PoE 2 Endgame Guide — Return of the Ancients (Patch 0.5)

Where to Start — Two Valid Approaches

"There's no wrong choice here — only what you enjoy and what your build can handle."

Roadmap

The 0.5 endgame fixed the old "dropped into the Atlas with no direction" problem — and replaced it with the opposite worry: too many options at once. The reassuring part is that the community consensus is neither opening is wrong. Two experienced approaches sit side by side; pick the one that fits your build and temperament.

Atlas-first

Bank the sustain passives, then gear

Rush the Fortress straight to the Enigma Chambers, taking the Atlas-tree nodes that fix waystone sustain and unlock tablets before anything else — then peel off to gear via a league mechanic. Front-loads the bonuses that make every later map more rewarding, but asks you to push tiers a little before your gear is comfortable.

Mechanic-first

Gear where you're comfortable, then the Atlas

Fully unlock one or two mechanics you enjoy first (Abyss then Breach is the common opener; Abyss then Ritual is a fine alternative — it's down to taste), bank the gear and tablets they hand you, then treat the main Atlas as your second or third priority. Lower-risk and more fun if you're not ready for the Arbiter of Ash, but the per-map Atlas bonuses arrive later.

Both camps agree on one thing: the Atlas-tree nodes that add per-map loot, tablet drops, and waystone drops are worth reaching reasonably early either way. And the devs have said outright they expect most players to skip a mechanic or two they don't enjoy (Fate of the Vaal and Delirium are the usual skips) — clearing all of it is for completionists, not a requirement.

Good to know Almost every mechanic has an easier quest version of its boss, separate from the repeatable endgame version — so the first kill in each questline is the gentle one.

Endgame Progression Roadmap — Phase by Phase

"Rush the boss, bank the Atlas points, gear in T11, and let five Arbiter kills finish the tree for you."

Roadmap

If Farming Priority answers what to play and Where to Start answers your opening move, this answers in what order, and when to stop. It front-loads waystone sustain, parks you in low tiers to gear safely, then uses repeated pinnacle kills to auto-complete the Atlas tree instead of grinding every map by hand.

The spine below is the same whichever opening you picked in Where to Start — the only real difference is timing. An Atlas-first player banks tree nodes before peeling off to gear in Phase 2; a Mechanic-first player gears first and returns to the Fortress a little later. Both rejoin at the same Phase 3 pinnacle loop, so neither path changes the steps — just when you take them.

The habit that underpins all of it: unless you're target-farming a specific mechanic, rush straight to the map boss. Regular rares and league content are under-rewarding until the tree is allocated and over-rewarding after, so spend as little time as possible in maps that don't move progression forward.

Phase 1 — First steps & early Fortress

Atlas-first — bank the sustain passives, then gear. Rush the Fortress straight to the Enigma Chambers, taking the Atlas-tree nodes that fix waystone sustain and unlock tablets before anything else.

At the Ziggurat after the campaign, in order:

Open the Waygate and clear your first map by rushing the boss (this unlocks your hideout Map Device), then talk to Doryani and Farrow to open your first quests.
Detour to Hilda's camp for just the first Beast Contract — it unlocks a passive giving a 25% chance to upgrade a normal map boss to a powerful one (powerful bosses drop waystones one tier higher).
Complete the nearby Precursor Tower to raise the Fortress.
Inside the Fortress, don't run every map — path the shortest route to each objective (the pinnacle auto-completes whole sections later). Route the Ancient Gateway → Burning Monolith → Eastern/Western Gateways → the two Enigma Chambers; the Enigma bosses give the two Crisis Fragments for the Arbiter of Ash.

Waystone sustain & Fortress quest gates

◆Always run your highest tier.
◆The Fortress questline is tier-gated: advancing Origins-of-Divinity — and unlocking the next Atlas-tree section — needs T6 / T11 / T14 map completions as minimums. A hard quest gate, distinct from the gear/ilvl phases in Farming Priority.
◆Doryani sells waystones one tier below your highest completed — clear a T7, buy a few backup T6s; clear a T12, buy backup T11s.

Ascendancy breadcrumb Take each Ascendancy as your level lines up with the trials. The 3rd is best run as a Trial of the Sekhemas from a level-60 Djinn Barya (grabbable as early as the low 60s); prepare for it with Honour Resistance and as high a maximum Honour pool as you can, since the trial drains Honour whenever you take hits. The 4th comes around level 85 — a level-75 four-trial Djinn Barya from Tier 11 maps is the easiest 4th-trial key.

When to bail If area-level requirements outpace your character, don't grind individual Fortress nodes — pivot to a league mechanic to gear up. By the time you reach the Enigma Chambers you already have enough points for solid waystone sustain.

Phase 2 — Gear in T11, don't rush T15

The biggest mistake is sprinting to T15 unprepared. Tier 11 = Area Level 75, so drops are item level 75 — enough for most of the rolls a build actually wants, and exactly where Section 3 of the Atlas tree begins to apply. Pushing to T15 for ilvl 82 chases lower-weight, marginal upgrades at far higher risk. Park in T11, finish your gear and levels, then push.

For exact item-level and modifier-tier breakpoints, defer to the Crafting Codex and PoE2DB rather than memorising numbers here — those are the source of truth.

While parked in T11, gear via the mechanic that suits your build, and take one Doryani point from a nearby corrupted nexus (the extra revival makes harder maps safer). The canonical opener is Abyss → Breach: Abyss for raw currency, good Omens, and universally useful Desecrated Bones, then Breach for build jewellery (especially early belts). Abyss → Ritual is an equally valid alternative if you'd rather chase league-start uniques — it's down to playstyle. A clean Phase-2 order: Doryani point → Abyss (Well of Souls → kill Kulemak) → Breach (Monastery of the Keepers → Hives + Colony → kill Xesht). Delirium is an early skip — if you enjoy it, pick it up a little later for the amulet anoints rather than slotting it here.

Two quest tips Don't run a mechanic's own tablets while questing it — they add more of it and slow you down — and skip its size/spawn tree nodes until the quest is done. If a sub-tree node won't allocate, it's gated behind that mechanic's boss kill; keep progressing.

Phase 3 — The Origin Tower pinnacle

Once geared for T15: clear the Matriarch and Patriarch Halls for the Origin Cradle and Origin Spark, combine them at the Precursor Reactor for the Origin Core, place it atop the Origin Tower, and fight the Arbiter of Divinity. On the kill, activate a perimeter Tower Relay to auto-complete one region (~40 points) — start bottom-left for faster Atlas reveal toward Ritual. (See the Fortress section for the full key chain.)

