Path of Exile: The Forbidden Sanctum Expansion Reveal

The Forbidden Sanctum, Path of Exile’s final expansion of the year, will be going live on December 9, 2022. And following its official livestreamed reveal, we can now learn all about this new content drop for the free to play action RPG.

You can find a detailed overview of the new features here and read the latest patch notes here, while the link in the paragraph above will also take you to some previews. In short, you can expect a fresh challenge league, new skills and Vaal gems, new items, the extra challenging Ruthless mode, and more.

Here’s the official expansion trailer:

An extended content reveal:

And a press release with some extra details:

Auckland, New Zealand –Thursday, December 1, 2022 — Grinding Gear Games announced today via livestream, that Path of Exile’s latest free expansion, Path of Exile: The Forbidden Sanctum, will launch on Friday, December 9 on PC, and Wednesday, December 14 for PlayStation and Xbox.

During the stream, Grinding Gear Games Co-founder Chris Wilson revealed that Path of Exile: The Forbidden Sanctum will feature a brand new Challenge League and improvements to Path of Exile’s endgame, alongside two new Skill Gems, seven new Vaal Skill Gems, over 15 new Unique Items, significant balance changes to jewels, hexes, monster modifiers, unique weapons and more. This expansion also introduces Ruthless, an optional new way to play Path of Exile with extreme item scarcity.

More information on The Forbidden Sanctum content can be found below:

• New Three-month Challenge League: The Forbidden Sanctum is a roguelike that takes place within Path of Exile. Players will explore an ancient sanctum which is rumored to be hidden beneath the Fellshrine Ruins. Long abandoned, a malevolent presence has taken hold. In each area of Wraeclast they play through, players will have the opportunity to explore one room of the Sanctum as they search for its treasures.
• New Skills and Vaal Gems – Two new skill gems that benefit melee characters have been introduced. These are Volcanic Fissure, a fiery slam skill, and Frozen Legion, a spell that summons a ring of icy melee statues. Many new Vaal Gems have been introduced. Vaal Gems are alternate versions of existing skill gems that come with a periodic and massive power boost.
• Ruthless Mode – An optional new game mode which can be selected during character creation. Ruthless is all about extreme item scarcity, which creates a challenging and brutal way to play Path of Exile.
• New Unique Items – This expansion introduces over fifteen new unique items that can be found within the Sanctum or throughout Wraeclast. These items create new opportunities for specialized character creation.
• Monster Modifiers – The Archnemesis monster modifier system has been replaced with a refined set of modifiers that each only do one thing and say exactly what they do. Their rewards have been updated as a result and are no longer associated with specific modifiers. In general, magic and rare monster combat is now less complex but can still result in a combination of modifiers that get your heart racing.
• Endgame Improvements – Improvements have been made to the Atlas Passive Tree that allow players to invest even further into content they enjoy. Two new Atlas Memories can now also be found, telling the story of Domination and Bestiary.
• Buffed Endgame Unique Weapons – Ten endgame unique weapons have received massive buffs to bring them in line with some of Path of Exile’s most iconic items. Naturally, they’re now extremely rare.
• Balance Changes – Many balance changes have been made to game areas such as Jewels, Hexes, and Eldritch Altars.

To learn more about the updates coming in Path of Exile: The Forbidden Sanctum, check out the full VOD of the Twitch livestream which aired today.