Path of Exile 2 — Forbidden Rites

Forbidden Rites replaces Runes of Aldur's Runic Remnant/Verisium system with campaign-wide Ritual encounters. Existing Early Access and Runes of Aldur characters stay where they are — playing Forbidden Rites needs a new character.

• Create a character under the Forbidden Rites banner
• Pick your league variant

  Trade, Solo Self-Found, Hardcore, or a private-league variant.
• Choose your class and build direction
• Start allocating the Passive Skill Tree toward your levelling build
• Upgrade Skill Gems as Uncut Skill Gems drop
• Add Support Gems to your primary damage skills
• Work the campaign's Ritual encounters as you reach them

  One per campaign area. Unlike Atlas Rituals, these hand out levelling rewards — crafting currency and gear — rather than endgame drops.
• Watch for Ritual Effigy clusters

  Twice per Act and once per Interlude, effigies cluster on top of that area's boss fight instead of a random spot. Clearing one carries the boss forward into the next area's Ritual as part of an escalating boss-wave chain.
• Complete a boss-wave chain and spend the Tribute it pays on Unique items

Finish Act 1 while collecting every permanent character reward. Act 1 alone carries +4 Weapon Set Passive Points, +30 Spirit, +10% Cold Resistance and +20 Maximum Life.

• Clearfell — kill Beira of the Rotten Pack

  Reward Permanent +10% Cold Resistance
• Hunting Grounds — kill Crowbell

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Freythorn — kill the King in the Mists

  Reward +30 Spirit
• Ogham Farmlands — recover Una's Lute and return it

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Ogham Village — recover the Smithing Tools

  Reward Unlocks the Salvaging Bench
• Ogham Manor — kill Candlemass, the Living Rite

  Reward Permanent +20 Maximum Life
• Keep working Ritual encounters and Effigy clusters as you go
• capstoneEnter Act 2 with Salvaging and both passive-point rewards in hand

Finish Act 2, take your first Ascendancy, and add a Charm slot. PoE 2 gives 8 Ascendancy Points in total, earned across progressively harder Trials.

• Keth — kill Kabala, Constrictor Queen

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Obtain the Kabal Clan Relic in Keth
• Obtain the Sun Clan Relic in the Bone Pits
• Take both relics to the altar in Valley of the Titans

  Reward +1 Charm Slot and its associated Charm bonus
• Deshar — recover the Final Letter and return it to Shambrin

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Spires of Deshar — visit the Sisters of Garukhan Shrine

  Reward Permanent +10% Lightning Resistance
• Traitor's Passage — defeat Balbala

  Yields the Barya that opens the Trial of the Sekhemas.
• Complete your first Ascension Trial and choose your Ascendancy Class

  Reward First 2 Ascendancy Points
• capstoneAct 2 done: 2/8 Ascendancy Points, +1 Charm Slot, +10% Lightning Resistance

More permanent bonuses, the Reforging Bench, your second Ascendancy, and the start of Fate of the Vaal — which is now permanent core content rather than a temporary league.

• Jungle Ruins — kill Mighty Silverfist

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Azak Bog — kill Ignagduk, the Bog Witch

  Reward +30 Spirit and an Uncut Spirit Gem
• Venom Crypts — recover the Venom Vial and return it to Servi

  Reward One permanent utility bonus: 25% Stun Threshold, 30% Elemental Ailment Threshold, or 25% Mana Regeneration Rate
• Jiquani's Machinarium — kill Blackjaw, the Remnant

  Reward +10% Fire Resistance
• Molten Vault — kill Mektul, the Forgemaster, then speak with Oswald

  Reward Unlocks the Reforging Bench
• Aggorat / Utzaal — obtain a Sacrificial Heart and sacrifice it at the altar

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Defeat Xyclucian, the Chimera to unlock the Trial of Chaos

  0.5.5 significantly overhauled the Trial of Chaos — you can now leave mid-run and resume later, rewards are Currency and Soul Cores only, and there's a chest at the end of every room.
• Complete your next Ascension Trial

  Reward Reaches 4/8 Ascendancy Points
• Begin Fate of the Vaal — locate and energise the 6 Act 3 Ancient Beacons

  Collect Energised Crystals to reach the Vaal Ruins. A second set of six appears during the Interludes.
• capstoneAct 3 done: 4/8 Ascendancy, Reforging Bench, Vaal storyline started

Finish the four-act campaign and take the remaining Act rewards.

