Path of Exile drops socket colors after 13 years in Curse of the Allflame

Path of Exile is removing socket colors, the gear system that has shaped its character builds since the game launched 13 years ago. Grinding Gear Games told PC Gamer that most items in the game's next expansion, Curse of the Allflame, will carry gray sockets that accept any skill gem, ending the busywork of rerolling an item's colors until they fit the gems a build needs.

Path of Exile does not teach skills directly. Players collect skill gems and slot them into red, green and blue sockets on their gear, and a gem only works in a socket of a matching color. That constraint has long been one of the first obstacles for players arriving without a build plan, and a recurring friction every time gear is upgraded.

Grinding Gear Games described the decision as a difficult one it considered necessary to keep the game reachable for newcomers. Game director Mark Roberts told PC Gamer the change came out of internal discussions about drawing in new players and about letting people who had bounced off the game's complexity try it again. The studio weighed the same question while designing the simplified skill gem system in Path of Exile 2, he said, but concluded at the time that socket colors were too inseparable from the original game's DNA to cut.

What else Curse of the Allflame changes

The expansion also places a crafting bench in every town rather than only in a player's hideout, making it easier for newer players to add stats such as elemental resistances to their gear. Two long-untouched mechanics, Abyss and Legion, are being reworked; Abyss will function closer to its Path of Exile 2 version, with players following cracks in the ground and fighting whatever crawls out. Roberts told PC Gamer to expect further reworks in later leagues, and hinted that the monster-hunting Bestiary mechanic is a likely next candidate.

Grinding Gear Games said Curse of the Allflame would arrive on July 24. Roberts said the studio still intends to grow the audience for the original Path of Exile alongside its sequel.