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September is here, and Path of Exile 1 ExileCon qualifiers, eagerly awaited by countless Exiles, are finally about to begin! This race is not only the only path to New Zealand ExileCon finals, but also the perfect stage to test your competitive skills.

The development team has released the complete schedule, rules, and rewards. Whether you're a player planning to compete in the qualifiers or a viewer cheering on your team in front of the livestream, this guide will help you grab all the key information.

Schedule

This PoE 1 ExileCon qualifier will consist of four separate events, scheduled for the same time slot on four consecutive Fridays.

The specific times are as follows:

• Qualifier One - September 4, 2 PM PDT
• Qualifier Two - September 11, 2 PM PDT
• Qualifier Three - September 18, 2 PM PDT
• Qualifier Four - September 25, 2 PM PDT

Please make sure to convert the time zone according to your location and log in to your game account in advance, as the event page will display the corresponding local clock based on the time zone set in your account, so that you can confirm the start time of the event.

Additionally, all participants are advised to enter PoE character selection screen and click the Join button in advance. Once in the game, your character will remain stationary until the countdown reaches zero, at which point the match officially begins.

Preparing in advance can help you avoid network congestion or operational errors closer to the start time, ensuring you don't lose at the starting line.

How to participate?

Participating in PoE 1 ExileCon qualifiers is completely free, so any player with a PoE account can join. However, there's a strict prerequisite: you must link your game account to your Twitch account and stream the entire qualifier through that linked Twitch channel.

This is to ensure that the event supervisors can view your game footage in real time, and it is also a necessary condition for everyone to be eligible to win.

Linking your account is very simple: after logging into your account on the official website, simply click the corresponding link on the account linking page.

Once you successfully join a qualifier, the system will prompt you to create a character. All players use the same fixed-seed environment, meaning the map layout and monster distribution are completely identical for everyone.

However, PoE currency and equipment drops retain their randomness; the competition is purely about route planning, skill level, and on-the-spot decision-making.

Players should note that this ExileCon qualifier is only open to PC players; console access is not yet available.

Race Rules

The goal for players in each qualifier is highly specific: to be the first to defeat Kitava, the final boss of Act 5, in Standard Solo Self-Found mode.

While this qualifier is not a Hardcore event and character death is not permanent, the development team has introduced a special penalty mechanism - after each death, your character will be forcibly locked in place, unable to move for one minute.

This one minute is enough for the leader to create a decisive gap, so survival strategy is often more important than recklessness.

After the race, the system will rank players based on their time to defeat Kitava, and only the first-place player in each qualifier will directly advance to the final.

It's important to note that if you win a qualifier, you will be disqualified from participating in subsequent qualifiers to provide more opportunities for other players.

Furthermore, all participants must abide by the game and Twitch's terms of service. Any behavior that violates the spirit of competition (such as maliciously interfering with others, exploiting bugs, etc.) may result in disqualification!

Champion Rewards

The champion of each qualifying round will receive an incredibly generous prize package, including airfare to Auckland, New Zealand, local accommodation during ExileCon weekend, an Ultra VIP ExileCon ticket, and direct entry to ExileCon Path of Exile 1 Grand Final.

In addition, the champion can choose one of four collectible Body Armor designs:

• Thunderstruck Body Armor
• Engineer's Body Armor
• Crystallized Body Armor
• Demonic Stygian Armor

If a winner cannot travel to New Zealand, their airfare, accommodation, and Grand Final spot will be awarded to the runner-up in all qualifying rounds (regardless of the number of rounds), and the winner will retain their chosen Body Armor reward.

The development team has also specifically noted that current or former employees of the company are not eligible to receive rewards to ensure fairness.

How to watch the competition?

For players who don't plan to participate or fail to qualify, the official team will stream every qualifier live on their Twitch channel. They also welcome any streamers to co-stream; you can share your race perspective on your own channel and experience the tension of Path of Exile with your fans.

Additionally, new Twitch drop rewards will be available during each stream, allowing you to not only learn from top players' strategies but also have a chance to win in-game rewards - a win-win situation.

