Livestream Q&A 3.28 Summarized

Hey, took some hours to prepare this for those not having enough time to watch the video. Feel free to comment, correct mistake if any, and debate about the changes ! If someone knows the code for making titles and anchors, feel free to share.

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                                         1 — Octavian and the Dedicated PoE 1 Team

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• Teams for PoE 1 and PoE 2 have become more distinctly split; Octavian is working fully on PoE 1 right now.
• Octavian’s scope: He has been heavily involved in design work for the 3.28 expansion, alongside other designers.
• Team structure change: After prior split/merge cycles, the studio is splitting teams again; the current split is enabled in part by Octavian (and Andrew).
• Goal for PoE 1: Maintain ongoing development and deliver strong expansions on a roughly ~4-month cadence.
• Background/context: Leadership on PoE 1 increasingly includes devs who joined as players → QA → designers/leads, reinforcing a player-informed design perspective.

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                                            2 — GROUND LOOT In Depth Discussion

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• Core problem framing: Players feel loot is “not earned” when rewards come from non-combat systems (e.g., shipments, auto mappers) or pre-ordained reward sources (loot tiles / window loot), rather than regular monsters in maps (“core drops”).
• Immediate commitment: If players say ground loot “isn’t good enough,” GGG will fix it, including mid-league buffs (buffing is acceptable; nerfing strategies mid-league is a last resort).
• Main change (core drops): Plan to effectively double all the currency from core drops (regular monster drops), intentionally making window loot / tile loot less valuable proportionally (economical balance).
• Not “more items on the floor”: They will shift drop pool weighting away from basic equipment/white trash (filtered out anyway) and toward mid/high-tier currency; the goal is conversion of trash into currency, not increased floor clutter.
• Currency caveat: They are not doubling “trash” currency (explicitly not doubling transmutes); they will double “the things that matter,” plus rebalance currency proportions.
• New core drop pool additions: Ancient Orbs and Fracturing Orbs will be added to core/global drop pools to support mid → higher tier currency availability.
• Memory Strands reassessment: Memory Strands (intended to make equipment drops more impactful, tied to Originator maps) “didn’t land” as hoped; they’ll be buffed (more strands, higher impact) and biased toward higher-tier base types to reduce bad-base outcomes.
• Base map vs giga-juice: They acknowledge base mapping rewards are currently too low; they want to improve “minimums” without creating rich-get-richer outcomes when multiplied by atlas passives/scarabs/leagues.
• Scaling issue: Current systems don’t let players meaningfully scale basic monsters into being both hard and rewarding; they discuss needing better design levers (e.g., “Natural inhabitants” keyword concept) but likely not ready for 3.29.
• Bring back “spike moments”: They want more memorable surprise drops via loot conversion on rares (toned down previously); they’re easing diminishing returns on this in 3.28, and considering more “weird” rare drop outcomes for 3.29.
• King’s March problem: King’s March (via shipments/mappers) is seen as overly rewarding non-combat “chores.” A key change: printed currency now requires engaging with the league (linked to crop/ore changes), described as a meaningful window loot nerf offset by core drop buffs.
• Ports adjustments: Rewards and port behavior are being made more specific/strategic (less autopilot), including quota (port wants specific resources) having more impact and being rerollable.
• Boss drops vs Reliquary Keys: They acknowledge the gripe that some major boss uniques feel like they come too much from Reliquary Keys rather than the boss itself; not addressed in 3.28, but flagged for follow-up with designers.
• Rare gear drops (drop less but better): Broad “tiered” rare drop systems are considered but complex due to economy/quantity scaling; they discuss “drop less but better” goals and potential future conversion-style approaches for fewer, higher-quality rares (more a 3.29 conversation).

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                                                   3 — MIRAGE Design & Rewards

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• League design goal: Mirage is built to augment the area and deeply integrate with existing content, creating explicit synergies (stronger than “accidentally juicing” other mechanics).
• Example synergy (Delirium / Cluster Jewels): A new currency can be used on a Cluster Jewel to change its enchantment without changing what’s already on the jewel, enabling sequences like: roll desired notables → fracture → switch enchantment to another Cluster type (same size).
• Campaign impact / “legacy feel”: Mirage can inject lots of extra content during the campaign (e.g., strongboxes, shrines, legion-style density), making it feel like a juiced endgame playthrough while leveling.
• Campaign rewards (front-loaded, then taper): Early Mirages can grant meaningful leveling rewards (e.g., Orb of Binding, Chromatic Orbs, unique weapon, later even a five-link), but these rewards fall off in endgame relevance.
• Monster/additive spawns: The Mirage around the portal in the initial area adds extra monsters (referenced as Alpharude in the discussion) that are purely additive (don’t replace existing packs).
• Generation + QoL: Mirage areas are generated via a flood-fill of walkable space for consistent size; there’s a button to return to the start; minimap is fully revealed inside Mirage areas.

