As you know, the improvements to the endgame are a big focus of our next 0.4.0 content update for Path of Exile 2. However, we realised that it might be better to introduce some of the mechanical changes to the endgame sooner than that. Next week, we are planning to release Patch 0.3.1 with major changes and improvements to the endgame. Watch the video below!



The video covers the broad strokes of the changes coming to the Endgame in 0.3.1, but there are other changes and details that will be important. Below we are covering some of the additional changes included in this patch.

Alchemy Orbs
With the introduction of tiered currency in 0.3.0, Alchemy Orbs became less valuable and had fewer uses. To give them more function and to smooth out the process of crafting your Maps, Alchemy Orbs can now be used on magic items. This will upgrade the magic item into a rare item, replacing the existing modifiers with four new random modifiers.

Towers and Tablets
As your tablets are now directly applied to your Maps, this means that you can now apply the content you desire to every single Map you run (assuming you have the tablet supply). However, the ceiling for the amount of content you can apply to a single Map has been lowered. Overall this results in a more streamlined and consistent experience, but in order to not have the ceiling come down too far, we’ve buffed the modifiers on Tablets. Generally the modifiers are approximately two to three times as powerful. Here's a few examples:

• Collector's now has a value of 10% to 30% increased Rarity of Items found in your Maps (from 7% to 10%)
• Teeming now has a value of 25% to 70% increased Magic Monsters (from 15% to 25%)
• of Strongboxes now has a value of 50% to 100% increased chance for your Maps to contain Strongboxes (from 30% to 50%)

We have also added a few new modifiers:

• of the Devoted - Area contains an additional Shrine
• of the Antiquarian - Area contains an additional Strongbox
• Crystallised - Area contains an additional Essence
• Exiled - Area is inhabited by 1 additional Rogue Exile
• Azmeri's - Area contains 1 additional Azmeri Spirit
• Summoner's - Area contains an additional Summoning Circle
• of the Summoning - Area has 25 to 50% increased chance to contain a Summoning Circle

And here’s some other pieces of information to know about Tablets:

• Unique tablets have their own individual number of uses
• When using Tablets in the reforging bench, the resultant item will have the sum of the input tablets as its remaining number of uses. However this value cannot exceed the original maximum value
• When in an inventory like your personal one or a stash, the number of uses remaining on each Tablet can be seen on the bottom right of its icon
• Existing Tablets that have been applied to your Atlas will remain and you will not lose any value due to these changes

Map Size
Some Maps took considerably longer than others to navigate or complete, so we've reduced the size of the following Maps:

• Augury
• Bastille
• Blooming Field
• Channel
• Epitaph
• Fortress
• Grimhaven
• Hidden Grotto
• Oasis
• Penitentiary
• Rupture
• Savannah
• Slick
• Vaal City
• Wetlands

Atlas Trees
As a result of changes such as every Map now containing a Boss, we’ve had to make some modifications to the Atlas Tree. For example, the Crystal Realm notable on the Map Boss Tree, which previously added an additional Essence to areas containing a Map Boss, now only applies to areas with Powerful Map Bosses. Note this results in effectively no change; it is the same amount of Essences before and after.

In general the Map Boss Tree applies to all Map Bosses, with only a select few notables now specifically applying to Maps with Powerful Map Bosses. For example, the Fit for a King notable applies to all Map Bosses.

Additionally you’ll notice a number of other nodes changing throughout the core Atlas Tree to account for mechanical changes around Towers. We’ve tried to make sure these are kept approximately the same before and afterwards, so your Atlas Trees will remain the same.

Citadels
Citadels have had their spawn rate increased by 66%.

Other Improvements
Modifiers that cause the area to be covered in Chilled/Shocking/Ignited Ground now cause much less ground to be covered. At least 66% of the ground effects currently covering the ground will be removed, this value is higher on lower tier Waystones.

We have fixed a few problems where Map Boss difficulty was not applying to many multi-form Bosses, so a few of the Maps with Deadly Map Bosses will now be more difficult as a result. It was always pretty odd that the second and third phases of some of these Bosses had ten-times less life than the first phase, this was an unintentional mistake.

Alongside the changes mentioned above, the patch contains various improvements and fixes to a plethora of issues. All the details will be covered in the full patch notes, which we'll post as soon as we can. Stay tuned!