We're excited to share a presentation given by Rhys Abraham, a senior programmer and one of our veteran GGG employees at ExileCon. In this talk Rhys explains how we generate areas in Path of Exile and shares a bit about upcoming area improvements in Path of Exile 2. To top it off, he also answers some questions from the audience!

Tomorrow (Friday NZT) we're planning to deploy the 3.9.2c update on PC with various improvements to the Conquerors of the Atlas and Metamorph content, as well as some bug fixes.

While you're waiting for the patch to be released, check out its patch notes below. Please note that the following list may be changed prior to the 3.9.2c release.

Metamorph & Conquerors Improvements

• Maps now display their Atlas Region by default. Holding Alt displays Map Completion, Bonus Objective Completion and Awakening Objective Completion status.
  
• Added frames to the Map Stash which indicate if a Map is influenced by a Conqueror.
  
• Added visual indicators at the centre of the Atlas which display which Conquerors have been defeated. These visual indicators are removed upon opening portals to the Eye of the Storm.
  
• Clicking anywhere on a Citadel with a non-Unique Watchstone on your cursor now sockets that Watchstone into the appropriate socket if one is available.
  
• Adjusted the positions of various Citadels so that they aren't hidden by UI elements.
  
• Opening a Map that is affected by multiple of the same or similar Sextant modifiers no longer consumes a use of the duplicate Sextant modifier.
  
• The Mark of the Shaper and Mark of the Elder unique rings now grant both bonuses if your other ring is Shaper and Elder influenced.
  
• Sirus, Awakener of Worlds now drops Influenced Items when killed.
  
• Immunity to Shock now correctly prevents you from being Shocked while standing in the Desolation of the Awakener ground effect.
  
• Added a visual indicator to Maps in the Map Stash which indicates if the Awakening Objective has been completed.
  
• Added a visual indicator to Watchstones and Watchstones socketed in Citadels which indicates whether or not they have a Sextant applied to them.
  
• Added some additional modifiers to the pool of modifiers that Awakened Sextants can apply.
  
• Portals to Maps which contain a Conqueror encounter now use Zana's portal effect.
  
• Fixed a bug where Maps that had already spawned Influence for a specific Conqueror had a lower chance to spawn Influence than intended.
  
• Fixed a bug where Conqueror's Exalted Orbs didn't respect the "Cannot roll Caster Modifiers" and "Cannot roll Attack Modifiers" modifiers.
  
• Fixed a bug where portals to the Conqueror encounters could spawn in inaccessible locations.
  
• Fixed a bug where applying a Sextant to a Watchstone socketed in a Citadel could generate the same or a similar modifier which was already on another Watchstone in that same Citadel.
  
• Fixed a bug where various modifiers found on the Precursor's Emblem unique ring were not affected by Quality applied by Catalysts.
  
• Fixed a bug where various Chaos Resistance modifiers were not being increased by Quality applied by Prismatic Catalysts.
  
• Fixed various performance issues that could occur when encountering Conquerors and their monsters in Maps.
  
• Fixed a visual bug where only the creator of an area would see the organ collection graphic when killing Metamorph targets.

General Improvements

• Unique Maps can once again be searched by name on the Atlas.
  
• Divination Cards which grant Shaper-related items now have their Shaper background once again.
  
• Maps that are Influenced by The Shaper or The Elder now have a fancy background or border.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where Ignites applied by Explosive Arrow sometimes dealt no damage.
  
• Fixed a bug where Volatile Dead orbs didn't detonate when reaching the maximum amount allowed (60).
  
• Fixed a bug where a Terrain Generation Failure could occur when entering the Plaza Map.
  
• Fixed a bug which prevented using the Time Portal to leave an Incursion.
  
• Fixed a bug introduced in 3.9.0 that made the Miracle Map Device much bigger than intended.
  
• Fixed a client crash that could occur when getting near party members who were using the Chains of Command unique body armour.

The Talent Competition has just begun, and we've already received a lot of good submissions. We'll be publishing the highlights of this competition over the coming weeks. Today we're showcasing some of the entries we've received in the Talent Competition so far.

The Lioneye's Theme by xTheCopperCatx


Fan Art by RaVirr17


Kitava by Bolaway


Kitava by PiikaLatvija


Celestial Cat Pet by Lin7in


Check out more submissions here!

Last year we released new annual Core Supporter Packs which have been received very well by our community. In addition to exclusive microtransactions and physical items, the highest tier of the current Core Supporter Packs includes a pack of signed concept art prints. Today we've gathered some of the pieces of the Core Supporter Packs concept art to give you an idea of what to expect from these prints.





