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Return of the Ancestors event in Path of Exile has officially launched. With this new event, what build do you plan to use to participate in the various new gameplay elements?

In fact, in this game known for its complexity, every now and then a build emerges that, due to its mechanics, is far stronger than expected. Return of the Ancestors also has such a build; it belongs to Ancestral Commander class and boasts exceptional defense and damage.

If you lack a build for clearing this event, you can refer to this build. Below, I will elaborate on it in detail:

Build Principles

As we all know, during the event, you will be able to play some Legacy of Phrecia-specific Ascendancy classes, each with several builds.

However, the reason I chose this Ancestral Commander build from PoE as my starting build for Return of the Ancestors is because its defensive and damage capabilities are both exceptionally strong.

Specifically, Ancestral Commander class itself possesses strong defensive capabilities. Therefore, we only need two gems - Minion Pact Support and Blade Vortex - to enhance its attack power.

Minion Pact Support

Minion Pact Support is an Exceptional Support gem that allows a nearby minion to randomly sacrifice itself when the player casts a supported spell, granting the player additional damage.

In other words, through this mechanism, the player can directly convert a minion's health into their own damage. As long as you summon enough minions with sufficient health, you can infinitely increase your damage. When this damage stacks to a certain level, you can even one-shot some monsters.

Therefore, the key to increasing your damage using this mechanism lies in increasing the number and health of the minions you can summon.

So, you can invest resources to stack support gems like Minion Life Support and Companionship Support, which target minions, to obtain minions with extremely high base health.

Blade Vortex

Blade Vortex gem provides players with sustained spell damage. Unlike some PoE gems, its support strength increases with stacks: up to 10 stacks, each providing additional damage and a higher attack frequency.

When the massive damage from Minion Pact Support is applied to a spell with a very high More Damage buff, the spell can deal terrifying damage.

At this point, even with very ordinary gear, players can deal tens of millions of damage through stacking various buffs.

Gear and Gems

Contrary to its terrifying damage output, this build doesn't require very expensive gear. Most PoE players can afford it and use it in Return of the Ancestors event.

Gems

First, there are the two core gems mentioned above - Minion Pact Support and Blade Vortex. Both gems are relatively easy to obtain.

Minion Pact Support can be obtained by defeating the boss Catarina, Master of Undeath, which you can find in Tier 17 map and the final battle of Betrayal gameplay.

Of course, if you haven't reached the endgame stage and can't obtain Minion Pact Support, you can use Sunder and Earthshatter to upgrade first, and then switch to this build once you reach the endgame stage.

Blade Vortex will randomly drop in PoE. If you haven't encountered it, you can craft it directly using an in-game recipe.

Gear

You can use some Currency to craft the core gear for this build at a relatively low cost.

For boots, you can use Elder's Base boots, first roll for the "+1 minion skill level" affix, and then upgrade it to "+2 minion skill level" using Orb of Dominance.

For the helmet, you also need to use some Path of Exile 1 Currency to craft a helmet with "+2 minion skill level" affix.

Regarding weapons, if you're focusing on clearing maps, you can use Obliteration, leveraging its explosive power to improve map clearing efficiency; for boss fights, switch to a higher-damage weapon.

Build Drawbacks

No build is perfect. If you intend to use this build as your progression build in POE Return of the Ancestors, you need to be aware of its drawbacks.

The biggest problem lies in Spectre management. Due to the nature of Minion Pact Support, you sacrifice a minion every time you cast a spell.

If you use regular Spectres, since they don't automatically resurrect after being sacrificed at Hideout, you must leave the current area and return, or travel to the specific chapter map to resummon them, a very tedious process.

However, you can use Meatsacks as an alternative, as they leave corpses after death, making resurrection relatively easy. However, the damage they provide is relatively low.

Perfect Dark Marionettes are also a good choice; their biggest advantage is that they automatically resurrect every 4 seconds, so you don't need to figure out how to resurrect your minions. But similarly, the damage they provide is not high.

If you're aiming for maximum damage, you can opt for Spectres from Doedre Stamatis boss fight area. They deal even more damage, but their corpses disappear extremely quickly, and the resurrection mechanism is complex. Players may even need to use specific "skill effect masking" appearances to prevent permanent minion loss due to misoperation at Hideout.

