Path of Exile’s Expedition expansion is all about blowing stuff up

Grinding Gear Games revealed Path of Exile’s latest expansion, Expedition, in a Thursday livestream. Co-founder Chris Wilson announced a host of changes coming to the game, with nearly 20 Skill and Support gems, a Flask rework, new items, the return of Path of Exile: Royale, and more. Grinding Gear Games will launch Path of Exile: Expedition on July 23.

The Expedition expansion adds a new activity where players bomb artifact sites for gear. Commissioned by the Kalguur, players will place traps along the ground to unearth loot and other artifacts. But these explosion also cause ancient Kalguur to rise from the grave and strike back. Players can also use explosives to blow through walls and find secrets, or pick up even better loot by unearthing treasure chests.

Once players have the artifacts, they can then haggle with the Kalguur for more loot. Players will need to balance getting a deal with not pissing of the NPC they’re trading with.

Grinding Gear Games is also making a lot of big changes with Expedition. Players will gain access to 19 new Skill and Support Gems. This will give players more ways to build their characters, even outside of the new Expedition mode. The studio will also rework the game’s Flask system, which previously forced players to slam their fingers on keys repeatedly. Before the change, some players even created homemade devices to help press multiple keys simultaneously, the developer said.

All of these additions also come with a host of nerfs, which may be divisive in the community. Grinding Gear Games is starting a new initiative to make Path of Exile more difficult, and it starts with changing the game’s balance.

Finally, the studio announced the return of Path of Exile: Royale, a battle royale mode inside the popular action game.