Inven Global

With the official release of Path of Exile 2, a new league arrives where players can recruit armies, build strongholds, and conquer territory from other factions. Its name is 'Conquerors of Wraeclast'. It features a blend of traditional combat-focused league content with troop management, base building, and factional competition.

Grinding Gear Games (GGG) revealed the detailed mechanics and endgame content for the new league during its keynote at ExileCon 2026 in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 7. At first, players lead a small mercenary warband into battle, but as they progress through the campaign, they expand their forces and eventually manage their own stronghold. Later on the Atlas, players can assign mapping duties to commanders or compete with other factions to capture strongholds.

'Conquerors of Wraeclast' begins with the rescue of captured mercenaries. After witnessing soldiers of a Count capturing and hauling away mercenaries who betrayed them, rescuing these mercenaries prompts Varek, leader of the mercenary band, to offer his cooperation to the player. From then on, Varek oversees mercenary recruitment and army management, guiding players through the league content.

Combat in the new league follows a different process from standard monster hunting. Before battle begins, players must position their available forces on the battlefield. Each unit type has specific roles and match-up advantages, and their effectiveness varies depending on where they are placed. For example, shield-bearing mercenaries resist arrow attacks, making them ideal for the front lines where ranged attacks are concentrated.

However, deploying troops doesn't mean the battle resolves automatically. Once combat begins, the camera zooms out to display the overall battlefield situation, and the player charges into the front line alongside their army. Players must directly attack enemies while receiving fire support from their troops, intervening in combat situations as needed. Game Director Jonathan Rogers emphasized that this mode is not meant for the army to fight all battles in place of the player.

Managing mercenaries also requires resources. Mercenaries are hired with gold, and conducting expeditions requires securing supplies for troop food and upkeep. Supplies are collected through supply crates found across campaign zones. Thus, managing resources to maintain troops and deploy them for upcoming battles is just as crucial as building up a large force.

The campaign features over 70 points of interest tied to the new league. Players can recruit new mercenaries or join standalone battles here, with 23 battles prepared for the campaign alone. Players can defend villages, assault enemy fortresses, and experience siege warfare by breaking down castle gates. As the league expands, combat escalates from small skirmishes into large-scale sieges.

Bosses appear in league encounters, and defeating them awards keys to a stronghold's treasury. While treasuries yield gold and loot, the more significant reward comes in the form of new crafting materials introduced in this league. A new crafting method is introduced that allows players to select specific modifiers on existing items to replace.

A prime example introduced is 'Crimson Iron'. Using this material lets players manually select which existing modifiers on an item they want to replace. If players possess multiple materials, they can select multiple modifiers. Taking the item to a 'Reforging Bench' then replaces the selected modifiers with new random ones.

However, there is a crucial difference from standard modifier rerolling. Modifiers granted through Reforging become fractured/fixed and cannot be changed again, and performing further Reforging on that gear is also restricted. In short, while it offers a chance to randomly reroll undesirable modifiers, reversing the outcome comes with strict limitations.

Consequently, Reforging is far from a system that can be repeated indefinitely until optimal modifiers appear. Players must carefully select which modifiers to keep and which to swap from existing gear, as the outcome of Reforging can define the gear's final progression. It can be used to swap out a single modifier on gear that already has several good ones, though it carries the risk of accepting a random result.

Higher-tier crafting methods that apply specific modifiers more directly will appear in the endgame. Using 'Infused Blood,' which is tied to the league's narrative, allows players to add specific new modifiers instead of random ones. Each type of blood features a distinct list of modifiers, providing benefits tailored to specific builds.

At the event, two modifier examples for the Shadow class were demonstrated. One generates a wave of darkness upon hitting with Chaos skills, while the other causes Strike skills used from Stealth to inflict Corrupted Blood on enemies. As shown, the new crafting system goes beyond merely raising item stats, serving to empower class-specific combat mechanics.

After developing the mercenary warband through the campaign and reaching the endgame, the scale of the league expands further. Players gain the ability to establish a base of operations for the forces that fought alongside them. Players build their own stronghold, expanding buildings and facilities to lay the operational foundation for their army.

