110 articlesThe Return of the Ancients update in Path of Exile 2 introduced a bunch of new stuff to the game. At the same time, it also reworked most of its endgame systems. One system that has gone through a major rework is Breach.
Back then, the basic Breach gameplay was to complete Breach encounters, get rewards like Breach Rings, Catalysts, and Breach Splinters, then fight the pinnacle boss, Xesht.
However, things have changed massively with patch 0.5. In this guide, we’re going to do a deep dive into how the new Breach endgame system works.
Breach Explained in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5
In patch 0.5, Breach is now centered around the Keepers of the Flame questline and the Hiveborn mobs that invaded Wraeclast. This is similar to the system introduced in Keepers of the Flame on Path of Exile 1, albeit with some changes.
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When you first come across a Breach, you will encounter Ailith, who will then ask you to head to the Monastery of the Keepers to the south. You’ll find this on the map as shown in the image.
As you get closer to the monastery, you’ll start to encounter Breaches regularly on your maps. Once you arrive at the destination, you’ll then notice one of the new changes to the system.
There, you will encounter the Keepers and learn more about them. At the same time, you will also come across a new structure called the Genesis Tree. This is where you’ll most likely spend the majority of your Breach progression.
The Genesis Tree has the so-called Birthing mechanic, where you place Wombgifts into its slot and receive a random item based on the type of Wombgift you inserted.
For example, the Ornate Wombgift will birth a random amulet when inserted into its appropriate slot on the tree. In some cases, the items you’ll get are exclusive to this system.
However, to actually birth an item, you’ll need a resource called Hiveblood, which you can get by killing monsters in a Breach encounter.
How the Reworked Breach Encounters Work
Same as before, when you activate a Breach, it will slowly grow and spawn monsters over time. This time, however, a progress bar will appear at the bottom of your screen.
This bar serves two purposes. First, it shows how much time remains before the Breach collapses. Second, it tracks how effectively you are extending the encounter by killing the monsters it spawns.
Every enemy you kill contributes toward stabilizing the Breach.
If you manage to stabilize the Breach, it will then enter a new phase where it spawns new, even powerful monsters. Killing them will grant you various valuable loot and a ton of Hiveblood, which you can then use to grow the Genesis Tree.
In some cases, you’ll also encounter a new, powerful boss called Vruun, Marshal of Xesht who will spawn when a Breach stabilizes. Killing it will grant even more valuable loot, though it will be an even tougher encounter.
Hiveblood and Wombgifts
Killing the tougher monsters in a Breach encounter will reward you with a ton of Hiveblood. You can then use it on the Genesis Tree to unlock its branches, which allows you to further customize the items it births.
Aside from Hiveblood, you’ll also get Wombgifts during encounters. They are classified into 5 different types, namely Banded, Lavish, Ornate, Revelatory, and Signet.
When you interact with the Genesis Tree, you will see these holes. There, you can place your Wombgifts depending on the type. Each slot corresponds to a certain type of item it can birth, and it’s then connected to a branch of passive skills to further modify the outcome.
Specifically, it gives you a degree of control over what types will drop when you feed a Wombgift into it.
For example, the Amulet branch opens up passive nodes that let you control the base type of the amulet you’ll get. You can choose to get Bloodstone Amulets, Stellar Amulets, or even new base types that you can’t get elsewhere.
As you continue feeding the Genesis Tree, you will see a progress bar at the top. This indicates how much Hiveblood you need for the tree to grow. Once that bar fills up, you will get passive skill points which you can then allocate to the passive nodes in a specific branch.
The requirement to progress the bar will keep on increasing every time you get a skill point. Basically, you’ll need even more Hiveblood to feed to the tree.
New and Breach-Exclusive Items and Modifiers
There are a bunch of new item base types that you can only get from the Genesis Tree. For example, there’s an amulet that has a socket on it, allowing you to place a socket as if it’s a helmet. There’s also a belt that grants lightning damage to attacks.
You can find a bunch of these new base types as you explore the nodes in the Genesis Tree.
