PoE 3.28 Mirage League: Scion Ascendancy, Map Crafting & Gems
By Mike | March 02, 2026 | Categories: Tips & Guides
Wraeclast finds itself beset with new dangers once again. From a new horde of disturbed outland cultists called the Afarud to Zana, causing fractures across the many universes in the Atlas. There are massive changes coming in the latest patch for PoE, with more on the way.
Mirage League
Patch 3.28 centers around the machinations of a necromancy cult called the Afarud. They capture and torture Djinns for an unknown cause. The player will be aided by an NPC named Varashta, an ancient Maraketh sorceress who seeks to free the captured Djinn.
Release Date
March 6 (11 AM PST)
League Mechanics
Players need to enter a Mirage to free the captive Djinn from the Afarud. These locations are imperfect mirrors of the nearby area. This means league mechanics found on the ‘normal map’ are also found inside the ‘Mirage Map’.
Wishes
The Djinns grant players one of three wishes, each denoted by its own icon. These wishes are area modifiers that significantly affect the instance’s difficulty and loot. Some wishes grant extremely powerful buffs for the player, like ‘Wish for Godhood,’ essentially making players immortal while inside the Mirage.
Djinns
There are 3 Djinn in the game, namely: Kelari, Ruzhan, and Navira. Each Mirage will present the player with 3 options. These options can have overlapping Djinns, such as 2 from Kelari and 1 from Ruzhan.
- Kelari is the Djinn of Sand and provides effects that add loot crates to the map, as well as providing more loot for the player. Slain Astral Monsters while in the Mirage also have a chance of dropping a Coin of Skill.
- Ruzhan is the Djinn of Fire. He provides offensive buffs to the player and methods to augment loot drops. While in the Mirage, Slain Astral Monsters have a chance to drop Coin of Power
- Navira is the Djinn of Water, and she provides players with defensive buffs and also ways to augment loot drops. She also provides a Coin through the same way as the others. Her coin is the Coin of Knowledge.
Coins
The newest patch adds several new Coins for crafting. These coins are going to significantly impact the endgame meta of PoE 3.28.
- Coin of Restoration restores Maraketh artifacts that have been corrupted by the Afarud. These artifacts are unique weapons and armor that essentially have 2 versions.
- (ie. Fleshrender + Coin of Restoration = Skysunder)
- Coin of (Skill, Power, Knowledge). Exiles will be in a rush to find these massively powerful endgame Coins. These Coins, when applied to Skill Gems, corrupts it and add a support effect from the existing pool of Support Gems.
New Scion Ascendacy: Reliquarian
Every new patch is essentially a dice roll for Scion players. It’s great for players who are well-versed in the game mechanics and items. This Ascendancy takes it to a whole new level. The Reliquarian focuses on studying the effects of Unique Items found within the game, and her Passive Tree reflects this idea.
Ascendancy Tree
For players interested in trying out this new class must know a few things. There is an order to unlocking her passives, and it all starts with a Unique Armor Effect. This is followed by selecting a Unique Weapon Effect and lastly a Unique Jewel Effect. The full extent of her capabilities will be front and center once Patch 3.28 releases.
Massive Endgame Changes
Mapping Quality of Life Improvements
Mapping has been made faster, easier, and simpler compared to the systems of previous patches. Specific maps have been removed from the loot pool; in their place is a blank map with a corresponding tier. In the past, players needed to find specific maps; in the coming update, players only need to find a map with the right tier to enter any map in the same tier. This works in conjunction with how maps transfer from inventory to the atlas. Players can quickly open the same map with a different instance just by Ctrl-clicking the map item.
Map Craft Removed and New Scarabs
Map crafting has been removed; this means all associated recipes and items have been removed from the game, as they serve no purpose. Map Chisels, Orb of Horizons, and more have been removed due to lack of functionality. The effects of these items have been redistributed into the Atlas and are unlocked through other means.
This update saw the addition of several new scarabs, which have the potential to be Divine Orb generators. The new Expedition Scarab of Infusion has the potential to be many players’ main juicing method thanks to its effect: Logbooks found in the area always have 4 Implicits. More will be found as time continues with more methods for players to juice their maps.
Arcane Astrolabes
These new Astrolabes function similarly to Patch 3.1.0 War for the Atlas, Shaper, and Elder influence. The new Astrolabes (Templar, Fungal, Lightless, and Nameless) add their league mechanics to specified areas of the Atlas, all depending on where the player decides to place them. This new mechanic also has a bonus effect; clearing more maps increases the modifiers and difficulty of subsequent maps. In essence, the more maps within an influenced area, the greater the rewards and the harder the final map will be.
Voidstone Effects and the New Originator Voidstone
As part of the endgame rework, all Voidstones now have universal passive effects while slotted into the Atlas. A brand new Voidstone has been added to the game, and it functions similarly to past Voidstones but with an added feature. The Originator Voidstone, when socketed on the Atlas, allows high-tier bosses to drop Exceptional Support Gems.
No more Awakened Support Gems
Awakened Support Gems have been removed from the game, and in their stead are Exceptional Support Gems. These Gems function similarly to their predecessor but have slightly altered effects, letting some builds reach even greater heights. Not all Support Gems have received Exceptional versions, but there will be at least 40 at launch. Awakened Support Gems were removed because of streamlining endgame builds. This new change was implemented to hopefully increase build diversity among Exiles.
