Clarifications and pointers for the upcoming Flashback event (August 2018)

Considering there are always misconceptions, misunderstandings, unwarranted expectations, what have you, I decided to write up some clarifications and other information about the upcoming event. I may do the same for other events at later points in time, obviously changing the information to match the event. I did so here. Yay!

For the announcement of the August (2018) Flashback event, see the following thread:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2187588



There's three major categories, so you can more easily find what you're looking for:

THIS POST: Event rules and properties
NEXT POST: Prizes and rewards
THIRD POST: What happens after



Flashback!

The Flashback event spans about three-and-a-half weeks, and it is a fresh start. You have to create a new character and start from scratch. Registration opens 30 minutes before the start of the event, and you can create characters at any point between then and the end of the event. You cannot use one of your existing characters from other leagues, or items from other leagues.
The event runs from 9am Saturday August 4th (NZT) until 10am Tuesday August 28th (NZT).


This Flashback event is different from the classic iterations (but similar to the one last May, during the last month of the Bestiary challenge league). In past, modifiers rotated every few days, with all modifiers active on certain days - usually the weekend. So let's look at how it works this time.

During this version of Flashback, areas other than towns and the Act I Twilight Strand will be affected by a combination of three modifiers from past Challenge League. The following are available:
- Abyss: One additional Abyss
- Ambush: Two additional strongboxes
- Anarchy: Two additional Rogue Exiles
- Beyond: Same as normal, presumably (no specifics given)
- Bloodlines: Three additional magic monster packs with Bloodlines mods
- Breach: One additional Breach
- Harbinger: Two additional Harbingers
- Invasion: Two additional Invasion bosses (each with a pack of normal monsters)
- Nemesis: Three additional rare monsters with Nemesis mods (and a pack of normal monsters each)
- Perandus: Two additional Perandus chests, 33% chance for Cadiro Perandus
- Torment: Three additional Tormented Spirits
(This list is, in fact, the same as during the previous Flashback event in May of this year.)
If you are unfamiliar with what any of these do, please refer to this section on the wiki concerning the game's past Challenge Leagues:
https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/League#Past_leagues


What mods are present in any particular area is the same for all players.

What mods are present differs per area. While during the first hour the Coast might have, say, an Invasion bosses, a Breach, and Strongboxes, the Tidal Island and Mud Flats might have an entirely different combination. It's completely independent for each area.

At the top of the hour, mods are rerolled for each area in the game. Again, completely independent of one another, but the same for all players.

While you can ask other players what mods can currently be found and where, there's usually a community website that attempts to track this information. So if you ask in chat, don't be surprised if you are told to Google it up, shitlord.
At the time of writing, the Flashback event has only just been announced, so it is unknown if there will be a site like this available. During the most recent Flashback, these were
http://poecraft.com/race/zones
and
https://poeleagues.com/

In areas affected, you cannot chance items that are league-specific and don't drop normally anymore. For example, you cannot chance a Daresso's Salute in an area that has the Anarchy League modifier applied through it by the Flashback event. You can only chance one in a map that has the appropriate league modifier (in this example, Anarchy) applied to it through Zana. Yes, I used a less popular example this time. Daresso's Salute is still a nice item, though!
Similarly, these items also won't be available to drop without Zana's help.

Lastly, throughout the event, Incursion is available as well, in addition to the three random league modifiers applied to zones. This means that Alva will be around, she will do her Vaal time wizard spiel in every zone, can give you access the Temple of Atzoatl, and anything else related to the Incursion league.
You can also complete challenges from the Incursion league in this event.

During this event, while you can respec points within your chosen Ascendancy, you cannot change your Ascendancy once you've picked it, so choose carefully!
This is to prevent people from switching Ascendancies right before the event ends, so you can't just nab a Demigod item from under someone else's nose at the last second :P

PRIZES AND REWARDS!


Most of the prizes are NOT guaranteed rewards. You don't just get them for reaching the level threshold, they are also not for the first X to reach the level threshold (i.e. the footprints do not go to the first 500 to reach level 45). The exceptions are the Mystery Box at level 35, and the Demigod items for being the best of the best - those are guaranteed if you qualify for them.

The other prizes are random draws. You qualify for the draw, and then you have a chance at the prizes, along with everyone else who qualifies by having reached the level threshold. So, if you are level 95 or higher, you and everyone else who is level 95 or higher go into a pool, and the 750 armour sets are given randomly to people in this pool.

You qualify for all prize draws you've fulfilled the conditions for, not just the highest one. So if you're level 95 or higher, you are not just in the running for those armour sets - you also qualify for a shot at the level 85 prize draw, the level 75 prize draw, the level 65 prize draw, the level 55 prize draw, the level 45 prize draw, and the Mystery Box.

Your odds of getting a prize from the random draws ARE LOW. Do not go in expecting to get anything other than the Mystery Box. If you manage to reach level 95, your odds of getting one of the armour sets might be okay (it's hard to say as previously the highest prize threshold was usually level 90), but below that, many thousands of players will qualify. Note that the prize pool, other than Mystery Boxes and Demigod's Dominances, is shared between all versions of this event, and with the addition of a Standard SSF variant and the console version of the game, the prize pool is diluted even further.
If you want a prize other than the Mystery Box, git gud and win the event. If you're not among the very best, you're fighting for table scraps with thousands and thousands of others. Your chances of winning anything from the prize draws are much, much lower than winning nothing at all from them. If you enter the event expecting to win armour sets and whatnot, you are very likely going to be disappointed. Play for fun, and if you win something cool, take it as a neat bonus - don't take it for granted that you'll win a bunch of stuff.

