Grinding Gear Games reveals Path of Exile 3.30 Covens of Umbra

Grinding Gear Games revealed Path of Exile version 3.30, named Covens of Umbra, at ExileCon 2026 on November 6 in Auckland, New Zealand. The live broadcast began at 12:30 PM PST on official Twitch and YouTube channels, preceded by a pre-show featuring community veterans ZiggyD, Mathil, RaizQT, and DarthMicrotransaction. The free update launches Friday, November 13, 2026, on Steam and the Grinding Gear Games launcher.

The current challenge league, Curse of the Allflame, ends November 9 at 1:00 PM PST, four days before version 3.30 arrives. Grinding Gear Games said the short transition gives players a clean four-day window to review patch notes and choose league starters. Covens of Umbra launches four weeks before Path of Exile 2 reaches its 1.0 release on December 11, and Grinding Gear Games will run both games simultaneously with seasonal leagues alternating between them.

The league centers on a long-running war involving the Witches of Umbra, Mora, and the Coven Queen. Players collect four or five Fates in an area as they progress and may combine up to three of them on one campaign or map unique boss. Duplicate Fates upgrade their effects and rewards, and playing two identical Fate cards merges them to triple the payout of the initial card.

Certain Fates carry combo rewards that trigger when players fulfill further conditions. Covenites performing rites around a dark cauldron grant Fates to players who defeat them, and players invoke the cards on unique bosses in campaign areas and maps to empower encounters and increase rewards. Grim Fates are boss-specific modifier variants attuned to individual pinnacle bosses, stored in a special slot on the Wickerman.

The Wickerman lets players bind their character’s soul to it and impale trophies from fallen foes. It holds up to four trophies at once—head, body, arm, and leg—and viscera trophies come in three tiers of increasing rarity and potency, with the highest tier available only in the endgame. Defeating fate-empowered pinnacle bosses drops their own viscera trophies with some of the strongest buffs in the league, and beating those bosses is the only way to reach the Coven Queen.

Grinding Gear Games rearranged campaign zone layouts where necessary so players always encounter area bosses. The reshaped Atlas map uses colored regions that determine which mechanics appear, with increasing stacks across maps in a zone, and raising the stacks adds danger along with amplified payouts.

Version 3.30 brings a broad endgame overhaul touching nearly every core league mechanic. Threads of Creation replaces Scarabs as a map device system for juicing up primary league mechanics, and players can apply up to eight Threads total across three mechanics at once deeper in the league.

The Atlas stores the most recent Thread setup so players can reapply it rapidly on later maps. Old Scarab mechanics spread into the refreshed Atlas passive tree as a baseline, with Threads adding random outcomes on top, and Rogers said the intention is for the average player to get a similar amount of juice as before from Scarabs. Grinding Gear Games overhauled the full Atlas passive tree for 3.30, adding Scarab-inspired modifiers and brand-new effects that provide ways to dramatically bolster Abyss Rifts, Incursion Architects, Ultimatum encounters, and more.

Different league mechanics can now intersect and influence one another, adding more layers of randomness, such as a Tormented Spirit burying an Expedition under a haunted gravestone or Blight-infected Strongboxes. The Viridian Wildwood and Sentinels now appear at every map tier by default, and Mirage, first introduced with the 3.28 league, is now a core mechanic in 3.30 and covers the entirety of maps it affects, essentially more than doubling the area to explore.

The loot rework reduces item quantity spam and increases valuable ground drops, while changes to magic find and rarity bonuses will make unique and boss mobs the top source of currency. Game Director Jonathan Rogers said the core drop pool had become stale over time. Delve, Heist, and Sanctum required resources are now marked on the Atlas so players can guarantee obtaining them.

Bestiary drops the yellow beast capture requirement, Expedition adds a coin flip gamble between two item crafts, and Temple offers new potential for double Vaal corruptions. Blight gains Mycotic lanes, more diseased Blight cores, and lanes populated with Rogue Exiles carrying uniques. Ritual offers a choice to gaze at the Bodach or spend surplus tribute to call forth a King in the Mists minion, and Ultimatum may offer a double down option to run twice as many rounds without the ability to pull out.

Covens league is a challenge league with optional Hardcore, Solo Self-Found, and Ruthless modes, creating eight distinct ladders, and includes 40 optional challenges; Ruthless versions include eight separate challenges awarding the same cosmetic items with a different totem pole decoration. Players can strap Soul Cores to the back to amplify encounter speed, but monsters can snatch souls to empower themselves.

Expedition can generate large maps, Runic Obelisks that revive killed magic and rare monsters for a second round, and glowing monster markers that spawn only rare foes. Players can raise a mechanic’s rank or use Threads of Creation to increase the chances of synergistic mechanics appearing together. Harvest gains a Sacred Roots encounter that takes the place of the Grove inside maps, and settlers also provide experience and gold-boosting buffs. The update adds Beyond portals that spawn without stopping and a revised boss encounter.