What you need to know
- Blight is the latest league for the popular ARPG Path of Exile, launching on September 6.
- The major update introduces some gameplay changes and a new tower defense-styled mini-game.
- This will be a free update for Path of Exile, which itself is free-to-play.
Path of Exile is the hugely successful action RPG (ARPG) from Grinding Gear Games, a Tencent subsidiary based out of New Zealand. The game is essentially what Diablo III should have been, offering an incredible level of depth, frequent updates with leagues that are launch irregularly with interesting new mechanics and gameplay loops.
Legion was the most recent league for Path of Exile, which brought with it a massive overhaul of the melee combat system. This made melee builds viable and more exciting to play, allowing myself and a few others to laugh hysterically as we used whirlwind through maps. Blight is set to cover minion-focused builds, but it's also coming with some neat-looking tower defense mechanics.
Blight will see players interact with a new NPC called Sister Cassia who is investigating strange fungal growths called the blight that is spreading across Wraeclast. Exiles will need to destroy these growths, which have the ability to control nearby monsters, by utilizing a device Cassia created to drain the fungus. The only problem is nearby monsters are not going to lay low and let you destroy their overlord.
This is where the new tower defense mechanic comes into play. If you've ever played a tower defense game, you'll feel right at home. Each area will have a blight encounter, which will task you by building towers to hinder the progress of monsters and deal damage. Towers can be upgraded as exiles progress and quick on-the-spot thinking will need to take place to protect all the lanes and maximize loot returns.
By participating in blight encounters, exiles will be rewarded with not only loot, but special oils, the latter which can be combined together to add properties to select items. Cassia will be able to anoint rings and amulets with special properties that relate to towers and passive skills. Once you've hit end game, you'll start to come across blighted maps, which can be used in the map device and be teleported to a blight encounter arena.
Looking forward to erecting towers, slaying monsters, and trying out the new summoner-focused changes? The new blight league will be unlocked on September 6 on PC, followed by Xbox and PlayStation 4 on September 8.
Affordable accessories that'll pair perfectly with your PC
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