It all seems to be positive growth

Beyond that, nothing else is getting axed. The previous story bosses in the Atlas are still accessible (albeit via obscure means, in some cases), and Grinding Gear Games even found time to tune up the difficulty a bit on Act 2 of the main story, so you can put those FOMO worries to bed POE currency trade .

It all seems to be positive growth with this expansion. While there’s been a couple minor nerfs thrown at a couple of game-breakingly powerful character builds, the developers have mostly been focused on buffing up some underpowered archetypes.

The only concern I have with Siege of the Atlas is that it requires players to get through the main game to access the majority of the new content. When I talked with studio head Chris Wilson, he admitted that a completely new player going in blind and figuring everything out as they go is looking at dozens of hours of play to finish the main story. Still, knowledge is power in Path Of Exile, and those who look up guides and recommended character builds will have a much easier time. Even running in the punishing Solo Self Found mode (disabling co-op, trading and stashes), players frequently clear the story in a single afternoon.

The Path of Exile: Siege of the Atlas expansion launches as a free update on February 4th. A new character will be needed to join the Archnemesis league, but the Atlas Of Worlds changes are available to all.

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By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Path of Exile: Siege of the Atlas expansion sets new peak concurrent player record

The newest Path of Exile expansion, Siege of the Atlas, lets players build their own endgame by revamping the Atlas of Worlds—which is basically the core of the game at this point. Seven players have already beaten the expansion by taking down godlike beings The Maven, The Searing Exarch, and The Eater of Worlds by taking them down in the Hardcore Solo Self-found Archnemesis League, which is really impressive but probably gibberish if you don't play Path of Exile and never have.

Perhaps more comprehensible is that the now quite old action RPG has hit a new record for peak concurrent players: 270,260 people were playing at once over the weekend, says Grinding Gear Games. That's a peak for time since Path of Exile launched over eight years ago in October 2013. Apparently the peak started building on Friday the 4th, but kept rising, so that Grinding Gear could only be sure it wouldn't be surpassed until today Path of exile currency .

Over the weekend, we launched Path of Exile: Siege of the Atlas. We're pleased to report that deployment was extremely smooth with no major issues! We also hit a new record for peak concurrent players at 270,260!https://t.co/5Z05EfnZHP pic.twitter.com/IC0RvkUCn6February 6, 2022

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Path of Exile's latest expansion, Siege of the Atlas, allows players to draw from that entire eight year history of the game by mixing and matching levels to play in the Atlas of Worlds. That means all the old content is pretty much unlocked, and you get to use it to pursue the new bosses and some old ones. There's also an entirely new, massive skill grid... but instead of applying modifers to your character, it applies modifiers to your Atlas of Worlds playlist. You can now ensure that you favorite kinds of monsters, loot, and environments always show up in your own personalized end game experience.

You can find out more about Path of Exile: Siege of the Atlas on the official Path of Exile website.

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By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Intel reveals ambitious plans to enable the ultimate in path-traced eye candy on integrated graphics

A new Intel blog post has revealed the company's ambitious plans to enable real-time path tracing on not just its Arc discrete GPUs but eventually its integrated graphics, too.

Intel says it will lay out several new approaches to path tracing via research papers introduced at industry conferences later this year.

"With Intel’s ubiquitous integrated GPUs and emerging discrete graphics, researchers are pushing the efficiency of the most demanding photorealistic rendering, called path tracing," Intel says.