Following the positive reception for the story expansion for Breach in PoE1, GGG has now decided to update the League mechanic in Path of Exile 2. With the Rise of the Ancient update, the devs are expanding Breach by adding new Breach quest ‘Waking the Dreamer’, new encounters, and the Genesis Tree.
In your first endgame Breach encounter, you’ll come across Ailith, an NPC from the Monastery of the Keeper. She’ll invite you to join her group fighting against the Hiverborn alongside the Dreamer (Chayula). It’s also the same place where Monk trained during PoE1.
The new Breach adds new gameplay mechanics, updates the existing ones, and adds new elements like Hiveblood and Genesis tree crafting. Here’s everything you need to know about the new Breach in Path of Exile 2.
New and updated Breach Mechanics in Path of Exile 2
Before the update, the Breach was simply an expanding ring where you needed to defeat as many monsters as possible before it collapsed. However, now you’ll be able to see how much time you’ve left through a purple progression bar at the bottom.
You’ll also notice that there are two color variants in the bar. One is dark purple, which slowly fills the bar and collapses the Breach once it crosses a threshold. The other one is light purple and progresses as you defeat enemies, extending the duration of the Breach. If you manage to fill the secondary bar (by defeating enemies), the Breach will stabilize, spawning stronger enemies.
To close the Breach, you will need to defeat the new enemies, or else you won’t get the rewards. After completing the encounter, you’ll gain rewards as usual, but a new resource called Hiveblood. On rare occasions, you may encounter a boss named Vruun, Marshal of Xesht, who’ll drop Wombgifts that you can consume at the Genesis tree using Hiveblood to craft gear or currency.
Breach Hive and Fortress
After collecting enough Breach Splinters, you can get a Breachstone, which has a new use. A Breachstone can now reveal an Atlas region infested with Hive. This is where you’ll find two new Breach mechanics: Hive and Fortress. The Hives are walled regions around a breach where the enemies are preparing to invade.
You need to break through the walls to reach the inner area where you can summon Ailith. While she destroys the Hive, you need to defend her from multiple enemy waves. The more walls you destroy, the more enemies will spawn.
After destroying Hives, you can enter a Fortress, a large-scale Hive with a similar objective, but it has a lot more enemy waves that progressively get difficult. The Fortress then leads to the new final boss, the Breachlords, Tul and Esh, and speaking from experience, the fight won’t be easy. That said, the new encounters are the best way to get Wombgifts in Path of Exile 2. After completing the quest, repeating the encounter will also grant you access to the Xesht pinnacle boss fight.
Path of Exile 2 adds Genesis Tree crafting
If you’ve played the Keepers League in PoE1, then you already know about the Genesis Tree. It’s a crafting system that uses Wombgifts and Hiveblood to create gear or currency items. There are different types of Wombgifts that you can get by completing Breach encounters.
Note that the Genesis Tree crafting isn’t your traditional crafting in Path of Exile 2. Within the Tree, you’ll find multiple slots connected to a large web of passive nodes and 15 points to invest across each of them. Using them, you can customize what type of gear you want, then put the Wombgift in the related slot and let the Genesis Tree birth an item by consuming Hiveblood.
The only customization you can make is through the passive nodes on the Genesis Tree, which you can respec at any moment without spending resources. Although not a guarantee, the Tree is highly customizable, allowing you to weight the base type, attributes, resistances, minimum mod level, and a lot more to create items that you want. Besides the basic items, the Genesist Tree can also craft Catalysts or new Belt, Amulet, and Ring base types. Here are the different types of Wombgifts:
- Banded Wombgift: Can grow into a Belt on the Genesis Tree.
- Ornate Wombgift: Can grow into an Amulet on the Genesis Tree.
- Signet Wombgift: Can grow into a Ring on the Genesis Tree.
- Lavish Wombgift: Can grow into a Currency Item on the Genesis Tree.
- Revelatory Wombgift: Can grow into a Breachstone on the Genesis Tree. Combine 300 Breach Splinters to craft this Wombgift.
If you’re a new player struggling to make a large amount of currency, the Genesis Tree is one of the best ways to get powerful endgame gear. The items won’t be as powerful as some of the target crafts, but they’ll be enough for you to take down pinnacle bosses.
Check out other related guides and features:
Edited by Mayank Singh Rathour
