A new Path of Exile event is about to start, as developer Grinding Gear Games attempts to test the limits of just how much action RPG it’s possible to squeeze into your life. The new mini-league is designed to carry us over until the reveal of PoE 3.29 in mid-July, and it combines the squad-building strategy of Trial of the Ancestors with the weird and wonderful alternate class ancestries of Legacy of Phrecia. The result promises to be one of the most chaotic PoE events ever – if you can make space for it in your schedule.
While PoE 2 has finally begun to fulfill its true potential with the ongoing Rise of the Ancients league, there will always be those who have blasted through everything it has to offer, or would simply rather spend their time with the ARPG that already has over a decade of development to its name. The good news for them is that Grinding Gear Games isn’t letting off the gas. It’s dubbed this new Path of Exile event ‘Return of the Ancestors,’ in what I can only assume is a deliberate attempt to troll people that like to shorthand leagues down to their acronym form.
Return of the Ancestors is actually a smashing together of two separate systems. The first is the core league mechanic of Trial of the Ancestors from PoE 3.22, its most unique system to date. Back when I covered its launch in 2023, GGG’s Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers told me the mode was inspired by autobattlers and sports games, and it centers around hiring a team of Karui warriors to enter a combat tournament. Each match, you and your computer-controlled squad go up against a rival side, with the ultimate goal of defeating them all.
The other element in play here are the 19 Phrecian ascendancy classes, which replace the usual options for upgrading your character. If you’re unfamiliar with these, they come from the Legacy of Phrecia event in February 2025, and were pitched by GGG as a selection of their “whacky ideas that never quite made it off the brainstorm board.” They proved enticing enough to lift PoE 1 above its newer sibling just months after launch, and I’m glad to see that they haven’t been completely consigned back into storage.
With the return of the Trial of the Ancestors proper, its Tattoos are being put back as a specific reward for that mechanic, meaning they won’t be available through Kingsmarch shipping for the duration of the event. There are also some rather enticing new ones: GGG teases the ‘Forbidden Tattoo of the Ranger,’ which grants a random notable from a Ranger ascendancy. That isn’t class-restricted, essentially opening up the door to some bizarre cross-class combinations, and I imagine we’ll see variants for all of the other options as well.
Path of Exile: Return of the Ancestors launches on Thursday June 25 at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm BST (Friday June 26 at 12am CEST). It runs until Thursday July 16. You can browse the announcement blog for additional details.
Because this is a special event, you’ll need to make a fresh character for it. You won’t be able to use the Reliquarian ascendancy introduced with the ongoing Mirage league, because it doesn’t have a Phrecian counterpart, but you can finish off any of the current league challenges you have left to complete here. Manage to complete act ten of the campaign, and you’ll be granted a Return of the Ancients Mystery Box, guaranteeing a unique prize that’s available just once per account.
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