Phase 4 — Fast 100% Fortress completion (the Arbiter loop)

The fastest route to a full tree is to kill the Arbiter of Divinity five times total, auto-completing a region each time. Spec Doryani's master tree for exploration (extra revival, faster traversal, extra Atlas reveal on map-boss kills). From a wall tower, path outward, clearing corrupted nexuses on the way (each gives a Doryani point; that quest closes after the third nexus plus a guaranteed Immured Fury (name unverified) kill). Hunt Matriarch/Patriarch Halls — paired orange beams — collect a set, re-kill the Arbiter, auto-complete an unexplored-behind region, run its new wall tower, and repeat to five. Remember: auto-complete skips the Precursor Towers, so run those by hand for the last points.

Atlas-tree pinpoints (not a full order)

Prioritise first: waystone-drop-chance and tablet-unlock nodes — these fix sustain and stop you dropping tiers.
Then: monster-effectiveness / quantity nodes (more drops across the board) once your build can take the extra danger.
Right after the first Arbiter of Divinity kill: the top-tree nodes that scale waystone and tablet modifiers — the single biggest loot multiplier on the tree.
Later: generic map nodes (rare/magic monsters, pack size, item rarity), then the league sub-trees you actually farm.

Phase 5 — Side content (finishing the sub-trees)

With the main tree done, mop up the remaining mechanic sub-trees — easiest to hardest:

Ritual (Caer Tarth): offer tribute for An Audience With The King → use it on a Crux of Nothingness → kill the King in the Mists → return the head to the Effigy → run the 5-map Rite chain → kill Bodach (name unverified). No ritual tablets during the quest.
Fate of the Vaal (Vaal City): run city nodes until blocked → kill the Architect to open more → build a road to the temple top, attach rooms, connect Atziri's and the royal-access chambers → kill Atziri (≈6 points).
Delirium (Grand Mirror): push maps to 100% delirium → clear the 7-stage Simulacrum for the Raven's Reflection → Withered Willow → kill Tangmazu (name unverified). Non-fog passive maps first, >100% fog maps last.
Hilda — kill the remaining three Great Beasts (her tree also enables scavenging for extra uniques).
Jado (order of the Jinn) — start at the Sealed Vault, then complete the Jade Isles, Derelict Mansion, and Sacred Reservoir (latter three site names unverified); best for Exceptional Items and Lineage Supports.
The Runes of Aldur — Grand Expedition (Kingsmarch): the logbook chain Medved → Vorana → Uhtred → Olroth, then take the Triskelion item and sail to the Verisium Crater. No Atlas sub-tree yet, so this is the natural end of progression.

Farming Priority — When to Play What

"The Fortress is your core progression. Everything else fills the slots around it."

Roadmap

The endgame league mechanics serve different purposes at different points in your endgame progression. Engaging the wrong one too early (e.g. juicing Abyss before your gear can take it) wastes time; engaging the wrong one too late (e.g. chasing Ritual unique-window drops for league-start gear after you've already crafted your own) wastes opportunity. The matrix below is the rough community consensus on what to prioritise when.

These phases track your gear / item-level maturity — not the Fortress quest gates. You can be deep into the Origins-of-Divinity questline (T11+) and still sit in the "Early" column here if your gear isn't built yet. The tier ranges are a rough guide to gear readiness, not a hard gate.

Constant background: the Fortress is your core progression no matter where you are — every map you run, mix it in. It's the only source of the new Atlas tree points, and the Atlas tree is what unlocks the bonuses that make every other mechanic worth farming.

The three phases

Early — Rare Gear & League-Start Uniques

Maps T1–T8 · before crafted gear

The Runes of Aldur — predictable rare gear from vendor artifact-spend at the Ruins of Kingsmarch. Easy to bank what you need.

Breach — Wombgifts feed the Genesis Tree for early jewellery (rings, amulets, belts). Hit resistance caps faster than any other source.

Ritual — reward window is Unique-or-Omen only in 0.5. Chase league-start uniques here while their prices are highest.

Abyss — the lowest-effort currency dump: Divines plus universally useful Desecrated Bones and Omens, at low risk. Farm it for raw income now — its precision-crafting use (Well of Souls targeting) comes later, in Mid.

Mid — Crafted Jewels & Targeted Uniques

Maps T9–T14 · rare gear done

Breach — high-tier Breach rings, the new jewel catalysts for passive-tree jewels, and pinnacle-boss uniques (Hands of Wisdom and Action, Controlled Metamorphosis, Zest of the Storm).

Delirium (optional — pick it up here if you enjoy it) — first amulet anoints (one emotion combo is often a bigger power spike than any single item upgrade), plus liquid emotions for best-in-slot jewel crafts. The mod pool is broader than any other crafting source.

Abyss — Well of Souls precision: shrink the desecrated mod pool to near-100% certainty on a single targeted modifier. Use this for the one mod a craft is missing.

Skip mid-game Ritual. Once the Rite of the Nameless quest is done, rituals can stack up to 5 map bosses in a single encounter — punishing unless your build is already late-game.

Late — Best-in-Slot & Uber

Maps T15+ · finished crafted gear

Ritual — comes back for the Omens. The most powerful items in the game are made with Ritual omens that prevent bricking high-tier mods.

Abyss — same precision craft, now used for final-step polish on mirror-tier items.

Fate of the Vaal — uber endgame crafting (double-corrupt pathways) and the body-parts room for permanent buffs.

Breach — catalyst farming for ring/amulet quality polish.

Delirium — Grand Mirror map-juicing for monster power and rarity scaling.

Stacking strategy — Precursor Tablets

Tablets you collect from precursor-tower bosses let you add a mechanic to every map in the tower's area-of-effect. The phase you're in determines how to stack them:

Early — one mechanic per map (your character isn't ready for stacked density). Pick the one matching the gap you most need to fill: The Runes of Aldur for gear, Ritual for uniques, Breach for jewellery, Abyss for raw currency.
Mid — two mechanics per map. Common combinations: Breach + Delirium (jewel-focused), Breach + Abyss (currency-focused), Abyss + Delirium (crafting-focused).
Late — two tablets of the same mechanic plus an Overseer tablet (+1 monster area level). Double Ritual for omens, double Delirium for juiced maps. By this point you have enough currency to buy what you don't farm.

Atlas tree priorities (first 30 points)

Early Atlas tree allocation makes the campaign-to-mapping transition vastly smoother. Two opposing philosophies:

Easier game — pick nodes that apply shrine buffs to your character on boss-arena entry, that grant extra reward rerolls, that increase your damage against rares. Lowers the difficulty floor while you out-gear it.
More rewards — pick the inverse: apply shrine buffs to the boss instead, harder fights but specialised loot. Better once your build is established.

