Path of Exile 3.30 Covens of Umbra: Launch Time, Fates and Wickerman, Threads of Creation Replacing Scarabs and the Loot Rework

QUICK ANSWER · Path of Exile 3.30 · Covens of Umbra

• Launch: Friday, November 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM PST (1:00 PM CT), free on PC (standalone, Steam, Epic), PlayStation and Xbox

• Old league ends: Curse of the Allflame (3.29) closes Monday, November 9 at 1 PM PST (3 PM CT)

• League mechanic: Defeat witch covens to earn Fates, invoke up to three on an area boss for harder fights and bigger rewards, then hang boss Viscera on your Wickerman for permanent buffs

• Endgame: Grim Fates twist pinnacle bosses like Sirus, the Shaper and Uber Elder and drop the strongest Viscera

• Scarabs: Removed. Threads of Creation go into the Map Device instead: up to eight per mechanic, three mechanics at once

• Atlas: New passive tree, mechanic regions, Mirage goes core, Atziri takes over the Temple, Harvest and Beyond reworked

• Loot: Magic and Rare drops now have visible tiers; item rarity now improves currency, cards, gems and uniques

Path of Exile is getting its biggest endgame shake-up in years, and it arrives four weeks before its sequel goes free-to-play. Grinding Gear Games revealed Covens of Umbra, the 3.30 expansion for the original game, on the ExileCon 2026 main stage in Auckland on November 6 (US time). It launches for free on Friday, November 13 at 11:00 AM PST, which is 1:00 PM Central, on PC and consoles, according to GGG's official launch post.

The headline is not only the new league. Scarabs are gone, replaced by a system called Threads of Creation. The Atlas passive tree has been rebuilt from scratch. Mirage goes core, Atziri moves into the Temple of Atzoatl, and ground loot gets visible tiers for the first time. On top of all that sits a witch-themed challenge league where you decide how hard each boss fight should be, then wear pieces of the bosses you kill.

This guide covers the launch time, the league mechanics, the Scarab replacement, the Atlas changes, the loot rework and what it all means for the first week. GGG's full feature rundown is on the Covens of Umbra announcement page and in its Steam announcement.

Covens of Umbra Release Date and Launch Time

Covens of Umbra goes live on Friday, November 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM PST. Daylight saving time has already ended in the US, so that converts cleanly:

Pacific: 11:00 AM
Mountain: 12:00 PM
Central: 1:00 PM
Eastern: 2:00 PM
UTC: 7:00 PM
UK: 7:00 PM
Central Europe: 8:00 PM
New Zealand: 8:00 AM on Saturday, November 14

The expansion is free on every platform the game already supports: the standalone PC client, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation and Xbox. Consoles launch at the same time as PC.

Before that, the current challenge league has to wrap up. GGG's 3.30 timeline post set the end of Curse of the Allflame for Monday, November 9 at 1:00 PM PST (3:00 PM CT). Characters and items from that league move to Standard when it closes, so any remaining challenges need to be done before Monday afternoon.

Date	What happens	Time (CT)
Fri, Nov 6	ExileCon 2026 keynote reveals Covens of Umbra and Path of Exile 2 1.0	Stream started 2:30 PM CT
Mon, Nov 9	Curse of the Allflame challenge league ends; characters move to Standard	3:00 PM CT (1 PM PST)
Fri, Nov 13	Path of Exile 3.30 Covens of Umbra launches on all platforms	1:00 PM CT (11 AM PST)
Fri, Dec 11	Path of Exile 2 Full Release and Conquerors of Wraeclast league	Date set in PST; hour not announced

Patch notes for 3.30 had not been published as of November 8. GGG normally posts the full notes a few days before launch, and they will be the place to check exact numbers for anything covered below.

The Covens of Umbra League Explained

The story setup is simple. The Coven Queen condemned her homeland of Umbra to eternal darkness and now wants Wraeclast. Her followers, the Covens of Umbra, have spread across the continent and are performing grisly rituals around cauldrons. A prisoner of the Queen named Mora helps you disrupt them, starting in the opening areas of the campaign.

The league has two halves that feed each other: Fates, which make bosses harder, and the Wickerman, which turns those harder bosses into character power.