• Minor spoilers (endgame twists) :

• Map boss augmentation: Mirage can augment map bosses (not just league mechanics), adding Essence-like effects to make fights more challenging.
• “Djinn coins” / support-add mechanic: Using Djinn coins can add a level 1 support to a skill, constrained by (1) supports that can support that skill and (2) the coin color; it corrupts (trade-off vs +level/quality) to justify the power. Outcomes can be undesirable but still functional.
• Caches and rare chests: silver Djinn caches / gold Djinn caches appear; Mirage encounters have distinct pack sets; Mirage enemies can occasionnaly spawn with a cache/chest that drops generally good loot (rares, currency, div cards, etc.).
• Trial of the Ancestors status: Still intended to return / be improved “sometime,” but no date; it requires more work than it seems and competes with other priorities.
• Resourcing statement: Studio claims higher staffing and ongoing hiring; if PoE 1 needs more people, they’ll hire/support (context: team/resource allocation discussion).

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                                               4 — Reliquarian Ascendancy (Scion)

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• New Scion Ascendancy: Reliquarian is a new Scion Ascendancy (“Scion has a second ascendancy now”).
• Pre-committed rotating design: GGG is committed from the start that Reliquarian’s passives will change every league.
• Workload tradeoff: This commitment adds recurring work every league, even if parts can be procedurally generated; it still requires manual double-checking for balance/edge cases.
• Built on existing unique ecosystem: Reliquarian is described as “efficient” because it leverages stats that already exist and interacts with the large pool of uniques (including considerations for combinations/stacking with other uniques).
• Meta variability by league: Because it changes each league, Reliquarian may be better for different archetypes depending on the iteration (casters/attackers/summoners, etc.).
• Crafting appeal: For crafters, each league’s version is framed as a new puzzle to solve/unpack.

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                                                5 — Skill Design & Skill Balance

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• Archetype-focused skill packages (Templar / “holy warrior”): GGG views “holistic” updates (new skills + new supports + passive changes + some unique changes + a Guardian Ascendancy pointer) as a strong way to make a new playstyle league-start viable, versus adding a single unsupported skill that can “sink.”
• Future approach (3.29 direction): Instead of another full new archetype package, they expect to focus more on reworking existing skills (not just numeric buffs), including early-game skill variety (explicit mention of players being tired of Rolling Magma).
• Transfigured skill goal: Personal goal stated: every “reasonable” active skill should eventually have its own transfigured version (ideally two). New transfigured gems added this league are part of that push, mostly for skills that previously had none.
• Transfigured release timing: If a new skill has a simple, interesting twist, it *can* ship with a transfigured variant immediately (example referenced: a wand skill in a prior league), but transfigured variants are treated as real main-skill options that eventually need support.
• Hand-casting / channelling status: Hand casting and channelled skills are acknowledged as needing a more fundamental look, but not planned for 3.28 in an obvious way; it remains “on the list.”
• Cold spells status: Cold spells (especially traditional cold spellcasting) are described as being in a rough place overall, and likely tied to the broader hand-casting/spell package whenever addressed.
• Holy-themed buffs context: Alongside new holy skills, pre-existing holy-themed skills have generally been buffed as well.

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                                                       6 — Harbinger "FIXED"

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• Harbinger is temporarily removed: Harbinger is gone for now so it can be rebuilt and returned in a better state (framed as “has to go so it can come back better”), and not in a vague “maybe someday Trial of the Ancestors” bucket.
• Lore framing for removal: The Harbingers “leave Wraeclast for now” and will return later with story implications (no details spoiled).
• Drops preserved in core: Harbinger upgraded uniques remain in the core drop pool.
• Reminder on core currency changes: Ancient Orbs and Fracturing Orbs are confirmed as being in the core drop pool.
• Horizon Orbs removed : With the new map-item behavior, Horizon Orbs “don’t do a thing” in the relevant context; for Guardians, Blessed Orbs will now reroll your Guardians/Conquerors, preserving that reroll capability.
• Unresolved QoL ask raised: A chat-driven question is mentioned: improving “the splitter stack” (asked, not answered in this excerpt).

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                                         7 — BREACH CORE: Walls, Tree & Multibreach

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• Breach walls rework (core): Walls are damageable and are being made smaller; intent is to keep Breach feeling distinct without being intrusive/annoying. They’re also considering increasing the wall burn/destroy radius further if needed.
• Player control / opt-out: Players can turn off the wall-style encounter and instead run Unstable Breaches via the Atlas tree.
• Multi-breach returns: You can have many Unstable Breaches and multiple active at once again (overlapping “classic” Breach-style gameplay).
• Design philosophy for “core” leagues: When a league goes core, it must support choice in the Atlas ecosystem; Breach should be playable in different “modes” so players can pick what they enjoy.
• Ongoing iteration promise: If walls are still a problem after release, they plan to keep fixing them (acknowledging mid-league fixes should have happened earlier).
• Breach story expansion hook: The core update is also used to set up future Breach storyline / bosses (pinnacles or otherwise), without committing to a “Breach 3 next league.”
• Breach “tree” reward narrowing: The Breach reward “tree” is intended to remain good but not generate everything; it can no longer make rare weapons or quivers (but can make Foulborn unique weapons). Pool of rare equipment is more limited/specific.
• Broader loot identity principle: They want league identities to stay distinct (example: ideally fossils should mostly come from Delve), so one mechanic doesn’t replace all others.
• Hive Fortresses context: Hive Fortresses were criticized for time cost, low variety, and weak scaling; going core, they’ll be impacted mainly by new scarabs and Atlas passives (including Keeper-related ones) that should improve agency and scaling.

