Path of Exile 3.25: Quality of Life Changes and Spoilers

Quality of life improvements for Path of Exile 3.25 include changes to item quality, map device, and new annoyance.

### Path of Exile 3.25: Settlers of Kuger - Spoilers Overview
* 🏹  The upcoming Path of Exile league, Settlers of Kuger, has generated significant excitement with **various quality of life improvements and gameplay changes**.
* 🔧  Notable changes include the introduction of a new item quality system, where **quality now multiplies instead of adding damage bonuses**, potentially impacting both **leveling and endgame gear**.
* 🗺️  The Atlas system is also receiving adjustments, with **divination card drop rates being displayed on map hovers**, and the **quality bonus from chisels varying based on map tier**.
* 💰  Various league mechanics are being reworked, such as the Bandit rewards system, which now offers **different stat bonuses** in exchange for a **single skill point**.
* 🔮  The Simulacrum encounter is being adjusted to require only **50 waves** instead of 30, potentially making it **more accessible and rewarding** for players.
* 🛡️  Changes to armor scaling and aura effectiveness are expected, with **determination aura shown to have reduced flat armor values**.
* 👹  Annoyance modifiers are being introduced, with some initial examples like **Incorporeal** and **Mixed Munitions**, potentially impacting **build diversity**.
* 🎮  Overall, the league is shaping up to be a **significant update**, with many **quality of life improvements** and **balance changes** across various game systems.

hey guys, B Ron here. And today let's talk about all the spoilers that we have so far for 3.25. So, around about a day from whenever this comes out, we're going to have the life teaser and reveal for the new league, the settlers of kuger, which from what we've seen so far from the teasers looks absolutely great. We don't know really anything about the league mechanic, but just the quality of life stuff they've given us so far is pretty overwhelming, to be fair. Some of this is stuff that is already a normaly in other args, but I mean better late than never. And honestly, I got to say I really like the route they went this time, revealing upfront stuff that makes the game more fun, and then going in depth about the mechanics later. So let's kind of start now. There have been reveals over the last 10ish days or something that I kind of compiled here. I will go after how big and impactful I think these are. And we just have to start out with the pickup.

wrench and the pick-up wrench. As you can see right here, has been increased from having to step on it to actually having like, I don't know, a hand pick it up. And that's a pretty big deal. If you've been playing other APGs where that is possible, it is kind of a game changer. And just how much of a deal it is, we will have to see. One thing I will say is that it will especially come out in loot-heavy strategies, meaning that strats that have a lot of bubble gum currency that they have to pick up will get a lot more from this than, for example, a sanctum Runner. Also, I don't think it's confirmed yet, but this should also work on breakables and also, therefore, doors. So yeah, it's definitely a game changer for everybody, but for example, for builds like welding blades and frost blink, you also have the thing where these have fixed travel distance. So very often what would happen is you don't want to scale movement speed because you can just move with roiling blades and frost bling but

then if you have to move around the corner, or you have to loot, you still often want to Quicks in those builds, and some people literally just did it for looting because otherwise it feels really bad. That might actually not be necessary anymore, so this change might, in essence, free up a whole flask for those builds. And the same is kind of true for leap slam builds, which now have can be way more sloppy with their targeting. And of course, since it's a lot nicer to pick up stuff right now, it might also mean that you can run a less strict loot filter. Either way, without even having played this and without having seen the patch notes, I would be shocked if this is not one of the biggest changes that Poe has ever seen. And it's kind of going to be kind of slowly creeping in just how much more fun this is going to make the game. Now, the map device is getting a six slot, which basically just means instead of four scarabs, you can now use five.

a combination with scarabs or frags, and I think this is a good idea. I guess they're kind of backtracking the removal of sexton and um sure we had all Flames last League, but they probably won't go into the main game, so they still want to give you a little bit more customizations for you what you've put on a farm. However, the change that I would like to see with scarabs is actually that you have a maximum of one of each Scarab that you can use. Otherwise, I don't think this will actually change much. You will just um still play the same just one note Strat, and you will just add an extra be or add an extra this or add an extra that, and you're just going to use another one of your common scarabs, and it's not really going to change much other than give you a little bit more juice. I would like to see a one maximum simply because then you would kind of have to mix and match if there's not enough scarabs that are

