Why this lesson matters
Scarabs were how you added league content to your maps. In 3.30 they're removed from the game, and Threads take their place. The ten main league mechanics also stop showing up in maps on their own, so Threads are now the way you get them. If you farm maps, this is the change that touches every map you run.
What a Thread does
- You use a Thread in the Map Device when you open a map. It adds that Thread's league mechanic to the map.
- You can use up to eight. Every Thread you spend raises the chance of strong random effects that change how that mechanic plays.
- GGG's Covens page adds that Threads also scale the rarity and difficulty of the monsters.
There are ten Threads, one per mechanic:
| Thread | Thread |
|---|---|
| Abyss Thread | Expedition Thread |
| Bestiary Thread | Incursion Thread |
| Betrayal Thread | Legion Thread |
| Blight Thread | Ritual Thread |
| Breach Thread | Ultimatum Thread |
A new currency, the Frayed Thread, gives you a random Thread. You can use it or sell it to a vendor for one.
These ten mechanics no longer spawn at random in maps. GGG's notes list exactly these: Abyss, Bestiary, Betrayal, Breach, Blight, Expedition, Incursion, Legion, Ritual and Ultimatum. You bring them with Threads, or get them free from a Shaped Region.
Your old Scarabs
- Each Scarab converts to a Thread for its mechanic, or to a Frayed Thread.
- Veiled Scarabs become Frayed Threads.
- Most places that gave Scarabs now give Threads instead.
- The Fragment stash tab gets a Threads section; the Scarab section hides itself when it's empty.
Where Threads come from
Shaped Regions are the steady source, and they've been rebuilt around Threads:
- There are ten kinds of Shaped Region, one per Thread. Your Atlas starts with one of each.
- Maps inside a Shaped Region get free Threads of that kind.
- Finish the Shaped Region objective in a map and every other map in that region gets one more free Thread.
- With fewer than ten Shaped Regions, a button at the centre of the Atlas regenerates them all.
- Astrolabes now place a Shaped Region of their type on a map you choose (removing the old one of that type), with more free Threads than the default regions. Templar, Fruiting and Deceptive Astrolabes are removed; old ones become a Cryptic Astrolabe, which gives a random other Astrolabe.
Other sources:
- Eldritch altars: Eater of Worlds altars can make monsters or the map boss drop Breach, Legion, Blight, Ritual or Incursion Threads. Searing Exarch altars can do the same for Abyss, Expedition, Betrayal, Bestiary or Ultimatum.
- Strongboxes that used to drop a set of Scarabs now drop 2 to 5 Threads of one kind.
- Tormented Heretics now spawn in maps on their own. Monsters they touch can drop Threads, and monsters they possess drop more.
- Maven's Chisel of Threads (renamed from "of Scarabs") raises the number of Threads found in a map.
- The Threaded Delirium Orb (renamed from Skittering) gives Thread rewards.
The Atlas tree and Threads
- Every cluster for the ten main mechanics is reworked, and the old Scarab clusters are now Thread clusters. GGG says many effects that used to be on Scarabs are now on the tree, where you can guarantee them.
- Unwavering Vision is reworked: you can only use one kind of Thread, Threads found in your maps have a 75% chance to turn into Gold, and your maps with Threads get two extra Threads that can go past the limit of eight.
- Ritual: Blood-filled Vessels need Ritual Threads on the map. Four or more give two Vessel slots; eight give three.
Our 3.30 Atlas tree viewer shows the new tree.
What we don't know yet
GGG hasn't published Thread drop rates or the list of random effects each mechanic can roll. We'll add them once the league is live and the effects can be checked in game.
Our Strategies tool is built around Scarabs. Its PoE 1 strategies are marked as 3.29 and will be redone for Threads after launch.