Action RPG Path of Exile’s embraces tower defence with its new expansion, Blight, out next month

Grinding Gear Games is proud to announce Path of Exile: Blight! Set to launch on 9th September, Blight is the latest in Path of Exile’s quarterly expansion updates. Each expansion introduces a new challenge league, powerful items, skill gems, a shake-up of Path of Exile’s playstyle meta and much, much more.

In Path of Exile: Blight, dangerous fungal growths have begun appearing across the cursed continent of Wraeclast, threatening man and beast alike. With the help of the new NPC Sister Cassia, you are tasked with destroying these growths. Cassia has built a specialised pump for the job, but as her pump siphons the toxic fungal ichors, monsters of all shapes and sizes emerge to defend the Blight. These fiends are particularly hardy. Luckily, Cassia has designed a range of towers to help protect her pump, which you can deploy.

Blight combines the fast, frantic action of Path of Exile’s combat with the strategic fun of tower defense games. To successfully defeat the Blight, you need to make decisions on the fly, stay aware of your surroundings, and plan for what may lay ahead. Successfully defending Cassia’s pump rewards you with valuable weapons and armour, and special oils which Cassia can use to anoint your rings and amulets with powerful enchantments.

Alongside the tower defense gameplay of Blight comes a bumper-crop of new skills, items and balance changes. This update provides significant balance improvements to the Necromancer archetype, with new defensive options like the Meat Shield Skill Gem, Support Gems which augment the AI of your minions (making them more aggressive or defensive) updates to existing minion-themed items, and an overhaul of the Necromancer Ascendancy class.

 
The Poison Assassin archetype is receiving similar attention, with five new Skill Gems that greatly broaden the gameplay options for players who like to inflict agonising poisons on their foes. The new Elusive mechanic, found on the Assassin Ascendancy class, adds more mobility for a class that likes to get in, get the job done, and get out.

Likewise, the Mine Saboteur archetype will soon have access to a set of new Mine Skill and Support gems, with existing Mine gems undergoing significant rebalancing to make the Mine playstyle feel more tactical and tactile. The Saboteur Ascendancy, too, has seen improvements.

For those of you who play Action RPGs for that sweet, sweet loot, we are, of course, adding potent new unique items, divination cards, and, with Cassia’s anointing, an avenue to augment items in powerful new ways (including the ability to add any Passive Skill Tree notable to your amulet!).

One of the core design philosophies of Path of Exile is to allow players to play the way they want to play. To that end, we’re changing the way Master Missions are dealt out in Path of Exile’s endgame, the Atlas of Worlds. Where once you had to actively pursue a Master Mission, or permanently miss out, you’ll now be able to accumulate these Missions over time, being able to then play them at your own pace and on which ever endgame Map areas you’d like!

As with every Path of Exile update, all of these additions, as well as everything in the core game, is 100% free to play. The Blight League will last for approximately three months, and features a fresh game economy. The start of a new League is the most exciting time to play Path of Exile, with thousands of players racing to be the first to discover everything the new league has to offer, so we hope you’ll join us when Blight launches on September 9!

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