Grinding Gear Games used its ExileCon 2026 keynote to show a full rework of the Path of Exile endgame for 3.30 Covens of Umbra, and the headline change is that Scarabs are gone. In their place is a new system called Threads of Creation, which drop from the regular endgame loot pool for each primary league mechanic: Abyss, Blight, Legion, Breach, Incursion, Betrayal, Bestiary, Expedition, Ultimatum and Ritual.
At the map device you pick a mechanic and choose how many threads to spend on it, up to eight. More threads make that league content harder and more rewarding, and raise the chance of new random modifiers. Examples shown on stage included mycotic Blight lanes with richer chests, Blight lanes full of rogue exiles that each drop a unique, and Expedition encounters where every runic monster is rare. Completing the Atlas quest line unlocks three thread slots, so up to three mechanics can be guaranteed per map. “It’s just way less busy work than before,” the developer said, since the setup carries over between maps and pulls threads straight from your stash.
Scarab effects are not disappearing. Many move to a completely redone Atlas tree with a new layout and dozens of new wheels and notables, so baseline juicing is available to every player rather than only those who can afford Scarabs.
Mechanics now interact with each other too: a strongbox that spawns next to a Blight encounter gets infected, for example. The Wildwood, Sentinels and Beyond now spawn randomly in maps of any tier, and Mirage is going core. Other changes include Bestiary recipes that no longer need yellow beasts and a Temple of Atzoatl that can corrupt corrupted items a second time. Full patch notes were not shown during the keynote.
Still unanswered
- Full 3.30 patch notes with exact thread and Atlas tree numbers were not shown.