Fates: Choosing How Hard Each Boss Fight Is

When you defeat a coven ritual, you get to pick a Fate for the boss of the area you are in. Each Fate adds a handful of effects that raise both the difficulty and the rewards of that boss encounter. The official press release lists examples such as explosive blackfire, deadly vines and harpoons of bone and blood.

Key rules from the reveal:

You can invoke up to three Fates on a single boss.
As you progress, more coven encounters appear per area, so you can be holding four or five Fates and choosing which three to use.
Surviving pays out currency, Unique items, Maps and other loot.
Matching Fates unlock rarer rewards, including Exceptional Support Gems and brand new Unique items.
Stacking duplicate Fates sharply boosts the reward of the first one. Inven Global's keynote coverage describes duplicates as tripling it, and item rarity bonuses and new unique flasks were among the rewards shown.

The design is a risk dial. A league start character can invoke soft Fates to keep the campaign smooth, while a well-geared mapper can stack three punishing ones for a much better payout. Since rewards scale with the danger, the strongest builds of the league will be the ones that can kill a triple-Fated boss quickly without dying.

More Bosses in the Campaign

Fates only work on bosses, and plenty of campaign areas never had one. GGG fixed that by adding more than two dozen new campaign bosses to fill those gaps, so every campaign area and every endgame map now has a boss of its own. On-site coverage from PCGamesN adds that some campaign layouts were rearranged where needed so you run into those bosses without having to scour the whole zone.

For players who level several characters each league, that is a real change to the campaign rhythm. Expect slightly longer acts if you engage with every Fate, and plenty of optional power if you do.

The Wickerman and Viscera

The second half of the league is the Wickerman, a twisted wooden effigy you bind your character's soul to. Fate-empowered bosses can drop Viscera: grisly trophies such as limbs, flesh, bone, skin and carapace. Placing a Viscera on the Wickerman grants a scrap of that boss's power as a buff for your character.

The numbers GGG has shared:

Over 120 Viscera to collect across campaign and Atlas bosses.
Four slots: head, arm, body and leg, so up to four Viscera are active at once.
Three tiers of increasing strength, with the highest tier only available from endgame versions of bosses.
Bonuses range from extra life and regeneration to stronger poisons, so there is room for almost every build archetype.

Because every boss has its own Viscera, the league gives a reason to target specific bosses over and over. That is similar to how players farmed particular map bosses for unique drops in earlier leagues, but here the reward is a slot-limited character buff, so the best combination for a given build will be worth chasing for weeks.

System	What it does	Where it matters
Fates	Earned by defeating coven rituals; up to three invoked on one area boss for extra mechanics and better loot	Campaign and maps
Matching Fates	Combining the right Fates unlocks rarer rewards, including Exceptional Support Gems and new Unique items	Campaign and maps
Viscera	Body parts from Fate-empowered bosses; 120+ in total, three quality tiers, top tier from endgame bosses only	Character power
Wickerman	Effigy with head, arm, body and leg slots; up to four Viscera equipped at once	Character power
Grim Fates	Rare Fates from higher-level Atlas bosses; persist between instances and are invoked on specific pinnacle bosses	Pinnacle bosses, Coven Queen

Grim Fates and the Coven Queen

At the top end of the Atlas, Fate-empowered bosses in higher-level areas can drop Grim Fates. Unlike ordinary Fates, Grim Fates persist between instances and are stored on your Wickerman until you choose to use them. Each one is tied to a specific pinnacle boss.

GGG showed several examples of how Grim Fates rework familiar fights:

Sirus: his storms become swarms of crows.
Uber Elder: dark energy erupts from the portals, firing beams across the arena.
The Shaper: conjures deadly illusions that mirror his own abilities.

Beating a pinnacle boss empowered by a Grim Fate drops Pinnacle Boss Viscera, which GGG calls some of the most powerful bonuses the Wickerman can hold. Keynote coverage also notes that defeating a Grim Fate pinnacle is the gateway to the final encounter with the Coven Queen herself.

For racers and bossers, this is the long-term chase of the league. Pinnacle Viscera should make high-end characters noticeably stronger, which in turn makes harder Grim Fates more practical. How strong those buffs are in raw numbers will only be clear once the patch notes and the first few days of play are out.

