Grinding Gear Games has scheduled four Path of Exile 2 qualifier races for August, each of which sends its winner to a live final at ExileCon in Auckland, New Zealand this November. In announcements posted to the game's Steam news feed, the studio set the events for August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27, all starting at 2pm PDT.
Every qualifier runs the same race: players compete to be the first to defeat Tavakai in Act Four, in a Solo Self-Found Runes of Aldur event played on a fixed layout. The races are not Hardcore, but dying carries a penalty. A player who dies cannot move their character for two and a half minutes before continuing.
The studio's more recent post says the qualifier events are open to both PC and console players, a widening of the terms set out in its earlier announcement, which described them as PC only. The finale at ExileCon will be played on PC, and Grinding Gear Games said competitors may bring their own .build files and preferred peripherals to use during it.
What the winners get
The first player to kill Tavakai in each event receives a prize package covering the trip to ExileCon, the studio said. It lists flights to Auckland for the ExileCon weekend, accommodation in the city, entry into the ExileCon Path of Exile 2 Race Finale, an Ultra VIP ExileCon ticket and a Demigod's Virtue unique helmet.
A player who wins one qualifier is not eligible to win another. If a winner cannot travel to New Zealand, Grinding Gear Games said the flights, accommodation and ExileCon tickets transfer to whoever set the next fastest time across the events, while the original winner still receives the Demigod's Virtue.
How to enter
Entry is free and open to anyone, on the condition that entrants link their Path of Exile account to Twitch and stream their participation on that linked account for the whole event. The studio said an entry it cannot watch in full is not eligible to win. Players join by pressing the Join button for the race on the Character Select screen and creating a character, which stays stationary until the race officially begins.
Past and present Grinding Gear Games employees cannot win prizes in the events, and the studio said unsportsmanlike conduct in the run-up to ExileCon may lead to disqualification. All four races are being broadcast on the game's Twitch channel with ZiggyD and RaizQT hosting, and co-streaming is permitted. Details of the Path of Exile 1 qualifiers, which will also culminate on the ExileCon main stage, are to be announced separately.
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