• Complete Dark Mists
• Journey's End — kill Omniphobia, Fear Manifest

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Eye of Hinekora / The Silent Hall — pay respects

  Reward Permanent +5% Maximum Mana
• Whakapanu Island — kill the Great White One

  Return to the Karui boat to pick the permanent defensive lesson.
• Complete all three tests in the Halls of the Dead
• Claim the three Tattoo choices

  Tawhoa — Dexterity or Lightning Resistance. Tasalio — Intelligence or Cold Resistance. Ngamahu — Strength or Fire Resistance.
• Complete Trial of the Ancestors and defeat Yama the White

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Abandoned Prison — find the Goddess of Justice and pick the Flask Recovery bonus

  Swappable later.
• capstoneAct 4 done: full campaign complete, all permanent Act rewards collected

Three Interludes bridge Act 4 and the Atlas. This is also where the campaign's permanent-reward total gets audited — 24 Weapon Set Passive Points and 100 Spirit.

• The Stolen Barya — Khari Crossing: kill Akthi and Anundr

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• The Stolen Barya — Skullmaw Stairway: use the Molten One's Gift

  Reward Permanent +5% Maximum Life
• The Stolen Barya — Qimah: activate all seven pillars

  Reward A swappable boon: +5 All Attributes, +5% All Elemental Resistances, +12% Cooldown Recovery, +3% Movement Speed, +20% Presence Area of Effect, +15% Global Defences, or the EXP option
• Doryani's Contingency — Kriar Village: kill Lythara, the Wayward Spear

  Reward +40 Spirit
• Doryani's Contingency — Howling Caves: kill the Abominable Yeti

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Doryani's Contingency — Kriar Peaks: speak with Elder Madox

  Reward A free Unique of your choice
• The Curse of Holten — Wolvenhold: kill Oswin, the Dread Warden

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• Locate and energise the second set of 6 Ancient Beacons
• Return to Kingsmarch / the Hooded One for the final campaign points

  Reward +2 Weapon Set Passive Skill Points
• capstoneAudit the campaign totals before moving on

  24 Weapon Set Passive Points, 100 Spirit, all three elemental resistance rewards, +20 Maximum Life, +5% Maximum Life and +5% Maximum Mana.

Stabilise the character for mapping and start pushing outward. The 0.5 Atlas uses fixed points of interest, and each major mechanic now has a questline leading to its own Pinnacle Boss.

• Enter the endgame Atlas
• Establish a sustainable Waystone supply
• Start clearing Atlas maps and upgrading Waystones as you can handle them
• Get resistances and defences to endgame levels
• Establish reliable single-target boss damage
• Upgrade your primary Skill Gems and Support Gems
• Replace campaign gear with endgame bases
• Start crafting rather than waiting for perfect drops

  Use the Currency Exchange and trade systems if you are playing Trade.
• Choose which endgame mechanics your build will specialise in first
• capstoneComplete your first Tower

  This is what raises the Fortress from the Atlas and begins Origins of Divinity.

Effectively the core endgame campaign of Return of the Ancients. Atlas Passive Points now come from Fortress progression rather than the old system, and completing the Fortress awards enough to fully allocate the main Atlas tree.

• Enter the Fortress and begin completing its maps
• Collect Atlas Passive Points from Fortress maps
• Progress through the Fortress sections
• Complete Gateway Maps and defeat the Gateway bosses
• Complete Precursor Tower Maps
• Reach the Burning Monolith and defeat the Arbiter of Ash
• Complete the Enigma Chamber objectives
• Obtain the quest Crisis fragments
• Locate the two new Citadel maps and defeat their bosses
• Obtain the keys for the new pinnacle encounter
• Defeat the Arbiter of Divinity

  Alternatively, defeating it five times auto-completes different Fortress sections.
• capstoneFully complete the Fortress and allocate the main Atlas Passive Tree

  This is also what completes The Cartographer challenge.

A second progression layer alongside the normal Atlas tree. Three Masters, 12 nodes each, four active at once — and the configuration can be swapped between maps.