Therefore, while this build boasts incredibly high attack and defense, the cumbersome minion management can be a major drawback for players seeking convenience and a "brain-dead easy play" experience.

This is my recommended Ancestral Commander build for clearing Return of the Ancestors event in Path of Exile. Its advantages are extremely high attack and defense, while its disadvantage is potentially tedious minion management.

However, frankly, compared to the overwhelming attack power it provides, its drawbacks are negligible. This build is so powerful that it may be nerfed in Patch 3.29 in July. If you want to try it out, you'll need to act quickly.

Path of Exile 1: Return of the Ancestors is about to begin. This event not only brings back Trials of the Ancestors mechanic but also introduces a fresh Ascendancy system and a whole new set of unique Ancient Ascendancy content.

POE also introduces a brand-new tattoo system, structurally changing the possibilities for character builds. Tattoo system replaces key Ascendancy perks with random additional effects, directly erasing certain previously highly detrimental attributes.

This is precisely what makes many Path of Exile 1 Ascendancy builds that were previously considered poorly designed suddenly playable and even powerful in terms of theoretical builds. EZG will now introduce them one by one.

Antiquarian

The first Path of Exile 1 Ascendancy is Antiquarian, a special Ascendancy. It's a Marauder class, but its mechanics mix spells, ward, and various non-strength-based designs.

The core of Antiquarian is Kalguuran Armour, which allows you to convert armor into shield ward. Combined with Starlight Reflector and Runic Tablet, which grants a 20-second Adrenaline effect, you'll gain powerful buffs.

The problem lies in some of its talent tree nodes, which are quite poor. The biggest issue is the very low intelligence stat. This not only means blue skill gems are unusable but also directly blocks many support gems and aura systems. PoE skills like Soul Rend are uncastable because of insufficient Intelligence, severely limiting Antiquarian's deck-building options.

However, in Return of the Ancestors, tattoo system allows you to bypass nodes like Goliath Knuckle and Lioneye's Hair, giving Antiquarian a chance to overcome some limitations. Theoretically, these changes to Antiquarian do improve the game, but the improvement is not significant.

Behemoth

Behemoth Ascendancy starting node is terrible: it increases character size, disables auras and even prevents spells from dealing damage. This is a huge flaw, but its trade-off is Rampage mechanic: consecutive kills or hits stack killstreaks, which is incredibly powerful for clearing maps, helping you quickly farm Path of Exile 1 Currency.

However, in the mid-to-late game of PoE, these costs become extremely detrimental, especially the inability to use core defensive auras like Grace and Determination, leaving your character without a defensive system.

Tattoo system is about to change all that. Once you can remove nodes that disable auras, Behemoth mechanic changes dramatically. Subsequent nodes like Mental Conditioning and Steel Will allow you to convert a large amount of mana into armor, while also synergizing with weapons like Replica Dreamfeather to convert armor into attack power.

More importantly, with Return of the Ancestors tattoo system, this mechanic will no longer be tied to melee weapons, theoretically expanding to bows, staves, and even other weapon systems, making armor-stacking ranged Behemoth builds possible - a direction almost nonexistent in the past PoE.

Blind Prophet

Blind Prophet was significantly nerfed in PoE 3.27.0. The key issue is that the core mechanic, Sightless, was reduced from 12% to 9%, and the critical strike environment for Path of Exile 1 changed, making it difficult to deal substantial damage.

With the introduction of Return of the Ancestors tattoo system, you can reduce the negative effects by removing Directionless, but most Blind Prophet builds still require specific PoE gear and cannot be restored to their previous levels. If you want to try Blind Prophet in PoE, you can buy Path of Exile 1 Currency from EZG.com to help you build powerful gear.

Herald

Tattoo system has opened up new branches for traditional Herald builds, but it has also introduced many limitations. Herald of Agony is the core build for this ascendancy, but the problem lies in the high mana retention requirements. You usually need extremely high Aura Reservation Efficiency to make the entire skill chain function properly.

In the traditional Path of Exile 1 build, you need to address this issue through the crucial gear Coming Calamity. Using Lioneye's Vision provides additional support links, allowing Herald of Agony to reach a higher damage ceiling, and using supports like Returning Projectiles to enhance map clearing ability. This system is stable and mature, but heavily reliant on PoE gear bindings.

