Curse of the Allflame: Path of Exile shows off Voyages and preps a big gem shake-up

Path of Exile is stirring again ahead of its next expansion: on the same day, Grinding Gear Games dropped two previews of Curse of the Allflame that hint at where the update is headed. One introduces a brand-new system called Voyages that takes the action beneath the frozen seas of Wraeclast; the other lays out a batch of new and reworked gems so the community can start planning builds before servers go live.

In Curse of the Allflame, Voyages send you setting sail beneath the frozen seas of Wraeclast in search of bounty. Each expedition kicks off by assembling a collection of Charts that determine the encounters, rewards and challenges waiting for you below. Prep isn't a formality here: what you put together on the surface is exactly what you'll face down there.

With your Charts set, you plot a route, descend aboard the Sovereign and explore a string of sea-floor locations where every decision shapes the rewards you'll haul back up. The official preview (Voyage Deep Dive) walks through one such excursion on video and makes the pitch clear: exploration with risk and reward you build yourself, quite literally chart by chart.

The second preview is aimed at the theorycrafters. Curse of the Allflame adds several new gems —including the brand-new Pact Gems— on top of changes to existing skill and support gems. To get people ahead of the curve, GGG published the data for every new and changed gem at level 20 with 20% quality, so the community can start theorycrafting builds before launch (New and Changed Gems).

It's exactly the kind of move the ARPG crowd watches closely: a fresh progression system with decisions that matter and a gem rework that could shake up the meta from day one. These previews don't come with a confirmed date yet, but GGG has started drip-feeding information —a sign that the Curse of the Allflame launch isn't far off. Primary source: Grinding Gear Games on Steam.