Threads of Creation Replace Scarabs

The single biggest change in 3.30 for experienced players is the removal of Scarabs. They are replaced by Threads of Creation, which are set directly in the Map Device.

Here is how Threads work, based on GGG's announcement and the keynote:

Threads drop from the regular endgame loot pool, one type for each of the ten primary league mechanics: Abyss, Blight, Legion, Breach, Incursion, Betrayal, Bestiary, Expedition, Ultimatum and Ritual.
At the Map Device you pick a mechanic and spend up to eight Threads on it.
Each Thread spent makes that mechanic harder and more rewarding, scales monster rarity, and raises the chance of random powerful effects that augment it.
Finishing the Atlas questline unlocks three Thread slots, so you can guarantee up to three mechanics per map.
Your Thread setup persists between maps and pulls Threads directly from your stash, which removes most of the restocking busywork Scarabs required.

The special effects are where the system gets interesting. Examples shown on stage included Blight lanes filled with Rogue Exiles that each carry a unique, mycotic Blight lanes with richer chests, and Expedition encounters where every runic monster is rare. In Betrayal, a Thread-boosted map can spawn Caterina's Corpse Sculpture, which pulls in every Syndicate member held in your prison at once and can bring Caterina into the fight. Defeating her can drop Jewels with veiled modifiers.

Scarabs (3.29)	Threads of Creation (3.30)
Bought or farmed per mechanic, placed in the Map Device each map	Drop from regular endgame loot for ten primary mechanics, set once in the Map Device
Many separate Scarab types with fixed effects	One Thread type per mechanic; more Threads raise difficulty, rewards and the odds of random special modifiers
Juicing depended on how many Scarabs you could afford	Baseline juice moves to the Atlas tree; Threads add a random jackpot layer on top
Manual restocking every map	Configuration persists between maps and pulls Threads straight from your stash
No hard cap on mechanics beyond Scarab slots	Up to eight Threads per mechanic and three mechanic slots after the Atlas questline

Where Scarab Power Went

Scarab effects are not simply deleted. Game Director Jonathan Rogers explained at the keynote that the intent is for the average player to get roughly the same amount of juice they had with Scarabs, but as a baseline from the Atlas tree, with Threads adding a layer of random jackpots on top. That shifts endgame strategy away from buying stacks of the right Scarabs and toward building an Atlas tree and choosing which mechanics to push.

For the in-game economy, the change is significant. Scarabs were one of the most traded item classes in every recent league, and a lot of mapping profit came from flipping or farming them. Threads are a fresh item category, so expect their prices to swing wildly in the first days while players work out which mechanics deliver the best returns at high Thread counts.

The Rebuilt Atlas Passive Tree

The Atlas passive tree has been completely refreshed with a new layout and dozens of new wheels, stats and effects. Many bonuses that used to live on expensive Scarabs are now available on the tree for everyone.

New notables named in the official press release include:

True Terrors: extra modifiers on Unique Monsters.
Fate Bespoken: Map Bosses can steal Divination Cards and may duplicate them on death.
Golden orbs from Map Bosses: slain bosses can release orbs filled with Gold.
Ghostflame Communion: Shrines can unleash Tormented Spirits.
House Supremacy: more control over which Mercenary classes appear in your maps.
By the Lanternlight: a chance for Veiled Items to drop as Allflames.
Abyss passives: rare Corrupted Abyssal Jewels with extra or Veiled modifiers.
Servants of the Well: five additional Rare Monsters can rise from Abyss depths.

The Atlas map itself now has distinct regions tied to different league mechanics. Completing maps within a region strengthens its associated mechanics, adding danger, rewards and the chance of powerful new modifiers. In practice this lets you steer the endgame toward the content you enjoy before you even slot a Thread.

Mechanics That Interact With Each Other

GGG also built crossovers between league mechanics so that maps feel less predictable. Examples from the keynote:

A Tormented Spirit spawning next to an Expedition buries it under a haunted gravestone.
Strongboxes near a Blight encounter can become infected, letting you open them multiple times with empowered rewards.
Mercenaries close to an Abyss pit can be joined by the Chaplain of the Well, a stronger unit with its own rewards that can be recruited with a Warrant.

