Description
"With the Fall of Oriath we focused squarely on the storyline, providing only minor improvements to the endgame POE currency trade ," Chris Wilson tells me. "Now we're going all in on the endgame."
'X' marks the spot
For those unaware of how Path of Exile's endgame works, it largely centers around the Atlas of Worlds, a massive network of randomly generated maps that become harder the deeper you progress through them. During normal play, monsters can drop a map that can then be taken to a special device and used to conjure a portal you or your friends can travel through. These maps, like items, have random properties that dictate the kinds of monsters you'll encounter, limit or buff your abilities, and a lot more.
It's a system that, at its most basic, is similar to Diablo 3's Rifts—you're running randomly generated maps at progressively higher difficulties in search of powerful loot. Where it gets interesting is that more difficult maps can drop while you're clearing out a map level, leading to greater challenges and, yes, the chance to drop even more difficult maps. Eventually, players can work their way through the Atlas to the final four maps, each protected by a powerful Guardian. Killing one of them lets you then take on The Shaper, the Cthulhu-looking big bad of Path of Exile's universe. Well, until December 8, when War for the Atlas launches.
War for the Atlas revamps this entire system by introducing 32 new maps, a new layout, and a new threat to the Atlas: The Elder. Though they share a similarly vague name, The Elder and The Shaper are at war and its up to you to decide which one wins. Wilson isn't willing to divulge much information on the why of it all, as that's a mystery that the community will have to work together to solve cheap Path of exile currency .
