Path of Exile is Getting A Ruthless Mode
Is the standard version of PoE not doing enough for you? Ruthless mode is officially coming to the ARPG, making farming PoE currency and items tougher.
This is for the PoE players who don’t think the game is challenging enough.
It finally happened. Path of Exile’s developer, Grinding Gear Games, has officially confirmed the existence of the rumored hard mode version of the ARPG titled “Ruthless.” This new option will essentially turn every step of your playthrough in Path of Exile feel like an endgame, complete with item scarcity, constraints, and high difficulty. We’ve seen the free-to-play online ARPG offer several endgame-worthy expansions to its audience over the years. While they’ve delivered more than enough updates, it was only a matter of time before the overpowered meta builds dominated new content. Fans have already expressed excitement over Ruthless mode, saying they’re looking forward to the challenge it brings and hoping it’ll free PoE of some of the tedium when farming PoE currency.
Ruthless Mode As Described By Grinding Gear Games
According to the official announcement of Grinding Gear Games, the core experience of Ruthless mode is intended to be more than just difficult. Items will be scarce to the point that anything that drops considerably improves your build that costs like a penny or two at the PoE market. The items you currently think of as junk or weak will feel valuable in Ruthless mode. It’s not intended to replace the Path of Exile experience entirely, but it’s simply an offer for players that want a challenging point that will put themselves to the test.
The GGG described the mode as full of tension, anticipation, and friction. While brutally difficult, the process of overcoming that difficulty will feel highly rewarding. Every drop item that you encounter has the potential to be the breakthrough you need in Ruthless, as your items will (more or less) be below par as you trudge on.
Ruthless mode belongs in the same wavelength as Solo and Hardcore Self-Found. The mode causes massively reduced item drop quantity and removes many items like amulets, rings, belts, and gems from NPC vendors. This means that you have to find these items “naturally.” Plus, with the decline in crafting currency that drops drastically, the mode essentially removes some of the most powerful crafting options in the hack-and-slash title.
Small But Terrible
If you thought that Ruthless mode could turn Path of Exile into a Souls-like ARPG, you could be on to something here. On top of the features we’ve discussed, Grinding Gear Games will introduce some minor but notable tweaks to allow skilled veterans to differentiate themselves from everybody else. For starters, there will be a stacking character experience penalty as you level up, making it increasingly tough to power up your character as you go on. GGG will also remove almost all the movement skills, the feature of flasks automatically refiling once you enter a town, and free-for-all loot drops. Oh, and did we mention that if you decide to make a hardcore character, you’ll experience true permadeath instead of being transferred to a standard character once you die? The features certainly are minute compared to the previous ones we’ve discussed, but boy, will they test your skills and mettle.
When Will Ruthless Mode Be Released?
GGG will release Ruthless mode alongside December’s 3.20 expansion. It’s currently undergoing a small-scale alpha test, but the developers have stated that they’re not afraid to make mid-League adjustments should the need arises. If you’re one of the many players excited about its release, you’ll have to stick with the Lake of Kalandra content, as more information and related content for Ruthless will be revealed.
Ruthless Mode Could Make Standard PoE More Fun
Fans of Path of Exile can’t contain their giddiness over the mode where every new drop can be that upgrade you desperately need. Most of the community doesn’t seem to mind having such a mode—the more options, the better. Many have even expressed their hope that the new mode would allow GGG to let their standard mode be more “fun.”
Players have been asking the developers to stop leaning into Diablo 2 once they release Ruthless mode and to let them have fun in the vanilla game by bringing back deterministic crafting. The majority seem to agree with this sentiment; Path of Exile has been chasing a nostalgia that never existed ever since they started trying to look more like Diablo 2. But you can argue that even Diablo 2 is more generous with its upgrades than PoE. Should Grinding Gear Games use Ruthless to pile up the RNG, players are eager to see whether systems like Synthesis and Ultimatum make a return. It would certainly make the game more approachable to wider audiences.
Not For Everyone
It goes without saying, but Ruthless mode is not for everyone, nor does its creation will indicate where the base game is headed. But if everything we’ve talked about looks like a good time to you, you can sign up for the alpha test to help Grinding Gear Games find the sweet spot for the brutal mode. Just don’t expect to find tons of Exalted orbs when doing so.