Check out more images here.

It's been two months since ExileCon, which became one of the most memorable events of 2019 for us (hopefully for you too!). We've finally managed to go through a massive amount of footage recorded at the convention, and have montaged it into a short video with highlights from the ExileCon weekend. We hope you enjoy it!



Check out our ExileCon playlist if you're interested in watching presentations given by our developers at the convention. We'll release the rest of the talks over the coming weeks.

We're finishing the week with a talk by our senior visual effects artist, Ivan Leong. In his ExileCon presentation Ivan not only explained the role of VFX artists at GGG, but has also demonstrated creating an asset for the Crusader fight live on stage. If you're an aspiring VFX artist looking for inspiration or just want to learn something new today - check out the video below!

In addition to a big 3.9.2 patch, which was deployed last week, the team has been working on another update with many improvements and fixes. We're planning to release it by the end of this working week on PC, and as soon as possible on consoles (after its release on PC).

As usual, we have prepared a preview of its patch notes beforehand, so you can get an idea of what to expect. Please note that the patch notes listed below may be changed prior to the release of the 3.9.2b update.

• New instances of Tane's Laboratory can now be created by Ctrl + Clicking on the World Map Pin.
  
• Monsters killed in Tane's Laboratory are now removed after a short delay.
  
• Added additional quest information that displays when Watchstones drop.
  
• Reduced the area of effect and damage of The Purifier's Weapon Throw.
  
• Improved performance when using Arctic Breath supported by Traps, Mines or Totems against large groups of monsters.
  
• Improved performance related to trail effects.
  
• Added 3D art for the unique staff The Black Cane.
  
• The NPCs in Karui Shores have been moved around slightly to more convenient positions.
  
• Added a Noticeboard and Event Noticeboard to the Karui Shores.
  
• The Karui Shores and Oriath now use the same public party list.
  
• Skitterbots are no longer targetable in PvP.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Monster pack size from the Booming Populace unique Ivory Watchstone didn't apply to Maps.
  
• Fixed a bug where various Incursion resistance and energy shield modifiers were not affected by Catalysts.
  
• Fixed a bug where the "x% reduced Mana Reserved" Redeemer influence modifier was able to be on the same item as the same modifier from Shaper influence or Fossils.
  
• Fixed a bug where Terror of the Infinite Drifts' Burrow skill could cause her to get stuck in terrain or leave the encounter area in Tane's Laboratory.
  
• Fixed a bug where Chaos Golem monsters in Vaal Side Areas were dealing much higher damage than intended with some of their skills.
  
• Fixed a bug where Blight Portals could spawn behind the vault door in Vault Map, preventing the monsters from pathing to the Ichor Pump.
  
• Fixed a bug where various maps which contains Hideouts could sometimes get out of sync, preventing players from entering the map.
  
• Fixed a bug preventing players from entering areas near a Beyond encounter in the Azurite Mine.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented removing Shaped Maps from the Map Stash Tab.
  
• Fixed a client crash that could occur when using Perforate.
  
• Fixed a client crash that could occur when using Barrage supported by Blastchain Mine Support which had the Void Emperor Blastchain Mine Effect microtransaction applied to it.

The Awakener Kill event, arranged with the huge help and support of Zizaran, concluded yesterday. More than a hundred players have defeated Awakener in the hardest Path of Exile mode possible, as well as achieving the other goals of the event. Today we're ready to announce the winners!

• First Awakener Kill ($8000) - Darkee
  
• Second Place ($4000) - Havoc6
  
• Third Place ($2000) - Gofferi
  
• Fourth - Fifteenth Place ($500) - Steelmage, soerensko, guardianj11, rrrrath, Yukozo, Efriko, soul1027, Karvarousku, Oskarmln, Dsfarblarwaggle, takee, PoEDan79
  
• First Atziri Kill in the Apex of Sacrifice ($500) - FITEGARR
  
• First Uber Atziri Kill ($2000) - powershot615
  
• First Shaper Kill ($1000) - PoEDan79
  
• First Elder Kill ($500) - Mosh47
  
• First Uber Elder Kill ($2000) - Steelmage
  
• Deepest Delve (1085 depth, $4000) - PoEDan79

• Coolgav
  
• duabaji
  
• Efriko
  
• EndOfEnds
  
• fraggoman
  
• gal4214
  
• heliumfurz
  
• Jasnai
  
• Karvarousku
  
• kevnbo
  
• kriptog
  
• Oskarmln
  
• PoEDan79
  
• pvpnerd
  
• Realyn
  
• Robotmaxboy
  
• sss111
  
• willowbreaker
  
• XxMrFantomxX
  
• Zareuther

Congratulations to the winners! Microtransactions prizes will be distributed very soon. Zizaran will also contact winners to arrange their payments. Thank you to everyone who has challenged their skills by participating in this event. Thank you to Zizaran for providing the idea and amazing prize pool. We're very happy with how this event turned out and are keen to bring more similar events to the community in the future!

