POE 2 Teasers Day 18 - Two Ascendancies Reworked - Hundreds Of New Effects - Path of Exile 2
Summary
- Patch 0.5.0, Return of the Ancients, launches on May 29th.
- The Gemling Legionnaire receives a massive expansion to skill gem quality via the Advanced Thaumaturgy node, adding unique effects to over 200 skill gems.
- The Virtuous Barrier notable provides a new defensive layer for Gemlings based on “motes” generated by the attributes of socketed skill gems.
- The Chronomancer gains Phased Form, a powerful defensive node that mitigates 30% of all damage, delaying hit damage as backlash.
- Inevitable Agony is buffed to execute enemies immediately once stored damage reaches a lethal threshold.
- The Chronomancer’s Now and Again node is reworked to allow spells to echo and repeat independently for high burst potential.
- Breach mechanics are being overhauled in line with Path of Exile 1’s 3.27 update, focusing on jewelry-only Genesis Tree crafting.
Breach Overhaul Recap
The recent Breach video serves as a recap of information from the Day 5 livestream. The expansion introduces a significant overhaul to Breach, aligning it closely with the 3.27 update in Path of Exile 1.
- Genesis Tree Crafting: In Path of Exile 2, this system is restricted to jewelry. It allows players to craft entirely new item bases.
- Mechanics: The overall flow of Breach encounters has been modified for better integration with the sequel’s combat pace.
Gemling Legionnaire: Advanced Thaumaturgy
The Gemling Legionnaire is receiving a major buff through the Advanced Thaumaturgy ascendancy skill. This is a four-point investment that adds a unique quality bonus to every socketable skill gem in the game.
- Functionality: Holding Alt while hovering over a skill gem reveals an additional bonus granted by gem quality.
- Example - Fireball: At high quality (e.g., +27% from global modifiers and support gems), Fireball can gain a 25% chance to fire eight additional projectiles in a circle. When combined with fire infusion, this creates a ring of explosive projectiles that trigger secondary explosions.
- Example - Explosive Shot: Added quality can grant additional rounds in the magazine, removing the need to reload after every shot and enabling burst fire.
- Balance Note: Since the Gemling Legionnaire starts in the south of the passive tree (Strength/Dexterity), scaling Intelligence-based skills like Fireball may require significant travel or specific gear investment.
Virtuous Barrier Mechanics
The Virtuous Barrier is a complex new defensive notable that creates layers of protection called “motes” around the character.
- Mote Generation: Motes correspond to the attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence) of your socketed skill gems (not support gems).
- Maximum Motes: The cap for each attribute is
3 + [Number of skill gems requiring that attribute]. Single-attribute skill gems count twice toward this limit. - Mote Bonuses:
- Strength Mote: 1% increased maximum life.
- Dexterity Mote: 5% increased armor, evasion, and energy shield.
- Intelligence Mote: 5% increased life and mana regeneration rate.
- Loss and Recovery: You lose one random mote every time you are hit. You regain one mote every two seconds after being hit.
- Critical Assessment: This provides a massive defensive ceiling, particularly for evasion and energy shield. However, rapid hits from low-damage enemies (like spitting crabs) can strip all motes, leading to a long recovery period where defenses are significantly lower.
Chronomancer: Phased Form and Temporal Rift
The Chronomancer receives a significant defensive overhaul, replacing old notables with high-power time-manipulation mechanics.
Phased Form
- Damage Mitigation: Unconditionally take 30% less damage from all sources, including hits, damage over time (DoT), and ground effects.
- Backlash: Four seconds after being damaged by an enemy hit, you take backlash damage equal to the 30% that was mitigated.
- DoT Benefit: Because the backlash only triggers on hits, the 30% mitigation on damage over time is effectively a permanent, straight reduction with no penalty.
Temporal Rift
- Synergy: By investing two additional points into Temporal Rift, you can negate the Phased Form backlash. Using Temporal Rift recovers your life and entirely eradicates any pending delayed damage.
Inevitable Agony Improvements
Inevitable Agony is a Chronomancer-specific curse that tracks damage taken by enemies and “echoes” it when the curse expires. It has been updated for better usability:
- Visual Clarity: Bosses now feature static life bars that display how much stored damage is currently accumulated.
- Immediate Execution: If the stored damage reaches a level that would be lethal to the enemy, the effect triggers immediately. This removes the clunky requirement of waiting for the curse duration to end before a monster dies.
Chronomancer Pathing and Skill Changes
Several nodes have been reshuffled or modified to change the ascendancy’s power progression.
- Rapid River Removed: The node that increased recoup speed is gone. Recoup speed investment has been moved to the core passive tree to make it accessible to more builds.
- Pathing: Time Snap and Time Freezing can now be allocated without requiring all eight ascendancy points, allowing for more flexible build paths.
- Now and Again Rework: This node now gives spellcasts independent chances to Echo and Repeat. These rolls are separate, allowing for rare instances where a spell triggers both effects simultaneously for a massive burst of damage.