[FAQ] Helpful Information & Common Questions (updated July 18, 2016)
Greetings. This thread attempts to provide a single resource for information about racing. I attempt to provide; general information, a quick list for basic information, race types, race mods, and season signature event, and a collection of frequently asked questions. This will be updated as the seasons continue, and more questions are asked.
Edit: The Medallion Season contains 125 events, running from 23 July 2016 to 19 August 2016 (NZT). Its signature race is a Fixed Seed event called Medallion. Edit: Added the new information for the Medallion Seasons events, updated the events parented to Void, one more question to the FAQ sections, and two new links to the sources spoiler.
What are Races?
Races are duration events open to all Path of Exile players. In races you start off with a new character with nothing but your knowledge and starting provisions. Race events are grouped into seasons of ~120 events over a 4 week period. Race duration can be short sprints starting at 12 minute events up to endurance events spanning 3 hours. Race events can take place in the normal progression of the game or in special progression events. The current special progression events are Descent, Descent: Champions, and Endless Ledge (more information in the event type spoiler). Characters from the normal progression events will be transferred to hardcore league at the end of the race if they survived, Standard League if they die. Characters from special progression events will end up in ‘Void League’ at the end of the event, dead or alive.
Racing Basics
Races are special events where players compete for prizes in a clean/new economy
Races can be of different types and have different or unique modifiers
Character creation is open approximately 30 minutes before the start of the event
Only the highest character at the end of the race will count for point
Characters who die in Hardcore events are moved to Standard
Surviving characters at the end of the event will be transferred to their parent league
The transfer process usually takes 5 minutes, but sometimes takes longer, be patient
Once enough points for a particular prize threshold is reached the prize will be automatically added to the account
Prizes will be awarded in a Remove-Only tab with the event title as the name
Prizes can only be removed in one league
Reward Tabs are only available once a league is four weeks old
Death NO LONGER removes your character from eligibility for level specific points, (Introduced Soulthirst/S14)
Death will not remove your character from eligibility for boss kills, first full clear, or first quest completion
Confirm you have your points/prizes before deleting a character
Why Race?
Races give competitive players an outlet to test their abilities against the clock and against other players. There are also alternate art rewards. Rewards are earned throughout the season by competing in events and earning race points. Being top of your class in some races will earn the seasons’ Demigods item, and top players at the end of the season will earn alternate art Demigods.
What are the Kinds of Races?
There are different types of races, and then different modifiers which can be applied to the races. The types of races, modifiers of races, and the signature event can be found below in the spoilers.
Event Types
Alternate Start:Alternate Start events do not begin in Act 1, Normal. They can begin in any act or difficulty after that. These areas are the same level as they appear in the regular game, and are not scaled down for these events. Alternate Start Events provide pre-levelled characters with unallocated skill trees, who start with basic gear and skill gems appropriate to their level. You can allocate passives and swap out gear during the registration period. League is parented to Void. Act 2 Start: Level 12 with 13 Unallocated Passives. Act 3 Start: Level 22 with 25 Unallocated Passives (Bandit quest = passive point).
Boss Kill: Time based events that rank players on how long they take to kill specific bosses. Starting in S14/Soulthirst these will be Fixed Seed, by event, with the mini-map still hidden.
Burst: Burst events are several short duration events that run in quick succession.
Descent: You play through custom levels that use tile-sets from the core Path of Exile game. While layouts and monster drops are still randomized, there are occasional fixed rewards in chests along the way, containing currency and other items. The Boss Kill version of Descent is titled, Mistress of Flame Kill. League is parented to Void.
Descent: Champions: The sequel to Descent, with a different dungeon, special unique items and branching paths. The Boss Kill version of Descent: Champions is titled, DC Gravicius Kill. League is parented to Void.
Endless Ledge: A race type based on The Ledge Area from Act 1. Players see how far they can get through different Ledge themed areas in the given time. League is parented to Void.
Signature: Signature races are specific races that have consistent length and properties during the season. Player results throughout the season are scored in a ladder of overall results in these Signature events. There are special prizes for the top three finishes of each class at season end. Signature events CAN NOT spawn Rogue Exiles, Masters, Strongboxes, Tormented Spirits, Bloodlines Mods or Nemesis Mods. Signature races DO NOT give points for side objectives, like full-clearing zones or being the first to complete quest objectives.
Event Mods
Ancestral: All areas except towns have enemy totems spread across the zone that grant benefits to your enemies and attempt to kill you
Arctic: All areas other than towns contain drifting areas of cold damage.
