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The patch note for Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 has finally been released, and Forbidden Rites event league will also go live at 1:00 PM PDT on September 4.

As officially announced earlier, this update does not include any class balance changes. Although there are some minor adjustments, such as buffs and nerfs to Soul Cores that had already been hinted at, there are no major overhauls targeting the classes themselves.

However, this update still contains some interesting changes that could completely reshape your farming strategies in the upcoming new league. Here are some of the key details that were not mentioned during the official livestream.

Ritual Mechanic Improvements

Ritual is clearly one of the main focuses of Forbidden Rites event league. In addition to Forbidden Rites mechanic itself, Ritual has also received several changes.

In Patch 0.5.5, you can use more than one Ritual Tablet. Each additional tablet will add as many Ritual Altars to the map as possible and provide the amount of Wisps collected in Viridian Wildwood.

Viridian Wildwood is a brand-new mechanic in Forbidden Rites event league that allows players to heavily enhance their maps with additional modifiers and rewards.

This could mean that Ritual Tablets may become a regular part of future Farming strategies for this enhancement effect. Players may not need to use all of them, but keeping at least one could be worthwhile for increasing Wisp gains.

Exactly how much this will improve map rewards, and what the eventual meta will look like, still needs to be determined. Nevertheless, this is undoubtedly an interesting change.

Ritual Atlas Passive Tree also gains a new Notable called Royal Lenience. Normally, Tribute already offered to King is consumed. This passive allows that previously offered Tribute to be used again to defer items, but doing so increases Tribute cost by 500%. Overall, this is a fairly significant improvement.

Trial of Chaos Improvements

Trial of Chaos is also part of Patch 0.5.5. The official preview only briefly mentioned the QoL improvements, while the patch notes provide much more detail about the changes.

The developers have not completely removed encounters such as escort missions and Soul Core implantation. Instead, Escort the Statue, Sacrifice Monsters, and Implant Soul Cores encounters will now appear less frequently than Slay All Monsters and Survive encounters. This may not fully meet player expectations, but it is still good news.

Another positive change is that Survive encounters have been improved. Once an entire wave of monsters has been defeated, the next wave will spawn more quickly. At the same time, killing Rare Monsters will reduce the timer required to complete the encounter.

Soul Core Rework

This update makes extensive adjustments to Soul Cores. In addition to adding a new batch of Soul Cores with currently unknown effects, existing Soul Cores have also been rebalanced, and some of the changes are particularly noteworthy.

When Atmohua's Soul Core of Retreat is socketed into a Focus, it grants 30% increased Energy Shield from Body Armour.

Unless you are playing a Mana Stacker build, this Core is likely to be one of the best choices in most situations, because having more Energy Shield means greater survivability.

Jiquani's Thesis Soul Core is a straightforward nerf for some Mana and Energy Shield builds. It previously granted "+1 Maximum Mana per 2 Energy Shield on Equipped Helmet" when socketed into a Helmet, but it now grants "+1 Maximum Mana per 3 Armour on Equipped Helmet."

This means you can no longer use it on an Energy Shield-based Helmet to gain Mana, which is a major blow to Mana Stacker builds that relied on this Core.

When Soul Core of Ticaba is socketed into Body Armour or a Shield, it grants 50% reduced Critical Damage Taken, providing a significant boost to survivability and potentially making it a popular choice.

Boss Elemental Resistances Adjustments

The following bosses have had their resistance mechanics adjusted. Their all-resistance bonuses have been removed, while some individual resistances remain and corresponding vulnerabilities have been added.

• Raven Trickster
• Omniphobia, Fear Manifest
• Arbiter of Ash
• Arbiter of Divinity

Before Patch 0.5.5, defeating these bosses generally required Rakiata's Flow to invert their resistances, and obtaining a suitable setup could require dozens or even hundreds of Divine Orbs.

This change reduces the difficulty of these bosses and allows more builds to defeat them with greater ease. However, if you are using Rakiata's Flow, these bosses could actually become more difficult.