Most builds want the first track until they've cleared the first pinnacle, then switch toward the second — these are MultiChoice nodes, toggleable between their options at any time, so the switch itself is free. Note the Atlas tree as a whole has no respec: plan your permanent allocations carefully early on, though you'll eventually earn enough points to fill out the rest regardless.

Breach — Waking the Dreamer (Keepers of the Flame)

"Twenty-five years on, the war with the Hiveborn has not gone well."

Storyline III · Breach (Waking the Dreamer)

Hub: The Monastery of the Keepers (South)

First endgame Breach introduces Alith, a Keeper of the Flame — an ancient order of monks dedicated to preventing the Hiveborn from entering the world. She recruits you and sends you south to the monastery. Along the way you encounter more breaches — and the first new mechanic.

New Breach mechanics

Progress bar on starting a breach — shows time-to-close and how much each kill extends it. Reaching 100% creates a Stabilised Breach, which spawns new challenges at its start point.
Hiveblood accumulates from killing Hiveborn generally (stabilised Breaches and Marshal drops are the densest sources, but any Hiveborn kill contributes) — it's the resource needed to feed the Genesis Tree.
Sometimes you''ll attract a Vruun, Marshal of Xesht — drops Wombgifts.
Completing nearby maps grants points for the (revamped) Breach Atlas Passive Tree.

Crafting — The Genesis Tree

The monastery houses the Genesis Tree, gifted to the Keepers by the Dreamer himself, currently withered. Restore it with Hive Blood and use Wombgifts to craft.

Each Wombgift socket births a different jewellery type. Place an amulet wombgift, fertilise with Hive Blood, get a random rare amulet.
Feeding the tree regrows branches — 15 allocation points across the tree control base type, mod selection, mod tier, even new exclusive base types (one with a free spirit skill, one with a built-in rune socket).
Right branch → new caster mods on rings (extra spell elemental damage, niche options like unleash-seal generation rate).
Left branch → new minion mods on rings — closes the long-standing gap between attack-only and caster/minion crafting density.
Also covers belts and currency — e.g. a belt mod granting added lightning damage. New jewel catalysts (distinct from the existing jewellery catalysts that quality up rings and amulets) add quality to passive-tree jewels — letting you push attack-modifier jewels well past their normal ceiling.
Currency branch (Exalted path): For the Price of One births one extra Exalted Orb each time you birth one; Riches Beget Riches adds a chance to birth ten more; Refuse Emptiness blocks Orbs of Annulment and Transmutation from the pool, concentrating it toward pure Exalted.
Amulet branch: Imbue the Body guarantees a chosen resistance on birthed amulets (e.g. Fire), with a follow-up node raising that resistance's minimum modifier level. Jewel of the Lords is a multi-select node granting a Breachlord mutation — e.g. Xoph's, making Volcanoes crit twice as often.
Ring branch: can birth Breach Rings at higher quality than otherwise obtainable; combined with a currency-branch item this reaches 65% max quality — a strong Mind Over Matter target.
Belt branch: also rolls minion and caster mods. Minion tiers Stench of Carrion → Necrosis (always one) → Wrapped in Dread (always two); caster tiers Imperfect Sacrifice → Sorcerer's Scar (always one) → Branded with Hexes (always two).
Free respec — toggle nodes on/off any time.

Breach Domains — Hiveborn Incursion (pinnacle Tul & Esh)

Breachstone splinters stack into a special wombgift that turns in at the Genesis Tree for a Breachstone. Use it on the hiveborn foothold — Breach Domains spawn on the Atlas, and the Breachstone reveals the maps inside. Encounters within a domain:

Outskirts — Breach Hives — fuelled by the Keepers' flame; burn them by walking through. Each one destroyed pulls more Hiveborn; encounters are extra rewarding for Wombgifts.
Sky Hives — a multi-wave encounter defending Ailith while she closes the domain.
Sky Fortresses (central Sky Hive) — the deep objective. A new pair of bosses, Tul & Esh, the Breach Lords. Defeating them drops the key to the Breach pinnacle.

After the questline, breach domains spawn randomly on the Atlas. Each needs its own breachstone, sky-hive purge, and lord kill. Repeating these unlocks Xesht — fight him by communing with the Dreamer back at the monastery.

New Atlas-tree highlights

Breach Hives spawn outside Hiveborn Domains.
Alith gains hive-attack abilities (e.g. next wave forced Magic — way harder, way more loot).
Marshal of Xesht gains a set of Lineage Supports.
Xesht drops his head when killed → return to Genesis Tree, grow a grasping orchid. Putting rings on its fingers seems to make it happy.

The Runes of Aldur — New League · Ocean Exploration (Rog & Gwennen)

"Set out to find the crater of a fallen star — a meteor of pure Verisium."

New league · The Runes of Aldur (Expedition disabled)

This is the new league — not one of the 5 endgame storylines The Runes of Aldur is the new 0.5 league ("Explore the Uncharted Seas"), not one of the 5 new endgame storylines (those are Fortress, Delirium, Breach, Ritual, Masters of the Atlas). The old Expedition league is temporarily disabled on Standard for the duration of The Runes of Aldur and reintegrates afterward; Expedition Remnants are now The Runes of Aldur Remnants.

Hub: The Ruins of Kingsmarch (South-East)

The Atlas now has a south-eastern coastline with the open ocean beyond. The Ruins of Kingsmarch is the hub — the town from Act 4 in ruins after the cataclysm. The ocean questline is driven by Rog, searching for his wife Gwennen; Dannig leads the Kalguuran expeditions, with Farrow joining the crew. You set out to explore the ocean, investigate the tombs of fallen Kalguurans, and seek the crater of a fallen star — a meteor of pure Verisium. Logbooks launch the journey.

Ocean Exploring (reworked from Logbooks)

The Logbook mechanic has been reworked into an Ocean Exploring mechanic — using a logbook now unveils a section of the ocean with a variety of islands to explore. Hop across them.

Islands with expeditions, grand expeditions, new bosses, and unique encounters.
Volcanic island example: Voltaxic Sulphite — blow up sulphite for extra waves; suspicious wall hides a giant ogre that gets bigger and more rewarding the more sulphite you've blown up.
Bleached Shoals — siren eggs and treasure-filled clams scattered across the area; destroying eggs spawns sirens, and destroying enough summons the Siren herself to defend her brood.
Craggy Peninsula — a camp of the Kin holed up in hovels (blow the hovels to flush them out), caged beasts you can free, and caged exiles pitted against each other.
Inland Heath — a gigantic remnant ringed by smaller runestones; each runestone you detonate activates another slot on the master remnant, eventually opening up almost any recipe.
Islands hide trapped wisps to free, root doors to open, ancient precursor tech to raise — and bosses, of course.
Acquire more logbooks by killing runic monsters — marked by large flagpoles around each dig site. Each one extends how far into the ocean you can sail.