Aside from that, you can also find new modifiers that are, once again, exclusive only to the Breach system.
For example, the passive node “Expectation” gives birthed items a 5% chance to come with the “of Expectation” mod. This basically increases the rate at which your skills can gain a Seal, which is huge for caster builds that rely on the mechanic.
There’s also a node that guarantees every item that gets birthed comes with a Minion modifier. This can spawn items with mods that increase the buff effect of Offering skills, provide extra utility to minions, and much more.
Breachstone Progression
The new Breach rework also changed the way you progress through the system. Instead of getting a Breachstone from collecting Breach Splinters, you now transform them into a Revelatory Wombgift after 300 stacks.
You then feed it into the Genesis Tree to get a Breachstone. On your map, you will see a new icon that you can click to reveal the Breach Stronghold and consume the Breachstone in the process.
This will open up a new portion of the map field with Breach encounters.
Once you get inside one of these areas, you will come across a new structure called a Breach Hive. Simply walk through the structure to burn through the walls, and at the center, you’ll find the main source of the Hive.
Interact with it to summon Ailith, who will try to purge the hive. During this time, you need to defend her by killing all of the waves of Breach monsters who will attempt to disrupt Ailith.
You’re also given a handful of tools to help make the waves manageable. For example, there’s a tool that lets you freeze and hinder the Hiveborn monsters for a few seconds. Or one that grants a shield to Ailith for added protection.
After completing the waves, you’re then rewarded with tons of Hiveblood and various Wombgifts.
As you get deeper into the Breach Stronghold, you will then encounter the Hive Fortress. Think of it as a harder version of the Breach Hive. The stronghold is a bit of a maze, but your goal is to get to the center to find its core.
Same as the Breach Hive, purge the stronghold with Ailith’s help. However, after purging, you then need to exit the stronghold as soon as possible.
Defeating the Breachlords and Xesht
Eventually, as you progress through the Breach maps, you’ll arrive at the Hive Colony. It looks the same as the stronghold, except this time, you need to head to the innermost section.
You’ll then get to the Nest of the Lords, where you’ll find the two Breachlords, It That Was Tul and It That Was Esh. If you manage to defeat them, they’ll drop a quest item known as the Breachlord Sac.
What you want to do is head to the monastery, and to the left of the Genesis Tree, you should find the door unlocked.
Just follow the path until you reach the end where you’ll meet Ailith and the Mysterious Acolyte. Offer the Breachlord Sac to the tree structure in front of you to revive the Dreamer.
In case you’re wondering, the Dreamer is none other than Chayula. If you’re an Acolyte of Chayula monk, you’ll unlock the Archon of Chayula ascendancy node after having a conversation with him.
Talk to the Dreamer to gain access to the Twisted Domain, where you’ll then find the existing pinnacle boss, Xesht. This part remains virtually unchanged, except that it’s now tied to the Breach questline.
After defeating Xesht, return to the monastery and speak to Ailith. A new cutscene will then play, thus completing the questline.
Breach Atlas Tree
As you complete Breach encounters and follow the questline, you’ll also gain passive skill points that you can allocate in the Breach atlas tree.
There are some new, exciting upgrades here that you can unlock.
For example, the new Reactive Hiveseeding node grants a 10% chance to add a Hive to a nearby map each time you complete a Breach. There’s also the Study the Chains node that causes Vruun, Marshal of Xesht a 15% chance to drop a Lineage Support gem.
Lastly, there’s the Fresh Flower node which unlocks the Grasping Orchid in the Genesis Tree. This allows you to exchange 60 Breach Rings for a Grasping Mail body armor.
These are just some of the new nodes that you can allocate in the tree.
Final Thoughts
Needless to say, the Breach endgame system has gone through an extensive rework in patch 0.5 of Path of Exile 2. It changed how the old system works, added tons of new stuff, and made Breach progression fun and interesting in general.
If you’ve been farming Breach content in the previous updates, then you’ll surely find the reworked version a lot more engaging.
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