actually good for your Strat. And I think that would actually help creativity quite a bit. Plus, it would make League mechanics that are kind of synergistic with each other. Maybe a little bit more interesting. And yeah, that would be a pretty big Nerf for some scarabs. But you could kind of just adjust the numbers and be fine in general. I think this is only a good change. There isn't really anything else to say about it. The only thing I would say is that we're going further and further from kind of the old alen go play style that is less and less incentivized because scar are now just so goddamn cheap. And if you're not just using any at all, you're kind of trolling. But that's just a personal grab of me 'cause I absolutely love just boss rushing and not caring about any frags and just map after map after map. 30 seconds. That is I kind of like that play style. But we're kind of moving away from that with more and more customization. I think for

most people, this is a straight-up buff. Then we have static life barriers. Now these apparently only are on act bosses and Pinnacle bosses right now. However, they do show a simulacrum run, which we're going to get to later, where the boss also has one. So maybe ever since they made that video, they implemented on more bosses. And I think that's an incredible change because if I think about my boss fights, especially the ones that take longer, especially on leak start when you're not just one-shotting bosses, it's really nice to not have to hover over the boss. Some of these fights are stressful enough having to hover over and then see what's going on. This will give you a lot more information if you're looking for that. And in general, it just looks epic. And more than just that, it does tell me that they are willing to put stuff from PE2 into P1 even more so than they already kind of talked about. I think that we are going to get quite a bit of the quality.

of life that has already been implemented, but maybe even Haun, but that's all just speculation at this point really. Like the change now, then we have banded rewards getting reworked, um, straight up. They now look like this, so instead of two skill points, you now only get one, and your trade-off for that is 15% or 8% movement speed or plus 40 life. Now, if we compare this to the current Bandit rewards, we will see that AA now only has 15 ores, and it lost Mana region and crit multi. I think good riddance for crit multi. It was nice in end game, but usually in end game, you wanted two points 'cause maybe you could fit in another cluster Jewel, and the five Mana region were extremely strong early, um, so that is kind of annoying to have to go, but most builds relied on Mana flasks anyway, so I think it will be missed. It will be quality of life missed, but getting an extra point and only keeping the best stat on AA is a big buff, so 15

or is incredible. Then we have Kraton, which now got actually playable. It used to have 6% move speed, 10% chance to avoid ailments, and six attack and cost speed um. Straight up, it's so much better now. You only get 8% move speed. If I think about which builds want 8% move speed, most builds on not just the left but also on the right side would want that. For example, people are already picking up Quick Step and the special pression doesn't even do anything, so 9% for two points people are already taking. If you're on the left side, I think everybody would agree if you just had a one-pointer here that would give you 8% movement speed. I mean, that is an insta-pick. However, it does have to compete with the 15 oras, and this is kind of a mindset thing. It's like, do you want to be fast and maybe a little bit squishier, or do you want to have it comfy if I write, for example, a league starter for

people then I'm definitely going to pick the ores because if you're experienced with the game you're just going to say screw you pal. I'm going to go move speed anyways and it's going to be fine. Uh, but if you're a new player, I think the 15 ores is just an absolute absolute Game Changer and only for one point. So you're not even really delaying a lot of your main points and you can also mix it match here. You can go Purity plus movement speed to have kind of a little bit of a balance. You can also go haste plus all is whatever you want to or if you're good at the game you just go haste and move speed of course. But yeah, this is just a lot of good stuff. The plus 40 max life. I mean you'd have to ask a hardcore player when they would take 40 max life. Obviously it's very good early. It's flat life people love this monster over here but this monster is 50 life and I don't

know if you would ever sacrifice any of these for that, but that's to be seen. I think Oak is still the worst by mile. Now, funnily enough, people have called this a little bit of an early game thing, and you would always Speck out of it. I actually disagree with that. If you look at 15 ores in the grand scheme of a build, especially after Mage Blood Plus res flask got nerfed, I would say that most endgame builds would take a one-pointer that gives you 15 ores. It's kind of a suffix. I know not in every build, but I think we'll see a ton of builds actually keep a lero and endgame, even if they are something like an Adorn setup. Now, don't get me wrong. I think this is a lot better than it used to be. I'm a little bit disappointed that they didn't make it more meaningful because if we look at the whole campaign, this is the only choice that we have for permanent stats. Sure, you can Respec it later, but

