Path of Exile Hard Mode is a game mode in a hack-and-slash game where you travel through Wraeclast in order to get revenge on people that exiled us.

Unfortunately, we are blinded by earlier mentioned revenge and we release The Beast from its seal. In order to repay humanity for our mistakes we decide to defeat The Beast.

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Last year Grinding Gear Games announced that they were working on an additional game mode, codenamed "Path of Exile Hard Mode". It has been officially announced and named: Ruthless.

What Is Path of Exile Hard Mode?

Path of Exile Hard Mode is an additional option besides Hardcore and Solo Self-Found, where you can create a character that will be exposed to the extreme scarcity of items alongside various other changes. Early in November, there will be more information announced about Ruthless and that will start Alpha tests. 

Fully open game mode to all players is expected to be alongside the 3.20 expansion and it won't affect new league features or its announcements.

How Will Path of Exile Hard Mode Work?

As the name implies, Ruthless will be for the specific type of players, that already have some experience in the game and are searching for new challenges. Nowadays, there lays a lot of items all around the screen, that are completely useless to you, but as a character in Hard Mode, you will no longer be picky.

There won't be any vendors that can sell you items or skill gems. There also won't be as much currency as it was up to now and you will wear mostly magic items.

Path of Exile Hard Mode

Credits: Grinding Gear Gaming

Can You Play Ruthless Earlier?

As we mentioned earlier, there are Alpha tests. For players that are interested in this game mode, you will be able to sign up for the Alpha tests in early November, when full information about Path of Exile Hard Mode will be announced.

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Alpha tests will be played on the 3.19 expansion, not on 3.20 which is announced to be alongside mentioned earlier Hard Mode. As we all know there are always changes between Alpha tests and the release of the official thing, and we can easily say there won't be any changes. There will be needed improvements or changes that will keep everything relatively balanced.

Path of Exile Hard Mode

Credits: Grinding Gear Gaming

How to Prepare For Path of Exile Hard Mode?

 To prepare for Path of Exile Hard Mode, firstly you need to know about a few apps. Starting up with Path of Building Community Fork which will help you with your skill tree, items, and skill gems and calculate damage, defenses, and many more. 

You can't miss the loot filter that normally would save you from item flood on the screen. However, in this mode, you will need to make your filter show more items, because it will be very hard to find what you exactly want, that's how will Path of Exile Hard Mode work.

Last but not least, you will need a build that won't require very strong items and can work only on the skill tree.

Path of Exile Hard Mode

Screenshot: Games Atlas, Credit: Grinding Gear Gaming

It's also important to remember you won't get as many skill point's as in the average Path of Exile league. That's obviously caused by the low power level of items you will get and you won't be able to get much experience in high-tier maps.


This was our Path of Exile Hard Mode guide. For more coverage on Path of Exile and other games, keep tuning into Games Atlas!

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