional revive
• One Atlas node option removes all revives entirely (for challenge/reward builds)

⚠ QA transcript: "we now have it be minus one portal per two modifiers... Atlas nodes and the master for additional revives."

Temple snaking strategy removed; temple gains its own in-dungeon meta-progression separate from the Atlas.

• Snaking strategy fixed: rooms that would disconnect the temple now become empty connector rooms instead of being deleted
• GGG: current snaking results in "1,000% unacceptable levels of item drops" — fix ships in 0.5
• Temple now has its own in-dungeon meta-progression (tablet, tree, quest line unlocked by killing architects)
• Temple does not have an Atlas active mechanic — the dungeon itself is the content loop

⚠ QA transcript lines 2786–2814. Temple going core with Incursion was separately confirmed.

Rogue Exiles significantly buffed and gain a nemesis mechanic: defeated exiles can retreat and return to hunt you in adjacent maps.

• Nemesis system: a defeated Rogue Exile may retreat to an adjacent map and return to fight you again
• Atlas nodes allow specialising into Rogue Exile hunting grounds with multiple exiles hunting rare beasts
• Exiles made significantly more powerful ("more substantial") — less of a pushover in endgame
• GGG note: "The patent has expired" — reference to PoE1 Nemesis league mechanic

⚠ QA transcript lines 3877–3880. Reveal transcript lines 627–699.

Download a build guide file from content creators. The file appears in the game client showing Passive Tree nodes, Ascendancy points, Skill Gems, and more. File format spec available at pathofexile.com/developer/docs/game#buildplanner.

Dedicated stash tab holding up to 5,000 of each fragment type. Supports public listing for trade. Holds all 0.5.0 fragments: Runic Splinters, Breach Splinters, Simulacrum Splinters, Petition Splinters — plus existing items including Djinn Barya, Kulemak's Invitation, An Audience with the King, and Precursor Tablets.

New search and filter functionality for the 400+ node Atlas passive skill tree. Quickly locate and highlight specific nodes across the full tree without manual scrolling — essential for navigating the expanded endgame tree.

Idols are Azmeri-fashioned Augments that can be socketed into dedicated Idol slots and equipped. The Spirit Walker's Idolatry notable grants bonuses based on the number equipped. The Shaman's Wisdom of the Maji unlocks Bonded modifiers on both Runes and Idols.

Both Trade league and Solo Self-Found are available from day one of the 0.5.0 launch on 29 May 2026. No staggered rollout.