As if Path of Exile weren’t already addictive enough, Grinding Gear Games has just announced what is possibly the most brilliant idea in the history of all video games, ever! Hardcore race events!
What is a Race Event?
Despite the national-socialist esque title a race event actually has nothing to do with your ethnicity. It is a in-game event that runs for pre-determined periods of time scheduled in advance by GGG. These events feature their own special league- rather than creating a character in default or hardcore you will instead create your character in the special race league. In this league you will not have access to any of your loot from hardcore or default and thus everyone start on an equal footing when the race begins. Races can last from an hour to a week or more and players earn various rewards for accomplishments during these races. Link to the schedule for season one.
What Rewards will I get?
Rewards are varied and based upon your performance in the race. Let’s take the first race of the season, which is a one-hour solo race. This means that you will have one hour to progress as far as you can in the game with a single character and your rewards will be based upon how your performance stacks up against the rest of those competing during this race. Link that explains the first race event in detail.
Top Prizes: The overall top player by experience will receive 3 Reward Points. The top 20 players of each class by experience will receive:
- #1 player of each class: Demigod’s Triumph (Unique Golden Wreath) and 10 Reward Points
- #2 player of each class: 6 Reward Points
- #3 player of each class: 5 Reward Points
- #4 player of each class: 4 Reward Points
- #5 player of each class: 3 Reward Points
- #6-10 player of each class: 2 Reward Points
- #11-20 player of each class: 1 Reward Point
Prizes for reaching specific levels and staying alive:
- Level 19: 7 Reward Points
- Level 17-18: 6 Reward Points
- Level 16: 5 Reward Points
- Level 15: 4 Reward Points
- Level 13-14: 3 Reward Points
Quest Prizes: The first player to complete each of these quests wins the prize listed.
- Normal difficulty Hillock (Twilight Strand): 2 Reward Points
- Normal difficulty Medicine Chest (Tidal Island): 2 Reward Points
- Normal difficulty Fairgraves (Ship Graveyard): 2 Reward Points
- Normal difficulty Deep Dweller (Flooded Depths): 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Hillock (Twilight Strand): 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Medicine Chest (Tidal Island): 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Fairgraves (Ship Graveyard): 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Deep Dweller (Flooded Depths): 2 Reward Points
Full-clear Prizes: The first player to kill all of the monsters in any of the following areas will receive:
- Normal difficulty Fetid Pool: 2 Reward Points
- Normal difficulty Old Fields Cave: 2 Reward Points
- Normal difficulty Dread Thicket: 2 Reward Points
- Normal difficulty Catacombs: 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Fetid Pool: 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Old Fields Cave: 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Dread Thicket: 2 Reward Points
- Cruel difficulty Catacombs: 2 Reward Points
What are Reward Points?
Reward points are cumulative points that add up as you complete race events during the season. You’ll notice from the calendar page that most events only last one to three hours so it can be quite easy to rack up reward points without having to pour your whole life into the game. This page displays the kinds of rewards you will get for reaching certain reward point thresholds. As you accumulate reward points you gain more loot.
Different styles of Leagues
In addition to solo, party, and turbo leagues, Grinding Gear Games says they are planning to introduce leagues with “other interesting twists.” Like burning ground or blood magic leagues. I imagine they will also implement their cutthroat league from closed-beta, a league where every game was public and you could join any game you liked to slaughter the other players and take all of their loot. Yes, it’s totally natural to be erect right now.
What happens to my character if I die/when the league ends?
Your character will be moved to the appropriate “parent” league if you die. You will also be moved to the appropriate “parent” league once the race you’re participating in ends. So if you got a hardcore character up to level 15 in a one-hour race, he would be moved to the regular hardcore league after that race ended and you could continue to play him if you so desired.