With the introduction of the new Tattoo system, you can try optimizing the talent structure, but this also introduces additional problems. You can choose to sacrifice Returning Projectiles and use supports like Eclipse to reduce pressure, thus alleviating the overall burden of preserving resources. However, the problem is that Eclipse's damage output is lower than Returning Projectiles.

Outside the traditional Path of Exile 1 system, perhaps we can choose Persecution route, attempting to bypass the original dependence on Coming Calamity. This type of build is more experimental, but it does open up paths that weren't available before.

Aristocrat

The key node for Aristocrat is Inherited Fortune, which grants 5 passive talent points. On the surface, this node seems ideal for directly replacing it with Tattoo for a stronger effect, building a high-stat character with mechanics like Dreadful Attitude, or replacing it with a powerful node in Inquisitor zone.

However, PoE official FAQ explicitly states that Ascendancy Tattoo cannot be used on nodes that provide passive talent points. This directly means Tattoo can not override Inherited Fortune, so its actual strength may be far lower than expected.

Polytheist

Very strong individual nodes characterize this ascendancy, but an overall unbalanced structure. The core starting point, Devout of Ralakesh, is considered one of the strongest nodes in PoE, offering extremely high cost-effectiveness. It is the fulcrum of the entire ascendancy.

Depending on the build, you need to choose Devout of Lunaris or Devout of Latha. However, the remaining nodes have problems, failing to form a unified build direction, making it difficult to gain further improvement through Tattoo.

Overall, tattoo system in Path of Exile 1: Return of the Ancestors became a key variable, giving new possibilities to build that were originally designed as restrictive ascensions. The end result is that many previously weak builds are now theoretically feasible for the first time, and some have even approached being powerful.

Path of Exile 1 will launch the limited-time event Return of the Ancestors on June 25th. This is the most significant return of Trial of the Ancestors since Patch 3.22. For many veteran players, TOTA has always been one of the most distinctive league mechanics in Path of Exile 1 history.

With an event duration of only three weeks, the gameplay will be more compact, allowing you to experience a complete cycle of progression and challenge in a short time. However, the significance of Return of the Ancestors is clearly more than just a simple nostalgic event; it's more like a validation and data test of the mechanics for Path of Exile 2.

For new players who have never experienced TOTA, this may also be an important opportunity to understand the future PoE trial system. The specific operation of POE Return of the Ancestors may differ somewhat from before, but most of the currently known rules and strategies can still refer to the original TOTA gameplay system.

PoE 2 Related

PoE 2 may have three different Trial systems in the future: Trial of Sekhema, Trial of Chaos, and Trial of the Ancestors. Therefore, the official reopening of TOTA in PoE 1 is likely a test of the relevant mechanisms and player feedback.

In fact, this isn't the first time Path of Exile team has done this. Both the auction house feature and the previous adjustments to Breach mechanism were first tested in PoE 1 before being gradually implemented in PoE 2. Therefore, whether you're a PoE 1 player or someone following PoE 2, it's essential to understand the core gameplay of this return.

If Trial of the Ancestors truly becomes an important part of PoE 2 trial system, this event is likely the best opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the relevant mechanisms in advance.

TOTA Mechanics

Trial of the Ancestors is essentially a league mechanism combining auto-battle and tactical competition. You need to lead your troops against the enemy to destroy their totems and achieve victory.

The entire tournament revolves around a temporary currency called Favor. Favor is tied to different ancestor NPCs and can be used to exchange for troops, items, and field supplies. Each match offers two types of rewards: Favor and Path of Exile 1 Currency. It's recommended to choose Favor.

Troop Configuration

The greatest strategic depth in TOTA comes from troop arrangement. In TOTA, once an early advantage is gained, it can be steadily extended. Therefore, strategically using Favors to exchange for troops is far more important than exchanging for onetime field supplies.

Flanking units are typically responsible for destroying enemy totems, making them often the most crucial positions. PoE units with teleportation, stealth, or high mobility are particularly well-suited for this role, as they can quickly bypass the main battlefront and directly threaten the enemy back line.