Faction Leaders & Boss chain

The patch notes confirm four Faction Leaders fought on new islands: Medved, Vorana, Uhtred, and Olroth. Defeating Olroth drops the key to the new pinnacle boss.

Medved — his tomb has been cracked open. Turns out he''s not as dead as assumed.
Vorana — Kalguuran faction leader fought on a new island (added in the released patch notes).
After the first faction leaders, every new logbook lets you choose direction. The ocean is enormous — go as deep as you like.
Uhtred, the Star Drinker — called down the Verisium meteors that powered Kalguuran magic. Killing him drops a truly gigantic meteor into the ocean.
The meteor is shrouded by Verisium energy. To enter you need the Triskelion Flame, a Kalguuran artifact that cancels Verisium magic.
Olroth, Leader of the Knights of the Sun — guards the Triskelion Flame. Defeat him to gain entry and obtain the key to the pinnacle.

Pinnacle community name

Accessed via the key dropped by Olroth. The reveal stream called it the "Eldritch Nightmare" / "Eldritch Meristem-bound" — described as the thing growing inside the meristem core of the meteor, with meristem "not available for millennia" that Farrow and Dannig can forge into lost-art artifacts. The released 0.5 patch notes have not yet surfaced an in-game name; the reveal/community label is preserved here for context.

Remnants within Expeditions (league mechanic overlap)

Expedition encounters within the league now contain runic remnants. Crucial difference from the campaign remnant encounters: the rune empowerments apply to every monster down the explosive line and stack. Stack too many, you face a fight beyond your abilities — but each stacked mod also improves the items those monsters drop.

League warning Pretty extreme situations possible if you over-stack runes. The risk:reward curve in expedition is much sharper than in normal remnant encounters.

Artifact-spend workflow at Kingsmarch vendors

The four Kalguuran artifact types (Broken Circle, Order, Black Scythe, Sun) are each spent at a different Kingsmarch vendor. Beyond just buying a piece of gear for one artifact, you can spend additional artifacts on the same item to incrementally improve it without committing to the buy:

Refresh the shop with exotic coinage for a fresh stock.
Select an item with the right base. One artifact reserves it.
Spend more artifacts to add a modifier, upgrade a modifier's tier, or change a modifier. Repeat until satisfied.
Take the item only when the rolls are worth it. Walk away if not — you only lose the spend, not the artifact reserved up-front.

Vendor → artifact mapping (verify in-game) Community reporting on which vendor sells which item class has been inconsistent. The buying / improving flow above is well-attested; the per-vendor item-class assignment is not — cross-check in the live game before committing to a farming plan around a specific vendor.

Abyss — Core revamp (already in PoE 2; got Atlas placement + tree in 0.5)

"Abyss got an Atlas-tree overhaul and a fixed Atlas placement — but no new storyline."

Core revamp · Abyss

Note on framing Abyss is not one of the 5 new endgame storylines (those are Fortress, Delirium, Breach, Ritual, and Masters of the Atlas). It's one of the two core revamps alongside Fate of the Vaal — both were already in PoE 2; both got Atlas placement, Atlas-tree treatment, and quest framing in 0.5. Concretely: revamped Abyss Atlas Tree, fixed crack-zone on the eastern Atlas, Kulemak's Invitation auto-allocated to the map owner, and Abyss Omens no longer drop below level 65.

Hub: The Well of Souls (East)

First Abyss encounter in the endgame triggers a quest pointing east. There you'll find mega abyss cracks on the earth, leading away from the Well of Souls. This is the model GGG used for league mechanics that didn't get full redesigns — Atlas placement + questline + Atlas tree + a pinnacle, but no new mechanics or crafting system on top.

The crack chain

All maps along the cracks contain abysses with special properties.
Mapping along the cracks closes Atlas-scale abysses, granting points for the Abyss Atlas Tree.
At the end of each Atlas Abyss is an Abyssal Depths with the boss fight for one of the three Abyssal factions — guaranteed boss access, no key RNG.

What changed in 0.5

The Abyss Atlas Tree has been revamped with many new and changed nodes.
Kulemak's Invitation is now always allocated to the map owner.
Abyss Omens no longer drop below level 65.

Pinnacle community name

Defeat all three Abyssal faction bosses to receive the key to the Well of Souls, which unlocks the final fight. The reveal-era pinnacle name "Vessel of Kulemak" has not yet surfaced in the 0.5 patch notes; the community label is preserved here for context.

Why this matters Per the reveal: this structural pattern (quest → fixed Atlas location → tree → pinnacle key from sub-bosses) makes endgame leagues "much more friendly for new players" by giving obvious goals and a guided experience. It applies to every league mechanic, even the ones not getting major content drops.

Other note

The reveal stream described Abyss as the example for the "minor treatment" pattern. Mega-cracks and the pinnacle are the headline beats — no new crafting tree, no new currency, no new bosses beyond the three faction bosses + the pinnacle. The released 0.5 patch notes confirmed the Atlas-tree revamp, the Kulemak's Invitation change, and the Omen drop-level floor; the pinnacle name remains unconfirmed.

Ritual — Rite of the Nameless

"Those with a name are unable to survive in the King's prison — surrender it to the Effigy."

Storyline IV · Ritual (Rite of the Nameless)

Hub: Caer Tarth (West — the Wildwood)

First endgame Ritual summons Aoife, a lost spirit. Few words, a lot of pointing — she leads you west to Caer Tarth, where spirits take physical form. Aoife is bound by the King in the Mists; reclaim her body to free her, but you'll need an audience with the King. Completing maps along the way grants points for the revamped Ritual Atlas Passive Tree, and after each Ritual altar locusts point the way to the next altar.

Reworked Ritual mechanic

Each Ritual area still triggers — kill bound monsters, earn Tribute.
Stacking encounters — every Ritual you do in the area adds the previous Ritual's monsters on top. Encounters get progressively brutal.
All items in the endgame Ritual reward screen are now Uniques or Omens — rewards just got significantly more valuable.

The Audience & the Effigy

Sacrifice unspent Tribute to the King to fill the audience bar. With enough Tribute, return to Caer Tarth and divine his location via the Nameless Shrine — kill him, take Aoife's body. That's when you learn the truth: Caer Tarth is built on top of an ancient prison, and the King's powers come from the Bodach, an ancient being of darkness whose escape is imminent.

To enter the prison you must surrender your name to the Effigy via the new Rite of the Nameless mechanic.

The Rite — A 5-map Ritual chain

The first Ritual culminates in a map-boss kill, granting you a piece of the Effigy.
Atlas opens — pick an adjacent map to continue. Each adjacent map has different rewards (more Tribute / unique-currency conversion / specific item offers like 5 Chaos Orbs vs a Mageblood).
The next map's Rituals carry forward all monsters and bosses from the previous map. Final encounter requires defeating both map bosses.
This continues for 5 maps in total. The last fight stacks five map bosses simultaneously.