A new development year has begun, the holidays are over and our team is back at full capacity. With a busy year ahead, we wanted to give you an update on what the plan is for Path of Exile's development in 2020.

This year we will release four expansions (3.10.0 - 3.13.0) on our usual quarterly schedule. The first of these, 3.10.0, will probably be announced in late February. The timing of the expansions may vary by a week or two from last year's ones, as we work around various holidays/events and make sure that the bigger ones have enough time to be fully tested.

Development on 4.0.0 continues, with the team hard at work on content that wasn't shown in the ExileCon Act One Demo. We expect that the next time we'll show significantly new content and features will probably be in the middle of this year. Maybe around E3? We'll let you know once we have a firm plan locked in. We mentioned at ExileCon that the earliest we could run a public beta would be late 2020, and don't have a more accurate date than that yet. It depends a lot on how much we're able to scale up the team this year to finish the remaining acts and new systems.

We are also working on expanding our console team in 2020 so that we can more quickly develop the features the console users are looking forward to.

Finally, the Path of Exile Mobile project continues to be developed based on feedback from ExileCon. Our Mobile team are working on adding Android support and expanding the vertical slice that people played in the ExileCon demo into a complete game.

It's going to be a busy year! Thanks for your ongoing support and feedback. Together we'll make sure that Path of Exile remains the best Hardcore Action RPG.

Exile, do you have a hidden talent? Can you make Path of Exile-themed content with this talent? Now is your time to shine! We're launching a big all-inclusive Path of Exile Talent Competition! Your talent could be anything from fan art, videos, music, fan fiction, cosplay, baking, crafts, gifs, screenshots, comics, interpretive dance or anything else you can think of! Anything you can create that's Path of Exile-themed is welcome.

• Signed Path of Exile Art Book
  
• Signed Path of Exile Print
  
• Signed Path of Exile Comic
  
• Cloth Map of Wraeclast
  
• Solaris and Lunaris T-Shirt
  
• Foam Exalted Orb
  
• Your choice of an Armour Set (any Armour Set from the store)
  
• Your choice of a Weapon Effect (any Weapon Effect from the store)
  
• Your choice of Helmet Effect (any Helmet Effect from the store)

• Signed Path of Exile Art Book
  
• Solaris and Lunaris T-Shirt
  
• Foam Exalted Orb
  
• Your choice of an Armour Set (any Armour Set from the store)
  
• Your choice of a Weapon Effect (any Weapon Effect from the store)
  
• Your choice of Helmet Effect (any Helmet Effect from the store)

• Solaris and Lunaris T-Shirt
  
• Foam Exalted Orb
  
• Your choice of a Weapon Effect (any Weapon Effect from the store)
  
• Your choice of Helmet Effect (any Helmet Effect from the store)

• Solaris and Lunaris T-Shirt
  
• Your choice of a Weapon Effect (any Weapon Effect from the store)
  
• Your choice of Helmet Effect (any Helmet Effect from the store)

• Your choice of Helmet Effect (any Helmet Effect from the store)

Just post your entry to this forum thread to be entered into the competition. It's ideal if your content is easy to consume. A general guide for this is that your submission should take no longer than five minutes to read, listen to or view. It's permitted to post content that is longer than five minutes but in some cases it may put your submission at a disadvantage if it's significantly difficult to engage with your content.

The winning submissions will be selected based the following criteria:

• How skillfully your talent has been executed
  
• How true it remains to the theme of Path of Exile
  
• How compelling or entertaining the submission is

• The competition will run from the time of this post until Monday the 10th of February at 5pm NZT (9th of February at 8pm PST). Submissions made after this time will not be counted. We'll post the winners sometime in the following days.
  
• Any work that is submitted must be your own and must be created after the launch of this competition.
  
• Multiple submissions are welcome.
  
• If you want to create a montage or mash-up of other artists' work or videos, this is permitted as long as it follows all legal guidelines of fair use standards.

Best of luck to everyone who is participating in this competition! We have always loved seeing the Path of Exile-related content that you create and once again are eager to see what you'll come up with this time.