Finally, please remember to double-check your account's linked status and ensure your streaming software and network connection are stable.

Once the matches begin, your UI must be clearly visible without any obstructions, and your Twitch replays must be set to public for post-match review.

All qualifier results will be announced as soon as possible after each match. We wish every participating Exile the best of luck on the battlefield - win or lose, having the courage to challenge Kitava is admirable!

In PoE 3.29, for Strength Stacking Heavy Strike of Trarthus build to continue pushing it to the high end, a high-quality Lathi is often one of the most expensive pieces of gear. Especially when multiple Influenced Mods are involved, crafting costs and the risk of failure increase rapidly.

This method primarily utilizes Recombinator and Brinehook's Ducat to combine high-value modifiers, with a single finished piece costing approximately 150 Divine Orbs.

While the investment is significant, this phased modifier processing approach is more suitable for high-end crafting compared to relying entirely on a one-time high-risk operation.

Crafting Goal

This Lathi, with 3 prefixes and 2 suffixes, has three core prefixes to keep in mind during crafting:

• 20% more Attack Damage for socketed skills
• Level 10 Endurance Charge on Melee Stun support for socketed gems
• 1% increased Spell Damage for every 10 Strength

The suffixes should retain Attack Speed ​​provided by Essences of Zeal and +1 to Maximum Endurance Charges.

Essence Attack Speed ​​is prioritized here, mainly because its value is higher than the normal T1 Attack Speed. Once all five target modifiers are in place, use the last empty suffix, Benchcraft Strength + Intelligence, and Critical Strike Chance, and Lathi is essentially complete.

Step 1: Preparing 0P2S Suffix Base Material

In this PoE Curse of the Allflame craft, first prepare an Elder/Shaper double-influenced Lathi with an ilvl of 84+. You can prepare the double-influenced base yourself, but you can usually find Lathi with obsolete modifiers but a viable base material on the trading market; finding one on the trade market at a reasonable price is usually more convenient.

Next, repeatedly use Essences of Zeal until you simultaneously obtain Essence Attack Speed ​​and +1 Maximum Endurance Charge. If a third suffix appears try to remove it using Annul.

After confirming the two target suffixes, use Craft Suffixes Cannot Be Changed, then use 3.29 Orb of Scouring to clear the prefixes. Finally, you will obtain 0P2S Lathi needed for subsequent recombination.

Step 2: Preparing the Three Target Prefixes

This stage will consume a significant amount of time and Path of Exile Orb of Alteration.

First, prepare multiple ilvl 84+ Shaper Influenced Lathi and use Alteration Spam to roll for: Socketed Skills deal 20% more Attack Damage. It's best not to equip other Influenced Mods simultaneously, as this will result in cleaner processing later.

Next, prepare Elder Influenced Staff. Note that this requires Staff, not Warstaff. Roll for the other two target modifiers: 1% increased Spell Damage per 10 Strength and Supported by Level 10 Endurance Charge on Melee Stun.

Step 3: Craft a 2P0S Lathi

At this step, PoE currency consumption will begin to increase significantly.

A common practice is to prepare Black Mórrigan and Craicic Croaker, and use Beastcraft to add Hinekora's Lock to Lathi with 20% More Attack Damage. Simultaneously prepare donor staff withspell damage per 10 strength and Endurance Charge on Melee Stun, then use PoE Curse of the Allflame Orb of Alteration to attempt to combine the target modifiers onto Lathi.

Ideally, both Influenced Prefixes should be successfully retained, while at least one empty Prefix and one empty Suffix should remain. This allows for the later use of Craft Prefixes Cannot Be Changed, followed by Orb of Scouring to remove the suffixes and obtain the desired 2P0S Lathi.

Step 4: First Brinehook's Ducat Recombination

The core stage of PoE Curse of the Allflame Recombinator Craft truly begins. The previously prepared 2P0S Lathi and 0P2S Lathi can now be used for recombination.

First, add Brinehook's Ducat to both pieces of gear using Allflame Craft, then use Recombinator. The first recombination has approximately a 33% chance of retaining two Prefixes and approximately a 90% chance of retaining two Suffixes.