The Head of the King

Killing the King in the Mists drops The Head of the King — the key used at Caer Tarth to begin the Rite. After the chain, each completed Rite yields one element of the final pinnacle key.

New boss: The Queen in the Mists

Available after allocating a specific Atlas-tree node. Drops three new corrupted Idols. Not the pinnacle — a side encounter inside the Ritual storyline.

Pinnacle: the Bodach (within the prison)

Reached at the end of the 5-map Rite of the Nameless. Complete the Rite, return to Caer Tarth, transfer your name to the Effigy, don the Crown of the Nameless King, and enter the prison to fight the Bodach — the ancient being of darkness whose power the King in the Mists drew on.

After the questline

Continue feeding Tribute on Atlas Rituals to gain repeat audiences. Each repeat lets you choose a new forest and start the Rite again — harder pinnacle, new uniques.

New Atlas-tree highlights

Extend Rite duration — fight 6 map bosses at once instead of 5.
Maps during the Rite get two reward mods instead of one.
Rituals can spawn inside Summoning Circles, adding random bosses.
New encounter type: Audience with the Queen — the King's bride sometimes appears.

Delirium — The Hare and the Raven

"An ancient Trickster God delights in breaking the minds of those who step through his mirrors."

Storyline II · Delirium (Hare and Raven)

Hub: The Withered Willow (South-West)

First Delirium encounter in the endgame finds Elder Maddox trapped in a Trickster trance. Free him; he sends you south-west to The Withered Willow, where the Raven Trickster first gained his power. Every map on the way features Delirium encounters.

New Delirium mechanic — Depth bar

A depth bar at the bottom of the screen shows how deep into the delirium you are. The fog visually leans toward "deeper".
Bar shows how long until the next Delirium ends, and previews the special encounters you'll hit.
If you can reach the end of the bar, the map boss is always there.
The bar also functions as a compass — it shows which direction your character is facing relative to the active fog. Turn away from the fog and it depletes faster, giving you a deliberate way to end Delirium early when you've collected what you wanted.

Mirror Shard encounters

Purple shard — shatter to make all enemies more nightmarish: bigger, scarier Delirium demons with more rewards.
Red shard — sent into the depths of your mind. Escape while fighting your worst fears. Rewards a powerful amulet with two Instilled notables.

Crafting — Liquid Emotions on Jewels

Liquid Emotions (the existing amulet-instil currency) now also add crafted mods to jewels — letting you force mods that are otherwise hard to roll.

Liquid Despair → critical hit chance.
Liquid Suffering → movement speed, area of effect.
(Many more across the emotion set.)

No more recipe guessing Anoint recipes (e.g. Grit + Paranoia + Grit → Killer Instinct) are visible directly in the new Delirium hub's passive tree — hold Alt over a node to reveal which emotion combination produces it. No external wiki lookups needed.

Grand Mirrors → Trial of Madness → Simulacrum

Once you've done enough Delirium, the Grand Mirror appears. The Trickster reflects the map boss into a ridiculous empowered fight and shatters his entrance. To find him you must consume the strange fruit he leaves behind — fully embrace the madness.

The fruit fogs an entire region of the Atlas. Every map within gets harder as you push deeper.
Killing both duplicated map bosses unlocks the Trial of Madness: fog spreads from a chosen map containing a locked Simulacrum. The map is Delirious from 10%, raised by kills up to 200%; at 100% the Simulacrum unlocks.
Simulacrum is now a 7-wave encounter (changed in 0.5). Completing it grants the key to the new Delirium pinnacle boss.

New sub-area: Loathsome Mire

Drops two new Amulet base types granting two instilled notables at the cost of -1 suffix or -1 prefix. Useful as the foundation for instil-heavy build crafting.

Pinnacle: Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster

Accessed via the Simulacrum key after the Trial of Madness. Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster is the ancient Trickster God at the heart of the Hare and the Raven storyline.

After the questline

Grand Mirrors start appearing on the Atlas after Delirium encounters. Each gives a key to re-fight the pinnacle — harder version, drops uniques exclusive to the post-quest fight. Where you spread the fog matters: some potent emotions only drop from specific map bosses afflicted by the fog, and these craft mods you cannot get any other way (e.g. Potent Liquid Melancholy from human bosses → on-hit effects).

New Atlas-tree highlights

Pause Delirium briefly so you can push deeper.
Add new Mirror Shard variants.
Simulacra drop special liquid emotions for crafting time-lost jewels.
Grand Mirror spreads fog over a larger Atlas area — potentially multiple simulacra.

Fate of the Vaal — now core campaign + endgame

"The Vaal Temple was already in PoE 2 — 0.5 makes it core. Six Beacons in Act 3 and the Interludes; Atziri's Temple in Lira Vaal on the NE Atlas."

Core revamp · Fate of the Vaal

Hub: Lira Vaal · Atziri's Temple (North-East)

Fate of the Vaal has moved into the base game in 0.5.0 as a core campaign + endgame storyline. The endgame hub is Atziri's Temple in the city of Lira Vaal, on the north-east Atlas (not north, as the reveal originally placed it). Maps in Lira Vaal always have Energised Crystals and grant points for the Fate of the Vaal Atlas Passive Tree. Pinnacle is Atziri, Queen of the Vaal in Atziri's Vault.

Acquisition — Beacons, Ruins, Temple

Act 3 — 6 Ancient Beacons appear for the first time. Energise them to obtain Energised Crystals and open the portal to the Vaal Ruins.
Interludes — a second set of 6 Ancient Beacons continues the storyline. (The exact area name is not specified in the patch notes — the reveal referred to "Doryani's Contingency" but the mapping is unverified.)
Endgame — Vaal Beacons can spawn in maps. Temple level = area level where the crystals were collected, so high-tier Temples require high-tier maps.
Dedicated Atlas region with guaranteed Vaal Beacon encounters in every map. Clearing it grants points for the new Temple Atlas Tree.
Temple Precursor Tablets — guarantee Vaal Beacons in your map for league focus.

Mechanic — Temple chaining

Build out a giant Vaal temple by chaining rooms together.
Starting room count increased in 0.5 — you reach Atziri faster.
It is no longer possible to prevent a room being deleted from the temple — the old "snake" strategy is removed.
Compounding difficulty and rewards as the layout expands — each room added makes the next harder and more valuable.
Room-based reward specialisation — the choice of which room to chain next steers what kind of rewards the temple emphasises.
Tier 4 rooms — newly added, unlocked via the Temple Atlas Tree. Encourages deeper specialisation and more interesting layouts.
Reward Rooms (Architect console) — new varieties added in addition to the existing ones, all with upgraded payouts.
Body-parts room — grants permanent character buffs, but they're lost on death. Worth chasing only on characters that already die rarely; otherwise the upkeep cost exceeds the benefit.