this actually affects your character. Otherwise, it's just you get a passive point. You get a passive point. You can do whatever you want with them, but this is right, and it's the only thing of its kind in the campaign. So you would think maybe it has some kind of bigger impact, but it just doesn't. That kind of always bothered me. It's like you make such a big deal out of Bandits, and people were asking, Where do you go for Bandits? It doesn't matter. Like if you misclick 40 life instead of 15, 50 or nothing's going to happen, right? So this Choice doesn't really matter. It would have been cool if they made it something more impactful. Maybe I don't know go for stuff that actually feels good. Like I don't know extra AOE, make this a ton more movement speed, and make it two skill points, maybe even three. I don't know. It just feels weird to me that this exists at all, but still I will take my 8% movement speed.

and then we have simulacrum. I have not run simulacrums for the last three to four leagues. I did like a kind of a challenge where ran a 100 in a few days and it completely burnt me out. Ever since then, I'm not really interested anymore. You had to do 30 waves. Now you only have to do 50. However, if you've ever done simu, you know this is a straight up just a straight up buff because the first 15 waves had maybe like 5% of the loot and the rest was all hidden behind the higher ones. So they basically said that we're expecting that if you enter a Simo, you're going to have a geared character, which is very true. I don't see anything wrong with this. I think it's going to be pure upside. Simulacrums are going to be way more money and probably the entry cost is going to be way higher. And honestly, this could be a replacement for sanctum, whereas in sanctum, you want fast builds.

or very specific builds that can onot Target. Maybe you just have a very high power level character now. Simulacrum looks a lot better as especially at leag start, but this will depend on some things because the rewards in simus are still very spread out, and sometimes what happens is the league mechanic actually is the best way to acquire everything, in which case simu stocks will go down. Either way, I think compared to any other leagues, simu will be big money. Then we have new annoyance. It's kind of hard to say how impactful these are going to be. The two we've seen so far, I don't think are that strong, but they do show me that they want to go freaky with new annoyance and not just basic, which I like. So that means that down the road, we could see some real big ones. Incorporeal is elusive on you reduces its effect 50% slower, which doesn't really do anything. It gives you a little bit. It's basically just more burst, but in the whole grand scheme of things over

a long time period. It doesn't really do anything. Still, getting your effect up front is still really strong, and Elive is removed from you at 20% effect. It just depends on how much effect you already have. This gets better or worse, I would say. I don't really know which build would want this as their annoyed. Usually when I think annoyance, I think um, anything that would give like 10% more damage to your build. Or if you can fit it in another curse. Or maybe you want some maxr. Or I don't know, maybe you beat the rest of your spell suppression. Or obviously Charisma STI. There's just so many things I would pick over this that I would be shocked. The problem is that currently you cannot refresh elusive anymore. Back in the day, this would have been pretty busted, but right now, but maybe there is some new way to cheese it. And then the second Noe is quite interesting mixed Munitions 5% CDR for throwing traps per mind detonated recently. A lot of people have

been theorizing about a mine trap play style like mines that throw traps which is possible. Uh you would double dip on some. Uh increased damage, some multipliers for example on the tree. There is a few NS that have both mine foring speed and trap foring speed, both trap damage and mine damage. Those would double dip because they're in separate columns so they would double dip yes. And you would also have medium cluster Jewels so for example you could have something like this and kind of double dip with trap and mines but also trap and mind throwing speed. But at the end of the day the issue is that the CDR that you get is only really good if you actually have a CDR trap. And if you have a CDR trap you don't want to throw it with mines because you cannot throw that many mines because your cool down like kind of stifles you. You just cannot throw them out because if in case you didn't know if you throw out. Um traps with Minefield they still adhere to it.

cool down. So, if you throw out three mines that have a seismic trap in them, they still remove three cool down charges. And yes, the more realistic version is that you here or there just throw mines randomly, so your seismic trap gets 100% CDR. But then again, that's a really cancer play style. And also, if you have no mine throwing speed, that sounds really bad. So, once again, we're back to having to scale mine throwing speed on a trap build, I guess. One more thing we could talk about maybe that is quite interesting is actually Pyoclass of sabotage. This one gives kind of an aura buff around it, which is incredible. But you have to remember that you would first have to throw them out, detonate them, and then replace them so you actually get the aura. So, I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure any of these fit, but I'm sure somebody's going to figure something out with these. Maybe if we have the context of the patch notes in general, I think these are great. A lot of the annoyance that we have.

