My League Start Atlas Strategy For POE 3.23 Affliction League - Blight + Essence/ Strongbox/ Shrine

Before the full release of PoE 3.27 Keepers of the Flame content, many players anticipated significant balance changes due to comments made by the game director in a previous patch Q&A session. However, the official patch notes were disappointing in terms of balance adjustments.

Unexpectedly, the biggest impact of PoE 3.27's meta gameplay wasn't on balance changes, but rather on the addition of hundreds of Foulborn unique items. Now that the official focus is primarily on POE 2, there shouldn't be any new Foulborn unique items in this league. So, will Foulborn unique items be integrated into the core gameplay?

What Are Foulborn Unique Items?

Foulborn unique items are not new unique items, and they are unique items that already existed in the game, whose one or more affixes have been replaced by Foulborn affix.

Because Foulborn affixes are generally stronger than regular affixes, these Foulborn Unique items become unique and powerful enough in many situations to form an entire build idea around them.

The Red Drea (Foulborn)

Foulborn unique items were used in many builds in Patch 3.27. The Red Drea (Foulborn) was the most frequently used Foulborn unique item in both softcore and hardcore trade leagues in patch 3.27. In softcore, 8% of level 95-100 characters used it, while in hardcore, this figure rose to 11%.

Its most common Foulborn variant replaces its Endurance Charge chance affix with Fire Resistance or All Elemental Resistances talent allocated nodes based on Jewel range, providing an increase in maximum life. This provides a much-needed boost to life-based builds, allowing them to compete with the energy shield configuration.

The Red Drea (Foulborn) is used by approximately 40% of Chieftains, 17% of Juggernauts, and 20% of Gladiators, with Elementalists also making significant use of it.

The effectiveness of a Jewel is closely related to its position in the jewel socket on the Passive Skill Tree. The classes with 3 jewel sockets have particularly strong effects.

The sockets outside Marauder's starting point have the greatest potential. By using Tattoos to replace Strength path talent points with "+6% Fire Resistance" nodes, and combining them with The Red Drea (Foulborn), each small node provides an additional 4% maximum life increase. This allows for a total of approximately 55% additional maximum life increase using this unique item.

Templar slots outside the starting point offer slightly less potential, providing approximately a 30% increase to maximum life. Ranger slots south of the starting point offer around a 20% increase to maximum life.

This allows life builds in this area to either become more durable due to the significant increase in life or save talent points invested in damage, thus better tackling endgame content.

Hand Of Thought And Motion (Foulborn)

Foulborn unique items even impacted the PoE 3.27 meta. Hand of Thought and Motion (Foulborn) boasts a powerful affix that increases accuracy rating by 5% for every 25 points of Intelligence.

It fundamentally solves the scaling accuracy problem inherent in past accuracy-stacking builds. Previously, these builds heavily relied on Precursor's Emblem Rings, but the improvements they provided were limited and had limitations.

Now, Hand of Thought and Motion (Foulborn) allows you to scale accuracy simply by stacking Intelligence. This is incredibly powerful because Intelligence stacking has been strong in recent leagues, and it also provides a significant amount of energy shield.

Combined with Shaper's Touch Crusader Gloves' boost to energy shield and accuracy, Stormrider Boots' base Lightning damage, and Juggernaut's Undeniable Ascendancy node's massive attack speed, you can create an extremely powerful build, potentially the strongest build of the league. But if Foulborn items don't carry over to the next league, this strongest build will only be available in Patch 3.27.

Doedre's Scorn (Foulborn)

Foulborn affix of Doedre's Scorn indicates that the socketed gem is supported by a level 30 Impending Doom. This provides approximately 6000 to 9000 flat Chaos damage. Players can equip it at level 39.

A normal level 4 Impending Doom Support Gem only provides 175 to 263 flat Chaos damage at level 38. This means that at the corresponding level, Doedre's Scorn (Foulborn) version can deal approximately 34 times the damage.

It allows players to quickly complete campaigns and even one-shot campaign bosses. Its ingenious design lies in the fact that in the endgame, it is surpassed by the highly sought-after Forbidden Shako Helmet.

However, the latter is extremely rare or it requires a vast amount of valuable PoE Currency. So Doedre's Scorn (Foulborn) will give players the freedom of choice if it could be in core game. You can choose to use it from start to finish or simply as a fast leveling tool.

