Path of Exile 3.29 Curse of the Allflame Patch Predictions: Biggest Nerfs, Buffs, and Meta Changes Explained

Summary

We're just a few days away from the full reveal of Path of Exile patch 3.29, Curse of the Allflame. The teasers have been rolling in, hinting at new transfigured gems and possibly a rework to Abyss. A new patch means a new set of patch notes with accompanying balance updates. This guide covers predictions for three buffs and three nerfs for Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame.

Part 1: The Nerf Predictions

Minion Pact - The Support Gem That Broke the Game

Minion Pact was a new support gem added in patch 3.28. It grants flat added physical damage to supported spells based on the maximum life of the sacrificed minion. The numbers on this gem were likely not tested extensively prior to launch because the amount of flat damage obtainable from this single gem, even on moderate investment into minion life scaling, is completely ridiculous.

Example: The Dark Marionette spectre automatically revives 4 seconds after dying. With just a normal level 20 Raise Spectre gem, this minion already has about 20,000 base life. Add a Minion Life support gem, and it has almost 36,000 life. With no external scaling to minion life from the passive tree or elsewhere, the minion adds about 1,000 flat added physical damage to the supported spell. That is absurd—over five times the amount of added damage from a normal level 20 Added Cold or Added Lightning support gem.

Why This Matters: This is physical damage, which is even stronger because players can benefit from conversion and damage gained as extra. Once players start scaling gem levels for Raise Spectre and Minion Pact and begin scaling minion life elsewhere (passive tree, cluster jewels, gear, ascendancy), the gem goes from being imbalanced to being completely silly.

The Gauntlet Ban: This support gem had to be banned in the 3.28 Gauntlet. Zizaran usually doesn't like to ban anything, but when something is so outrageously out of line, there's no choice. If it wasn't banned, the event would have featured an incredibly boring bossing meta.

Additional Issues: The bugged campaign minion, Unholy Aberration, has an obscene amount of base life and will likely be fixed. Blade Vortex snapshots the added damage from Minion Pact on the initial cast, and if kept up, retains that damage for the skill's duration. While Blade Vortex is not the issue, it's possible GGG will change its functionality to prevent awkward snapshotting.

Prediction: Expect Minion Pact to be essentially deleted in 3.29—either massively nerfed or reworked entirely.

Kinetic Fusillade - The Dominant League Starter

Kinetic Fusillade was the most popular league starter for Mirage, especially the totem variant played on Hierophant. The skill had a 13% play rate in week one of Mirage softcore trade, with the next most played skill at just 5%. It was quite dominant as a league starter.

Note: Kinetic Fusillade and Minion Pact are worlds apart. One is completely broken; the other is just a bit overtuned. Kinetic Fusillade is simply a very strong option, decently better than its alternatives.

Prediction: Expect a moderate but meaningful nerf to bring it down a little. The main focus may be the totem variant, possibly by preventing the skill from working with totems. Either way, Kinetic Fusillade will receive a nerf in 3.29.

Screams of the Desiccated - Rarity in 3.29

The concern here is not the power level of the unique belt. The shrine buffs and shrine combinations are not likely to be changed. However, in 3.28, the belt was incredibly accessible because Mirage existed in every single map. That will not be the case on 3.29.

What Changes: Mirage will likely go core in a way similar to Viridian Wildwood or Sentinels—rarely appearing in maps and not influenced by the Atlas tree. The Sesh boss encounter, currently accessed with a fragment that drops from a mini-boss that spawns rarely as part of the Mirage encounter, may be made accessible from elsewhere. However, as it stands, access to this boss fight will be more limited in 3.29.

Result: Fewer Screams of the Desiccated belts in circulation. Good shrine combinations will be much rarer and more expensive.

Part 2: The Buff Predictions

Self-Cast Spells - Long Overdue Attention

When discussing self-cast spells, this means generic spell scaling—not Archmage, not life stacking, not Minion Pact. Just basic spell scaling: gem levels, cast speed, caster defenses.

Historical Context: GGG has done focused balance passes in recent leagues. In 3.27, it was wand attacks. In 3.28, it was holy skills. In 3.29, the focus will likely be self-casting.

Expected Buffs:

Damage scaling from gem levels

Cast speed modifiers on gear and the passive tree

Possibly new transfigured gem options

Archmage Consideration: Archmage has been the only self-cast build for quite some time. If GGG buffs cast speed and caster defenses, Archmage will also be directly buffed. They may want to bring Archmage down a bit and bring other self-cast options up to balance them out. Self-cast outside of Archmage has been quite weak for a long time and is long overdue for attention.

Prediction: 3.29 may finally be the patch where self-casting sees meaningful improvements.

The Rite of Aquarius Ascendancy - Underwhelming and Needs Buffs

The Rite of Aquarius is a new Scion ascendancy added in 3.28. Like Minion Pact, it was a new addition, but while Minion Pact is completely overpowered, the Rite of Aquarius is quite weak.

Design Concept: The ascendancy takes popular, unique items and turns them into nodes on the ascendancy tree, allowing for interesting builds that obtain more of one stat than was possible before. However, the Rite of Aquarius is noticeably weaker than its Legacy of Phrecia counterpart, and several nodes were nerfed before the 3.28 launch.

Important Context: The Rite of Aquarius nodes rotate each league, meaning each cycle offers an entirely new ascendancy to build around. This is a theorycrafter's dream and a build maker's nightmare—any build made for a Rite of Aquarius becomes obsolete in the next patch.

Prediction: The ascendancy hasn't landed as GGG hoped. To succeed, new nodes must be more powerful than the last set. Expect baseline power level increases for 3.29 and beyond.

Underused Bloodline Nodes - More Improvements

GGG showed in 3.28 that they are willing to make improvements to bloodline classes, as they already did a balance pass to improve many of them. Expect more of the same for Curse of the Allflame.

Nodes That Need Buffs or Reworks:

Vivid Cat (Oshabi bloodline)

It Wasn't Me (Delirious bloodline)

Death Offering (Karui bloodline)

Additionally: the Sesh bloodline will likely go core in this patch. Regardless of how players now access that boss fight, they should still be able to spec into that bloodline.

Conclusion

The 3.29 patch, Curse of the Allflame, will bring significant balance changes. Minion Pact, the most broken support gem in 3.28, will likely be deleted or reworked. Kinetic Fusillade, the dominant league starter, will see a moderate but meaningful nerf. Screams of the Desiccated will become rarer and more expensive as Mirage access changes.

On the buff side, self-cast spells are long overdue for attention and will likely see significant improvements. The Rite of Aquarius ascendancy needs to be stronger to succeed, and underused bloodline nodes will receive further improvements. Players anticipating these changes should also keep an eye on how shifting meta values affect POE currency, as demand for certain items and crafting materials often spikes around major balance updates, creating opportunities for smart trading and early investment.

The patch notes drop after the full reveal on July 16. Stay tuned and stay safe.