Not every player may welcome this change, since many players want Path of Exile 2 to offer more challenging content. Hopefully, even more difficult endgame bosses will be introduced after the 1.0 release.

Farming Strategy Nerfs

This is probably the information many players are most interested in. Patch 0.5.5 nerfs several high-yield Farming strategies.

Delirium

Grand Mirror maps can now spread to a maximum of 10 areas, which is a fairly frustrating nerf. Previously, lower-tier maps could spread to 8 to 14 areas, while higher-tier maps could spread to 10 to 16 areas.

Wisp Strongbox Strategy

The basic idea behind this strategy is to gather large amounts of Wisps and store them inside Strongboxes. Once opened, Wisps are released and possess monsters, allowing the strategy to generate huge amounts of PoE 2 currency through chained rewards. The developers have now placed significant restrictions on this strategy.

When a monster is possessed by multiple Wisps, the chance for all of the Wisps to be released is significantly reduced. Previously, releasing all of them was almost guaranteed, but the more Wisps are stacked together, the lower the chance that they will all be released at once.

Deadliest Hunt previously had an effect that gave possessed non-Legendary monsters a chance to transfer their Wisps to Rogue Exiles when killed, allowing Wisps to multiply. This effect has now been removed and replaced with a 15% chance for Rogue Exiles to be equipped with Legendary items.

Pandora's Box previously caused all Wisps to be released when a possessed Strongbox was opened. It has now been changed so that possessed Strongboxes have 50% increased Item Rarity.

This means Wisps can no longer be transferred and chained through Strongboxes. You can no longer handle 4 to 6 Strongboxes in a single map in the same way as before.

For a patch that is not tied to a regular league, Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 still offers a fairly substantial amount of content. Even though some mechanics have been nerfed, other mechanics can still provide generous rewards, making the update well worth trying.

Although Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 is not a standalone league, it introduces new mechanics and a host of changes, including an economic reset.

This means that when Forbidden Rites Event League officially launches tomorrow, September 4th, you will need to create a brand-new 0.5.5 character and build them up from scratch.

If you plan to focus on PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5 for the foreseeable future rather than the standard Runes of Aldur league, mastering currency farming strategies specific to 0.5.5 is essential. We'll walk you through the key tips.

Mastering and utilizing new league mechanics

Forbidden Rites mini-league is based on Path of Exile 2 campaign; it adds lucrative new Rituals to every campaign zone and introduces Wildwood mechanic to the endgame.

These features not only add fun to the new league but also serve as your primary source for earning your initial currency in Patch 0.5.5.

According to released information, you will find two guaranteed Ritual altars in each campaign Act during Forbidden Rites, with at least one guaranteed to appear in Interlude.

Rituals are a common endgame event in standard PoE 2 leagues. You activate the altar by killing monsters within a rune-inscribed circle, then clear the resurrected monster waves to claim your loot.

While standard Rituals usually offer Unique-quality gear, the campaign-stage Rituals in Forbidden Rites focus primarily on Rare items to prevent power creep. However, Rituals in a few specific zones will still offer Unique items as usual.

Additionally, if you kill Unique enemies during a Forbidden Rites Ritual, they carry over to the next zone. As these accumulate toward the end of the battle sequence, you unlock tougher boss fights, but the rewards are significantly greater.

Loot from standard Rituals focuses on powerful gear rather than currency. However, the new Rituals in Forbidden Rites prioritize foundational rewards, making them an excellent source for building up your initial PoE2 currency.

In addition to currency, Forbidden Rites introduces new exclusive cosmetic rewards based on the aforementioned mechanics; some are for character customization, while others are designed for your hideout. These are definitely not to be missed!

All-new Wildwood encounters

These encounters are part of Forbidden Rites league mechanics. Beyond the Rituals found in the campaign, you will still encounter standard Rituals in the endgame during PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5; however, clearing them now yields a limited-edition currency item called Sacred Bloom.

Using this item on any map in your Atlas adds a sub-area known as Viridian Wildwood. It is a dark, fog-shrouded forest where visibility decreases as you move deeper inside.

