After a long wait, Path of Exile: Harvest has finally arrived at Wraeclast’s shores. We know you’ve waited quite a while for this, but here’s a word to the wise: Don’t charge blind into the Sacred Grove. To make sure you don’t make greenhorn mistakes, here are the things you need to know about the game’s latest expansion.
Get into the Grove
Unlike previous expansions where the number (and strength) of mobs depends on what the content throws at you, how powerful and how many enemies you’ll face is wholly up to you. This is because rather than go to some map or dungeon, you’ll be raising the enemies yourself in an area known as the Sacred Grove.
The raising pertained to here is rather literal, because as the name of the expansion and its central area suggests, you’ll be the one to grow the monsters you’ll be fighting. You’ll be gathering seeds in zones, plant them in the Sacred Grove, complete maps or the story to make them grow, and then harvest them.
From there, you’ll be spawning the enemies and then killing them for the loot and Lifeforce, a new kind of resource. The higher the quality of the seeds you get, the stronger the monsters you’ll fight, and the better the rewards and more Life Force they’ll yield.
Seed = Money
The planting we’re referring to here isn’t simply about burying a seed. Rather, there’s technique and careful planning involved. For that, you’ll be using irrigation and other contraptions related to raising plants. But instead of water, you’ll be irrigating Lifeforce to them.
Also, once you start killing the monsters that you raised, they’ll be dropping seeds too. Aside from the fact that this saves you the need to go to zones, stronger monsters drop higher-tier seeds. The higher the seed’s tier, the more Lifeforce it requires.
The Lifeforce is Strong in This One
Other than growing plants, Lifeforce is also used for crafting mods on gear. Using Lifeforce on gear is like using Exalted Orbs on them. This means you don’t have to use up as much PoE currency, so you can either save it for some other time or sell it. But with other players using Lifeforce instead, now might not be a good time to trade the stuff up.
Aside from giving players an alternative to modify their gear, Path of Exile: Harvest is also bringing new modifiers into the game. Over a hundred modifiers will be added, reminiscent of what Synthesis League did. In fact, Harvest is probably the best time to get started if you want to make an overpowered character.
From Seeds to Trees
Now let’s move onto the new and tweaked content that are unrelated to PVE. There are many of them, but perhaps the biggest would be the changes to the passive skill tree. Adding to its already expansive customization options are the keystones from Legion’s jewels. On top of that, there will be new passive nodes for two-handed weapons, Warcries, the Rage mechanic, and many others.
Also, specific skill types such as brands, warcries, and slams will be getting an overhaul. The first one will unfortunately be nerfed but will have two new kinds: the Penance Brand, which builds up damage over a short period of time. As for warcries, they’ll be getting a much-needed buff by making them scale according to enemy strength, not numbers.
Lastly, slams will be improved to promote melee classes. Earthquake and Tectonic Slam (obviously) are now going to be slam skills, giving you more support gem and gear options for them. These are just a few of the many changes in Harvest’s metagame. Either read up on other sources or find out about them yourself.
Path of Exile: Harvest, whether you’re on board with the concept or not, will grow on you. So be ready to do a lot of planting and fighting–that’s how farming is now done!