Other Noteworthy Foulborn Unique Items

Berek's Respite (Foulborn)

Berek's Respite provides a new way to obtain the explode affix for various builds, especially when combined with Elementalist's Ailments transformation, creating interesting explosion chains.

Esh's Mirror (Foulborn)

Provides a relatively easy way to obtain damage reflect immunity, used by approximately 2% of characters above level 95, primarily in Detonate Dead builds.

Kaom's Spirit (Foulborn)

Kaom's Spirit (Foulborn) is very useful for mana stacking builds, and even more so when you use two. It provides immunity to curses, a large number of attributes, mana regeneration, and a flat mana of up to 200.

Will Foulborn Unique Items Be In The Core Game?

Foulborn Unique items will probably be added to the core game in some form. This is because Breach rework is almost certainly going to be included in core content and won't just appear in this league, and this mechanic requires unique rewards.

The hundreds of newly added Foulborn Uniques items have enormous potential, much like Replica Uniques. Many of them may remain dormant across multiple leagues, but should specific balance changes occur elsewhere, one or two of them could become key to a meta, enabling new builds.

Even if some of Foulborn items clearly require balance tweaks, they provide players with more options and more playable toys, which is a good thing in Path of Exile.

Since the release of Patch 0.2.0, the frequency of major updates for Path of Exile 2 has stabilized, occurring approximately every four months, with all new content typically announced about a week in advance via livestream and announcements.

While some information is always leaked beforehand, PoE 2 has always kept many details well-hidden, which is why we recommend watching the livestream to avoid missing anything.

More importantly, the game often releases Twitch Drops, giving you the opportunity to obtain in-game items or cosmetics through the livestream, and this is also part of the livestream plan for Patch 0.4.0!

Based on this, we will introduce the details of Twitch Drops, as well as other key information related to Patch 0.4.0.

When Will Twitch Drops Be Available?

Twitch Drops will begin alongside Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 livestream, starting at 11:00 AM PST on December 4th and lasting for 24 hours.

During the event, you can earn Verdant Wilds Dodge Roll Effect by watching a livestream for 45 minutes on any available platform. It's not a random drop; you'll receive it simply by watching for the required amount of time!

How To Claim This Reward?

After obtaining the effect, it won't be directly added to your game account. You'll need to claim and redeem it from your Twitch inventory. To do this, ensure you've linked your Twitch account. If not, follow these steps:

• 1. Log in to Twitch and go to your settings page.
• 2. Click Connect button under Other Connections to complete the linking process.
• 3. You will be redirected back to your Twitch settings page. If it shows that your Path of Exile 2 account is linked to your Twitch account, you've succeeded.

Afterward, you can redeem the effect from your Twitch inventory to make it available in the game's micro-transaction list. If you missed the livestream, you can obtain the effect through the store or Quicksilver Flask effect after Patch 0.4.0 is released.

Besides claiming loot drops, you can also stream the event live, giving your viewers a chance to win extra special effects rewards: simply enable Twitch Drops feature in Twitch Creator Dashboard.

What Might The Livestream Reveal?

With approximately 12 hours remaining before the stream officially begins, more details about the new content for The Last of the Druids should be revealed.

In fact, the most anticipated new class, Druid, has already been leaked, but the developers certainly know how to keep your curiosity alive, always managing to hide the most important parts until the very last minute.

The stream is expected to be divided into two parts: the developers explaining and analyzing the features of this update, and a Q&A session with the audience, guided entirely by a professional host.

A more detailed update announcement will be released on the official website immediately after the stream. If you don't have time to watch the stream or want a more intuitive understanding of the new patch, this is a good option.

Druid May Redefine Class Gameplay

While some classes overlapped between PoE 1 and 2, the new class Huntress added after Path of Exile 2 and the new Druid are entirely new. Huntress introduced the exciting Lightning Spear gameplay; what about Druid?

In fact, Druid itself isn't novel; many ARPGs feature this class, such as Diablo 4, a major competitor to PoE series. The key lies in how it integrates with the inherent mechanics of PoE 2.

Generally, Druid's primary function is to allow you to summon animals or transform into animal forms to aid in combat.

However, based on leaked information and reasonable speculation, Druid in PoE 2 will possess multi-form transformations and a hybrid attribute growth mechanism.