Your objective is to collect various Azmeri Wisps within this area before being teleported back to the main map.

These wisps then empower the enemies in the main map, increasing both their difficulty and the quantity or quality of rewards, including, of course, more currency.

Note, however, that during Patch 0.5.5, standalone Viridian Wildwood maps are disabled; if you encounter one while mapping, it will be regenerated into a different map type.

Prepare your league-start builds now

Now that you are familiar with the new gameplay introduced in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, you can start crafting specialized league-start builds to clear Rituals or Wildwood encounters more efficiently.

In general, popular builds during Forbidden Rites fall into two categories: minion-based builds and those crafted around Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy.

For minion builds, we recommend Archon Djinn Blaster build. It utilizes the unique Djinn mechanic of Disciple of Varashta Ascendancy; during combat, three distinct Djinn perform specialized roles, allowing for a balance between AoE clearing and single-target damage.

If you prefer Gemling Legionnaire, consider Cluster Grenade Gemling build. It deals damage to enemies via projectiles and leverages Advanced Thaumaturgy to further enhance its effectiveness.

Of course, there are many other viable build options. You can also adjust or switch builds based on your needs once Patch 0.5.5 goes live; since the mini-league remains active until the 1.0 launch, you have plenty of time to experiment.

Other notable endgame events

Although PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5 did not introduce balance adjustments due to development time constraints, the changes to the endgame are significant. This means certain endgame activities can yield greater currency returns than before.

Of particular note is that while Patch 0.5.0 continues to run independently, Runes of Aldur mechanic has been integrated into the game's core content.

This means that even if you play only version 0.5.5, you can obtain extra buffs or loot by engaging with Runes of Aldur system during Forbidden Rites endgame.

Another noteworthy endgame change concerns Abyss mechanic. In Patch 0.5.5, large Abyssal Ravines will spawn in Atlas, and the maps generated within these ravines are guaranteed to contain clearable Abysses.

Trial of Chaos changes

While the primary purpose of Trial of Chaos is to help you unlock additional Ascendancy Points, it also serves as a source of PoE 2 currency.

More importantly, Patch 0.5.5 has revamped this mechanic; not only has the combat gameplay been optimized, but new Soul Cores have been added. When socketed into gear, these items provide powerful, high-level bonuses.

Key changes include the ability to leave the trial at any time and resume from your last point of progress, rather than being forced to complete the entire run before exiting.

Additionally, inherent bonuses are granted based on the area level, and a reward chest is placed at the end of every room.

These features represent both a means to rapidly accumulate currency in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5 and key mechanics for fully experiencing Forbidden Rites league. We hope this overview proves helpful to you!

There are no balance changes in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, so if your Minion build performed consistently well in Patch 0.5.0, you can continue using it.

Of course, you can also switch to stronger Minion builds. However, since they use different types of Minions, the overall gameplay experience can vary significantly, so you can choose one based on the playstyle you prefer.

Tier S

Spirit Walker Zookeeper

Spirit Walker has a clear advantage during the early leveling experience. During the campaign, you can use Twister as a transition skill until you obtain Bear.

After completing your second Ascendancy, you can unlock the ability to tame beasts and switch to Mighty Silverfist. It has a 25% base critical hit chance, along with 100% increased critical damage, giving it extremely high damage that can help you clear the campaign with ease.

However, finding and taming Mighty Silverfist is a long and troublesome process. Once you have tamed it, your build is basically complete. From that point onward, your main job is positioning, while most of the damage is dealt by your monkey.

Spirit Walker Zookeeper is less efficient at clearing maps during the mid-game than Gemling Legionnaire Unearth, but if you can invest more PoE 2 currency into it, its ceiling is higher.

Since Mighty Silverfist has very high base stats, you can save a large number of gear affixes for improving survivability. You can also invest more resources into equipping it with aura support gems, further improving Mighty Silverfist's map-clearing efficiency.

With an extreme budget, Spirit Walker Zookeeper can already match the map-clearing efficiency of Gemling Legionnaire Unearth while offering slightly better single-target damage and maintaining extremely high survivability.