• Doryani's Science — clear a Corruption Nexus to unlock the questline
• Complete Doryani missions and unlock each row of his nodes
• Hilda's Hunting — find Hilda's Campsite southwest of the Atlas start
• Complete Hilda missions and unlock each row of her nodes
• Jado's Spycraft — complete the Anomaly Map near the Atlas start
• Complete Jado missions and unlock each row of his nodes
• capstoneAll three Masters unlocked, all node rows open, configurations set for mapping, bossing and farming

Parallel progression paths, not a fixed sequence. Each has its own Atlas points and its own pinnacle. Work whichever suits your build and your farming plan. All core Atlas content, unrelated to any specific league.

• Delirium — reach The Withered Willow southwest of the Atlas start
• Delirium — clear surrounding maps, earn its Atlas points, push deeper encounters
• Delirium — complete a 7-wave Simulacrum and defeat Tangmazu
• Breach — reach the Monastery of the Keepers, south of the Atlas start
• Breach — clear maps, earn Atlas points, hit 100% for a Stabilised Breach
• Breach — defeat Vruun, Marshal of Xesht and progress the Genesis Tree
• Breach — collect Wombgifts, Hiveblood and Breachstone Splinters, then form a Breachstone
• Breach — clear Breach Hives, Sky Hives and the Fortress encounter, defeat Tul and Esh
• Breach — defeat the Breach pinnacle boss
• Ritual — reach Caer Tarth, west of the Atlas start, and clear its maps
• Ritual — accumulate Tribute and sacrifice it for an Audience with the King
• Ritual — defeat The King in the Mists and take The Head of the King
• Ritual — complete the five-map Rite of the Nameless and defeat the Ritual pinnacle
• Ritual — unlock the Atlas node for, and defeat, the Queen in the Mists
• Fate of the Vaal — reach Lira Vaal / Atziri's Temple, northeast of the Atlas start
• Fate of the Vaal — finish any missing Ancient Beacons and keep collecting Energised Crystals
• Fate of the Vaal — build Atziri's Temple and unlock its Tier 4 rooms
• Fate of the Vaal — defeat Atziri, the Red Queen
• Abyss — find a large Abyss Crack, clear its connected maps and close it
• Abyss — clear the Abyssal Depths and defeat its boss
• Abyss — progress the Abyss Atlas tree and defeat the Vessel of Kulemak

Finish the 8 Ascendancy Points and work the pinnacle list. GGG now provides deterministic quest versions of pinnacle bosses followed by harder repeatable versions for farming.

• Complete the third Ascension Trial

  Reward 6/8 Ascendancy Points
• Complete the final Ascension Trial

  Reward 8/8 Ascendancy Points — also completes The Ascendant challenge
• Arbiter of Ash defeated
• Arbiter of Divinity defeated
• Tangmazu defeated
• Breach pinnacle defeated
• Ritual pinnacle defeated
• Atziri defeated
• Vessel of Kulemak defeated
• Vessel of Kulemak defeated at full strength

Grinding Gear Games has confirmed eight challenges for Forbidden Rites but has not published their names or requirements — only the reward thresholds. This section is a placeholder until they're named; do not treat it as the real list.

• Track your Forbidden Rites challenge progress in-game

  Press H for the live count — as of 0.5.5 it also shows next to your name in chat.
• 2 challenges complete

  Reward Locust Footprints
• 4 challenges complete

  Reward Locust Swarm Rare Finisher Effect
• 6 challenges complete

  Reward Wildwood Guardian Pet
• capstone8 challenges complete

  Every challenge from the 1st onward also adds a piece to the permanent Forbidden Rites Totem hideout decoration.

  Reward Wildwood Affliction level-up effect

Not a phase. These run for as long as the league does, and none of them ends.

• Push character level past 90 toward the cap
• Improve Skill Gem levels and quality, and optimise Support Gems
• Acquire a best-in-slot or near-best-in-slot weapon
• Improve defences for pinnacle encounters
• Maximise the league-specific Atlas trees
• Farm the harder repeatable pinnacle versions
• Farm Expeditions, crafting currency and league drops for your build
• Target the Uniques you actually want, and craft endgame Rares
• Use the Currency Exchange to convert what you do not need
• Tune the Atlas around your preferred farming strategy
• Finish the league's 8 challenges

  No end date has been announced for Forbidden Rites yet.