Grinding Gear Games recently announced Path of Exile: Mirage, the game’s next major update, which adds an all-new league mechanic, big endgame updates, Holy Skills, quality-of-life updates, and many more.
This update’s biggest highlight is no doubt the new Mirage league, where players must free the Djinn from the Astral Realm. Specifically, players confront the Afarud, a desert-dwelling sect of necromancers who have stolen and imprisoned Djinn across Wraeclast. These necromancers drain the Djinn of their energy.
Players must first face off against Afarud Warlocks, who serve as guards. Once these are defeated, the ancient Maraketh sorceress Varashta will uncover the Astral Realm through a Mirage to free the captive Djinn.
Before players enter the Mirage, Varashta will offer one of three “Wishes,” which grant powerful modifiers. These include:
- Wish for Glyphs: Converting Portal and Wisdom Scroll drops into other currencies.
- Wish for Avarice: Replacing the number of packs in an area with Gilded enemies that convert equipment into Gold.
- Wish for Godhood: Granting extreme power such as invulnerability within the Mirage.
Each Wish is tied to one of three Djinn’s powerful sigils: Sand, Fire, or Water. Depending on what players choose, monsters in the Mirage can drop one of three currencies. These include Coin of Knowledge, Coin of Power, and Coin of Skill.
Given the nature of the Mirages, players can “replay” the contents of an Endgame Map, as Mirages are an “imperfect” copy of an area that a Djinn occupies. There are certain side effects to “replaying” these, such as Mirage Ultimatums gaining dangerous modifiers like Restless Ground or Quicksand, while a variety of strongboxes may change, among others.
Players can also restore relics that have been corrupted by the Afarud. Specifically, players can use a Coin of Restoration within Mirages, which allows certain Afarud Uniques to be transformed to their original forms.
Of course, rewards aren’t the only thing players can expect in Path of Exile: Mirage, as players can also encounter Saresh, of the Weeping Black, in their quest to free the Djinn. Saresh is a powerful Endgame Boss, though defeating him will give players even more Unique Items.
Another addition that players can look forward to is the inclusion of a new set of skills and supports. These new Holy Skills give players more options for better build variety. Along with the Skills and Supports, the update will also feature new transfigured gems, including Shockwave Totem of Authority (which casts its nova at the player’s location) and Orb of Storms of Squalls (which warps directly to targets when using lightning skills).
Other major highlights of the update include The Reliquarian, a new Scion Ascendancy that draws power from relics scattered throughout Wraeclast. This Ascendancy class features Unique-based passive powers from three categories, and promises greater flexibility compared to other Ascendancy classes.
The update will also feature big endgame overhauls, some of which are:
- Maps are no longer tied to specific areas
- Arcane Astrolabes, which allow players to trace Zana’s movements, manifesting Shaped Regions across the Atlas
- The Cartographer’s Chisels and Map Device Crafts have been removed entirely
- Petal skills in Originator Maps have also been removed
- Voidstones will now grant global bonuses while socketed
- Memory Tears now drop as itemized Memory Threads
- Awakened Gems will be replaced by Exceptional Support Gems
The Keepers of the Flame system will also go core, replacing the Breach mechanic. Finally, quality-of-life improvements will be added, such as sale histories becoming hoverable with full item detail previews, and the addition of favorite trades to the Currency Exchange.
Path of Exile: Mirage launches on March 7, 2026, at 3 AM PH time. For more details, visit the official website.