Ideally, more prefixes should be retained, but a 1P2S result is more common. This result is still valid, as the two key suffixes have been successfully retained on the target Lathi; the next step is to add more prefixes.

Step 5: Moving from 1P2S to 2P2S

If the first recombination resulted in 1P2S, the next step is to prepare a new 2P0S Lathi, adding as many missing prefixes as possible.

After adding Brinehook's Ducat to both sides, recombinator again. This round has approximately a 60% probability of retaining two prefixes; if the three prefixes involved in the recombination are all different, there is approximately a 10% probability of directly achieving three prefixes. Meanwhile, the two suffixes still have approximately a 90% retention rate.

The ideal intermediate result in this step is a 2P2S Lathi.

Step 6: Final Push to 3P2S

At 2P2S, only one prefix is ​​needed to complete the final product.

First, identify which target prefix is ​​missing from the current Lathi. Then, prepare a new 2P0S Lathi containing that prefix. If possible, choose another prefix that also contributes to the final combination.

Add Brinehook's Ducat to both sides and then use Recombinator. This round has approximately a 30% chance of achieving 3 prefixes and a 90% chance of retaining 2 suffixes.

If unsuccessful, continue preparing new 2P0S Lathi for recombination until you finally obtain a 3P2S Lathi.

Step 7: Benchcraft Finishing Touches

With the three target prefixes and two target suffixes in place, only Benchcraft finishing touch remains.

Leave the last suffix slot empty and craft the hybrid Strength + Intelligence and Critical Strike Chance modifier on the final empty suffix. This completes Strength Stacking Lathi build.

This crafting build consumes a significant amount of Divine Orbs, Orbs of Alteration, and other currencies, and the actual result is affected by Recombinator RNG. However, once you master 0P2S - 1P2S - 2P2S - 3P2S progression, handling similar multi-mod gear becomes much easier.

In PoE 3.29, the value of Brinehook's Ducat extends beyond this Lathi. Whether it's a Strength Stacking Wand or other projects that require retaining multiple prefixes and suffixes simultaneously, a similar approach of splitting and recombining can be applied.

Players, Luminary's potential in Path of Exile 3.29 is growing exponentially, and we can now use it to take down even Uber bosses in just two rounds. Even without Mirror-level gear, we can unleash burst damage exceeding 100 million per second in Tier 17 fortresses, while maintaining immunity and survivability.

Next, we'll break down this build centered on Facebreaker and Rallying Cry to see how Luminary maximizes damage!

Core Concept

This build operates on the synergy between Mercenary and Facebreaker.

First, when Mercenary uses Rallying Cry, it provides you with additional physical damage proportional to the base damage of its main-hand weapon.

When facing unique enemies, each enemy counts as 20 power. With Roaring Challenge, this power can be increased to 25, at which point the transferred power reaches 20% of Mercenary's weapon damage.

If your Mercenary wields an axe with high base damage, this value will easily reach over 500 points. Subsequently, your Facebreaker provides an amplification effect of 800% ~1000% increase in unarmed physical damage. Combined with Runegraft of the Bound to further enhance the glove's bonus, the total amplification factor is approximately 12 times.

Through this series of transfers and amplifications, each unarmed attack gains approximately 5000~6000 additional physical damage - equivalent to having an extra high-damage weapon. This is the fundamental reason this build can achieve such massive burst damage in PoE 3.29.

Key Equipment

Mercenary Equipment

Your Mercenary's weapon is paramount in our Facebreaker Luminary build.

You must equip your Mercenary with an axe with the highest possible base damage, as Rallying Cry bonus comes directly from this value.

Other recommended equipment for Mercenary: Kaom's Binding converts some enemy physical damage into fire damage, indirectly providing physical damage reduction; Howlcrack helmet can be used as a temporary option, but it's not recommended later - it will cause Mercenary to self-inflict death.

Later in the game, your better choice will be a rare helmet with greater Cooldown Recovery affix, combined with Timeless Jewels or passives to allow Mercenary to maintain Rallying Cry almost permanently.

