Path of Exile's next expansion overhauls a beloved endgame system that hasn't seen major changes for 10 years

It's been a long time since Path of Exile has touched its lauded Atlas of Worlds system, an endgame progression track where you fight through increasingly difficult maps and bosses. Ever since it was introduced 10 years ago, it's been the main thing that keeps people playing for hundreds of hours every season.

It's been so successful that other games, like Last Epoch and Diablo 4 (in its next expansion), have shaped their endgame progression around the idea of taking on harder and harder monsters for increased rewards—and customizing your experience through a sprawling skill tree.

Developer Grinding Gear Games has largely kept the Atlas system the same since 2016, probably because there's no reason to fix what isn't broken. But Path of Exile 2 expanded the idea into an endless system where you pan around a procedurally generated map and travel from node to node toward unique points of interest. Even though the scope of PoE 2's Atlas is much bigger and varied than the first game's, many PoE 1 players wish it worked like the one they've loved for years.

In a move that might upset some of those players at first glance, GGG is making some big changes to the Atlas in PoE's next expansion Mirage. It borrows from PoE 2's version without completely replacing the underlying structure to PoE 1's. Instead of finding keys to enter specific maps, keys are now generic items you use to open nodes on the Atlas that correspond to maps—which is basically how it works in PoE 2. It won't have an endless web of nodes, but you'll still want to travel to each corner where you can encounter major bosses.

It seems like GGG wanted to simplify the Atlas without erasing why people like it so much. As someone who started with PoE 2 and only went back to PoE 1 afterwards, I appreciate the way it will be easier to understand how to climb up the tiers of difficulty now that you don't have to wait until the right keys drop. You can get going as soon as you finish the campaign, and if there are maps you hate the layout of, you simply don't have to touch them.

There's also new astrolabe items that cause a rift on the Atlas, guaranteeing certain modifiers for a section of maps. These will have increased difficulty and rewards and will come with specific "league" mechanics, or in-map events that drop unique types of loot. PoE 2 already has tablet items that work in a similar way for individual maps, but PoE 1's astrolabes cause surrounding maps to get even harder each time you complete one. Some of this functionality has existed via other items in the past, but now it's a little more directed and gives you more incentives to keep strengthening your character.

PoE 2's next update is supposed to be a major endgame rework and now I'm convinced it's going to bring over some of the ideas from Mirage. Its version of the Atlas is a neat concept, but has some issues when it comes to knowing where to go and how to maximize your loot from each map. I wouldn't be surprised if tablets start to affect multiple maps at a time, and if pinnacle bosses become key points you need to travel to before you can fully explore the Atlas freely.

PoE 2's endgame overhaul will have to wait until April, but PoE 1's is coming next week on March 6.