PoE 2 0.5: Fate of the Vaal Goes Core

The Fate of the Vaal league mechanic from patch 0.4 will be going core as part of the Return of the Ancients update.

Snake Strategy is No More

As part of this mechanic going core, it will be significantly toned down in terms of stacking loot modifiers. The previous 'snake' strategy that would yield unintended amounts of loot drops when combined with a well-geared character build will no longer be a thing, as the design of the Temple has shifted towards a more random allocation of room progression, with room deletion that would result in a broken chain now replacing those rooms with blank rooms instead.

Conventional Gameplay Buffed

The basic strategy of room selection for the exclusive loot it yields upon completion has been improved, with buffs to generic reward room loot. There was also a strategy previously that would allow players to rush Pinnacle Boss Atziri every encounter, which is no longer possible.

The Atlas Tree

The brand new Atlas Tree in patch 0.5 will now apply to your Temple areas, allowing you to customise these areas as you would your general mapping gameplay. There's also a standalone Atlas Tree for this league mechanic content just like other mechanics in the endgame.

Static Atlas Progression

With the Fate of the Vaal going core, this mechanic will find itself as a static encounter found on the Atlas map like other core league mechanics, so you can choose to progress towards it if you wish to farm this content. There will also be a brand-new questline associated with Fate of the Vaal.