This means you can experiment with more combat styles through fluid and varied form transitions, breaking away from the limitations of other older classes that rely on independent skills and can only switch between melee and ranged spell-casting.

Confirmed transformation forms include bear and wolf. The bear form is positioned as a tank, capable of influencing enemies with strong disruption and control abilities in melee mode, while ensuring survival even after taking fatal blows.

The wolf form, on the other hand, exhibits greater agility and flexibility, allowing for faster movement across the battlefield and eliminating enemies through bleeding or rapid-fire mechanics, achieving breakthroughs through momentum rather than sheer brute force.

Although not yet officially announced, based on footage and information from the trailer, some players speculate that Druid will receive a third wyvern-like form, which will likely be further explained during the livestream.

Compared to the previous two forms, the wyvern has a stronger mythological aura, making the entire game atmosphere more mysterious and captivating.

Based on other games and understanding of dragon-like creature lore, the wyvern form may allow you to control enemies in the air through sweeping attacks or fire breath, or engage in a melee-spell casting hybrid interaction.

However, regardless of how many forms Druid ultimately takes, they will never be free. You'll inevitably need to acquire and enhance them through leveling or completing quests, and may even need to consume PoE 2 currency to unlock special abilities or talents.

More New League Details

The new patch also signifies the start of a new league. Named Fate of the Vaal, this league will allow you to earn loot by playing new events and mechanics, which are often central to the league, much like Abyss mechanic in the previous Rise of the Abyssal.

Interestingly, Abyss mechanic will be retained as a core gameplay element of Path of Exile 2, while Fate of the Vaal league may be related to the classic character Atziri from the first game.

However, more league details will only be available after the livestream begins, so please be patient; all you can do now is wait!

Finally, Patch 0.4.0 will be released on all available platforms on December 12th, 2025 at 11:00 AM PST, offering 3 days of free play for everyone! Don't miss this opportunity!

The full contents of Path of Exile 2 0.4.0, The Last of the Druids, will be officially revealed at GGG Live on December 4th, but before then, are you already itching to know what major changes they've made to the new expansion? We are too!

Although there's very little information leaked so far, that doesn't stop us from making some predictions. Here, we'll discuss the possible buffs and nerfs in Patch 0.4.0 based on all the current teasers and developer announcements, which might have a significant impact on the core gameplay in the new league!

Possible Nerfs

First, let's talk about the potential nerf options in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0.

Deadeye Ascendancy

Regarding the most likely nerf, we must mention Deadeye, the most popular Ascendancy in the 0.3.0 Softcore Trade and SSF Softcore League.

In the first week after the 0.3.0 patch, Deadeye's usage rate for level 80 and above characters in Softcore Trade League reached a staggering 42%.

Even a month after the update, with adjustments to some mechanics, new support gem changes, and improved balance, Deadeye still holds a 30% share of the overall Ascendancy class usage rankings. This is an unbelievable level of dominance.

Some argue that Amazon Ascendancy had similar dominance, or even higher, approaching 50%, in the previous 0.2.0 Dawn of the Hunt. However, considering that Huntress was a new class and a key feature introduced in 0.2.0, such a high percentage is understandable.

However, no new class was introduced in 0.3.0; Deadeye's dominance was simply a result of game imbalance. This class not only possessed one of the most versatile and powerful buffs in Path of Exile 2, Tailwind, but also gained even greater versatility through additional projectiles. These combinations even surpassed melee classes in damage scaling.

All of this should have served as a wake-up call for the developers, given Deadeye Ascendancy's complete dominance in 0.3.0. Of course, this update isn't just about Deadeye Ascendancy itself; a broader adjustment to game balance is expected in 0.4.0.

Lightning-Based Builds

The second predicted nerf is, of course, the completely unbalanced lightning damage type in POE 2. Especially for buffs like Herald of Thunder, they are too powerful, with too much damage potential, and when combined with Herald of Ice, they provide extremely high damage output, leading many players to rely on them for success.

For hit-based builds, lightning damage far outweighs any other damage type. This is because lightning damage has a very large scaling range, with very low minimum damage and very high maximum damage.

The original design intended to make lightning damage more unpredictable. However, the problem now lies in the fact that players can easily alter the damage calculation with two lucky damage rolls, making it more predictable and resulting in higher average damage.

