Path of Exile:Keepers of the Flame – Buffs and Nerfs Overview
Patch arrives with significant updates, boosting underperforming Ascendancies and skills while nerfing a few previously dominant options. Builds that struggled with consistency or scaling have received meaningful improvements, making this one of the more player-friendly updates in recent memory. Here's a breakdown of the biggest winners and losers in the League.
Ascendancy Buffs:Builds Getting Stronger
1.Pathfinder
Pathfinder shines as a top-tier choice for flask-focused builds. Master Distiller has been upgraded across multiple flask types:
Bismuth Flask:25% Elemental Resistance penetration (up from 20%)
Diamond Flask:250% increased Critical Strike Chance (up from 150%)
Amethyst Flask:37% of Physical Damage converted to Chaos Damage (up from 25%)
These improvements make Pathfinder especially effective for elemental and chaos-based setups, rewarding players who maximize flask synergy and gear optimization.Enhance your journey in Path of Exile with instant MMOexp POE currency!
2. Necromancer
Necromancers benefit from improved Corpse Pact scaling. Each corpse now grants 4% increased attack and cast speed, stacking faster and doubling the potential speed gain. This supports smoother gameplay loops and stronger corpse-dependent skills like Reap, Volatile Dead, and Detonate Dead.
3. Assassin
The Assassin is perhaps the biggest Ascendancy winner in Patch 3.27. The rework emphasizes poison, crits, and uptime consistency. Unstable Infusion now applies a Level 30 Assassin Mark on every critical hit, maintaining near-permanent mark uptime. Improved power charge generation further enhances crit-based poison builds, making Poison Blade Vortex and Venom Gyre setups exceptionally powerful.
4. Cyclone
Cyclone receives a 20% base damage increase at all gem levels, improving both early-game and endgame viability. Combined with broader melee balance changes, Cyclone Slayers and Champions are back in the meta.
5. Exsanguinate & Reap
Physical Damage over Time builds see a 15% boost to base Physical DoT damage per second, strengthening Occultist and Trickster setups. This update ensures consistent scaling for both mapping and bossing without requiring heavy investment.
6. Hexblast
Hexblast, strong in curse-centric builds, now deals 200% more hit damage and 90% more ailment damage against Hexed enemies (previously 150% and 60%). While its 2-second cooldown remains a limitation, the skill burst potential is now exceptional, benefiting self-curse and Doom-focused builds.
Biggest Nerfs:Builds Feeling the Pain
1.Trickster
The Trickster faces multiple nerfs that weaken its standing as a top-tier League starter:
Spellbreaker:No longer provides spell suppression
Soul Drinker:Loses 20% increased Attack and Cast Speed while leeching Energy Shield
One Step Ahead:Reduced action speed
Heartstopper:Minor buff, still largely unpopular
Players may need to pivot toward defensive or hybrid builds.
2. Elementalist
Liege of the Primordial now caps Golem buffs at 50% (down from 100%), impacting Golemancer builds heavily. While other Elementalist tools remain strong, minion-focused builds see a notable drop in both damage and survivability.
3. Blink Arrow – Prismatic Clones
The Prismatic Clones variant suffers severe reductions:
Clone duration reduced from 20s → 5s
Clone damage reduced by 20%
Still viable for early mapping, it's no longer a low-investment powerhouse.
4. Poisonous Concoction
Despite Assassin buffs, Poisonous Concoction loses significant peak damage:
Added Chaos Damage:22–537 to 33–806 (down from 30–716 to 44–1073)
The skill remains fast and self-sustaining, but its dominance on high-tier maps is diminished.
5. Volcanic Fissure of Snaking
Once one of the most explosive skills, VFoS has been reined in:
No longer targets enemies hit by previous fissure explosions
Loses 50% more Area of Effect bonus
Clear speed and single-target damage have decreased, reducing its high-tier viability.
Patch favors active, flask-based, and crit-oriented builds, while auto-scaling and pet-focused setups face minor setbacks. Players revisiting their Path of Exile items or preparing buy POE currency investments from MMOexp will find this patch reshapes the meta and sets the stage for an exciting new season.