Crafting — Capstone corruption

Capstone item crafting — corruption and double-corruption pathways for finishing endgame items.
Vaal-unique affix manipulation — modify the special affixes that only roll on Vaal uniques.
Socket-related manipulation — socket extraction and rearrangement.
Vaal Infusers split into 4 named currencies (all require 20%+ Quality on the target item):
- Vaal Armourer's Infuser — Armour.
- Vaal Blacksmith's Infuser — Martial Weapons.
- Vaal Arcanist's Infuser — Wands / Staves / Sceptres.
- Vaal Catalysing Infuser — Jewellery.
Any existing Vaal Infuser becomes a Vaal Armourer's Infuser (armour-only).

Temple Atlas Tree — confirmed notable nodes

Transcendent Progress — Temple Rooms may now be upgraded to Tier 4. (Keystone gating the new tier.)
Efficient Arteries — 20% increased effect of Room Temple Modifiers from Rooms with 4 adjacent rooms. (Rewards dense, hub-style layouts.)
Atziri's Assets — Atziri's Vault contains an additional reward. Choose 1 of: Vaal Unique Item / (2 TBC at launch).

0.5 storage & QoL

Default max 60 Energised Crystals and max 6 Medallions — the medallions that raised those caps are no longer necessary.
Medallion drop rates rebalanced — buffed at smaller Temple sizes, slightly nerfed at larger Temple sizes.
Snake-style room preservation is gone (see mechanic bullets above).

Fortress — Origins of Divinity (also unlocks the Atlas tree)

"The cataclysm of the beast invoked an ancient protocol — the world must be purged."

Storyline I · Fortress (Origins of Divinity)

The Fortress

The first time you visit a tower in the new Atlas, the earth shakes and a gigantic Fortress rises — a remnant of the precursor civilisation. The corruption from the cataclysm has triggered an ancient protocol: scour and purge the world.

Your job is to enter the Fortress, activate its gates, gain the keys to its precursor weapons, and disarm them.

Inside the Fortress

The Fortress contains many sub-areas, each with unique mechanics or rewards:

A map where every rare is sealed inside an essence crystal.
A map where every monster pack is replaced with a strongbox.
A map where rares always flee after one kill, letting you chase them across the entire layout.

You must defeat the map boss of each Fortress map. Maps inside the Fortress grant one or more passive points for the Atlas Passive Tree — this entirely replaces the previous method of gaining Atlas points.

Fortress structure (0.5 confirmed)

3 Gateway maps — the Ancient Gateway (the entry) plus the Eastern and Western Gateways, powerful-boss maps that open the deeper layers and the second Atlas-tree section. The two gateway bosses are the Precursor Refiner and Precursor Separator (names unverified).
Two Enigma Chambers (Eastern + Western) — their bosses drop the two Crisis Fragments that unlock the Arbiter of Ash at the Burning Monolith. The quest seeds one fragment for the first kill, so clearing both chambers is enough to start that fight.
Matriarch & Patriarch Halls — the "2 Citadel maps" whose bosses drop the keys to the pinnacle (see Origin Tower below). They also appear out in the infinite Atlas, marked by paired orange beams, and require Tier 15 waystones.
Precursor Towers sit on the Fortress edges and corners — mini-boss maps worth +4 Atlas points each. A pinnacle auto-complete clears a region's maps except its Precursor Towers, so run those by hand for the last points.
Point values: each Fortress map/boss = 1 Atlas point · each Precursor Tower = +4 · a pinnacle kill = 6+ · a repeat Arbiter of Divinity kill auto-completes a whole region (often 40+ at once).
Arbiter of Ash and the Burning Monolith have been moved into the Fortress. Quest versions of the Crisis Fragments are the two Enigma Chambers above.
40+ Ancient Modifiers can appear on any map outside the Fortress; many Fortress maps have Ancient Modifiers built in.

Pinnacle: Arbiter of Divinity

At the centre of the Fortress sits the new top boss of Path of Exile 2 — the Arbiter of Divinity. The Arbiter of Ash is no longer the apex; it has been moved inside the Fortress as a quest boss alongside the Burning Monolith.

Origin Tower — the pinnacle keys

The Arbiter of Divinity waits atop the Origin Tower at the Fortress centre. To open the fight you need an Origin Core, made by combining the Origin Cradle and Origin Spark at the Precursor Reactor, inside the Origin Engine at the tower's base. The Cradle and Spark drop from the bosses in the Matriarch and Patriarch Halls. Don't sell either key — they're your re-entry items; in trade leagues you can also buy a Cradle + Spark (or a finished Origin Core) on the Currency Exchange. On each kill, activating a perimeter Tower Relay auto-completes one Fortress region.

Skip-route option Maps in the Fortress can be alternatively completed by killing the Arbiter of Divinity 5 times. Race out into the infinite Atlas and collect later; each re-kill activates one section of the Fortress, auto-completing the maps you skipped.

Site of the Chosen behind the Origin Tower

Past the Arbiter of Divinity lies the Site of the Chosen. Once per league, a single level-100 player can sacrifice — permanently delete — their character to become that league's Martyr of the First Edict. Once a Martyr is recorded, every other player in the league can visit the Site and claim a permanent +1 character Passive Skill Point from the Mote of Power.

Corroborated by Maxroll and Mobalytics; the +1 passive is league-wide and unlocks for everyone the moment any one player makes the sacrifice.

The Atlas Passive Tree (300+ nodes)

The Atlas Passive Tree has been significantly expanded — over 300 nodes (sources disagree on the exact total). Points come exclusively from maps inside the Fortress. See the New Atlas Tree section for full detail on the fully-allocatable, no-respec model.

Quest hand-in: Arbiter of Ash (now inside the Fortress)

Every endgame boss is now reachable through a questline. To fight Arbiter of Ash for the first time you no longer need lucky key drops; the keys are at fixed locations inside the Fortress and the quest tells you where. Across the whole endgame there are now two versions of every pinnacle boss — a deterministic Quest version reached through the storyline and a tougher Infinite Farm version — and the old Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Calamity Fragments can no longer be obtained.

Masters of the Atlas

"Ascendancy-style endgame progression — three masters, hot-swap before each map."

Atlas System · Three Masters

Atlas Masters are ascendancy-style endgame progression. Each master has 12 nodes; 4 selectable at once, selection changeable any time. All three masters can be allocated simultaneously, with a quick-select to switch the active master before a map. Rows of 3 nodes unlock by performing missions.