currently, are a little bit wishy-washy. I think Venin Cascade is like okay in its current state. Harden Scars is quite nerfed. Clans thoughts is really wacky, so is Aspect of Stone. I would really like if they keep stuff like Crusader with the Transfiguration of mind, uh, Transfiguration of soul, and body because those are already on a helmet, so it's very unlikely they're going to get removed. They are already kind of in the game, so I think they're going to keep these. They are quite basic though. Those are the only ones I would like to keep. All the other ones, I mean, yeah, I'm just looking forward to what they're going to be. Now, then we have Atlas divination card hovers, and the first thing I was thinking when I saw this was, does it have to be this big? I'm not really sure, so I have a little bit of a problem with this. I really hope it's not just a hover. It's maybe you have to press alt or shift or anything because

this seems very intrusive, and maybe I'm wrong on this, and maybe the SSF players are going to be pissed off about this, but I don't think it's as important of an info that you have to put it this big into the screen. Don't get me wrong, it's important, but like, is it proportional? I mean, unless you have a very specific farming strat, it doesn't even really matter all that much which stiff cards drop. What matter is, is a good layout, right? So you're putting this in my face, and if I'm a new player, I'm thinking, Oh my God, everything in this game revolves around running the right zones where I can drop the biggest divination cards, and it's just not. It's just kind of weird. I don't know. I should be happy about this, but I would have been happy if it was just somewhere in the corner. I think it's good info to have, but I don't know if it needs to be this in your face. Now, another theme that we've seen, it's not

really a reveal but it's like a small thing in every video. Is that totems? That totems are underground and they look like Mel totems. So everybody is assuming that Mele totems are going to get axed and that assumption is pretty much correct. GG is very very particular with how they make their videos. Even up to what flasks they're using. For example, in one of the videos, they show um, I don't know, a diamond flask going a bleed build which could signal something, maybe a perfect Agony rework. So most likely they are going to Nerf totems for Mele builds. However, what would be nice if maybe melee totems are actually an archetype now because so far they have been balanced around what they can do in a melee build and it's very hard to get maximum totems. They're kind of out of the way. There's no support for them. I would just love to play an earthbreaker build where I can just slam down five totems and they all volcanic.

Fisher of snaking all around the screen. I'd be totally in for that. I would love if that support gem maybe gets a little bit of a look at. Maybe I don't know, maybe they get some activation range because right now they feel extremely cancered to play won dream. But other than that, if you now die on softcore, you can reactivate your auras. You don't have to reactivate them anymore. They are just activated per default, which is really nice. Log in with those cast and death portals. Then we also have way points automatically activating. Not much to see here. Nice. Now then we have a big one, which is the quality of items. The default quality got changed. So whereas before on weapons, one 1% quality would mean 1% increased physical damage stacking additively with anything that is on the weapon. If it at 100% increased physical damage right here and you had 20 quality, it would be 120 total. Now it multiplies. So it would be your base damage, let's say 100, plus 100%.

increased, which is 200. And then that goes to 240, actually. So just 20% more at the end. And obviously, it scales higher and higher. Uh, the more quality you get because there are obviously, um, things where you can get over 20 quality nowadays, which is quite a big deal. Now we don't 100% know if they're going to compensate for this buff on weapons. And they just want to make quality more significant. Or if they're trying to already buff melee with that. This combined with another change that we're going to go over in a second actually has a big, big impact on leveling. Now there's a lot of things about the quality changes that I won't be putting in this video, um, both SGOG and Dream Core made really good videos about that. I'll link them both in the description, but one standout thing I want to say is about the GG, uh, new Fizz weapon. It might be Apex Cleaver. So right now the way it works is basically even if you override