Furthermore, lightning damage inherently has the advantage of applying a Shock, which increases the damage taken by the target by 20%, and this damage can be further amplified.

Meanwhile, other damage types have far fewer usable skills in the current game balance, especially mechanics like Freeze, which are practically useless.

All these factors combined ultimately result in lightning damage builds dealing significantly more damage than other damage types. In some cases, the damage can even double. This creates an awkward situation where even if you choose a non-lightning skill, you can still inflict lightning damage using a fixed lightning damage output, which feels somewhat incongruous.

Raising The Crafting Barrier

The last nerf prediction in 0.4.0 concerns crafting. However, we believe the crafting system should be weakened not in its functionality, but in its usability.

In 0.3.0, players typically jumped directly from basic health and resistance gear to ultimate gear, skipping any intermediate gear progression stages, because the power and availability of advanced crafting made this leap easy.

Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if they increased PoE 2 currency cost of crafting endgame gear in The Last of the Druids update, as this aligns with the current crafting and gear progression mechanics. As you face increasingly difficult content, your character will experience a smoother overall progression across map tiers.

Possible Buffs

Next, let's look at our predictions for the buffs in PoE 2 patch 0.4.0 update.

New Druid-Specific Skill Nodes

Firstly, this update introduces Druids, the game's first Strength/Intelligence hybrid class. However, the current Strength/Intelligence skill trees are largely uninspired, either outdated and weak, or simply offering negligible damage boosts.

Therefore, 0.4.0 may introduce Druid-specific nodes to replace these generic ones, especially for areas like the armor and energy shield hybrid clusters.

New Vaal Ascendancies

Our second buff prediction relates to the 0.4.0 league's theme: Fate of the Vaal. The currently released trailers haven't revealed much, only mentioning the possible return of the once-destroyed Atziri, Queen of the Vaal.

It's worth noting that during Atziri's reign, Vaal races made numerous sacrifices, meaning a vast amount of blood was spilled across the land. Therefore, the concept of designing a Vaal variant Ascendancy class for Witch's Blood Mage fits perfectly here.

However, besides sacrifice and the pursuit of immortality, Atziri are also obsessed with gems. Historically, Vaal races were described as shimmering and studded with gems, which also perfectly aligns with Gemling Legionnaire's other Vaal version of Ascendancy.

Personally, we very much hope to see more similar special Ascendancy classes in the future, providing more possibilities for our builds.

Unique Items

It's time to reveal the final enhancement prediction: unique item optimization.

Now that we know the primary goal of 0.4.0 is to address the current endgame content issues in Path of Exile 2, most changes are expected to revolve around Atlas, including map optimization, map layout improvements, and Pinnacle boss fight. However, we believe there's one very important issue to address: adding worthwhile and meaningful endgame unique items.

Frankly, one of the most disappointing aspects of Path of Exile 2 is the lack of excellent unique items. Because rare gear with significant affixes in the game is often excessively powerful, their presence significantly affects the usability of unique items lacking those affixes. This has been evident since the early access release a year ago.

If the power provided by gear is reduced, developers will have more design freedom to create interesting and unique items that players truly want to use. However, as things stand, it's highly unlikely they'll make any changes to crafted gear in the 0.4.0 update besides restricting crafting mechanics. Nevertheless, abandoning unique items focused on endgame content and adding new unique items specifically for endgame builds is a good idea.

In any case, these are our current predictions for some of the buffs and nerfs that might appear in the Path of Exile 2 0.4.0 update. We don't know how our intuition holds up. But we'll soon know the results, as the developers' livestream is coming soon. Let's wait and see!

A few days ago, PoE 2 released a 30-second trailer announcing that Patch 0.4.0 would feature Fate of the Vaal League. While the brief trailer didn't reveal any new gameplay, it still sent shockwaves through players.

The female appearing in the trailer has been almost universally confirmed by players as Queen Atziri of the Vaal, though unlike her appearance in Path of Exile 1, she remains uncorrupted. So, what new mechanics and storylines does Queen Atziri's appearance in PoE 2 foreshadow in Patch 0.4.0?

Trailer Analysis

Atziri is the core of Path of Exile 1 patch 1.1 Sacrifice of the Vaal expansion. She is a narcissistic queen obsessed with immortality, leading to the downfall of the ancient Vaal civilization. Wraeclast civilization was plunged into a dark age because of her, with millions perishing in her pursuit of eternal youth. She survived the destruction of Vaal civilization and gained immortality.

