Path of Exile is set to launch it’s massive 3.9 Conquerors of the Atlas patch on December 13th, bringing a tremendous shake-up to the Path of Exile meta. Yet new skills, monsters, areas, and gem-linking aren’t all that’s dropping on December 13th; there’s also a chance for anyone good enough to earn fat stacks of cash.
A Path of Exile community streamer that goes by the handle of Zizaran if offering up $30,000 in prize money to whoever can kill the hardest boss in Conquerors of the Atlas in Hardcore Solo Self-Found mode.
The ‘Hardcore’ modifier is a staple in many games, meaning that one death kills that character forever. Solo Self-Found mode means that there is no trading or partying allowed. Whoever is vying for this will find themselves grinding content as quickly as possible, as safe as possible, where one wrong click can mean the end of a 40-hour run.
Additionally, all players must be playing in the newest league that will drop; Metamorph, where players create massively difficult bosses for themselves to gain delicious loot. Developer Grinding Gear Games includes yet another caveat for the run that includes new mechanics, with Watchstones. Watchstones can be placed within the Atlas to level your maps up, making them far more difficult and rewarding.
Only kills of the Awakener that has been spawned in a fully Watchstoned Atlas will be counted towards a players tally.
The difficulty in these challenges borderlines between obscene, ridiculous, and masochist. Only the most studious and quick need apply.
Joining the race yourself is surprisingly easy; two new ladders will be created for the launch of 3.9, on top of the standard options. Order of kills will reward whomever gets to The Awakener first, while number of kills will conversely reward whomever can kill The Awakener the most times. There’s more than those two ways to make your pay-out, however.
First place will receive $8,000, second place $4,000, and third place receives $2,000. Fourth through fifteenth receive $500. On top of that, there are additional bounties to be earned for speed; the first Atziri kill will net the player $500, with the first Uber Atziri kill netting the player $2,000. Both first Shaper kill, and Elder kill will net the player $1,000 each. First Uber Elder kill will net a $2,000 bounty, and the Deepest Delve will receive $4,000 calculated after one month of the league.
Beyond monetary compensation, every kill of the Awakener will be tracked on a seperate leaderboard, offering HCSSF (Hardcore Solo Self-Found) players an opportunity for massive microtransaction items, with each package worth around $1,100. For every Awakener killed, players can move up the leaderboards for a better chance at the massive item drops.
Finally, if you die after achieving one of the metrics, your hero still counts for prizes.
Grind hard, heroes.