Grinding Gear Games has posted the full 3.30.0 patch notes for Path of Exile: Covens of Umbra, three days before the league launches on November 13. The two changes most players will feel first: Atziri has moved out of her own map and into the Incursion temple, and Orbs of Chance are now a real way to roll unique items.
We’ve already covered the headline systems from ExileCon: Fate cards on area bosses, Threads replacing Scarabs, tiered magic and rare drops and the end of the rule that cut boss currency drops by 80%. This is everything else in the notes worth knowing before you log in.
Atziri now lives in the Temple of Atzoatl, with Uber Atziri at area level 84
Atziri has “taken up residence” in the Temple of Atzoatl and evicted the Vaal Omnitect. The Throne of Atziri room is now the Cradle of Creation. When a temple contains it, the temple becomes area level 84, Uber Atziri waits inside, every temple modifier has more effect, and all monsters get harder and more rewarding.
The old route is gone. The Alluring Abyss is off the Atlas, Sacrifice and Mortal Fragments are removed, and existing Mortal Fragments turn into a new currency, the Royal Visage, which Atziri also drops in level 81+ temples. Used on a Tier 16 Map, a Royal Visage makes its Temporal Incursions Alluring, with harder monsters and better rewards. Nine Vials stop dropping too, and the uniques that needed them now drop inside temples that hold a Cradle of Creation.
Atziri’s fight loses its pause and immunity phases, and her Devoted now heal her
You can no longer pause during either Atziri fight. She throws spears more slowly and only at players who aren’t near her, and she now melee attacks anyone close. Her immunity phases, where her Devoted walk toward her, are gone. Instead, a wave of Devoted spawns after every split phase and explodes to heal her if they reach her, with much more life than before.
Atziri no longer reflects 2% of physical and elemental damage. Her mirror clone reflects 15%, down from 100%, and she uses empowered versions of her abilities below 66% life.
The Altar of Corruption and Lapidary Lens now make items Twice Corrupted, and either one can destroy the item. Three map rooms in the temple add a device that corrupts already corrupted Maps a second time.
Orbs of Chance roll uniques far more often, but vendors stop selling them
GGG has “significantly increased” the chance to get a unique from an Orb of Chance or from the crafting bench option that rerolls an item’s rarity. To balance that, Orbs of Chance are much rarer, cost more Gold on the Currency Exchange, no longer drop in bigger stacks in high-level areas, and are no longer sold by vendors. Everything that used to cost them, such as Kirac’s rare Maps or Orbs of Scouring, now costs other currency.
Orbs of Binding can no longer be obtained, which makes Orbs of Alchemy relatively more common, and Sacred Orbs are more common too. Two vendor recipes got a lot better: two rare items with the same name now give a Chaos Orb, and three give an Exalted Orb.
The Atlas passive tree now starts in the center and holds 150 points
The Atlas tree has been completely rebuilt. You start in the center and work outward, and the total number of Atlas points rises to 150 from 138. Killing the Maven, the Searing Exarch, the Eater of Worlds or any of the Maven’s six special Invitations now grants 2 Atlas points instead of 1, and the Uber Elder grants 4.
Delve and Heist lose their Atlas clusters, and six keystones are removed: Crop Rotation, Endless Tide, Lucid Dreams, Meticulous Appraiser, Refiner’s Bargain and Synthesised Stability. A new keystone, Phantom Anomalies, makes Atlas Anomalies appear when you complete Shaped Regions instead of maps, and from any quadrant.
The ten primary league mechanics, such as Abyss, Breach and Legion, no longer spawn randomly in maps. You bring them with Threads instead.
Harvest moves out of the Sacred Grove and into your maps
Harvest no longer has its own sub-area. Sacred Flora now spawn in maps, each tied to Wild, Primal or Vivid Lifeforce. Interacting with one spawns Sacred Fauna, and once most are dead, the Flora sends wisps into the rest of the map. In high-tier maps a Flora can be replaced by a Sacred Specimen that spawns a Harvest boss. GGG says you should get about the same Lifeforce as before, with fewer items to pick up.
Resistance and damage-type swap crafts are cheaper: they now cost 300 each of two Lifeforce types instead of 500 of one.
31 maps return to the Atlas and 31 leave
The Atlas rotation swaps 31 maps in and 31 out. Returning maps include Academy, Ancient City, Crimson Temple, Cursed Crypt, Defiled Cathedral, Dungeon, Maze, Moon Temple, Overgrown Ruin and Underground Sea. Leaving are maps such as Alleyways, Arachnid Tomb, Beach, Cells, Chateau, Courthouse, Foundry, Plaza, Toxic Sewer and Waterways.
The map corruption outcome that rerolled a map into an 8-modifier rare is gone, replaced by one that adds 2 explicit modifiers, up to 9 total.
Mirage becomes a core league, and Saresh is much harder
Mirages can now appear in maps in every league, and The Black Barya can show up on the Atlas at area level 84. The Saresh, of the Weeping Black fight “has been made significantly more difficult,” and the notes simply add “Good luck!” Djinn Coins of Restoration and Desecration are deleted on login, so the Djinn wish Sigils get new effects.
Gwennen stops gambling and flips a coin on your rare items instead
You can no longer gamble for items with Gwennen in Expedition. For one Astragali, she now offers three pairs of crafting options for one of your rare items. You pick a pair, she flips a coin, and one of the two is applied.
One new vendor recipe is listed with no details at all
Buried in the item changes is a single line: “Added a new Vendor Recipe,” followed by a smiley face. GGG doesn’t say what it takes or what it gives, so expect players to find it in the first days of the league.
Other changes worth knowing before launch
Two new skills arrive: Arcane Link, a buff that links you to an ally and adds lightning damage to their hits based on your mana, and Fireball of Radiation, a transfigured Fireball. There are 11 new uniques and a new jewel base, the Mycelium Core. Doedre’s Tongue now drops only from Covens of Umbra encounters, with higher resistances and new curse modifiers. Scrolls of Wisdom cost 15 Gold from any town vendor, and yellow beasts are no longer captured for Bestiary.
Hired Mercenaries deal up to 20% less attack damage at level 83 and take resistance penalties of up to -60% in level 68+ areas. Winter Orb now fires 2 projectiles at all gem levels, and the Flame, Lightning and Stone Golem buffs are all lower.