Attack units are responsible for frontal assaults and clearing enemy forces, providing the primary firepower in the early stages of a Path of Exile TOTA battle. Guardian units will follow you, helping to block enemy attacks and delay their resurrection. As for defensive units, they primarily guard your base, and their role is relatively limited in most situations.

Battle Strategy

Many Path of Exile players new to TOTA mistakenly believe it's a simple battle, but in reality, killing enemies isn't the ultimate goal. Each warrior is bound to their own totem, which also serves as their respawn point. Only by completely destroying all enemy totems can you win the game.

However, destroying totems is no simple task. When you lead your troops in an attack, being hit by any direct attack or spell will leave you stunned for up to five seconds. This stun cannot be avoided by standard PoE stun immunity, so blindly rushing into the enemy base often comes at a heavy price.

If your Path of Exile character dies, you will not immediately respawn. You can only return to the battlefield once your allied totems have regained control, meaning you may not participate in combat for an extended period if the situation gets out of control.

In actual TOTA battles, you and the enemy leader are usually the most powerful presences on the field. Many experienced players don't rush into enemy totems but choose to observe the situation from the center of the map. Markers on mini-map show which allied totems are under attack; intercepting them is often more effective than a risky attack.

As tournaments progress, killed Path of Exile enemies will gradually gain longer respawn times. The ancient game is usually chaotic, but in the late game, as more and more enemies are temporarily banished, the situation gradually stabilizes, making this the best time to push and destroy towers.

Different ancestors have completely unique skill sets. Some ancestors are extremely threatening in ancient games and quite troublesome for many characters. Therefore, familiarizing yourself with the characteristics of each ancestor and avoiding opponents that are disadvantageous to you is a crucial skill for improving your win rate.

Hidden Strategies

TOTA uses a double-elimination format. This means you have one chance to lose, so in some situations you can even intentionally lose to adjust your subsequent matchups. When the ultimate rewards are not ideal, you can use the double-elimination mechanism to refresh the reward pool. You can also intentionally lose early to Path of Exile clans you least want to face to avoid more hard battles later on.

Furthermore, the rare and highly sought-after items that appear in tournaments are often extremely valuable in the early stages of Path of Exile 1. Experienced players usually pay special attention to these rewards, as they can sometimes provide benefits far exceeding Path of Exile 1 Currency.

Whether you're a veteran player who participated in 3.22 league or a newcomer to TOTA, Return of the Ancestors will be one of the most worthwhile events in Path of Exile 1. Whether it's simply a classic return or a preliminary test of the new PoE 2 system, the answer may gradually emerge after the event concludes.

PoE will launch a three-week limited-time league event, Return of the Ancients, starting June 25, 2026.

This event will bring back the core gameplay of Trial of the Ancestors Tattoos, which is highly praised by players, and introduce a brand-new Ascendancy class system and Tattoos system. This event is not only a recreation of classic content, but also an important attempt to integrate old and new mechanics.

For PoE players, this event carries special anticipation. The development team has previously stated that adapting Trial of the Ancestors mechanic to the current game patch involves considerable technical work. Therefore, some players also see this event as an important window into the design direction of Patch 3.29.

Event Framework

Time and Mode

PoE Return of the Ancestors Event will officially begin at 3 PM PDT on June 25, 2026, and will continue until 3 PM PDT on July 16.

The event covers Standard, Hardcore, Solo Self-Found, and their expert variants, and includes a Ruthless mode option. Ascendancy classes used in Ruthless mode are consistent with those in non-Ruthless mode, providing equal opportunities for players with different preferences.

It's worth noting that PoE event mechanism requires participants to create entirely new characters; existing characters cannot directly enter the event server.

This setting ensures all players start on a level playing field in terms of resource accumulation and class development, consistent with the design logic of limited-time league events.

Core Mechanics

Silver Coin is the key item for entering Karui Afterlife Arena. Players can collect this currency in various areas of Wraeclast.

Using Silver Coin, players can form their own warrior teams to engage in tournaments against the chieftains of Karui tribes and win rewards. This cyclical structure may provide a reference for adjustments to the economic model in Patch 3.29.

