Last week, GGG made some improvements to Expedition and the Runes of Aldur, but they still wanted these mechanics to have more depth in the endgame, while giving you more control over how you engage with them.
So in 0.5.4, we're introducing an Atlas Passive Tree for Runes of Aldur. This tree lets you invest in Remnant Encounters, Expeditions, and Grand Expeditions, allowing you to tailor the experience to your playstyle.
Atlas Passive Tree
So what's actually on this tree? There are 24 points in total, including 12 Notables, and some of them introduce entirely new mechanics. This multi-choice node lets you choose between finding additional Remnants or increasing your chances of encountering Expeditions in your maps. By taking this node, "Feeling Lucky?" Farrow will begin selling a new PoE 2 currency item that can be purchased with Liquid Verisium, which, by this point, you've probably got plenty of.
If you don't like the rewards on your Runic Inscriptions, you can use this currency to reroll the runes and begin the encounter for a mystery reward.
You can also further customize traditional Expedition encounters. Starting with a simple example, you can choose between gaining an additional explosive or an additional remnant. You can invest in finding more Logbooks, or take this entirely new mechanic: Verisium Sentries. These sentries can appear during Expedition encounters, and if you decide to unearth them, they'll infuse nearby enemies with Runic Power, adding additional runes and increasing their rewards. Good luck finding one with an Opulent Rune.
You can also specialize further into Grand Expeditions, like this notable "Sloughed Gully," which allows Grand Expeditions to roll a third modifier. You can speed up encounters by reducing the number of monsters required before the explosive line proceeds, or make unearthed enemies spawn with 25% of their life already missing. Explosions hurt.
And finally, you can decide how dangerous your Remnant chains become. You can prevent Runic Modifiers from propagating down the chain entirely, or, if you're looking for a bigger challenge and bigger rewards, give Remnants a chance to pass on two Runic Modifiers instead of one.
New Unique Items
Overall, there are now many more ways to customize both the challenge and rewards of this league. But that's not all. We have another super important feature involving Unique Items in PoE 2. Since 0.1, one of the most requested features has been the ability to use more of the uniques you find in the endgame on your next characters. And we agree.
Starting in 0.5.4, unique items will automatically scale their skill level down to match lower-level characters. There are so many uniques with interesting skills that only drop from high levels, and it was a real shame you couldn't use them until the late endgame.
Now, if you get a Unique from a Pinnacle boss, you can use that unique, with its unique skill, as soon as you meet that item's minimum level requirement. This should open up a whole bunch of builds available to play much earlier. It also helps when leveling new characters. If you found a high-level Lifesprig, feel free to equip it right from level 2.
Speaking of uniques, last week we teased some new Vessel of Kulemak items. The first of those is now ready: The Master's Reach. This unique grants its own skill, Untether, which plants a seed of Abyssal Energy directly into an enemy's heart. It also has some very unusual modifiers. It reveals weaknesses within the souls of Rare and Unique enemies, and if you hit that weakness, you can eat their soul.
You'll also recoup 100% of damage taken from enemies with an Open Weakness as life.
We are adding another major feature to this patch for those who love to gamble with Vaal corruption. Atziri's Temple now has a new currency item that you can use to go double or nothing on an already corrupted item. Using it will remove a random explicit mod. But in exchange for that, the existing corrupted enchantments will be upgraded to a significantly more powerful tier.
Have an item with a low-tier affix but a great corrupted implicit? Why not take a gamble? And yes, if it has been double-corrupted and has two enchantments, you can upgrade them both. Just use two orbs.
Conclusion
That's all of 0.5.4. Expedition and the Runes of Aldur should now feel much more complete in the endgame, leveling additional characters should be significantly more enjoyable, and there's a powerful new Vessel of Kulemak unique to discover. This will also be our last major patch for a little while before 0.5.5, which will be alongside a one-month event, with a new economy. We hope you enjoy 0.5.4, and see you in Wraeclast!
