PoE 2 Dawn of the Hunt League Mechanic: Azmerian Wisps

A brand new league mechanic known as Azmerian Wisps is coming to Path of Exile 2 in the Dawn of the Hunt update!

The Azmeri Spirit

The Azmerian Spirit has found its way to Wraeclast and appears to be warning of a coming darkness.

The Azmeri Spirit found in The Grelwood

You'll first interact with this new mechanic in Act 1 in The Grelwood, where you'll encounter a manifestation of the Azmeri Spirit and a new NPC, Delwyn, who's tracking the entity. The Azmeri Spirit appears to attract Azmerian Wisps wherever it goes.

What are Azmerian Wisps?

Azmerian Wisps are entities that can be found areas in the Campaign or in Maps in the endgame. These colourful creatures will flee as you approach them, getting faster the closer you are to them. In turn, they will slow down if you back away. However if you move too far away from the Wisp for too long, it will disappear, so try to keep up! The Wisp is ultimately leading you somewhere, but where is it going?

Buffing Monsters

Each Azmerian Wisp is attuned to a type of revered animal within Azmerian culture, such as The Great Bear. Upon passing through Monsters on its way to its final destination, the Wisp will empower them, granting buffs based on their animal association and making them more dangerous. An Azmerian Wisp that's associated with The Great Bear for example will grant Monster it passes through extra Life and increased Stun chance.

The Wisp will eventually find a Rare or Unique Monster to possess, granting it a new ability on top of the normal buffs it provides. This new ability is based on the type of animal that the Wisp is associated with. For example an Azmerian Wisp that's associated with The Great Bear will grant the possessed Rare or Unique Monster an ability to summon a Spectral Bear that performs a slam in an area around it.

Bonus Rewards

Rare or Unique Monsters that are possessed by Azmerian Wisps will have increased loot drops. The amount of loot dropped is based on how many Monsters were possessed by the Wisp before it reached its end destination, and how many of those Monsters you were able to kill.

Known Wisps

We currently know of a few of the different types of Azmerian Wisps:

Azmerian Wisp of The Great Bear

• Monster Buffs: Extra Life, Increased Stun
• Possess Ability: Spectral Bear Slam

Azmerian Wisp of the Winter Owl

• Monster Buffs: Extra Cold Damage, Gain Energy Shield, Release Wind Vortex on Death
• Possess Ability: Tornado

Azmerian Wisp of the Wild Cat

• Monster Buffs: Increased Crit, Increased Evasion
• Possess Ability: Feline Spirits

Sacred Wisps

Sacred Wisps are a rare type of Azmerian Wisp which have special mechanics in regards to how they interact with Monsters. We currently know about one type of Sacred Wisp:

Sacred Wisp of the Cunning Fox

• Upgrades Normal Monsters into Magic Monsters
• Upgrades Magic Monsters into Rare Monsters
• Upgrades Rare Monsters into Unique Bosses

Exclusive Rewards: Talismans

Talismans are new consumable items that can be placed in Rune Sockets on your gear. Encounters with Monsters possessed by Azmerian Wisps will be the only way to find Talismans!

Some Talismans you can find in Dawn of the Hunt

Unlike Runes or Soul Cores, Talismans can only be used on a specific item slot to provide their unique modifier.

New Endgame Map: The Azmeri Ranges

The Azmeri Ranges is a new endgame Map, and the location where the Azmeri civilisation once lived. By now, it's overrun by corrupted Monsters that you'll have to deal with. This map always contains several Azmerian Wisps, and the Unique Bosses in this map are familiar but with some interesting differences!

The Atlas Tree & Tablets

You'll have the opportunity to further specialise into the Azmerian Wisps mechanic by allocating new Notables on the Atlas tree or utilising new modifiers on Precursor Tablets, which can be placed into towers to buff surrounding maps.

Example of a new modifier found on Precursor Tablets