If you're still waiting for more Path of Exile 2 changes to roll out before returning to Grinding Gear Games' ARPG sequel, there's plenty of choice. Last Epoch Season 2 is a real winner, and a perfect excuse to discover the fighty newcomer's excellent additions to the genre. Torchlight Infinite Sandlord splashes a little city builder into the fast-paced free Steam game. Diablo 4 Season 8 is also around the corner. But if all you want is Path of Exile 3.26, GGG has a delightful little stopgap for you to make the wait more bearable once the current Legacy of Phrecia event ends.
With GGG focusing its efforts on getting PoE 2 into shape, the wait for the new free Steam game. The wildcard update entirely transformed the full roster of subclasses and introduced an all-new endgame – ultimately, you might have come to understand why these changes never quite made it off the drawing board, but they were very fun to play around with.
Legacy of Phrecia comes to a close today, Wednesday April 23. But GGG isn't going to let PoE gather dust, even while it works on the planned launch of Path of Exile 3.26 and the corresponding next league, which it says is currently still on schedule for June. Next week, it will be introducing 15 custom-built private league templates for PC that you can create for free, with the ability to include up to 20,000 players in each event.
"We've tried to ensure there is an event for every type of player," Grinding Gear explains. Each of the league variants is based on the most-recent Settlers update, but there's a wealth of potential twists and turns. You can opt for 'Idols' if you particularly enjoyed Legacy of Phrecia's alternative endgame progression, or 'Alternate Ascendancies' if it was the weird and wonderful subclasses that you don't want to let go.
'Necro Settlers' incorporates the manipulatable monster modifiers from the Necropolis league, while 'Shifting Stones' applies a league mechanic enhanced by a random (but corresponding) Atlas Keystone to each area that shifts every 15 minutes. You can also opt for 'Danger' variants that ramp up the difficulty dramatically, implementing slightly adjusted versions of the modifiers from the most recent Gauntlet race event.
'Affliction' revisits one of the most popular PoE seasons ever with the return of the Wildwood wisps that empower monsters, boosting their threat level and rewards alike (a feature that's also just made its way across to Path of Exile 2). If you want to go a little further back in time, additional options include the return of Sentinels and Beyond demons, or you can really ramp up the danger with a Shifting Stones variant that also drops invading Atlas bosses into every region.
Hopefully, that should give anyone craving some classic Path of Exile action plenty to keep them busy. We'll be sure to keep you up to speed on the PoE 3.26 release date and details when we know more.
For even more loot-filled fun, slip into any of the Diablo 4 Season 8 release date heralds the long-fabled return of the Lord of Lies.
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