Having recently dropped onto PC, the Crucible opens up Path of Exile like never before – and now it’s available on console.
Path of Exile is an online action-RPG that has been doing the rounds for a few years now, continually enhanced and refreshed with multiple expansions. In fact, since our review of the base game back in 2017, a host of various content drops have built out the game massively. The latest of those is the Crucible.
Having launched on PC and Mac a week or so back, it’s now time for the doors to the Crucible to open today on PlayStation and Xbox, bringing with it a number of new features including the Crucible challenge League, Atlas Gateways, revamps to the Passive Skill Tree and Masteries, new Vaal skills, improvements to the Ruthless game and more.
We could sit here and dilvulge all the details, but find it best in these circumstances to fall back to the press blast that Grinding Gear Games have sent our way. And with that in mind, expect the new features of Path of Exile: Crucible to run the following lines…
- Crucible Challenge League – Introducing the Crucible Challenge League, a new expansion to Path of Exile that pushes the boundaries of Path of Exile’s item system by letting you augment your weapons with their own skill trees. These trees provide bonuses that improve or augment your character’s playstyle. Skills in the trees consume experience from Crucible encounters to unlock but can have quite powerful effects. In Crucible encounters, players choose a weapon to improve by channeling it at an ancient forge. As you channel your weapon, molten monsters will combine into larger and more fearsome foes. Pushing your limits is the fastest way to level up your weapon, but doing so increases the risk of failing the challenge. In its exclusive endgame area, The Forge of the Titans, these trees can be combined together to create weapons of unprecedented power.
- Atlas Gateways – A new addition to Path of Exile’s Endgame, Atlas Gateways are new nodes that allow instant traversal between two locations in the Atlas Passive Tree, easing the amount of travel points which lets players focus on building the tree that lets them play the content they want.
- Endgame Content Revamp – Breach/Abyss – Two older league mechanics, Breach and Abyss, have been revamped. Both mechanics have had a reduction in clutter and improved gameplay, resulting in a more streamlined experience with highly-focussed rewards.
- Passive Tree and Masteries Rework – Around half of the Masteries have been reworked, with the new Masteries having more interesting effects that will shake up many builds and provide additional options for new ones.
- New Vaal Skills – Nine new Vaal Skills have been added to the game. These are versions of existing skills that improve and augment the original skill, giving players a periodic boost when they need it, whether it’s to focus on defeating a boss or mitigating burst damage in an emergency.
- Ascendancy Reworks – The Saboteur and Pathfinder ascendancy classes have been reworked by giving them new and exciting tools that are more impactful and push their themes even further.
- Ruthless Improvements – Several improvements to the Ruthless game mode have been made, including the return of Eternal Orbs and the introduction of a Ruthless-specific set of challenges to complete.
If you’re interested in taking a look, go and grab a free download of Path of Exile from the Xbox Store – it’s playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. You’ll also find the game on PlayStation and PC. From there, check out the Crucible.
There’s a trailer below which should help with any further lines of questioning.