Unlike PoE 1, masters are not random map encounters — each is a permanent, Ascendancy-style tree that you unlock with a short intro quest at its Atlas location, then select from the side of the Atlas screen. All three first appear close to the Ziggurat; the per-master cards below give where to find each, how to unlock it, and what it does.

Jado

Order of the Djinn · artifact recovery

WhereThe Sealed Vault — NE, just above the Abyss cracks.

UnlockRecover the artifacts at the Sealed Vault (a short intro quest).

DoesInvestigate strange Atlas occurrences and recover artifacts; the unique-item master.

Lvl 1 picks: massive rare/unique chest chance, all map bosses drop +1 unique, or corrupted waystones get an extra modifier (cost: sent to a totally unknown location).

Also: more unique items, more unique strongboxes, more unique content (e.g. anomaly maps), and a new unique strongbox that grants reliquary keys for still more uniques. Best for Exceptional Items and Lineage Supports.

Hilda

Monster Hunters Guild · assassinations

WhereHilda's Campsite — SW, by the Withered Willow (the Delirium hub).

UnlockHunt and defeat the Great Beast she marks for you.

DoesKill specific deadly creatures and harvest parts; the boss-killing master.

Sample picks: 25% chance to upgrade map bosses to powerful versions; Azmerian spirits skip rares and target unique bosses instead; pinnacles get one attempt only but always drop two uniques.

Boss-farming combo: cut open Pinnacle bosses for a chance at another unique; release Azmeri wisps from unique monsters on death; add a second unique boss to maps; and make bosses already modified by other mechanics even stronger and more rewarding — stacked together this is the boss-killing master.

Doryani

Doryani's Science · corruption-nexus specialist

WhereHis first Corruption Nexus — SE of the start.

UnlockClear the corruption nexus.

DoesReshape the Atlas and juice maps; the exploration/terraforming master.

Signature picks:

Terraform — after each map, convert the Atlas from one biome to another; combine with biome-targeted tree nodes to funnel specific content.
Waygate / laylines — opens new precursor laylines after running maps, letting you skip ahead and travel fast (excellent for hunting Citadels).
Strongbox Constructions — adds a button to strongboxes to destroy them and spawn a rare construct; each box mod becomes a mod on the construct, so crafting the box first builds a juiced rare monster.
Simple modifiers: an extra Revive per map; all maps Irradiated (+map level).

The hot-swap UI

Each unlocked master appears on the side of the Atlas screen. Click whichever one you want active, run the map, all of that master's selected bonuses turn on. Multiple strategies, instant pick.

The New Atlas Tree

"Yes — this whole tree can be yours."

System

300+ nodes — fully allocatable

The Atlas Passive Tree has been significantly expanded — over 300 nodes (community sources quote different exact totals). You earn points from every Fortress map and every storyline questline. After completing all Fortress maps you can allocate the entire tree — so there is no respec; multi-choice nodes can be switched between options at any time. This unlocks design space that wasn''t possible when nodes had to be respec''d in/out per map type.

How the tree unlocks

The tree opens in three sections, gated by Fortress progress and area level: Section 1 is available immediately and applies in all waystone areas; Section 2 unlocks after the Eastern/Western Gateways and an Arbiter of Ash kill, applying at Area Level 70+; Section 3 unlocks after the Enigma Chamber bosses, applying at Area Level 75+ (i.e. Tier 11 maps); the final top points open after the Arbiter of Divinity.

Points come from maps inside the Fortress — this entirely replaces the previous method of gaining Atlas points.
The Atlas has been reset; existing tablets/waystones still work, but Atlas-tree points now require progressing the Origins of Divinity storyline.

Example: a node giving cities a chance to be invaded by another faction, with two faction leaders → two Crisis Fragments. Useless on non-city maps in the old tree (would need to spec out), now just a passive bonus.
Example: a node where rogue exiles flee to an adjacent map after being engaged, then return with upgraded gear and a grudge.
Example: Azmeri spirits possess strongboxes — regular monsters out of the box are touched, all rares possessed, huge loot potential.

MultiChoice nodes

Build identity is preserved through MultiChoice nodes. Everyone gets the node; you pick which bonus is active. Examples:

Boss maps contain extra essences or summoning circles or rogue exiles.
Shrines instead given to the map boss (harder fight, special loot) or shrine buff before entering boss arenas (easier fight).

Atlas Layout & Map Mechanics

"Fixed points of interest. Obvious goals. No more random wandering."

System

Fixed points of interest

"The Atlas now has fixed points of interest at specific locations. All league mechanics on the Atlas now have quests that introduce the mechanic and guide you through its various stages up to the Pinnacle Boss."

For where each hub sits, see the compass map at the top of this page. This section covers the systems behind those locations rather than repeating the positioning.

Atlas QoL & system changes (0.5)

Atlas map search support; you can zoom out slightly further.
30 new endgame map areas.
Tablets of the same type can be used together to increase league content. Each empty tablet slot contributes random non-tablet content; tablets can''t be used on maps that can''t have extra content; league-specific tablets no longer drop from non-Map areas.
Waystones must now be identified to activate in the Map Device; Orbs of Chance can be used on Tablets.
Some items/content require Atlas-passive specialisation: Exceptional Items, Fracturing Orbs, Basic and Overseer precursor tablets.
Base chances for Essences, Azmeri Spirits, Shrines, Strongboxes, Summoning Circles and Rogue Exiles in maps were lowered (the Atlas tree now grants larger increases instead).
New Monster Rarity stat; content-indicator size increased.

League content has homes too

This applies even to the leagues that didn''t get full overhauls. Example: Abyss — first endgame encounter gives you a quest east, where mega abyss cracks lead away from the Well of Souls. Map along the cracks, close Atlas-scale abysses for tree points, fight the three Abyssal faction bosses, and after all three you get the key to the Abyss pinnacle (name unverified — see §Abyss).

Wilderness map mechanics

Maps in the wilderness can spawn with new mechanics — examples:

Rogue exile hunting ground — multiple rogue exiles hunting rare beasts; walk in mid-fight and clean up both sides.
Champions map — all natural inhabitants become magic monsters.
Shrines release Azmeri spirits when used.

Endgame quest pop-out

Each endgame questline has a progress bar you can pop out from the side of the Atlas screen at any time, showing your current depth into each storyline plus quick-jump buttons to each hub.

Runic Ward & Kalguuran Skills

"An extra life pool — and a whole new skill economy that bypasses gem colour and weapon class."