Luminary Equipment

Gloves

For gloves, Facebreaker is the essential equipment for this build; without it, there's no amplification of unarmed damage.

If you have extra PoE currency resources to corrupt this glove, the ideal affixes would be to further increase unarmed damage multipliers or attack speed, or other offensive attributes.

Helmet

We can use Giantslayer Helmet base with the core affix Infamous, stacking Rallying Cry's Cooldown Recovery through Tattoos on Passive Skill Tree, up to 15 stacks, granting a 15% base critical strike chance - completely freeing up critical strike chance affixes on other equipment.

Shield

Svalinn provides Luminary with high block and defense, making it highly recommended.

If the budget is limited, other better rare shields can be used; the goal is to maximize 75% attack block and 50% spell block.

Chest Armor

For the chest armor, we can choose Seven Teachings for maximum damage, or use Belly of the Beast for a balance of health.

Amulet

For Luminary, prioritize Amulets with Life, Resistance, and global critical strike damage, and strongly recommend Talisman base, which converts 100% cold and lightning damage to fire damage.

This way, you only need to maximize your fire resistance; maintaining cold and lightning resistance around 30% is sufficient for most scenarios in Path of Exile.

Rings

You can choose a Vermillion Ring as your base. One ring should have Vulnerability on Hit suffix rolled, while the other should supplement your life, resistances, and hit chance.

Boots

When choosing boots, prioritize bases with an Abyssal Socket - this socket can embed Abyss jewels, providing additional attack or defense stats, a nice bonus.

Belt

Of course, the high-end version is Mageblood, which will still be very useful in this Facebreaker Luminary set, but if PoE currency is insufficient, you can consider using Ryslatha's Coil.

Passive Skill Tree

In Passive Skill Tree build, we primarily focus on three core jewels:

• Unnatural Instinct: A jewel socket placed above Witch automatically activating surrounding unselected points.
• The Light of Meaning: Placed in the same area, it additionally boosts the stats of surrounding points.
• Might of the Meek: Placed in the center, it amplifies the effects of all the aforementioned points.

These three combined provide Facebreaker Luminary with a significant increase in physical damage and survivability. Lacking any of them will drastically reduce its damage in Path of Exile by nearly half.

Additionally, Elegant Hubris is a valuable item that can transfer notable passives. In this build, we convert it into Supreme Ostentation - removing all equipment and passives' stat requirements (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence).

This allows you to use tattoos on various points in Passive Skill Tree to stack Rallying Cry Cooldown Recovery, ensuring a smooth Rallying Cry cycle and maintaining critical strike stacks.

Furthermore, within the jewel's area of ​​effect, you can also utilize another jewel, Impossible Escape, for additional benefits.

Placing Impossible Escape near Avatar of Fire will activate two powerful notable passives within its area of ​​effect without having to spend points walking along the path.

Skill Usage

For Facebreaker Luminary, the recommended primary offensive skill is Earthshatter. This creates spikes under the enemy's feet with each attack, which can then be detonated with any Warcry, dealing secondary damage.

In PoE 3.29, when clearing maps, the spikes generated by a single Earthshatter, combined with a manually cast Warcry, can be detonated to quickly clear most monsters.

Even when facing bosses, your playstyle is relatively consistent: perform one or two Earthshatter attacks, detonate the spikes immediately after they spawn with a Warcry, and then repeat this cycle.

It's important to note that Rallying Cry buff must be maintained throughout the entire duration - with Mercenary gear and Passives, this buff's duration can be extended to over three seconds, and given its short cooldown, it's almost never interrupted in actual combat.

If you're not used to Earthshatter playstyle, you can switch to Cyclone, but you'll need to address the critical strike chance issue through other means.

A lower-spec version of this Facebreaker Luminary build can be started with around 10 to 20 Divine Orbs, requiring only a high-damage Mercenary axe and a pair of Facebreaker.

Overall, because of the relatively wide range of gear options and clear progression, Facebreaker Luminary build is worth trying out in Path of Exile 3.29.