It’s finally that time again: A new league is about to start in Path of Exile next week and now we finally know what to expect.
In Path of Exile: Sentinel Once again, the focus is on an unusual mechanism with which you can accumulate tons of loot and riches. However, there has been massive criticism from fans for a controversial game balance decision.
This is in the new league PoE: Sentinel
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Path of Exile: Ancient constructs accompany you in the Sentinel League
The great feature of the new league are the eponymous Sentinels: These small drones can be looted from enemies like loot and come with a variety of possible modifiers and properties, just like normal equipment.
You equip them in a special slot and can then use them with their own hotkey to trigger special effects during battle:
- Red Drones will chase you for a minute and reinforce any enemies you spot.
- Blue drones empower any enemy currently on your screen.
- Yellow drones work like the red ones, but only buff rare enemies and bosses.
Each drone can only be used once per map or area if you are still busy playing through the file.
Also, each Sentinel only has a certain number of missions: Eventually things run out and can’t be recharged. However, you can combine two empty drones and get a hybrid with random properties of the two originals, whose battery is fully charged again.
The drones come in different levels of rarity.
As is typical for PoE, the whole system is extremely complexbecause you can customize the drones in numerous ways, such as a circuit system of sorts, in which you unlock permanent buffs for all Sentinels.
All other changes and new convenience features, such as support for controllers and the Steam Deck, can be found on the official website. The Sentinel League starts on Friday, May 13 at 9 p.m.
No changes to skills and talents
Chris Wilson caused a big surprise when he announced at the unveiling of the new league that it was the first time no balance changes to the existing skills and talents will give. Also, no new skills will be introduced – so the meta-game remains completely unchanged and exactly the same as in the current Siege of the Atlas league.
The chief developer justified this decision by saying that try something new
wool. Another advantage for the players is that you can already start planning your build.
Many fans on Reddit are disappointed with the announcement. For example, Reborn409 writes:
Zero buffs for idle skills is a huge disappointment, once again Ballista League, was it really that hard to give a staff member the task of buffing at least a few skills?
DelusionOrBan even plans to suspend the upcoming league due to the lack of changes:
I’m extremely bored with the meta and if there aren’t any changes I see no reason to come back. Total disappointment.
GuyInUniverse sees the problem in a completely different place:
I don’t think they fully understand that it’s not the changes themselves that everyone hates, it’s the consistent triple nerfs that result in completely irrelevant and dead builds. We don’t want no changes… we just don’t want changes that are just massive nerfs, especially nerfs to QoL and the feel of a build (have fun spamming mana bottles more).
How do you see the changes? Do you like the new league mechanics? And does the lack of balance adjustments bother you? Tell us in the comments!