Rogers said there are dozens more of these pairings, naming Ultimatum with Strongboxes, Essences with Expeditions, and Harvest with Rituals as other combinations to look for.

Mirage, Atziri and Other Endgame Changes

Almost every established endgame mechanic has been changed in some way. The highlights:

Mechanic	Notable 3.30 change
Mirage	Becomes core; can spawn randomly or as a rollable map modifier, and a Mirage covers the entire map
Viridian Wildwood, Sentinels, Beyond	Can now appear at any map tier rather than only the highest tiers
Beyond	Killing a Beyond boss no longer stops portals; some bosses open a portal to their own realm with an upgraded fight
Harvest	Sacred Grove no longer appears in maps; tangled roots replace it and accept currency to add modifiers
Incursion	Atziri replaces the Vaal Omnitect in the Temple of Atzoatl; already corrupted items can be corrupted again; new Cradle of Creation raises difficulty and rewards
Blight	Mycotic lanes, empowered Blight Cores that summon minibosses, lanes filled with unique-carrying Rogue Exiles
Ritual	Optional Bodach waves for more rewards; excess tribute can summon a minion of the King in the Mists
Ultimatum	Double-down option for twice the rounds with no early exit; Soul Cores and the Trialmaster's Beating Heart
Expedition	Occasional huge sites, Runic Obelisks that revive slain magic and rare monsters, a coin flip between two crafts
Betrayal	Caterina's Corpse Sculpture pulls every imprisoned Syndicate member in at once
Bestiary	Recipes no longer require yellow beast captures
Gwennen	Gains a new service and now gambles on your own items
Delve, Heist, Sanctum	Their required resources are marked on the Atlas so they can be targeted

Two of these deserve extra attention.

Mirage going core is a big deal for mapping speed and loot. First introduced as a league mechanic in 3.28, a Mirage now covers the entire map it appears in, which effectively lets you run the map a second time through its mirrored counterpart. It can appear randomly or be rolled onto a map alongside modifiers such as Mirrors of Delirium or the Viridian Wildwood.

Atziri moving into the Temple reshapes Incursion. She evicts the Vaal Omnitect, brings her own adjustments, and the Temple gains the ability to corrupt items that are already corrupted. The new Cradle of Creation raises the Temple's difficulty and rewards further. Double corruption is a high-risk crafting tool, so expect it to become a major money sink and money maker for top-end gear.

Settlers of Kalguur also contributes experience and gold buffs, according to the keynote.

The Loot Rework: Tiered Magic and Rare Items

GGG calls this expansion's loot changes "fundamental changes to how loot drops in Path of Exile, unlike anything we've done before." Rogers put it more bluntly on stage, saying the core drop pool had become stale.

The main changes:

Magic and Rare items can drop with visible tiers. Higher tiers roll higher-level modifiers, better base types and more sockets and links.
At the top tiers, prized crafting bases such as Simplex Amulets and Cord Belts can drop from the core pool.
Tier 5 Magic items can drop fractured, opening new crafting options directly from the ground.
Item rarity has been overhauled. Monster item rarity now improves the chance of finding valuable currency, Divination Cards, Gems and Unique items, not just the number of Magic, Rare and Unique items.

According to Output Lag's keynote report, item quantity is no longer used as a reward lever, pinnacle bosses carry high rarity by default, and most Divine Orbs should now come from tough rare and unique monsters rather than trash mobs and barrels. Tiered items can also be targeted in item filters. The exact drop odds for each tier were not shown.

If the rework lands as described, it changes what an item filter should show. For years most players hid nearly every Magic and Rare drop. In 3.30, a strict filter that hides high-tier bases could throw away valuable crafting material, so updating filters before launch day is worth the few minutes it takes. Filter makers such as NeverSink usually publish league-ready versions around launch.

