Path Of Exile's Latest Expansion Ascendancy Arriving Early 2016

November 20, 2015 Sean Sullivan Comments

Grinding Gear Games has announced their upcoming expansion for Path of Exile, titled Ascendancy—bringing numerous features and a treacherous puzzle-laden labyrinth for players to negotiate. Taking centerstage of the expansion is Emperor Izaro, who has erected six deadly trials to pass before players can enter The Lord's Labyrinth, a brimming dungeon with traps and monsters. But brave adventurers who defeat Izaro will be rewarded with unique items and an Ascendancy Class.

As players progress through the game they will encounter the trials, which can be completed in any order and will teach players basic puzzle mechanics that will return in Izaro's Labyrinth; grates routinely overflowing with lava, darts coated with poison, and hallways tiled with saw-blades are just a few traps, which must be passed strategically or conquered by finding hidden switches. Completing all six trials culminates in the maze, which will appear about two-thirds through a playthrough.

The labyrinth is split into three sections, which will be procedurally generated every day for the entire playerbase—allowing players to share tips and secrets for recurring runs. Different traps, hidden pathways, locked doors, and chests will appear each time. Even the developer's can't be certain where a hidden pathway might surreptitiously connect two hallways, meaing a new labyrinth will be conquered each day.

Navigating the procedurally-generated dungeon will culminate in Izaro, mastermind architect of the maze. And players will face the deluded lord 3 times, once for each section of the labyrinth. Izaro's abilities will also change daily, with 3 unique mechanics to face. One property might see Izaro surrounded by statues embodying different elemental buffs. If players fail to flip the statues off, stripping Izaro's powers, he will carry that buff on to the next fight. It's a fascinating way to create dynamic boss battles. And thanks to the random mechanics Izaro potentially becomes a huge number of bosses, offering a new fight every day with future patches adding abilities.

Reaching the end of the labyrinths rewards players with an Ascendancy Class, one of 19 specializations with each base class choosing one of three. Each Ascendancy class has its own skill tree to climb. There are 12 skills within each class and players will have to choose six of the 12, so pick wisely. Ascendancy classes solidify class identity while offering awesome new abilities. Following his Roman inspiration the Gladiator Ascendancy class is particularly fond of gratuitous violence, and it hasn't looked this good since Emperor Commodus.

And what would an extensive dungeon crawl be without valuable loot waiting at the end of your trek? Izaro's powers are harnessed to create a powerful enchantment, and at the end of each Labyrinth run players will be able to imbue one item—such as with Ward of War, summoning ethereal swords that damage enemies in a whirlwind around the player. Not all enchantments will be directly useful, but they can be imbued on an uneeded piece of gear and traded to other players. Higher difficulty dungeon runs have a chance to yield extremely powerful enchantments but can also reward duds.

Read the official announcement thread on the Path of Exile website and stay tuned for more information.