So there’s a new patch on the way for Path of Exile, and like other updates to this multiplayer ARPG, it’s another particularly beefy one. One line in the laundry list, however, perhaps sticks out to members of the community regarding the Purposeful Harbinger notable, which now grants a 10% increased effect on Aura Buffs from Skills (emphasis ours) for each Herald affecting the player. The distinction is important because, according to a separate dev post, the notable in question was applying too much power originally.
Purposeful Harbinger originally applied a 10% increased Effect of Aura Buffs on player characters for each Herald affecting them, which unintentionally applied for anything in the game that was classified as an Aura. The notable soon swept the meta and became the single strongest build in the entire game. Normally this would be cause for worry, but Grinding Gear Games stated that it would not be nerfing the notable until the start of the next League. However, that announcement was made before the devs were able to take a closer look at just what Purposeful Harbinger was actually doing, and so that brings us back to the latest patch making the change to the notable mid-season.
“Once we realized what was going on, and that this passive skill had become one the most unintentionally and counterintuitively powerful mechanics to ever exist in Path of Exile, we realised that there was no option but to fix it,” explains the post.
The devs are extremely aware of how much anger this change can invoke, especially considering the amount of time and investment players have made around building characters around the notable, and the devs have stated that discussions about what went wrong are being made to prevent this matter from ever happening again.