Bloodgrip: Players have the Corrupting Blood mod.
Blood Magic: Characters act as if they have the Blood Magic keystone allocated. This will cause them to consume life instead of mana for skills with mana cost and mana reservations.
Brutal: Monsters have 20% increased attack and cast speed, and deal 20% increased damage.
Emberwake: 30% of monsters’ physical damage is added as fire, and they move 30% faster.
Eternal Torment: All areas other than towns and the Twilight Strand will be inhabited by 10 additional tormented spirits. Spirits will spawn regardless of their usual level restrictions. Parent to 'Void'(As of Medallion/S16)
Exiles Everywhere: All areas other than towns and the Twilight Strand will be inhabited by 20 additional rogue exiles. Exiles will spawn regardless of their usual level restrictions. Parent to 'Void'(As of Medallion/S16)
Famine: Players’ flasks, life, mana and energy shield are not refilled when accessing town
Fixed Seed: All instances of a given area have the same area layout, for all players. Also the minimap will automatically be fully revealed. Multiple Race Events will regularly have the same seed. That is, the instance area layouts will be same in all the races of a fixed seed set. This includes all Signature events.
Fracturing: Non-unique monsters split into several copies when they are killed.
Headhunter: Upon killing rare monsters, you gain all their mods for 20 seconds. Every monster pack has a rare monster (even the Twilight Strand). Parent to 'Void'
Immolation: Players and monsters have their physical damage converted to fire damage, all monsters also create burning ground on death.
Inferno: All areas are under the effects of the Infernal tempest, which casts random fire skills that damage both Players and Monsters.
Lethal: Monster deal 50% increased damage. An additional 50% of that damage is then added as cold damage, fire damage and lightning damage. (Some races will not have the extra cold damage).
Medallion: Each area has a specific area mod(s), taken from past Race Seasons, Challenge Leagues, and Minor Prophecies. The list of areas and their mod(s) are here, Designing the Signature Medallion Race
Multiple Projectiles: Monsters have four additional projectiles when using projectile based skills/attacks.
No Portals: You cannot create portals in this event.
No Projectiles: Players deal no damage with projectile based skills/attacks.
Revealed Map: The minimap is automatically fully revealed.
Rogue: All areas other than towns and the Twilight Strand will be inhabited by an additional rogue exile. Exiles will spawn regardless of their usual level restrictions.
Sentinel: All areas except towns have enemy sentinels spread across the zone.
Solo: Players cannot join parties or trade.
Soulthirst: Upon killing rare monsters you gain Soul Eater for 10 seconds.
Turbo: Monsters run, attack and case 60% faster than normal.
Unwavering: Monsters have 35% increased life and cannot be stunned.
Winterheart: All areas contain patches of chilled ground. Players are accelerated (45% faster), rather than being slowed by being chilled.
Medallion Season(16) Signature Race
The Signature event is a 60 minute solo fixed seed race with the Medallion mod.
Fixed Seed: All instances of a given area have the same area layout, for all players. Also the minimap will automatically be fully revealed. Multiple Race Events will regularly have the same seed. That is, the instance area layouts will be same in all the races of a fixed seed set. This includes all Signature events.
Medallion: Each area has a specific area mod(s), taken from past Race Seasons, Challenge Leagues, and Minor Prophecies. The list of areas and their mod(s) are here, Designing the Signature Medallion Race
Revealed Map: The minimap is automatically fully revealed.
Standings for the Signature event can be found here
The special item this season is an Alt-Art Demigod's Dominance(current assumption)
Questions
What are the Rewards?
The current season rewards can be found on this page (or click Race Season under the Events drop down menu). This is also where the full calendar for the current season can be found. The unique base item this season is a Demigod's Dominance. The titles of the races are links leading to the individual posts about the event. To only see the remaining events click here (or click Event Calendar under the Events drop down menu).
Where are my points?
If you did not delete your race character, your points should be awarded once the transfer happens. See below.
Why have my characters not transferred yet?
This process normally happens within 5 minutes of the end of the event. However, there can be some time delays between an event ending and the characters/leagues merging. In the Rules for Race Events post, it is stated the process could take up to an hour. During the Christmas/New Years holiday (2014) there was a full 24 hour delay before the points were awarded.
Can I take rewards out in challenge leagues?
Yes, yes you can
Well where are they?
Remove-Only prize tabs will be immediately available in the permanent leagues. Remove-Only prize tabs will become available in Challenge, and other leagues, once they are four weeks old. For the current Prophecy Challenge Leagues this happened on the 1st of July.