In PoE 1, players can fight the corrupted Atziri, who is entirely red and possesses four arms, clearly no longer human. The scene depicted in the trailer may be the moment at the end of Act 3 when she communes with The Beast (at which point she is still human). This commemoration led to the cataclysm, destroying Vaal civilization.

Although PoE 2's story takes place after the first game, Atziri may never have been truly defeated, remaining trapped in Alluring Abyss. The corrupted The Beast, whom players follow in the current version, may be connected to her, or she may have sensed an evil signal and is preparing to wreak havoc on Wraeclast once more.

Speculation On Game Content Connections

This trailer is related to the new league content. The official demonstration of this scene suggests that players are highly likely to directly encounter or fight Atziri in the game.

Most likely, it involves the new season's league mechanics. The new league mechanics will allow players to travel back in time to experience or intervene in events through some means, such as time travel or Pensieve. Atziri-related content may be merged with the Incursion league mechanic and introduced into Path of Exile 2.

In Path of Exile 1, players encountered Temple of Atzoatl through map travel, and needed to upgrade or modify rooms to ultimately challenge the boss at the top of the temple. Players could also directly confront Atziri within the temple.

The development team may follow the successful precedent of merging Abyss and Veil affixes, integrating Temple of Atzoatl with Atziri combat content. This would both introduce a large amount of content at once and align with the storyline, as the relevant NPC, Alva, Master Explorer, is already in the game. In addition, content from older leagues like Beyond may return.

There's a small possibility that this will involve new story content, meaning this scenario is part of Act 5 or Act 6. However, the fifth act's scenario, where players push the cart, should be set in Oriath from PoE 2 era, while Act 6 might involve time travel and The Beast.

Potential Classic Items Introduced

Defeating Atziri in PoE 1 would drop many unique items, which might be adjusted or reworked and return in patch 0.4.0.

• Atziri's Promise: Possibly changed to a trinket providing chaos resistance and damage.
• Atziri's Step: High evasion, possibly combined with a new dodge mechanic.
• Doryani's Catalyst: Widely used in elemental builds.
• Pledge of Hands: Provides a high-level Spell Echo skill, with great potential.
• Atziri's Reflection (Shield): Provides anti-curse effects and was once very popular.
• Atziri's Rule (Staff): Contains Queen's Demand skill and was a core component of some builds.
• Doryani's Invitation (Belt): A standard item for many early builds.

Furthermore, if the time travel mechanic returns, it may bring new PoE 2 currency and items like Sacrificial Heart, Vial of Fate, and String of Servitude. Given the new season's connection to Vaal, the return of Vaal Skill Gems should also be considered.

Vaal Skill Gems are skill gems that are charged by collecting monster souls, temporarily providing powerful mutation effects. Vaal Skills in PoE 2 may be powerful variants of existing skills, or they may be Vaalized through new mechanics.

Possible PoE 2 Patch 0.4.0 League Mechanics

Based on historical updates from PoE 1, Fate of the Vaal League may incorporate or modify the following classic mechanics:

Sacrifice Of The Vaal

Players discover corrupted Vaal Side Areas within chapters or maps, filled with enhanced Vaal monsters and mini-bosses. The final reward may be related to challenging Atziri.

Incursion

Players collaborate with the architect Alva to travel back in time to build and ultimately raid an ever-generating Temple of Atzoatl. The temple is filled with various themed rooms, treasures, and bosses, culminating in a challenge against the corrupted form of Atziri.

Furthermore, this league introduces Double Corruption mechanic. In Locus of Corruption, items can gain two corruption affixes, but like Vaal Orb, it also comes with risks.

Other Possibilities

The trailer title, "The Mirror Does Not Lie," might hint that Patch 0.4.0 will feature a Scourge league-like mechanism, transforming the current region into a mirrored, corrupted Vaal version. Of course, the possibility of the developers creating a completely new league system unique to Path of Exile 2 cannot be ruled out.

Path of Exile 2 Fate of the Vaal League will launch on December 12th, and the developers have recently poured more effort and detail into the league storyline. Even players who are not usually interested in Path of Exile 2 leagues are excited about the possible return of Atziri.