System · League tie-in

Runic Ward (defensive)

New defence layer. Runic Ward kicks in once you reach 1 life and lets you keep surviving while it takes damage; it regenerates independently of life.
Added to armour via Verisium Runeforging — unlocked in Act 1 by Farrow (not Act 4; the Act 4 unlock is Ancient Runes).
Armour below level 55 gains Runic Ward with no downside.
Armour above level 55 trades some regular defences for Runic Ward.
Your maximum Runic Ward now adds to your starting Honour when beginning a Trial of the Sekhemas.
The "Defences" keyword now explicitly means Armour / Evasion / Energy Shield only — Runic Ward is separate.
Every armour piece in the game is forge-eligible, including uniques — some are strict upgrades, some sacrifice defenses for much larger ward, some add entirely new modifiers to uniques.

Runic Ward (offensive)

Ward also fuels new Kalguuran skills via Runes of Power — unlocked through remnant crafting in the campaign.

Triskelion Cascade — your next spell triggers multiple times in a triskelion pattern. Works with Ice Nova, Comet, anything castable.
Frostflame Nova — converts ignites into Frostfire, simultaneously burning + building freeze.
Hollow Shell — buffs all nearby allies.
Mark of Repulsion — pushes nearby enemies away.

These skills spend Runic Ward instead of mana, have no colour requirement, no attribute requirement, and don't care about your weapon. Designed to interact with mechanics that span all classes.

More Kalguuran skills (dedicated reveal)

Bitter Dead — spends Ward to raise chilling volatile orbs; the cores seek enemies and explode, dealing damage and leaving a rune that deals cold damage over time.
Detonate Living — enemies hit while under the Cull threshold immediately explode (detonate the living, not corpses).
Conductive Runes — spends Ward to arm hazardous runes in front of you; they explode when an enemy steps on them, dealing lightning attack damage and building electrocution. Strong disengage / pursuer-control tool.
Runeforged Blades — supported skills fire projectiles after you fully armour-break an enemy; scales with pierce / chain.
Eternal March — instantly revives your dead minions. Panic button after a boss wipes your army, or fuel for minion-explosion builds. Heavy Ward cost leaves you exposed.
Runic Reprieve — channelled block spell that blocks all hits, including from behind (turtle without a shield). Each hit depletes Ward (no recovery while channelling) and builds heavy stun on you.
Fragments of the Past — creates a Verisium volcano that spews Ice Fragments for a duration; augments Ice Fragment builds, Cross Slash, Freezing Salvo, etc.

Runic supports

Concussive Runes — adds shockwaves to any stunning skill.
Runic Infusion — spend ward to directly empower any skill's damage.

Crafting overlap into endgame

100+ new runes, dozens of new currency items (alloys, meta-runes).
Elemental conversion rune — converts existing weapon mods from one element to another (combine all three element mods → mono-element with massive damage).
Rune of Chronomancy (boots) — unlocks time-related mods like cooldown speed and skill effect duration.
Imbued alloy — directly craft mods like ailment damage onto items.
Rune-forge unique weapons at Kingsmarch (post-Mystic Refuge in Act 3) — many low-level uniques become endgame viable. Every Kalguuran unique is forge-eligible. Serle's Grit example: rune-forge for one of several different outcomes.

QoL & New Tools

"All the small things."

System

Atlas search box

Live-updates as you type. Enter cycles between matches when multiple maps share the name.

Search matches more than map names — you can also find biomes, bosses, and specific mods. This pairs with tablets: e.g. holding an Essence tablet, type essence to locate a map that boosts Essences (such as one giving Essence packs two rares each), then run the tablet there.

In-client build guide system

Community creators can now publish a standardised .build file. Once downloaded, builds appear in the in-game client. Selecting one shows passives to allocate, ascendancy points, gems and supports to take, uniques per slot or slot-notes for what kind of item to find. Creators can attach contextual notes anywhere and provide level-range recommendations so the build evolves as you level.

Trade price-check

Shift + Alt + left-click an item to instantly search it on the trade market, auto-applying the relevant filters. You can then toggle individual modifiers on/off to see how each affects the price — useful for excluding low-tier mods on rares.

Fragment Stash Tab now in PoE2

Finally arrives in PoE2 — and with tab-ception. Inside one tab:

Boss key fragments tab.
Precursor tablets — six tabs of storage per type.
Djinn Baryas + Inscribed Ultimatums — six tabs each.

Socketables Stash Tab — reorganised 0.5

To fit all the new Runes of Aldur runes, the Socketables tab now splits into five sub-stashes: Runes, Kalguuran Runes, Soul Cores, Idols, and Ancient Augments — much more space for the expanded rune pool.

Challenge League

"Where are all the challenges? Time to change that."

First time in PoE2

0.5 introduces the first proper set of challenges in Path of Exile 2 — the Runes of Aldur challenge league. Standard / Hardcore / SSF variants exist.

Reward armour: Knight of Aldur Armour Set — pieces at 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 challenges complete (league-only).
Hideout decoration: Runes of Aldur Totem — granted from the 1st challenge onward.
Challenge completion is visible in chat / forums; hideout statue tracks completed count for anyone you trade with.

Sources & Attribution

"None of this is original research — it's a synthesis of what the community has worked out."

Reference

This guide is a community-driven summary compiled from multiple sources. Nothing on this page is original research — everything is synthesised from the live game, the released 0.5.0 patch notes (21 May 2026), the Return of the Ancients reveal stream, and the work of the streamers, content creators, and reference sites listed below. The guide is reconciled against the released patch notes; items the notes do not resolve (e.g. several pinnacle boss names) are flagged inline rather than asserted.

Official sources

GGG forum posts — Fate of the Vaal going-core announcement (17 May 2026), 0.5.0 patch notes (released 21 May 2026), launch announcements.
Return of the Ancients content reveal stream — the primary source for every storyline mechanic, boss, and Atlas-tree node previewed here.

Community creators

The endgame mechanics, the progression order, the Where-to-Start framing, and the farming-priority matrix are synthesised from the wider PoE2 content-creator community — speedrun and full-clear breakdowns, mapping primers, and Fortress / Atlas-tree walkthroughs — then cross-checked against the live game and the reference sites below. Individual creators are not credited per claim; if you'd like a specific resource credited or removed, use the issue link below.

Reference sites

poe2db.tw — datamined database. Source of truth for modifiers, tiers, ilvl gates, and tags.
maxroll.gg/poe2, mobalytics.gg/poe-2, games.gg, vulkk.com — guide sites cross-referenced for mechanics interpretation.
poe.ninja/poe2 — currency price tracking, build meta reference.
game8.co, conquestcapped.com — used as cross-check / tiebreaker.

Treat this guide as a quick reference, not as authoritative documentation — cross-check against PoE2DB and the live game before any expensive craft or commitment. The full disclaimer (warranty, attribution, liability) is on the index page. If you are the author of a video, guide, dataset, or other resource referenced (directly or indirectly) here and would prefer not to be cited or summarised, please open an issue and the reference will be removed promptly.