One day, a more interesting patch naming format will be agreed upon. Until then, we'll have to make do with the current numerical Wild West of marking important development milestones with arbitrary numbers. Path of Exile is about to begin the second phase of its open beta, so naturally the free-to-play MMO ARPG is calling this major revision 0.11.0. Just rolls off the tongue.
Whatever the patch is called, it will release this week, on June 5th, and introduce two new experimental leagues: Anarchy and Onslaught. They're due to run alongside the previous Standard and Hardcore leagues over the next four months.
With the Anarchy League, Grinding Gear are adding encounters with special computer controlled NPCs that wield the power and skills of fellow players. "The corruption of Wraeclast has spread to the minds of many exiles, turning them against one another," they explain. "As you journey through the world, you will occasionally run into these exiles - deadly computer controlled enemies who use the skills and items available to player characters. If you manage to kill one, they drop a lot of items including a magic or above for each equippable slot."
Onslaught, meanwhile, is designed for those who found the existing Hardcore league too easy: "We've increased the attack, cast and movement speed of monsters. It's like a lighter version of the Turbo race events that we run, only it lasts for four months. Note that just as the Anarchy league doesn't contain these difficulty increases, the Onslaught league doesn't have the rogue exiles. It's likely we'll try them out in hardcore leagues in the future."
Both leagues are getting Challenges, extra difficult goals that can be completed over the next four months. While many of the eight requirements are cross-league, you'll need to play in both to collect them all. Do so, and hold them until October 8th, and you'll get a t-shirt. An actual, real life t-shirt.
The rest of the patch applies to all leagues. It includes a "substantial" rebalance to many areas of the game, along with a one-off passive skill reset so players can redistribute their builds in response to tweaks. For a full rundown on 0.11.0, head to the Path of Exile update page .
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