Path of Exile’s Underwater League Changes More Than Its Farming Routes

For a game built on years of accumulated systems, Curse of the Allflame matters less as a themed detour and more as a reset of several routines players use from campaign leveling through Atlas farming. Path of Exile 3.29 arrives July 24 at 4 p.m. EDT, with its new league asking players to go beneath the seabed rather than simply add another encounter to ordinary maps.

The core loop is built around dives and Charts recorded in Valerie’s journal. Those Charts can be connected into expeditions, with up to nine forming a Voyage. The promised rewards include treasures and sunken artefacts, while deep-sea horrors provide the combat pressure. Allflame crafting, using Dead Man’s Sulpher, gives the league its own equipment progression track, though the full range of crafting outcomes has not been detailed.

The larger practical change is socketing. Grinding Gear Games is removing skill gem socket-color restrictions, dismantling a longstanding requirement that made gearing and early build adjustments more restrictive. That should make league-start experimentation and gear upgrades less punishing, particularly for players changing skills or adding off-color support gems. It does not, by itself, settle how builds will be balanced after the transition.

Abyss and Legion are also being rebuilt around less downtime. Abyss cracks will already be open, letting players fight their spawned enemies rather than chase a wandering fissure. Legion encounters no longer require every monster to be broken out before combat begins: freeing key monsters from crystals or chests, alongside most of the army, automatically starts the fight. Incubators are removed, while Enshrouding Crystals and Vestigial Unique Items enter the Domain of Timeless Conflict.

Build planners also have the Luminary, a new Scion Ascendancy that can permanently hire up to three returning Mercenaries of Trarthus. Talismans return as exclusive Bestiary rewards, and The Forbidden Trove adds another named destination to the update’s reward landscape.

Watch the early league economy and farming routes: the first week will show whether Voyages, revised Legion rewards, and simplified Abyss runs become the most efficient paths through the new Atlas.