Path of Exile Talent Competition

Please bear with me. I know this is long, but I have a lot of ideas and want to show the League in all its glory.

Story: Not all the gods of Oriath were sealed by Sin. The most clever and devious managed to escape and continue their influence over mankind. One of these was Plutus, the god of greed and wealth. Working in secret, Plutus guided those who would listen to greater and greater power and influence, such as the Perandus family. Now that the gods once more make their presence known in Oreath, Plutus has reopened his cathedral, offering wealth beyond imagination to those who can best its challenges. Just make sure your eyes aren’t bigger than your blade.

Mechanics Overview:

Lost Seekers: Greed league has 2 components. During the campaign and mapping players will encounter Tormented Spirits (now Lost Seekers), around 10 per map. Tormented Spirits work similarly to how they work in the current game. They will attempt to flee from the player and if left alone too long will escape. In addition they still mark non rare or unique enemies and provide additional challenges and rewards.

Lost Seekers have several major differences from the existing Tormented Spirits however. First they have reward indicators above their heads showing what loot table they drop from. This is identical to Blight nodes and Metamorph samples. All bonus rewards from the Lost Seeker will be of that type and Perandus Coins (now Plutus Coins which I will discuss below) Secondly, Lost Seekers do not possess Rare and Unique enemies. When they encounter a rare or unique enemy they still grant the exact same additional mechanics and rewards to the monster, but pass through as if they were a normal or magic monster.

In addition to monsters, Lost Seekers can be run through the following mechanics to grant them additional effects:

Strongboxes: If a Lost Seeker runs through a Strongbox, that strongbox is marked. All monsters that spawn from it will have the increased item drops and mechanics from the Lost Seeker. In addition all Strongboxes will drop Plutus Coins.

Shrines: If a Lost Seeker runs through a Shrine it will corrupt the Shrine. A corrupted shrine works very similarly to a strongbox, but the monsters will have the reward types and mechanics of the Lost Seeker. Once the second set of monsters is killed the Shrine upgrades to a Darkshrine, granting the shrine buff for the rest of the map. This is identical to the Darkshrines in the Eternal Labyrinth.

Lost Seekers: If a Lost Seeker runs into another Lost Seeker they merge, forming a Beyond Portal (now a Greed Portal). These work identically to a beyond as they currently work except all monsters have both Seeker’s reword types and mechanics. If a player brought additional Lost Seekers to the portal it would grow, summoning bosses.

Each of these mechanics could include as many Lost Seekers as the player could get to reach them. A shrine could have 10 Seeker enchantments on it at a time if the player was diligent enough.

There can also be special kinds of Lost Seekers including one that corrupts everything it touches or one that provides influence.

Perandus: Perandus league has been removed and Perandus coins are now Plutus coins. They cannot be used in maps and are now used in the Plutus Cathedral (see below).

Reasoning: Path of Exile has several older mechanics that are cool but are not super valuable anymore due to the pace and complexity of the game getting past them. This league seeks to bring several of the more common and visually appealing mechanics up to modern standards while creating enough new content that it is an exciting and diverse league in addition to bringing old mechanics back. I am focusing on Tormented Spirits since they are the coolest looking of the older league mechanics and the gameplay loop of chasing them is fun and encourages players to overexert themselves which plays into the theme of greed. Not having the Lost Seekers stop when they reach a rare or unique enemy means that players who find one with a good reward type such as currency are encouraged to chase it as much as possible without killing it in order to juice the rewards of the map as much as possible. Players who don’t enjoy it however can steer it away from harder mobs or ignore it altogether, similar to Delirium. Allowing them to also touch other mechanics to improve their rewards makes Strongboxes and Shrines more engaging, since they now have higher risk and higher rewards. Finally, tying Beyond to the Lost Spirits helps to introduce Beyond to newer players and prevent players randomly dying when the portal opens up. Now it is much clearer what causes it and how valuable it can be.

The Cathedral of Greed: Throughout maps players will pick up Perandus coins (now Plutus Coins). These coins can be used at the Cathedral of Greed, a new endgame zone reachable by spending a Plutus Coin. This is identical to Rogue Markers.

The Cathedral of Greed is a Roguelike dungeon where players experience challenges and maps as they travel through. Culminating in a fight with Plutus himself.

Beginning a run in the Cathedral requires the player to pay Plutus Coins at the door. Once inside the player chooses between 2 or 3 rooms that provide different encounters. Each is explained to the player with a pop up like a Vaal side area. After completing the encounter the player is provided with the choice again. Play continues like this until either the player leaves the Cathedral or defeats Plutus.

All loot gained from the Cathedral is contraband until the player leaves. If they die in the Cathedral all of their loot is dropped permanently. They may leave at any time but will re enter from the beginning.

Rooms can be basically anything, but most will be a small map with various modifiers. These will be about the size of the mini maps during the Shaper fight.

Some rooms will have special events. These can be either done or ignored, at the player’s discretion.

Special Rooms are:

Cadiro Perandus: Perandus arrives and offers an item in exchange for Plutus coins. These items can either be collectable items or Plutus Cathedral specific items that only last until the end of the run in the Cathedral. These are similar to the powers that are found in a roguelike.

Double or Nothing Room: The player offers an item from their stash and then waves spawn. If they survive they get double the item back.

League Rooms: These rooms have themed enemies and provide benefits from the chosen league. Syndicate Crafting Benches, Harvests, etc.

Once the player has reached the end they may enter the portal to fight Plutus. Plutus is a large boss fight based on the amount in the player’s inventory. If the player has picked up a lot of rewards he will be stronger and his attacks will have more effect. If they have picked up little he will be easier.

Players may not go backwards through rooms. Uncollected loot is lost, like the Coward’s Trial.

Defeating Plutus allows for unique items and additional drops.

Once the player defeats Plutus they may leave with their loot.

Explanation: A random dungeon is a unique and fun system that Path of Exile currently does not have. The ability to leave at any time helps alleviate the mirror drop problem while still fitting into the theme of greed. A final boss that punishes you for picking up loot is totally in character for the lord of greed and helps present a real challenge to those looking to maximize their returns from the dungeon.

I hope you enjoyed this read. I’m happy to answer any questions about it and its systems. I love the game and hope this is a fun read.