5 biggest changes coming to Path of Exile with patch 3.25 (Settlers of Kalguur)

Path of Exile's patch 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur has five huge changes coming with it when it releases on July 26. The new patch was recently announced, and the developers have detailed all the new content and changes that it will bring. The patch info developer Grinding Gear Games (GGG) provided was nearly 30,000 words, leaving even seasoned players baffled at its depth.

The Settlers of Kalguur patch appears to be designed to shake up the current meta as well as lay the groundwork for the release of Path of Exile 2. Some of the most pertinent changes and new content are the melee rework, the town system, and the currency market. The POE player base is currently scrambling to figure out how the old builds and mechanics will interact with these systems.

In this article, we outline five of the most important changes patch 3.25 will introduce and how you can be prepared for them.

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Path of Exile Settlers of Kalguur 5 biggest changes

1) Melee Reworked

All melee skills in the game will be seeing sudden removals and power buffs (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

This change is massive, seeing a 100% or more increase in power to all melee damage types in Path of Exile. The reason for this increase is that GGG will be removing all melee totems from the game with patch 3.25.

On top of the massive totem and power changes, banners will be seeing a complete rework. As opposed to the old system of reservation cost and permanent buffs, banners are now free but will need to be replaced to stay active. To compensate for the change, they will have their effects largely buffed.

The Rage mechanic has also been nearly entirely reworked on from its original design. Instead of giving multiple stats like before, Rage now only grants 1% more attack damage per Rage gained. GGG has also added a cooldown to prevent Rage gain on hit from happening too often, and buffed Rage generation to compensate.

Finally, Retaliation skills will be added to the game and replace counterattack abilities. These skills will only be used after your character has met certain conditions, most commonly to do with being attacked or blocking. This change will see several skills, such as Reckoning, Reposte, and Vengeance being removed from the game.

Players will need to rework many old builds with the release of Settlers of Kalguur, but will also have many new builds opened up to them.

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2) Gold Currency Added

The long-awaited currency has finally been added and has a few interesting uses (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

Although GGG has said for a very long time that it did not want to add this currency to the game, it appears the team finally found a place for it. Players in 3.25 will see the new gold currency added to the game and with it, many new uses.

So far, it appears that the main function of gold will have to do with your in-game town, another new feature being added in Settlers of Kalguur. You will be using gold to construct new buildings, pay your workers, and complete maintenance and other improvements.

You will also be able to spend gold to respec your current build and purchase random items. Random item purchasing seems to be some form of gambling system where you choose the item type and pay for a random rarity. This system looks very similar to the gambling merchants found in Last Epoch.

Understanding the different uses of gold in Settlers of Kalguur will save you a lot of time with your builds and make your town far more profitable.

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3) Old League Mechanics Return

Some old League Mechanics will be seeing a revival in 3.25 (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

In Settlers of Kalguur, three league mechanics, Affliction, Sentinel, and Mirrors of Kalandra will be returning to the game. This will allow players the opportunity to gain more loot from their map or even duplicate an item.

The Affliction mechanic will allow you to collect wisps as you traverse your current map. While collecting more of these, the monsters around you will be empowered and so will your chance of finding high-tier loot. This can be a rewarding mechanic, but you need to be careful that you don't create enemies too strong to be killed.

The Sentinel mechanic will place interactable constructs on your current map that you can activate. Each of these sentinels will increase both the danger and reward levels of the enemies you face. Similar to the Affliction mechanic, you must be careful to balance your reward with your risk to not lose your map.

The Mirror of Kalandra will also be seeing a return in patch 3.25 of Settlers of Kalguur. This is one of the highest sell price items in the game and is sought after desperately by players. A Mirror of Kalandra, when used, will duplicate any item you have making an exact copy of it.

Knowing how to properly interact with these returning mechanics in Settlers of Kalguur is very important. If you aren't sure how to utilize them, you may find yourself with far less loot than you could have.

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4) Town system

Settlers of Kalguur gives you the ability to manage your town for passive income (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

Perhaps an unexpected mechanic for an ARPG, you will soon be able to own, run, and profit from your own town in Path of Exile. Your town can be populated with workers, businesses, and other building types and left to run while you play the game. This should generate a passive income of different sorts in Settlers of Kalguur while AFK or running maps on your own.

Workers can be set to mine, build, and even run maps for you in the new town system. Functioning alongside the mining system, workers will set out to locations you designate to collect certain ores and return them to your town. You can also choose different maps for your workers to run as if you were doing them yourself, returning with whatever materials they collect for you.

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5) Currency Market

A Currency Market allows players to trade directly at exchange rates (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

A new currency market will be added in patch 3.25 that directly coincides with the town system. This market will allow you to trade any currency with other players at certain exchange rates. For example, this means a player could trade their Divine Orbs for Chaos Orbs in a direct exchange without having to trade with other players.

Although the system hasn't been seen yet by players, many assume this will drive the cost of most currencies down. Since the impediment of finding other players to trade these currencies with will be removed, conversions will happen much more frequently.

This ease of access to currency conversion should mean that they will naturally be devalued, as access to supply will effectively increase supply. This would be further compounded by Path of Exile cross-platform trading, but this has not been introduced.