The original Trial of the Ancestors Event's Tattoos will return along with a new batch of special Tattoos applicable to Ascendancy classes. These new Tattoos are event-exclusive and will not transfer to Standard after the event ends.

It's important to note that during Return of the Ancestors Event, Tattoos will not be available as rewards through Kingsmarch's shipping system.

This restriction means that players will primarily acquire Tattoos through League's own gameplay loop, rather than through external economic systems.

Mechanics and Ecosystem

Ascendancy Classes

PoE Patch 3.29 Return of the Ancestors Event completely replaced Ascendancy class system. All regular Ascendancy classes were replaced by 19 Phrecian Ascendancy classes, but Reliquarian Ascendancy classes were disabled because of the lack of a corresponding Phrecian update.

These balance adjustments to Ascendancy classes follow the settings from the previous Phrecian Event, and the developers have detailed the specific changes in the related announcements.

Although Ascendancy classes have been completely replaced, the passive skill points provided by Forbidden Tattoos still come from regular Ascendancy classes, not Patch Phrecians.

In Ruthless mode, these Tattoos will grant passive points from the regular Ascendancy classes of Ruthless update. The use of Tattoos is not restricted by the character's base class; for example, a Sorceress can use Ranger Ascendancy Tattoos.

New Item Rules

Return of the Ancestors Event introduced Forbidden Tattoo series, covering updates for seven classes. A batch of new items will also be implemented in the event.

Tattoos cannot be applied to Ascendancy talent points involving multiple choices, Bloodline Ascendancy talent points, or talent points that provide passive skill points.

As part of the adjustments, Scavenger Ascendancy class has added a new talent point called Tabula Rasa. This talent doesn't provide any attribute bonuses but allows players to apply Ascendancy Tattoos.

Player Considerations

Rewards and Progression

PoE has set up a basic reward milestone for players participating in Return of the Ancestors Event: after defeating Kitava in Act 10, each account will automatically receive a Return of Ancestors Mystery Box.

This reward can only be obtained once per account per Event; repeatedly defeating the same character or other characters will not trigger additional rewards.

Of course, players can continue completing the remaining Mirage Challenge League during this Event. This means that Event's progress system has a certain degree of compatibility with regular league content, and players will not have their existing challenge objectives interrupted by switching Events.

Platforms and Configuration

PoE Return of the Ancestors Event will be simultaneously launched on PC and console platforms to ensure that players on different platforms can participate. For community item filter creators, the official list including newly added items from Event has been released for reference.

PoE Return of the Ancestors Event is a significant attempt to blend classic league mechanics with a brand-new class system.

By reintroducing Trial of the Ancestors gameplay, bringing back Phrecian Ascendancy class, and expanding Tattoos system, this Event provides players with a gameplay experience distinct from regular leagues.

The design of Event-specific Tattoos and their interaction rules with the regular class system reflect the development team's consideration of balancing content reuse and mechanic innovation. Whether this mechanism can continue until Patch 3.29, and even become a core part of PoE, will depend on actual player feedback.

The mechanics and resource acquisition difficulty of Return of the Ancestors are significantly higher than regular gameplay. This will make it difficult for most players to understand this update content in a short period of time. Therefore, buy Path of Exile 1 Currency from EZG.com to quickly acquire the key resources needed for deck building and get into a high-yield gameplay rhythm faster.

The core value of this event lies in the depth of combination between its mechanics, including team building in Karu Arena, Ascendancy class replacement system, and the talent expansion space brought by Tattoos. Understanding the interrelationships between these systems will directly affect the player's overall experience and efficiency in the event.

In Path of Exile Patch 3.28, the price barriers of high-end rings and certain legendary items are significantly impacting the endgame experience for players. The cost of high-end crafting, often reaching well over a hundred Divine Orbs, has created a steep economic barrier for many skill-based builds trying to reach their final form.

This market phenomenon, driven by the monopoly of rare affixes, stems from difference of opinion between the acquisition methods of specific base items and affixes and the current mainstream gameplay.

This article will analyze the potential changes to the crafting ecosystem brought about by the new league on July 24th and its impact on players, starting with the unpredictable nature of the farming mechanism and considering past adjustments by the developers.

