Action RPG Path of Exile sees its first post-launch patch go live this Wednesday, the first update of seven planned before Grinding Gears releases an expansion in March 2014. While the 1.0.1 update includes its share of mysterious new items to try out, it's also set to kick off the free-to-play game's fifth season of competitive events, according to lead designer Chris Wilson.
As detailed by Wilson in the video below, season five events include a new game mode called Descent: Champions, an isolated dungeon designed to test the skills and resolve of combatants who are up for a new challenge. The Champions mode will feature unique items to try out as well as a branching progression, both of which are additions to the original Descent of earlier event seasons, according to Wilson.
The patch also includes two new sets of vendor recipes and five new unique items. In a nod to the joy of discovery, Wilson only details one of the unique items, a mana flask called Doedre's Elixer. It adds some ability boosts, but also may lead to some other "interesting interactions," Wilson said. Of the vendor recipes, one will allow players to change a bandit alliance from game's second act. The second new recipe, just like the exact effect of a new support gem called Enhance, remains a mystery to be uncovered in-game.
