You NEED To See These Ascendancy Changes
Summary
- Gemling Legionnaire Quality Expansion: Introduction of the “Advanced Thaumaturgy” skill, granting unique quality bonuses to over 200 skill gems.
- Virtuous Barrier: A new defensive skill for the Gemling Legionnaire that scales based on the attributes of socketed skill gems.
- Chronomancer Defensive Synergy: The new “Phased Form” notable allows for damage delay and mitigation, which can be entirely negated using “Temporal Rift.”
- Inevitable Agony Rework: Visual and functional updates to the Chronomancer’s damage storage, including boss life bar indicators and automatic lethal triggers.
- Passive Tree Adjustments: Removal of the “Rapid River” passive in favor of broader Recoup speed availability on the core passive tree.
- Skill Accessibility: Changes to “Time Snap” and “Time Freeze” requirements to allow for more flexible build paths.
Gemling Legionnaire Updates
In the Return of the Ancients update, we have expanded how the Gemling Legionnaire interacts with gem quality. Through the Advanced Thaumaturgy ascendancy skill, every socketable skill in the game now possesses an additional quality option.
To utilize this feature:
- Allocate the Advanced Thaumaturgy skill.
- Hold
Altwhile hovering over skill gems to preview the additional bonus granted by quality.
Skill Gem Examples
- Fireball: Instead of firing only two additional projectiles, this can fire up to 10 in a circle. When combined with a Fire Infusion, it creates a ring of explosive projectiles that each explode into a second ring of smaller fireballs.
- Explosive Shot: Quality can grant two additional rounds in the magazine, removing the need to reload after every shot for higher burst impact.
Virtuous Barrier
The Gemling Legionnaire can now conjure a Virtuous Barrier from socketed skill gems. This barrier is empowered by each gem, with its effects becoming stronger based on the specific attribute requirements (Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence) of the gems currently socketed.
Chronomancer Updates
The Chronomancer receives several new notables and quality-of-life adjustments focused on time manipulation and spell behavior.
Phased Form and Temporal Rift Synergy
Phased Form is a new notable skill that provides strong defense by causing a portion of incoming damage from hits to be taken after a delay. Because this delay only applies to hits, damage-over-time effects are effectively mitigated.
By pairing this with Temporal Rift, you can negate the delayed damage entirely. Using Temporal Rift after taking a large hit recovers your life to its previous state and eradicates the pending damage from Phased Form.
Inevitable Agony and Skill Changes
- Inevitable Agony: Now features new visual effects and gameplay mechanics. Stored damage against bosses is now displayed on static life bars. If stored damage reaches a lethal level for the enemy, the effect triggers immediately to execute them.
- Rapid River: This passive skill has been removed. To compensate, more Recoup speed investment has been added to the core passive tree to make the mechanic accessible to more builds.
- Time Snap and Time Freeze: Both can now be allocated without the requirement of spending all eight ascendancy points.
- Now and Again: This has been reworked to give spell casts a chance to both “echo” and “repeat.” These two rolls are independent, allowing for a concentrated burst of multiple spells.
Launch Information
These changes will be available with the launch of Return of the Ancients on May 29th.