EXAMPLE OF YOUR CHANCE TO WIN PRIZES FROM THE PREVIOUS FLASHBACK EVENT
To give an example, during the Flashback event in May, (unless my count was off) 5407 characters reached level 95 or higher. Given those 5407 characters, you'd have a 13.87% chance to win an armour set, given you manage to reach level 95. And that's pretty much a best-case scenario to win a specific prize - consider the following:
Of course, you'd also qualify for the prize draws at lower level thresholds, but the amount of characters who are eligible for those increases rather explosively as you go further down. And in reality, the odds are even worse, as these numbers do not count the X-Box versions of the events, since I don't believe we have the data for those.

Rewards are given out after the event ends, because that's when GGG knows who qualifies for what. With the exception of the Mystery Box at level 35, which nowadays are awarded instantly, you do not get any rewards as soon as you hit a certain level. You do get any rewards the second the event ends. It can take a few days, just have a little patience!

The prize pool is, for the most part, shared between all versions of the event - standard/hardcore/standard solo self-found/hardcore solo self-found, as well as the console versions thereof.
The exceptions are the following:
- the Mystery Box. You can only earn one for your account over the course of the Flashback event.
- the Demigod items. Each version of the event has its own set of Demigod rewards.

Your choice of Ascendancy does not affect your odds of anything other than winning a Demigod item for being the top of said Ascendancy.

If you care about the prizes, do not delete your character before they have been awarded

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE EVENT


User Abdiel_Kavash has a very useful guide on the forum, which can be found here:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2091028

While I will give a short version with the basics here, I recommend you check his guide out for detailed information!

Flashback and Incursion end at the same time. When this happens, they will be merged with whatever their parent league is. Basically, the Standard versions will merge with the permanent Standard league, the Hardcore versions with the permanent Hardcore league, and similarly the Solo Self-Found versions will merge with their permanent equivalents.

Your characters and stash will be moved effectively instantly. Everything else requires server downtime! Please don't post bug reports about how your hideout from the league or event disappeared!

Your characters will appear and be playable in the parent league. They will retain their equipment, inventory items, and so on.

Your stash will be merged with the stash in the parent league. Your stash tabs from the league or event will appear in the stash as "remove-only" tabs, to allow you to retrieve any items you may want to keep.

Again, everything else, such as hideouts, Forsaken Master levels, the Atlas, and so on, will be merged as well, but will require server downtime. This is expected to be on the day of release for the next Challenge League, although there may be server downtime sooner if necessary.
For the details on how these merge, please refer to Abdiel_Kavash's guide for the specifics!

Currently it has not been decided yet whether or not Incursion is being retained as a core gameplay mechanic. As such, we cannot tell you whether things like the current state of the Temple of Atzoatl for your characters will carry over to the permanent leagues. Items available through the Incursion league mechanics, such as the unique items from the Temple, the Vials required to upgrade them, and items produced through corruption at the Altar of Sacrifice and the Lapidary Lens will continue to exist. However, whether new copies of them can be produced depends on what GGG decides to do with the Incursion mechanics one the league ends.

Some time after the event, rewards will be given out, usually within a few days. Please be patient with this.

I really considered not making this topic, as I find Incursion to be a completely miserable experience, but I happened to see the announcement and since I could for the most part copy-paste the previous topic, I figured I would do it anyway. Meh. That does mean there's a higher chance for inaccuracies. I hope that's not the case, but if there's something wrong I'll fix it once I'm aware :x

My disinterest does mean I might not update the information as frequently, or that I might miss new information >_>

Still not sure whether I should put this thread here or in General. It would certainly get more exposure there, but last time I figured newer players (who are less likely to know the details of events like this) are more likely to go here? And GGG probably doesn't want me to post it in both. Nor do I care much about tracking two different topics about the same thing :P

So admittedly I haven't kept up all that much, but it seems there hasn't been much in the way of new information? I haven't even seen confirmation as to whether the mod tracking websites will be available for this event. I mean, they seem to be functioning so I'm pretty sure they'll be available, but at least last time I could find announcements about that :P


Interesting tidbit, though: apparently, last time you could get Demigod's rewards from two versions of the event with a single character, but this is not possible during the event this August. Basically, you secured a (ideally unsurmountable position) in SSF, and then transferred to the non-SSF equivalent. If in the non-SSF event, you were also in a top-ranking position for your particular Ascendancy, you would qualify for both, as your character would still be in their position in SSF, as well.

This time, while your character will still retain their position on the ladder in SSF, they will be labeled as "Retired" when you migrate, and not eligible for prizes related to their position in SSF (but will be eligible for prizes in the non-SSF ladder they migrated to).

Source:
https://old.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/93l0sx/psa_retired_ssf_migrated_chars_in_the_flashback/




(Prizes other than Demigod's rewards are not specifically mentioned, so I'm not sure if the one character with its position on two different ladders also counted twice towards the various random prize draws)

Really, I would like for this to not be necessary (and didn't think to include it), but since Perandus is part of the event, I guess I'll add it anyway:

When you find Cadiro with a cool item and don't have enough coins, you'll likely want to trade for coins with other players. Be mindful that there are players who realise that the main reason people want to trade for coins is because they've found an interesting deal. While some are honest traders, others may may take advantage of the situation - By not trading with you at all and instead running into your map to claim the deal for themselves.

This has been happening since Perandus League itself, so if have no experience with the mechanic, know that sadly there are people who may choose to take advantage of you if you find yourself in need of coins.

The item is not yours until you've acquired it from Cadiro. Until you have, it belongs to him and is his to sell, and he is non-discriminating and will sell it to anyone who pays his price.

Yes, there's a reason poe.trade shows a warning when you search for currency trades involving Perandus coins. This is said reason.


(Also this is an excuse to bump the thread)