Return of the Ancients

The Return of the Ancients is one of the largest updates to multiplayer ARPG Path of Exile 2. The new patch added mechanics for acquiring new skills and equipment upgrades, new maps to clear, and a large number of bosses and unique items. A lot of players got themselves ready for the highly anticipated patch and on the day of release, the queue to log in was tens of thousands of people.

In this article, we’ll discuss how the PoE 2 community is preparing for the new league, without a full list of new features, and what strategies and tips will help with early-in-game progression. Read on to learn how the first day after the update’s launch went, what players were up to first and how Path of Exile 2 carry services can help you catch up with players who have already started leveling up their characters.

What is Theorycrafting in Path of Exile 2

 

In the highly competitive and challenging world of Path of Exile 2, most players make it their primary goal to create the strongest and most optimized character possible. Players explore countless combinations of skills, passives, stats, equipment, and overall playstyle to achieve their ideal build. But farming the necessary items and skill gems is only the practical part of the whole puzzle; the most interesting and significant part lies in the theory, or more precisely, in theorycrafting.

For the Return of the Ancients update, theorycrafters came up with concepts for builds and new features literally piece by piece, piecing together the puzzle from information on the game’s official website and videos from the developers. Players spent weeks analyzing the newly revealed Ascendancy classes – the Martial Artist and the Spirit Walker – to determine how their unique synergies would interact with existing gear.

Community forums and dedicated build-crafting websites, such as Mobalytics, were flooded with hypothetical skill rotations, aiming to find the most efficient ways to clear the reworked endgame. Due to the lack of many details in the expansion announcements, such as the loot pool for bosses, the list of new unique items, and a full description of all new skills and passives, the community actually considers theorycrafting a large part of the game, uniting players.

Economy Rush in the Return of the Ancients League

One of the key aspects of a major update is the transfer of characters from the previous league to permanent softcore or hardcore servers. This also necessitates the need to create and level up a character anew. Since all players start with absolutely identical conditions, without special items or currency, the value of items increases dramatically. Due to this reset of the game’s economy, many are trying to get to endgame farming as quickly as possible.

The most agile and cunning players try to speedrun the campaign. These players strive to outrun others and reach the most profitable maps, farming as many valuable currencies and equipment as possible, which they can sell to other, more casual players for a good profit. Groups are formed to farm together and clear enemy waves faster. The main goal is to saturate the market with supply faster than others and capture all the demand for themselves.

Optimizing Early Progression in Runes of Aldur

Progressing through the first few weeks of a new PoE 2 league can be challenging, but it can be a very rewarding experience. The sheer volume of new content can be confusing and overwhelming, especially given the lack of verified information and quality guides. To stay on track and confidently level up without missing out on the opportunity to fully develop character, many players follow this checklist:

1. Leveling up and completing the campaign is more fun and easier in a group. It’s also much easier to find and clear Remnant encounters in a party, as they drop a large number of useful items for all stages of the game. Don’t skip Remnants, as every item that drops but you don’t need can be sold to others.
2. It’s essential to complete the main campaign and the league campaign, as this is the only way to unlock important mechanics, such as Runecrafting, much faster and easier. Crafting Runic Ward-enhanced items will not only improve your character’s early-game survivability and make content easier, but will also unlock powerful new Kalguur skills.
3. Don’t waste valuable and rare Orbs on upgrading and adding sockets to low-level armor; this is a mindless waste of a resource that you will need in large quantities in the future.
4. Level up in zones of your level or slightly higher, as killing low-level mobs yields a critically small amount of experience. If you have a high level friend who can help you farm higher level monsters, this will be a good way to level up.

If you’re new to the game and haven’t yet formed a party, you can also use a PoE 2 carry. A professional player will not only help you quickly level up your character, farm the necessary items and currencies, but also help you put together a meta build for your chosen class. The most interesting activities begin in the late and endgame, when your character has already reached level 60-90 and you have access to a wide range of character development paths, and a PRO booster can help you reach this point very quickly.

First Day of Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0

With the arrival of May 29th, the developers, prepared for the large influx of players awaiting the update, created a queue to log into the servers after the patch was officially released. The queues reached tens of thousands of players simultaneously, and that’s just the number of people monitoring the server status as the new league launched to get into the game faster than the main influx. 

The overall mood on the day of the update’s release was positive, as a large amount of new, exciting content was added to nearly all of the game’s major activities. Judging by discussions on Reddit and the official Path of Exile 2 forums, many consider Runes of Aldur to be the game’s best league. True fans of the game are delighted with the wealth of new content and the challenging endgame.