Grinding Gear Games revealed the details for the upcoming Path of Exile Affliction league. It looks like a pretty big league overall with a slew of new features, content, and updates. The Affliction League itself adds the new Virdian Wildwood, where players can work their way through a mysterious forest to hunt down the source of the Affliction.
The Viridian Wildwood
Players will encounter Sacred Wisps that beckon them into the overgrown passageways of the Viridian WIldwood. Over time the Wisps burn away the affliction that shrouds the forest, but the Wisps only have a limited amount of power. Once you return to Wraeclast, the Wisps you saved from the affliction will inhabit random monsters, increasing their power and rewards.
Overall this mechanic feels like a mix of Delve with Sentinel. You’ll progress through the Wildwood in a Delve-like fashion, where it’s sort of an infinitely generated map. Then, you will take the Wisps back with you to power up monsters for increased rewards, similar to how the Sentinels worked.
Wildwood Ascendancy Classes and return of Ultimatum mechanic
As you traverse the Wildwood you’ll complete quests to unlock one of three new Wildwood Ascendancy classes. Your chosen ascendancy class is in addition to the regular ascendancy class, which is the first time this has happened in Path of Exile.
Also, the Ultimatum mechanic from the Ultimatum league is being added to the core game. The popular mechanic lets players undertake Vaal trials for the Trialmaster in exchange for rewards. If you defeat the trial, he gives you the option of doing double or nothing. It was honestly a very fun mechanic that I’ve missed, so I’m glad it’s being added back in. Of course, the mechanic has been rebalanced as it was a pretty powerful way of obtaining rewards in its original form.
The Path of Exile Affliction league goes live on December 8 on PC and Mac, and on December 13 for PlayStation and Xbox.