the maximum quality here. You can still first get the quality, and then for example, get synth implicits. So with the new changes, that would be incredible. Even though you do only have the 1.35, this is something we'll have to see. Maybe they're going to remove that. Maybe it's just a bug. It should kind of make sense because you have the mod, then you apply the quality. It probably won't subtract it anymore. Um, this is definitely something to look out for, not the only thing, um, but definitely very strong. But then we also have armor, which the armor is basically got 1% more defense per quality. So now if you get something like an armor roll already, that will get multiplied with the quality. Huge, right? Really good change. The issue is that we also know that auras will get nerfed because there has been determination that we saw, which has only half the amount of flat armor. However, it still seems to have the same amount of percentage. So if I got the exact numbers, but it is round about half in terms of flat armor, and the

percentage should stay the same. Now, I don't know if I fully agree on this change. I totally understand that, especially Grace, has been an absolute force on softcore. People have been loving that aura. In my opinion, defensive auras can't really be too strong. I think if you made something where softcore players actually interested in doing something defensive, you just kind of made it. You made a really good decision there, and I don't think that should be taken away. If you guys remember back in the day, Phas Acro. Acro, I thought it was a very toxic meta, and nowadays people are on softcore. Like if you told me that seven years, eight years ago, that people are going to be running around with Determined Grace on softcore, I would said no shot. And now they want to take some away from that and basically put it on the gear with the quality, but that has some issues. Like, for example, if you're running uniques and whatnot, and especially on the right side of the tree, losing that flat armor can straight up

make Det go from viable to not viable, and especially since people are already going lightning coil and cloak of flame, mostly, which I hope they don't get nerfed, but they might actually, 'cause otherwise they are now just an absolute no-brainer on right side instead of being slightly better right, uh, a lot of the time. If that doesn't get addressed, then we're just going to all be running around with lightning coils once again, but either way, I don't know what exactly they want to do with this. It would make sense if they wanted to Nerf armor stackers. I don't think that's really necessary though, and as well, was that they could have probably done something else to stop that, that wouldn't disrupt everything else. In general, I think this change will be quite rough for builds that just wanted to have like 20-30k armor to not be complete paper against Fizz hits. Those builds will now always go for Fizz Tak's, which we don't know if it will survive. Yeah, it's kind of weird, um.

I thought it was fine. Not really sure why they needed to be nerfed. A lot of softcore players are probably going to go back to haste now. Going to look for other alternatives if they want to be tanky. We'll see another huge change here is quality on items. How much quality you get from one blacksmith Wet Stone or one armor of scraps is going to depend on the item level. So for example, he has a low-level raw head boots here at level one. If he applies the quality, he straight up gets 20 with just one application. But if you look back here on this, he only gets 1% CU. It's an endgame item. Now you might not think this is a big deal, but it actually is if you've ever leveled a Fizz build. If you found a decent Fizz weapon, one of the issues is you can't really blacksmith it 'cause it would just be a waste. But like you would have to actually craft it before and you don't have that many blacksmiths to

spend anyways. You just don't want to do it. So now you can most likely just throw one blacksmith on and it's going to get like, I don't know, 17 to 20 quality early. So that's just straight up a huge buff. For example, Marauders. However, they also clarified how this is going to go on maps. Now you get 20% quality on a white map with one single chisel, which means it's actually worth kind of if you find one and you have problems finding connected maps. Maybe it's now actually worth it. It's one chisel 10% for yellow maps and 5% for red maps. This is also pretty interesting for end game 'cause before you would have to scour if you would like, I don't know, you have a whole quantab full of maps you want to prep for your strat or whatever. You would have to scour first. Now you really don't have to 'cause the rarity doesn't change anything anymore. You can just chisel them all. So in theory, that would

save you on scours, which could be pretty damn huge in Solo sound, but also so just a nice time saver. And last but not least, I guess, is Valdo's puzzle boxes are dropping more often, which means um twice as often. And we all know what 0 time 2 is, no, but in total I haven't really seen any about those boxes, be honest, last league, so I'm happy they reintroduced it into the game. I don't know what drops more means, and they did say they made them worse, but then he says that then Mark also says the Mage Bloods are still going to be the same drop raid, so I don't know is he just referring to Mage Bloods or is it worse, but it drops the same amount of good uniques. I'm not really sure what this is supposed to mean, um. I guess we got drop changes in the spoilers here. It's cool, I think that's a good thing. I think high power build should have an outlet. I thought personally that