What This Means for League Start

Covens of Umbra changes enough systems at once that the first week will be messier than usual. A few practical points:

Finish Allflame before Monday. The current league closes on November 9 at 3 PM CT. Anything left uncompleted after that is gone.
Plan for a longer campaign if you engage with Fates. More campaign bosses and optional Fates add time but also power, gems and currency on the way.
Pick builds that kill bosses well. The whole league reward loop runs through empowered bosses, so strong single-target damage and defensive layers matter more than in a pure clear-speed league.
Expect an Atlas learning curve. The tree, regions and Threads are all new. Early mapping strategies from previous leagues will not transfer directly.
Watch the Thread economy. Prices for the most profitable Threads are likely to spike early and settle as supply builds.
Update your item filter. Tiered Magic and Rare drops mean a strict old filter could hide good crafting bases.

The full patch notes will settle questions like exact Viscera values, Thread drop rates and how the new Atlas tree scales. Build planners and community guides typically follow within a day or two of those notes.

Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2 Side by Side

Covens of Umbra lands exactly four weeks before Path of Exile 2 reaches its 1.0 Full Release on December 11, when the sequel goes free-to-play with Acts 5 and 6, the Shadow and Duelist classes, and the Conquerors of Wraeclast league. Everything announced for the sequel at ExileCon is in the Path of Exile 2 1.0 guide.

GGG has repeatedly said both games will continue side by side, and the 3.30 reveal backs that up. This is not a maintenance patch for an older game. Removing Scarabs, rebuilding the Atlas tree and reworking ground loot are the kind of changes GGG usually saves for its largest expansions, and they suggest Path of Exile 1 will keep its own identity and audience well past the sequel's launch.

For players splitting time between both, the schedule works out neatly: a month of Covens of Umbra, then Path of Exile 2's launch league over the holidays.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Path of Exile 3.30 Covens of Umbra launch?

Covens of Umbra launches on Friday, November 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM PST. That is 1:00 PM Central, 2:00 PM Eastern and 7:00 PM UTC. It is free on PC through the standalone client, Steam and Epic, and on PlayStation and Xbox.

When does the Curse of the Allflame league end?

The 3.29 Curse of the Allflame challenge league ends on Monday, November 9, 2026 at 1:00 PM PST, which is 3:00 PM Central. Characters and items move to Standard after it closes.

Is Covens of Umbra free?

Yes. Like every Path of Exile expansion, Covens of Umbra is free for all players. Optional purchases are cosmetics, stash tabs and Supporter Packs.

What is the Covens of Umbra league mechanic?

You defeat witch coven rituals to earn Fates, then invoke up to three Fates on an area boss to make the fight harder and the rewards better. Fate-empowered bosses can drop Viscera, body-part trophies you place on your Wickerman for permanent character buffs. There are more than 120 Viscera across four slots.

Are Scarabs removed in Path of Exile 3.30?

Yes. Scarabs are removed and replaced by Threads of Creation. Threads drop for ten primary league mechanics, go into the Map Device, and can be stacked up to eight per mechanic, with three mechanic slots unlocked through the Atlas questline. Many former Scarab effects move onto the rebuilt Atlas passive tree.

What are Grim Fates?

Grim Fates are rare Fates dropped by empowered bosses in higher-level Atlas areas. They persist between instances and are used against specific pinnacle bosses such as Sirus, the Shaper and Uber Elder, changing their attacks. Beating a Grim Fate pinnacle drops Pinnacle Boss Viscera, the strongest Wickerman buffs, and leads to the Coven Queen.

Is Mirage core in Path of Exile 3.30?

Yes. Mirage becomes part of the core game. It can appear randomly in maps or as a rollable map modifier, and a Mirage now covers the entire map, effectively letting you run it a second time.

What changed with loot in Covens of Umbra?

Magic and Rare items can now drop with visible tiers that improve modifiers, base types, sockets and links. Top tiers can drop bases like Simplex Amulets and Cord Belts, and Tier 5 Magic items can drop fractured. Item rarity now improves the value of currency, cards, gems and uniques that drop, not just the number of items.

Are the Path of Exile 3.30 patch notes out?

Not yet. GGG revealed the expansion at ExileCon on November 6, and the full patch notes usually arrive a few days before launch. Exact values for Viscera, Threads and Atlas passives will be confirmed there.

Does Covens of Umbra come out on consoles at the same time as PC?

Yes. GGG's launch post lists November 13 at 11:00 AM PST for PC and consoles, and the press release names PC, Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Epic Games for the same date.