Path of Exile: Blight finally has some patch notes, and everyone wants to know what skills to pick, so here we are with a complete rundown of how all of the existing skills are changing in Blight. But that’s not all we’ve got for you.
It is highly recommended that you take a look at our rundown of the full patch notes as well. We will also be collecting build guides and league starter builds for Blight as well. Expect those to appear in the next couple of days. If you want the full patch notes, check them out over here. If you’re in the mood for a condensed rundown, we’ve got that too.
Also, be sure to check out our other Path of Exile 3.8 Guides:
- Blight Patch Notes Rundown
- Map and Atlas Guide
- What Maps to Shape in Blight
- Vendor Recipes Guide
- Loot Filter Guide
The base game is getting a lot of tweaks in Blight and the 3.8 patch, here’s a quick overview of some of the more generic changes:
- A bunch of Passive Tree changes aimed at buffing Mines, Traps, Minions and other targeted play styles.
- Added the following new clusters and notables: Disciple of the Forbidden, Golem Commander, Prodigal Perfection, Mystic Bulwark, Searing Heat, Cursed Concoction, Indomitable Army, Enduring Bond, Essence Extraction, Ravenous Horde, Successive Detonations, Dire Torment, Aqueous Accelerant, Fearsome Force, Arcane Capacitor, Blast Waves, Aligned Spirits, Efficient Explosives.
- Non-Ailment Chaos Damage over Time Multipler is now just Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier, and can affect ailments. This affects all items with this mod.
- Slayer, Ascendant, Berserker, Cheiftain, Guardian, Hierophant, Raider, Saboteur, Trickster, Assassin, Occultist, Necromancer and Elementalist all got reworks. In general terms, minion, golem and totem playstyles were buffed, as were traps and mines. Slayer got another nerf.
- Items across multiple classes have expanded mod pools, with a focus on Daggers, Staves and Wands.
- Rings, Belts and other accessories can now roll more Mana mods.
- Labyrinth Enchants added for Mana options
- Resonators can now stack
- Some Fossils, like Bound fossils, have been reworked to come into line with 3.8 skill changes.
- Flask levels, art work and effects have been tweaked for more clarity.
There’s some general balance changes you need to be aware of as well:
Main Attack Skill Reworks
Buffs:
- Dominating Blow – Increased Minion summon chance
- Explosive Trap – Increased DPS, Increased AoE
- Fire Trap – Increased DPS, Increased AoE
- Ice Shot – Increased DPS
- Ice Trap – Increased AoE
- Lightning Arrow – Increased DPS
- Raise Zombie – Grants your minions more Life, increased cooldown recovery speed, adds more zombies
- Riposte – More base damage, less added Physical damage
- Searing Bond – Modifiers to Spell Damage now also apply to this skill’s damage over time.
- Smite – Increased AoE
- Smoke Mine – Reduced Duration, Increased cooldown recovery speed, Increased AoE
- Split Arrow – Increased DPS, more projectiles
- Stone Golem – Reduced cooldown, Increased DPS
- Summon Raging Spirit – Summoned minions will now target the enemy you had targeted at the point they were summoned as a priority.
- Summon Skeletons – Now summons 2 Skeleton Warriors per cast, adds more as gem levels
- Vengeance – More base damage, less added Physical damage
- Viper Strike – Increased DPS
Nerfs:
- Bodyswap – Reduced AoE, Increased Mana cost, Slower cast time, Reduced DPS
- Contagion – No longer gains additional radius as the gem levels
- Cyclone – Reduced DPS, now has a base range of 11, rather than a range based on your weapon type, No longer gains additional radius based on Melee Range
- Reckoning – More base damage, less added Physical damage
- Raise Spectre – No longer modifies the Life, Energy Shield or Damage of the minion. Does increase accuracy
- Righteous Fire – Now deals 35.8 base Fire Damage per second, Reduced base Burning Damage
- Scorching Ray – Reduced DPS
- Vaal Cyclone – Increased AoE, Reduced DPS
- Vaal Immortal Call – Now prevents Soul Gain while active, and cannot have its expiry rate modified
Big Changes:
- Chaos Golem – More Damage Conversion, Increased AoE
- Scourge Arrow- Wording for Piercing changed
- Spectral Shield Throw – Projectiles created from the Shield’s explosion now carry with them the projectile properties of the original Shield projectile’s behaviour at the point of explosion. This is important for things such as Gloomfang or Point Blank, which care about chain count or the distance the projectile has traveled.
Support Skill Reworks
Buffs:
- Advanced Traps Support – Increased Cooldown Recovery Speed
- Ancestral Call Support – Increased DPS
- Bone Offering – Increased Duration
- Charged Traps Support – Increased DPS from crits, Increased Trap Throwing Speed
- Clarity – Increased Mana Regen
- Convocation – Reduced Cooldown, Now recovers a percentage of minion maximum life
- Desecrate – Faster cast time, No cooldown, Reduced Duration
- Flame Dash – Increased DPS
- Flesh Offering – Increased Duration
- Fortify Support – Supported skills now deal more damage with all Ailments caused by melee hits
- Herald of Purity – Summoned Sentinels can now use Crusade Slam regardless of Ascendancy. Previously, this required a specific Guardian notable.
- Minefield Support – More mines
- Minion Life Support – Reduced Mana Multiplier
- Minion Speed Support – better buffs, reduced mana multiplier
- Poison Support – Increased DPS
- Pulverise Support – Supported skills now have 25% increased AoE (rather than the multiplicative “more” Area of Effect) at gem level 1, up to 34% increased Area of Effect at gem level 20, Increased Area damage
- Spirit Offering – More Life as extra Energy Shield, Increased Duration
- Trap Support – Better Trap Throw speed scaling, Supported skills now deal increased Trap Damage
- Unbound Ailments Support – Increased Duration, Reduced AoE, Increased DPS for ailments
- Vicious Projectiles Support – Increased DPS
Nerfs:
- Cluster Traps Support – Added Int requirement
- Flesh and Stone – No longer reduces all Damage from non-Blind enemies, and instead reduces Damage from Attacks from non-Blind enemies.
- Mana Leech Support – Now only causes supported Attacks to leech mana.
- Multistrike Support – Reduced DPS
- Lightning Golem – Changed DPS, overall decreased
Big Changes:
- Minion and Totem Elemental Resistance Support (now called Elemental Army Support) – Added multiplier, No longer supports Totems, added debuff on hit
- Reduced Mana Support (now called Inspiration Support) – Now gain an Inspiration Charge when you spend mana for supported skills (maximum of 5 charges). Inspiration charges increase DPS
- Remote Mine Support (now called Blastchain Mine Support) – Reduced DPS on base skill, Mines deal more damage