would be tier 17s. This might actually signal to me that they're going to downscale tier 17s and have Valdos like above that, quite above that. I think if you can actually be a Valos farmer and you have enough maps in circulation that you can specialize on it, that's just a good thing depending on how much extra the drop rate is though. This might be another 50 div Mage Blood or 5 div Head Hunter League. We'll have to see. So that's about all we have so far. Some people have been asking me what I'm looking for for next league in terms of builds. I don't really know. I tested the Hex B of Contradiction and I absolutely love that build. So if nothing changes, maybe that, but maybe there's going to be Transfigure gem I really like. I would love to leak arge Cyclone, but I have a feeling that melee buffs is not going to extend that far. But hey, who knows. Either way, I'll be streaming the reveal over on twitch.tv/pastron so if you

want to join in as always you know you know where to find me. But yeah, so far very hopeful. Feels like the break from PE has done me really well. I feel very refreshed. I feel like I'm ready for another league, and this time there's nothing really interrupting me. No last dep, no torch light. There's just two months of straight Poe. So I'm really happy about just going back into it. I've been doing very little content last League. I've just recently looked at it. I was kind of like, I made six videos or something after leak start. I made three times as many videos before as I did after. So yeah, I guess we're maybe going to do better on that part, but I'm really stoked for this. I think this is going to be a hype one. And uh, yeah, since I still don't have a slogan, see you next time. [Music]

[PoE 3.25] Everything We Know so Far about Settlers of Kalguur | Path of Exile Teasers

Palsteron

Teasers for the Settlers of Kuger League in 3.

The Settlers of Kuger league is set to have a life teaser and reveal, with a focus on quality of life improvements.

One major change is the pick-up animation, impacting loot-heavy strategies and movement-based builds.

The map device is also getting a six slot, allowing for more customization, but the impact may be limited without a maximum of one of each Scarab.

Proposed Changes to Game Mechanics in Path of Exile

The suggested changes aim to improve creativity and synergy in League mechanics, potentially impacting certain playstyles.

The introduction of static life barriers for bosses is expected to reduce the stress of boss fights and provide more information to players.

Bandit rewards have been reworked to offer different trade-offs, with some stats being removed but the overall impact being a significant buff.

The adjustment to Kraton's attributes has made it a more attractive option for a wider range of builds, offering benefits that are in high demand.

The Impact of In-Game Choices in Path of Exile

In Path of Exile, the choice between 15 ores and movement speed is crucial for both new and experienced players, potentially impacting endgame builds.

The limited impact of this choice is disappointing, considering it is the only permanent stat decision in the campaign, leading to a missed opportunity for a more significant effect on gameplay.

The adjustment to the simulacrum requirements in the game represents a significant buff, making simulacrums more rewarding and potentially serving as a replacement for sanctum in favor of fast builds.

Analysis of New Path of Exile League Mechanics

The Simulacrum is predicted to be highly profitable compared to other leagues, despite the variable rewards.

The new annoyance mechanisms may not seem strong at the moment, but they indicate a potential for more impactful options in the future.

The introduction of mixed munitions raises theorycrafting possibilities for a mine-trap playstyle, but the effectiveness is limited by the need for cooldown recovery traps.

The player has mixed feelings about the upcoming changes to various game elements, expressing concern about the size of the Atlas divination card hovers and the potential nerf of melee totems.

They also express hope for improvements to melee totem gameplay.

Additionally, they appreciate the new features like automatic aura reactivation and Waypoint activation.

The player is also wary of the changes to the quality of items, particularly in relation to the multiplier effect on weapon quality.

Changes in Quality and Weapon Buffs in the Gaming Community

Quality improvements for weapons and armor are being discussed, potentially leading to a 20% increase in effectiveness.

These changes could have a significant impact on leveling and gameplay.

Additionally, there is a debate about the nerfing of defensive auras, with some feeling that it may negatively affect the game's balance and player experience.

The potential nerf to lightning coil and cloak of flame may shift the meta towards other options, causing concern for armor stackers.

On the bright side, the new quality system for items is set to provide a significant buff, especially for early-game equipment.

Additionally, the clarified quality bonuses for different maps bring an interesting strategic element to the end game.

Changes and Expectations for the Next POE League

Drop rates for Valdo's puzzle boxes are increasing, potentially impacting the game economy.

The upcoming league is anticipated to bring high-powered builds and potential changes to melee buffs.

The speaker is optimistic and excited for the next POE league, feeling refreshed and ready to dive back in.