Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters Expansion Officially Announced

Just as we were expecting, Grinding Gear Games has announced some details for their upcoming Path of Exile expansion, now officially titled Forsaken Masters. It not only adds new content (and seven “masters” with their own unique missions and crafting options), but revamps some of the content that was already present in the free-to-play game, and it’s going to come out on August 20. Here’s a couple of snippets from the official website:

Some say that Dominus exiled the dregs of Oriath to the shores of Wraeclast. No, he exiled anyone who was going to give him trouble, who was going to cause ripples in his progressive theocracy.

Seven men and women, masters in their fields, stood against Dominus’ tyranny. Some with words, others with steel. Seven masters forsaken, sent to die in a corrupted land. Seven masters who lived, learned, and now thrive in Wraeclast. Seven Forsaken Masters who can train you… if you choose to help them.

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Train with the Masters

As you roam the wilderness of Wraeclast, you will sometimes cross paths with the Forsaken Masters. All seven of them have their own unique missions that they either need your help with, or want to train you to handle. Haku asks you to cleanse an ancestral area and recover a lost Karui spirit. Vorici will train you in the art of assassination.

Completing missions for the Masters will increase your reputation with them. As you progress through the eight levels of reputation with each Master, you gain access to more of what they can offer you.

Dozens of Mission Variations

The seven Masters each have their own style of mission and each of these missions has many variations. As you explore deeper into Wraeclast, the pool of available variations increases to challenge you in new ways.

The Master Assassin, Vorici, may task you with aiding him in an assassination against one of a number of well-guarded targets, leaving no survivors. The guards may have powerful mods, or be protected by traps or Rogue Exiles. Or he may want to simply send a message by grievously harming his mark, or incapacitating and robbing him, or leaving a witness to the bloodshed. Perhaps you’ll have to free and rescue a helpless hostage.

All of the Missions and their variations can occur anywhere in the game, including within end-game Maps.

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Updated Passive Skill Tree

We’ve redesigned large portions of the Passive Skill Tree – mostly focusing on the Witch, Shadow and outer Ranger areas.

We’ve also made extensive balance improvements to the core game that are supported by these changes.

All players will receive an optional one-off passive tree reset so that they can adjust their characters to these changes.

Revamped Existing Content

During the development of Forsaken Masters, we’ve revamped many of the existing boss fights in Path of Exile. Encounters with Merveil, Brutus, Captain Fairgraves and other bosses have been made more intense and surprising.

We’ve also added more lore for you to discover as you explore Wraeclast. Snippets of Wraeclast’s history can be unveiled as you discover lore scattered around the existing acts.

Coming on August 20!

Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters will be released at 3pm on August 20 (US Pacific Time). This is midnight in the CEST timezone and 10am on August 21 in New Zealand.

This article is not the full patch notes for Path of Exile: Forsaken Masters. We’ll be releasing those patch notes a day or two before the expansion is released. There are dozens of other changes included such as a new Quest Tracker, Tutorials and PvP Spectator Mode.

We’re so proud of this expansion and can’t wait to share it with you. There are so many interesting mission variations to explore and powerful new possibilities with crafting. Half of our development team is addicted to building custom Hideouts! Over the next three weeks we’ll be updating this article with reveals of unannounced Masters and other content. Enjoy!