A locked launch date
Path of Exile 3.30 now has a date. Grinding Gear Games announced at ExileCon 2026 that Covens of Umbra goes live for free on Friday 13 November (PST) across all available platforms. Our read: this is the biggest swing at the original game’s endgame in years, and it lands four weeks before Path of Exile 2 goes free-to-play on 11 December (PST).
GGG describes the expansion as a chance to disrupt dark magicks and end the Coven Queen’s witchcraft, with a new challenge league, a set of fundamental endgame changes, improvements to existing endgame systems and new unique items. The announcement names no launch hour, so check the official channels for the exact start time in your region.
Choose a Fate, build a Wickerman
In the Covens league, covenites perform gruesome rites to summon their Queen. Disrupt their magicks and you pick a Fate for the area’s boss. Each Fate has a handful of effects that raise both the difficulty and the rewards of the fight.
The payoff is the Wickerman. Beat a Fate-empowered boss and you collect Viscera, a scrap of that enemy’s power to place on your own Wickerman. GGG says every campaign boss and every boss on an Atlas map has a unique Viscera, so Fates need picking before the kill. Grim Fates do the same for the toughest Atlas bosses, with Pinnacle Boss Viscera as the top trophy, and the Queen herself may even be within reach.
PCGamesN, reporting live from the keynote, adds that players can combine up to three Fates, that duplicates boost effects and that the Wickerman has head, body, arm and leg slots across three tiers. Treat that as early colour from the show floor; the official page covers the headline systems.
Scarabs out, Threads in
The endgame rewrite is the bigger story. Scarabs are being removed and replaced by Threads of Creation, set directly in the Map device. Threads apply a chosen league mechanic to the area while scaling monster rarity and difficulty, and each Thread you spend raises the odds of random powerful effects augmenting that mechanic.
The Atlas passive tree has been completely refreshed, with a new layout and dozens of new wheels, stats and effects. GGG says many of those were previously on Scarabs and can now be guaranteed. That is a real change for anyone who has spent leagues juggling Scarab stacks.
Almost every endgame league mechanic has been augmented, modified or revamped. Mirage goes core, can spawn randomly in Maps or be rolled as a Map modifier, and now covers the entire map, so you can effectively run the whole map again. Saresh returns as a tougher fight.
A loot rework with teeth
GGG calls the loot rework unlike anything it has done before. At endgame, unidentified Magic and Rare items can drop with a tier that improves every aspect of the item, so you can tell what is worth stopping to identify. Rarity on Maps and monsters now improves all types of drops, which means more valuable currency and uniques from the ground in hard content.
PCGamesN reports that Game Director Jonathan Rogers framed the update as one of the biggest endgame transformations in a long while, and that the loot goal is less item spam and more valuable rewards. We like the direction. Sorting a screen of Rares by hand is the least fun part of any long session, and a tier on the drop is a blunt, sensible fix.
What to watch on day one
The unknowns are balance and pacing. A rebuilt Atlas, new Threads and a loot overhaul all arrive together, and the first week will show whether the new systems feel generous or grindy. GGG also lists a set of five new Core Supporter Packs for the league; the official page has the contents.
If you are planning your winter backlog, our upcoming PC games calendar tracks what else is landing, and our best PC games of 2026 list shows where the action RPG crowd has been playing this year.