Do I have to stay alive?
Not any more. You will still be eligible for points based on the level you reached even if you do not survive the race. You will still continue to earn points for boss kills if you die after killing the boss, the same applies to full clears, and first to complete quests.
Where will my character go at the end of the event?
In most races, if you die you end up in Standard. If you live your character will be transferred to Hardcore. In a few event types; Descent, Endless Ledge, Descent: Champions, Headhunter, and Alternate Start events, your character will end up in the Void. It appears starting in the Medallion Season(S16) both Eternal Torment, and Exiles Everywhere will now also be parented to the Void. There have been other events parented to Void, but it should state this in the event post
What is 'Void'?
Void is a league where characters go after some races. Notably Descent, Descent: Champions, Endless Ledge, Headhunter, and Alternate Start events are parented to Void. It appears starting in the Medallion Season(S16) both Eternal Torment, and Exiles Everywhere will now also be parented to the Void. You can't play these characters or access their inventory. Characters in the void can be deleted or kept as a sort of trophy (you can still post their items to the forum).
Where will my stash go at the end of the event?
Stash tabs in races follow the same rules as challenge leagues(established when Dom/Nem ended), "Your stash tabs from the [race] will also transition to their parent leagues as remove-only tabs. This is so that you aren't penalized for not having enough stash tabs. Remove-only tabs will last until the items are removed from them. Once you remove an item from a remove-only stash tab you cannot return it to that stash tab."
How long will my Remove-Only tabs last?
Tabs from your regular stash which become Remove-Only after the event are only accessible in the Permanent Hardcore league. They will only be removed if a) you remove everything from them or b) you buy more tabs (of the same type regular/premium) then they become usable tabs, just with the remove only items already in them.
Remove-Only reward tabs can be taken out in any league once the league is at least 4 weeks old. Remove-only reward tabs will disappear once you remove all items from them. They should not merge if you buy more tabs for your account.
Can I party?
In many of the events you can. In vanilla races the party/solo indicator will likely be in the title. For all other events check the event post. Above the Dan's Event post there will be identifying information about the event; including start and end time (in local timezone), a countdown timer, if the event is Hardcore, and if the event is Solo. If the Solo description is not there, you can party during the event.
What elements from the core game can appear in races?
The Signature event is a 1 hour solo fixed seed race with the Emberwake mod.
Fixed Seed: All instances of a given area have the same area layout, for all players. Also the minimap will automatically be fully revealed. Multiple Race Events will regularly have the same seed. That is, the instance area layouts will be same in all the races of a fixed seed set. This includes all Signature events.
Emberwake: 30% of monsters’ physical damage is added as fire, and they move 30% faster.
Standings for the Signature event can be found here
The special item this season is an Alt-Art Demigod’s Beacon
Bloodgrip Season(13) Signature Race
The Signature event is a 50 minute solo fixed seed race with the Bloodgrip mod.
Fixed Seed: All instances of a given area have the same area layout, for all players. Also the minimap will automatically be fully revealed. Multiple Race Events will regularly have the same seed. That is, the instance area layouts will be same in all the races of a fixed seed set. This includes all Signature events.
Bloodgrip: Players have the Corrupting Blood mod.
Standings for the Signature event can be found here
The special item this season is an Alt-Art Demigod’s Beacon
Soulthirst Season(14) Signature Race
The Signature event is a 70 minute solo fixed seed race with the Soulthirst mod.
Fixed Seed: All instances of a given area have the same area layout, for all players. Also the minimap will automatically be fully revealed. Multiple Race Events will regularly have the same seed. That is, the instance area layouts will be same in all the races of a fixed seed set. This includes all Signature events.
Soulthirst: Upon killing rare monsters you gain Soul Eater for 10 seconds.
Standings for the Signature event can be found here
The special item this season is an Alt-Art Demigod’s Beacon
Winterheart Season(15) Signature Race
The Signature event is a 60 minute solo fixed seed race with the Winterheart mod.
Fixed Seed: All instances of a given area have the same area layout, for all players. Also the minimap will automatically be fully revealed. Multiple Race Events will regularly have the same seed. That is, the instance area layouts will be same in all the races of a fixed seed set. This includes all Signature events.
Winterheart: All areas contain patches of chilled ground. Players are accelerated (45% faster), rather than being slowed by being chilled.
Standings for the Signature event can be found here
The special item this season is an Alt-Art Demigod's Dominance