Strongholds can be built by selecting from three faction architectural styles: Ezomyte, Maraketh, or Karui. Each offers over 20 building types and upgrade options. Developing the stronghold expands features required to procure and manage troops. Securing specific facilities and gold allows players to produce additional forces directly from their stronghold.

In this process, a new system distinct from direct combat is unlocked: Commanders. Players can assign troops to an independent commander and order them to complete Atlas maps on their behalf. In the live demonstration, 'High Magistrate Atella' was introduced as the first independent commander.

Operating a commander requires assigning a portion of the reserve troops held at the stronghold. Providing a Waystone for the designated map sends the commander and their troops to clear that map. Once the mission is complete, players can claim the loot, though the commander takes a portion of the earned gold as their fee. In exchange for providing troops and paying a share of the profit, players save time otherwise spent mapping manually.

Commander map runs do not finish instantly. Real time is required based on the map's distance and difficulty, with harder maps taking longer to complete. However, multiple maps can be queued up. Players can assign several maps to a commander and return later to collect all accumulated loot at once.

As the stronghold expands in the endgame, players can command up to three commanders simultaneously. This allows players to delegate separate maps to commanders while exploring the Atlas directly themselves. However, whether map clearing continues offline after fully closing the game was not explicitly clarified during the presentation.

This system offers a new alternative to Path of Exile 2's core loop of repetitive map clearing. While obtaining new loot previously required opening maps and killing monsters manually, the new league lets players use their recruited forces and resources to delegate map progression. Growing an army and stronghold directly enhances endgame farming efficiency.

One of the ultimate goals in 'Conquerors of Wraeclast' is conquering 100 strongholds located on the outskirts of the Atlas. GGG described this as a type of content never attempted in previous leagues. Moving beyond individual player map clearing, multiple factions compete for ownership of strongholds across a single shared Atlas.

Strongholds on the shared Atlas can be captured by a specific faction, granting benefits based on ownership. The player who claims a stronghold directly receives a substantial item rarity bonus, while other players belonging to the same faction receive a smaller item rarity bonus. Individual achievements directly impact the entire faction.

Captured strongholds also affect access to special farming zones. Dedicated maps called 'Hunting Grounds' exist around strongholds, accessible to any player in the faction holding that stronghold. These maps feature additional reward modifiers, offering more efficient farming opportunities than standard maps.

Additionally, captured strongholds can serve as new starting points for Atlas exploration. Rather than traveling long distances from the original base, players can explore surrounding areas using their faction's secured stronghold as a hub. Thus, capturing strongholds not only grants extra rewards, but also alters how players navigate and access different regions of the Atlas.

However, faction territory competition on the shared Atlas does not necessarily imply direct PvP combat between player characters. The current details state that factions capture strongholds and share benefits, while specific mechanics regarding ownership transfer and defending against enemy factions require further clarification.

The new league's narrative unfolds alongside the battle for strongholds. In the endgame, players uncover a plot by factions seeking to resurrect a vampire lord named Severa. The Maraketh attempt to revive Severa, who promised them immortality, by infusing blood into gems and transporting them to ancient strongholds. However, the Maraketh are not the only ones swayed by Severa; players must battle all three factions under her sway before launching a final assault on her stronghold.

Large-scale siege engines also make their appearance. Weapons with distinct characteristics were showcased, ranging from catapults to war elephants crewed by goblins and 20-headed chimeras that incinerate their surroundings. Thus, league combat expands from standard monster clearing into troop deployment, siege engine command, and climactic boss showdowns.

'Conquerors of Wraeclast' is designed so that recruiting and growing an army connects directly to character combat, item crafting, and Atlas progression. While players fight on the front lines to command troops in the campaign, the endgame opens strategic options such as managing strongholds and assigning maps to commanders. Combined with shared Atlas territorial warfare, it adds faction-wide objectives to Path of Exile's traditional individual-focused farming loop.