Path Of Exile Will Make Hex Builds Stronger Against Unique Mobs And Remove Doom Mechanic In 3.20 Update

Grinding Gear Games has posted their latest "3.20 Balance Manifesto" for Path of Exile, listing changes incoming for Curses to make them more effective against different higher-tiered mobs. Specifically, Hexes are getting buffed to perform better against pinnacle bosses and unique enemies, and the Doom mechanic will get scrapped in "The Forbidden Sanctum" expansion come December.

The developers stated that Hex Builds perform well against normal weaker mobs, but stronger ones are a challenge due to mechanics/modifiers undermining the strength of Hexes. The culprit is the "hidden penalties" against players using Hexes, ranging from 33% to 66% when fighting unique enemies and bosses, respectively. Grinding Gear will remove those penalties to make Hexes more consistent against all monsters in the 3.20 update.

At the same time, the Doom mechanic meant to make self-cast Hexes more effective than others - like Blasphemy and Hextouch Support gems - will be removed. As a tradeoff for its removal, Grinding Gear will change several mechanics that often interacts with Doom, such as stats referencing Doom will get replaced with other Curse-themed modifiers. That also means Hex-related items will see some rework, especially the unique ones, and the devs will add new items that support Hex Builds.

The Manifesto also addresses changes to the Occultist ascendancy class to reflect the Hexes changes, Enfeeble and Temporal Chains got buffed, and Hex gems will see some rebalancing to make sure self-cast remains relevant. Grinding Gear's plans for Hexes are subject to change, though. The official specifics will be public when The Forbidden Sanctum patch notes go live in December.