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                                                8 — Atlas Rework, T17s & Endgame

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• Map item / Atlas UX overhaul: The “map” system is redesigned to reduce bloat, simplify Map Device usage, and improve trade + Atlas completion (fewer parallel systems/buttons).
• Favoured Maps removed: You no longer need Favoured Maps for Atlas flow.
• Chisels removed: Maven’s chisels still exist. Only one chisel for 20% quality (busywork removed).
• Atlas completion replaces old quantity: You gain bonus item quantity in maps based on Atlas completion (up to 25%), intended to offset the old “20% from chisels” expectation (fully completed Atlas ends up slightly ahead vs prior chisel quantity).
• Voidstone mods go global: Voidstone modifiers apply to your whole Atlas Egan system (quadrant ?).
• More Atlas passive points: You get more Atlas passive points than before.
• Geographic Atlas events (“blob” / Egan system): New Atlas “blob” events are transient, not micromanagement-heavy, and allow freedom to run different maps; you can also use a keystone to make the blob choose random maps other than the one you run instead if you don’t want to plan routes.
• Juice vs speed tension: Clearing more of the blob juices remaining maps (bigger final “super-juiced” map), but you can also rush the reward (e.g., Templar Vault) for less overall juice.
• T17 problem addressed via Nightmare Maps: Tier 17s are effectively replaced/shifted into Nightmare Maps to stop them being both Uber-boss access *and* best pinnacle farming, which previously forced a narrow set of optimal layouts.
• Nightmare Map positioning: Nightmare Maps sit on the outer corners of the Atlas so they’re not affected by the Egan system; if you want maximum layered juicing, you’ll run Originator maps in the main quadrants instead. They share the same mods pool.
• More deterministic Uber fragment targeting: Each Nightmare Map is associated with specific Uber boss fragments, improving target-farming and making “pick the Uber you want” more direct.
• Currency/economy expectation: With Kirac missions gone and no Kirac crafts (removing chaos sinks), they expect Chaos Orbs to become less valuable, and they plan to shift gains toward other useful currencies (not “bad ones”).
• Scarabs compensate for removed Map Device crafts: Where Map Device crafts used to add extra content, base scarabs now add more of that content to keep the “max per map” ceiling similar. But we lose the opportunity to increased the type of one scarab league type ?
• Originator / Memory map powers itemized: Those “pedal powers”/map enhancements are now itemized (tradeable, storable, usable later), solving the issue of being locked into finishing a partially-run sequence.
• Ruthless loot filter stance shift: They’re open to allowing loot filters in Ruthless (filters are good for highlighting/formatting); if players feel the need to hide lots of items, that’s considered a drop-system failure, not something to punish players for.
• Pausing system QoL: Current pause behavior is inconsistent (options vs full-screen UI); intention is to implement pausing properly, with priority order (“race condition”).

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                                                  9 — Item Pickup QoL / SLURPs

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• Requested: Add a small pickup radius / auto-pickup for no-decision loot types you’d always take anyway (e.g., shards, lifeforce, splinters) to reduce excessive clicking and misclick friction.
• Design tension acknowledged: The game philosophy wants “weight” and a satisfying pickup experience, which conflicts with auto/area pickup proposals.
• Fallback QoL ask: Improve shard stacking (“better shard stacking”) as a more realistic/near-term improvement than “slurp” pickup.
• Mark' response signal: They’ll raise it internally (specifically with Jonathan), but expectations are low/uncertain given entrenched philosophy and many ongoing systemic changes.

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBv6SfYnNSg

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Reserved

Just the tone, positivity, enthusiasm and mood between Mark and Octavian, as well as a "dedicated team" got my hyped alone. I've been asking for clear signs that PoE1 is a priority going forward and that they care about the game.

I got my answer.

I alch and go on T6-14 maps.

I looted exactly two exalts and I think three divines the whole league. Admittedly I don't play much anymore. Two or three more exalts came from shards.

I have/had(ripped) this league:
93 Zerker
83 Zerker
80 Necro
92 Glad
88 Glad
95 Glad

I think I could have used the warehouse of scarabs I didn't use and that would likely have made a difference. I did run some corrupted maps but only for map passives.

The loot was pretty bad. Ground loot anyway.

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Phrazz#3529 wrote:

Just the tone, positivity, enthusiasm and mood between Mark and Octavian, as well as a "dedicated team" got my hyped alone. I've been asking for clear signs that PoE1 is a priority going forward and that they care about the game.

I got my answer.

Had the same vibes. Although I always liked Mark's attitude in the few interviews I've watched.

Thx for summary, very useful.

Thanks.

Bump.

Thanks!

I need to know more about this exception gems

Please clarify regarding the fossils. This has already been implemented in 3.28? It’s just not present in the patch notes.