Item Farming Pain Points

Currently, in Path of Exile Patch 3.28, player interest in farming items with rare affixes is low, with the uncontrollable farming process being the core reason.

Uncontrollable Costs

Under the existing mechanism, there is no clear cost ceiling for farming specific crafting implicit affixes. Whether through targeted exchanges via the league mechanism or by stacking map affixes, Path of Exile 1 Currency or resources consumed in a single attempt are substantial.

When players calculate the return on investment, they find that accumulating currency to directly get finished products is often more efficient than farming them themselves. This inverted relationship directly stifles the original motivation for farming.

Uncontrollable Drop Rates

The weighting of rare affixes exacerbates the sense of powerlessness among PoE players. Taking rings as an example, specific damage-increasing or energy-recharging implicit affixes have a low percentage in the vast affix pool, and the randomness of the base type further dilutes the effective output.

When players spend weeks farming without seeing their target affix, this purely probability-driven mechanism is no longer seen as a challenge, but as a time sink.

Uncontrollable Outcomes

Even if a player is lucky enough to obtain a base with the ideal implicit affix, the subsequent crafting process remains lengthy. From rolling high-level life affixes to specific resistances, and the fluctuations in attack affix values, every step is fraught with uncertainty.

This combination of multiple randomnesses means that even a decent starting product has a very high probability of becoming useless before reaching its last form, significantly increasing players' trial-and-error costs and frustration.

What Might Patch 3.29 Address?

To address these problems, if Path of Exile development team decides to intervene, their logic will probably follow the core idea of binding rewards to content and optimizing the affix acquisition tier in Patch 3.29.

Rewards and Themes Combined

Reintegrating high-value crafting implicit affixes into the dedicated drop pool of crafting maps is a direction that the player community has been strongly advocating for.

Just as Fossil rewards significantly increased in frequency and gameplay engagement after returning to the mines, limiting crafting bases to drops within crafting maps provides a clear farming objective and controls the overall influx of such items at the source.

This isn't simply about increasing drop rates; it's about making farming traceable by defining dedicated production areas, rather than blindly relying on luck in the current map-wide random drop system.

Affix Adjustment Logic

To address an excessively long crafting chain, PoE development team may consider introducing affix locking or targeted stripping mechanisms in specific gameplay modes in Patch 3.29.

For example, providing limited implicit affix replacement options in League gameplay, or reducing the fluctuation range of high-level affixes through specific currencies.

This adjustment aims to reduce the extreme situation where players have to start over entirely in the late stages of crafting because of a single affix value not meeting requirements, ensuring that every currency investment contributes to effective progress rather than relying solely on luck.

Drop Optimization

Besides increasing the drop rate of base items, optimizing the quality of dropped items is equally crucial. In Patch 3.28, most of the crafting base items players farmed had low-value affixes, making them difficult to craft.

If the base affix level of dropped base items can be increased in the high-difficulty content of Patch 3.29, making them closer to the finished product, players can skip some early crafting steps and directly enter the high-level crafting stage.

This will not only reduce Path of Exile 1 Currency consumption but also lower the barrier for new players to access high-end crafting.

Player Benefits

If these adjustments are implemented, the player community's gameplay behavior in Path of Exile will undergo a significant transformation.

In the current Patch 3.28, players often face a dilemma when confronted with expensive endgame gear. For players with moderate investment, assembling a complete build often requires spending a significant amount of time comparing prices and making compromises in the trading market.

Many players are forced to abandon specific builds because of the high price of core gear, opting instead for more affordable but more predictable builds, which to some extent reduces the diversity of late-game builds.

Once the farming path becomes clearer and the crafting process more controllable, players will be more willing to participate in gear crafting themselves. Farming specific maps or gameplay will no longer be seen as simply labor to earn currency, but as a challenge with a clear objective.

The barrier to entry for late-game content will be eased because of the reduced difficulty of obtaining endgame gear, allowing players to experience the full strength of different builds more smoothly, thus extending the active playtime of a single league.

Path of Exile, in Patch 3.29, is expected to alleviate the current pressure to reach endgame gear by returning rare affixes to their own gameplay and optimizing the crafting process.

This move will reshape the interaction between players and the gear system, making farming more planned, ultimately improving the accessibility of endgame content and late-game league retention.