Gemling Legionnaire Unearth

The core idea of this build is to sacrifice your Skeletal Clerics to create corpses, then use Unearth to summon large numbers of fast and powerful Bone Constructs from those corpses, forming an army of skeleton-like constructs.

Gemling Legionnaire typically uses Crossbow Grenade setup while leveling. This playstyle may not appeal to every player, but its efficiency is genuinely high. Although the overall leveling experience is less smooth than Spirit Walker, it makes up for that with consistency.

Immediately after completing the campaign, Gemling Legionnaire Unearth has significantly faster map-clearing speed than Spirit Walker's Mighty Silverfist,

Its single-target damage is comparable to the monkey setup, while its damage scaling requires relatively fewer resources. More importantly, you do not need to tame your Minions. Once you obtain the skill, you can start using it immediately.

At the high budget stage, Gemling Legionnaire's Defensive Layers can match or even surpass those of Spirit Walker.

Although Spirit Walker has advantages in the number of beasts it can tame through Ascendancy passives such as Loyalty and Path of Brilliance, Gemling Legionnaire is by no means inferior when it comes to survivability.

Once investment reaches the super high budget stage, the damage gains of Gemling Legionnaire Unearth begin to plateau, leaving it somewhat behind Spirit Walker Zookeeper.

Tier A

Acolyte of Chayula Minion

The main Minions used by this build are usually Skeletal Reavers. They deal high damage, are highly aggressive, and can make excellent use of Chaos damage increases you provide.

Your core Ascendancy passive, Into the Breach, periodically causes Flames of Chayula to spawn around you.

You need to actively walk over and pick up these remnants. Combined with Ascendancy passive Choice of Power, the remnants you collect will grant you and nearby Minions stacks of Chaos Remnants.

Each stack of Remnants grants additional Chaos damage to your Minions. At level 90, the maximum effect of 10 stacks can provide more than 180% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage.

Acolyte of Chayula build has almost no significant weak period throughout its progression. Once you enter Early Mapping, its efficiency does not drop at all, and it can still tear through almost every type of content.

However, it is not as effortless to play as Spirit Walker Zookeeper, and its endgame ceiling may also be somewhat lower.

Infernal Legion Builds

The core idea of this playstyle is to use Infernal Legion Support Gem to make your Minions continuously burn themselves, dealing Fire damage to nearby enemies.

This playstyle was nerfed in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0. Not only was the highest-damage Infernal Legion III Support Gem removed, but the base Burning damage was also reduced from 20% to 10% of Minion's maximum Life.

To make up for the lost damage, the current version of this build looks for a Tame Beast with extremely high base Life. Through gear and passive skills, the goal is to maximize the pet's Life and skill level.

There are two mainstream variants of this build:

• Using Elephant as the core.
• Using Chimera as the primary damage dealer.

Both variants perform very well, with solid single-target damage that can be raised to a respectable level with further investment. Although they still fall short of S-Tier builds, they are more than capable of handling most content.

The map-clearing efficiency of this build relies on a somewhat cumbersome playstyle. You need to repeatedly press the weapon swap key while progressing through maps to increase your damage.

Tier B

Specters Builds

With Bind Spectre skill, you can resurrect elite monsters killed in specific maps or areas as permanent Minions. These Spectres retain their original forms and skills, and they can benefit from all Minion bonuses provided by your passive tree and gear.

You can copy a Spectres build template across multiple classes, and it can work well on all of them. Based on the mainstream builds in PoE Patch 0.5, several Spectres stand out:

• Gargantuan Wasp
• Vaal Guard
• Starlit Harvester
• Powered Zealot

You can choose different Spectres based on different situations. The main advantage is its flexibility, although its ceiling is not particularly high.

If you simply want to progress through the early game quickly, Acolyte of Chayula is the most recommended choice in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5. If you prefer traditional Minions, Spirit Walker offers a smoother leveling experience. Overall, there are no balance changes to Minion builds in the current version, so just choose the build you enjoy.