PoE Sanctum League – What We Know 

The Sanctum League is showing some promise after its reveal. What can players expect from the upcoming expansion?

Lake of Kalandra has concluded, and a new League will finally start. The Sanctum League will bring many new things to the table, which many players are excited about. While there are no updates regarding increased drop rates for PoE currency and items, there are more than enough details to give gamers a good picture of what they should expect in the expansion. 

The Forbidden Sanctum 

The most prominent feature coming out from the successive League is The Forbidden Sanctum. The mysterious templar shrine will replace the Lake of Kalandra as the newest challenge instance players can engage in. As expected, there will be tons of new items and unique that players can exchange in PoE trade. 

Like Lake Kalandra, The Forbidden Sanctum is a particular instance zone connected to maps and Act areas. A portal to the Sanctum can be encountered as early as level 2 and accessed on every site. The challenge will also feature some roguelike elements on top of its ARPG features. This distinction has made many gamers compare the game to other games, such as Hades. 

The Resolve Meter 

Dying in the Sanctum does not end your run because the challenge is not dependent on it. Instead, the instance relies on a resource pool known as Resolve which is separate from your character’s HP. This meter will serve as your health in the Sanctum, so exhausting this resource will end your whole game. Players can also gain a challenge-exclusive currency known as Aureus coins, which can only be used in the Sanctum.  

Roguelike Elements in an ARPG 

The Sanctum is comically called Hades 2 because of several features that it implements. Players can get Boons and Afflictions, similar to the Greek-inspired roguelike’s upgrade and curse system. In addition, players can encounter rooms that recover Resolve or merchants to buy further enhancements, like some of the core mechanics in Hades. 

What sets The Forbidden Sanctum apart from previous challenge Leagues is their way of progression. The whole shrine consists of 32 rooms divided into four floors. Each room can be accessed by entering a portal on any map or Act zones. At the end of each floor, players will need to fight a boss to get to the next set of chambers. 

There is also a unique reward system in The Forbidden Sanctum known as Offers. This feature can be encountered randomly, allowing players to receive a reward immediately or risk getting better loot by completing the whole floor or shrine. Exiles will also receive item drops in their runs since most of the mobs in the Sanctum have modifiers. 

With all these features combined, it is hard not to see why players compare the game to other roguelikes. For now, though, we will have to see how well this experiment goes when the League goes live.  

Other Major Improvements 

Aside from the Forbidden Sanctum, there are also several significant changes that players should pay attention to. Most of these updates will influence end-game content; however, some of these will affect the game as a whole. 

The most notable update will be the removal of the Archnemesis mob modifications. Much simpler mob modifiers will replace this system to ensure that monsters do not exhibit complicated combinations of mods. The Archnemesis system was returned to ensure that zones are manageable. 

There will also be changes coming to the Atlas Talent Tree. Nodes directed solely for Bosses will now be removed as other glyphs will directly affect these elite foes. The developers wanted to remove the hassle of changing back and forth between mapping and boss builds.  

Other changes include Scarabs now affecting mob quantity instead of enhancing modifiers. What’s more, Fraction Orbs will be introduced to the game; this currency allows players to lock in a specific augment, unaffected by any rerolling. 

Alongside the new League, new skills will also be introduced. Some of these abilities are mainly for melee classes. Several Vaal gems will also be introduced, and existing ones will be further modified. Many of these changes aim to buff melee builds in a spellcasting/range-dominated game. There will also be noticeable changes to status ailment resistance to Jewels alongside the introduction of newer ones. Hexes will also now become more effective, especially against bosses.  

Sanctum League Release 

These changes show promise for the upcoming  Sanctum challenge, and significant updates will present new opportunities many fans have looked for in the previous Leagues. While there are no updates regarding loot and PoE currency, players look forward to the League’s release on December 9.