# Path of Exile Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame is Now Live!

- Product: Path of Exile (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/path-of-exile)
- Vendor: Grinding Gear Games
- Date: 2026-07-16
- Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/238960/view/669495150925320945
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/path-of-exile/releases/2026-07-16-path-of-exile-curse-of-the-allflame-is-now-live

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — Introduce a new challenge league with ocean exploration and seafloor diving mechanics
- **added** — Add Charts and Voyages system allowing players to explore connected seafloor areas and amplify rewards
- **added** — Add ship heart mechanic that splits items into ghostly outcomes for players to choose from
- **added** — Add Ducats currency to warp and twist items
- **added** — Return Mercenaries of Trarthus as duellable enemies that can be recruited as allies
- **added** — Add Warrant system in Maps to summon specific Mercenaries with new item sets
- **added** — Add Luminary Ascendancy class for the Scion allowing permanent hiring of Mercenaries with changeable equipment
- **added** — Add Anomalies system on the Atlas that appear after completing Voidstone-affected Maps with unique one-time rewards
- **added** — Add Pacts, a new set of Exceptional Skill Gems from Beyond bosses and Lycia in Forbidden Sanctum that empower Spells at a cost
- **added** — Add Mana-Infused Staff reservation skill for spellcasters
- **added** — Add new Transfigured Skill Gems
- **changed** — Significantly rework Abyss mechanic with open cracks influencing nearby enemies and improved audio and visual feedback
- **changed** — Overhaul Legion rewards using Enshrouding Crystals currency on Unique Armours to create Vestigial Unique Items with transferred modifiers
- **changed** — Remove socket colour restrictions allowing any gem to be socketed regardless of colour
- **changed** — Make majority of sockets white with red, blue, and green sockets becoming rare but granting additional quality to matching gems
- **changed** — Rebalance over one hundred existing spells with more differentiation for spells of different damage types
- **changed** — Rework Assassin, Inquisitor, and Occultist Ascendancy notables to support Casters
- **changed** — Improve caster itemisation particularly for staves and add new solutions for Mana management as a caster
- **changed** — Buff several caster Unique Items

Discover sunken artefacts and battle the horrors of the deep in Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame.

Our July expansion introduces a new challenge league, significant improvements to Abyss and Legion, the return of the Mercenaries of Trarthus, another new Ascendancy Class for the Scion, an all-new endgame system, and much more!

Meet Valerie, a dangerous corsair captain who needs your help retrieving long forgotten treasures from the icy depths of Wraeclast's oceans.

Find Charts scattered across Wraeclast, board The Sovereign, and set sail!

Dive to the ocean floor where lanterns imbued with the spark of the Allflame will shield you from the crushing waves. Explore and claim what you can while you can! Lost gold, valuable chests, and lurking threats await you...

As the lanterns flicker and fade you'll need to rush back to the safety of the Bathysphere, to escape the clawing creatures that despise the light you bring.

Once you have charted enough areas, connect them together to create a Voyage - one giant seafloor excursion. Revisit each chart to claim its rewards again, while also amplifying those rewards in several different ways.

Any area you chart reveals a modifier that applies during a Voyage. The edges of the Voyage Board also feature randomised effects that influence adjacent Charts each Voyage, adding extra rewards.

Head belowdecks, and you'll find the heart of the ship at work. Feed it an item, and it will split into a multitude of ghostly outcomes, one of which you can keep for yourself.

Find valuable Ducats on the seafloor and use them to warp and twist items in ways not seen in centuries.

The Mercenaries of Trarthus are once again roaming Wraeclast, seeking challengers. Defeat one in a duel to claim a powerful item they're carrying and recruit them as an ally for the rest of the area.

In Maps, if you don't like a Mercenary's items, you can request a Warrant that summons that specific Mercenary in a future Map with the same skills but a new set of items.

In Curse of the Allflame, the Scion is getting a new Ascendancy class, the Luminary.

Upon becoming a Luminary, you can permanently hire a Mercenary as an active ally in combat. Unlike regular Mercenaries, Luminary's hired Mercenaries can have their equipment changed, unlocking countless new build possibilities.

 Abyss has been significantly reworked in Curse of the Allflame. Abyssal cracks are now open, spilling their energy into the surrounding area, influencing nearby enemies. Slay them to draw the attention of Abyssal hordes that emerge from the depths to tear you apart.  There is now much more visceral feedback in the moment-to-moment gameplay of Abyss with audio and visual cues drawing you along. You can gain Abyssal Jewels and Stygian vises through the Abyss, and this mechanic has also received a complete refresh of Scarabs and passive tree investment.  Legion has received a major reward overhaul. Use the new Enshrouding Crystals currency on your Unique Armours, then place them in a crystal within the Domain of Timeless Conflict to create a Vestigial Unique Item with powerful modifiers transferred from the Unique you've selected. Vestigial Unique Items are exclusive to Legion and replace the Incubators.
In this expansion, strange locations have begun to manifest across the Atlas. When you complete Maps affected by a Voidstone, there is a chance that an anomaly will appear on the Atlas.

Anomalies are areas that can be run once, granting potentially powerful rewards. Examples include Cadiro Perandus, a mysterious trader offering strange curios for your Gold, or a fully revealed Heist Blueprint wing. There are many anomalies to discover, each tied to a specific Atlas quadrant.

Socket colours will no longer restrict which Skills and Supports you can put in them, allowing any gem to be socketed regardless of its colour. The majority of sockets on items are now white, with red, blue and green sockets being fairly rare.

Red, blue, and green sockets st

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/238960/view/669495150925320945]_