BuildKit Brief — Gaming & Tech — July 21, 2026

Path of Exile 2 Build Showcase: Slowmaxing Chronomancer by TuskDeluxe

This Chronomancer build by TuskDeluxe is built around the Auspex and its Grueling Madness aura, which slowmaxes enemies up to 100% at maximum stacks. Embrace the slow side of..things below: Big thank you to TuskDeluxe for putting this build together. For more information, refer to their video here.

0.5.4b Patch Notes

0.5.4b Patch NotesBoss Improvements Removed a majority of the stun and freeze immunity windows from all versions of the Tor Gul, the Defiler boss fight. Improved the Minion Phase in the Tasgul, Swallower of Light fight.

• Removed a majority of the stun and freeze immunity windows from all versions of the Tor Gul, the Defiler boss fight.
• Improved the Minion Phase in the Tasgul, Swallower of Light fight.
• Fixed a bug where It That Was Esh could sometimes fail to advance phases properly.
• Fixed a bug where the Arbiter of Divinity could rarely drop loot in an unreachable location.
• Defeating the Arbiter of Divinity now re-enables the exit elevator.
• Extended the time the player has to get into the first Flame Seed during the combo skill that begins with the Large Laser in the Arbiter of Ash boss fight.

Path of Exile 2 at gamescom 2026

Path of Exile 2 will once again be heading to gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Play a special demo available exclusively at the event, snap some photos with our eerie display, and pick up exclusive merchandise. We'll be sharing more details closer to the event, and we hope to see you there!

Path of Exile 1: Curse of the Allflame QoL Changes

In Path of Exile 1: Curse of the Allflame there are a number of improvements aimed at improving your QOL.

Path of Exile 1: New Uniques

Check out some of the new Unique Items you can discover while exploring Wraeclast in Path of Exile 1: Curse of the Allflame.

Play Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame on July 24th PDT!

[img src="{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/5193306/1731ba6d64e7cbdf50d32e732d132581ca2c1f57.png"] Discover sunken artefacts and battle the horrors of the deep in Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame.

• Spellcasters have received major improvements across the board, particularly for those that cast Spells themselves. We've rebalanced over one hundred existin…
• The Assassin, Inquisitor, Occultist and Necromancer Ascendancies all have new or reworked notables supporting Casters.
• We have improved caster itemisation, particularly staves, added new ways to help solve Mana as a caster, buffed several caster Unique Items, added a new Keys…
• In this expansion, we are adding a new set of Exceptional Skill Gems called Pacts that you can get from Beyond bosses and Lycia in the Forbidden Sanctum. Mak…
• In addition we've added a new reservation skill for spellcasters using staves called Mana-Infused Staff, as well as several new Transfigured Skill Gems.

Counter-Strike 2 Update

The bomb damage health preview is now revealed when the bomb becomes audible. The bomb explosion now interacts with smoke grenade clouds and molotov/incendiary fire.

• The bomb damage health preview is now revealed when the bomb becomes audible.
• The bomb explosion now interacts with smoke grenade clouds and molotov/incendiary fire.
• Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes)
• Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes)
• Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes)
• Added Workshop maps section to Play menu for Counter-Strike in Steam China.

Call II Arms-ory

Last week we released new weapon and sticker collections from our previous Call to Arms-ory. Congratulations to the artists who had their items included!

Minor Update - 07-09-2026

- Urn Runner sprint bonus reduced from +2m to 0 (trailing bonus reduced from +7m to +5m)- Urn Runner move speed bonus reduced from +3.5m to +2m- Urn Runner Stamina Recovery increased from +15% to +25%- Urn talking frequency increased from every 8s to every 6s- Urn talking sound distance increased…

Minor Update - 07-01-2026

- Shiv: Alt Fire ammo cost reduced from 5 to 4- Shiv: Weapon now has fixed pellet spread- Shiv: Slice and Dice is now back to doing spirit damage and reducing Spirit Resistance from enemies- Shiv: Slice and Dice damage increased from 60 to 75- Shiv: Killing Blow T3 reduced from +10% Enemy Health…

Minor Update - 06-30-2026

- King of the Hill objective has been rethemed and renamed to "Unstable Rift"- Unstable Rift no longer requires an Urn delivery to trigger the start of the event. It now has a variable start time of +/- 1 minute. There is a global announcement 25s before it spawns.

Beta Patch Notes - v0.109.0

Another beta patch is here, Slayers! This one brings a host of balance changes, bug fixes, and new Epoch art.

• Added new Neow relic, Dowsing Rod - "Upon pickup, add 1 Dowsing to your Deck."
• Dowsing - Quest - 0 cost - "After entering 5 more ? rooms, transform this into Abundance."
• Abundance - Ancient - Skill - Cost 1 - "Choose 1 of 3 (Upgraded) Powers to add into your Hand. It is free to play this turn. Exhaust."
• Added new Neow relic, Neow's Sacrifice - "Upon pickup, procure 1 Ambergris and add 1 Guilty to your Deck."
• Ambergris potion - "Heal for 50% of your max HP. Take an extra turn after this one."
• Reworked Nonupeipe's Diamond Diadem relic: "Whenever you play 2 or fewer cards in a turn, take half damage from enemies." -> "Start combat with 20 Block. Blo…

The Neowsletter - July 2026

The July Neowsletter is here, Slayers! Last month we bid farewell to the Doormaker, but you know what they say: when one door closes... a giant floating hourglass creature appears!

Beta Patch Notes - v0.108.0

For all you beta testers who have been chomping at the bit for a new patch to chew on... here it is! Today's beta patch brings a ton of fixes, balance changes, some UX additions, a BIG batch of new multiplayer cards, and new art additions--including some animations for the latest boss, Aeonglass!

• End-of-turn Orb passives now trigger before Doom
• This means that, if a player would die to self-Doom (ex. from Neurosurge card) but also has an Orb with an end-of-turn passive that would kill the last remai…
• Buffed Torch Head Amalgam: increased damage at Ascension 9
• Weak Tackle damage increased from 14(15) → 14(16)
• Tackle damage increased from 18(19) → 18(22)
• Changed Regen Potion: its healing effect now triggers before Doom, preventing the player from dying to self-Doom in certain situations

HOI IV Dev Corner | Civilian Economy & Consumer Goods

Hello, I am Zwirbaum, Game Designer for Hearts of Iron, and uncharacteristically for me, instead of writing an entire wall of text, I am just going to ask a couple of questions that are very much tied to the ‘Economy’ side of the gameplay.

• How do you feel about the ‘Civilian Economy’ that currently exists within the game - as in anything that relates to the building construction, using civilian…
• What and how do you feel about the Consumer Goods as they are right now? - Do you think it does fulfill its role, narratively, and in gameplay terms? - Do yo…
• What do you think about current Economic Laws? - Do you like them,and their effects? - Do you like the fact that higher mobilization is (ALMOST) always a bet…
• Start appearing closer to release
• Give you more detailed insight into content that’s more or less finished and is being polished
• Will generally include a plethora of images and screenshots

HOI IV Creator Interviews with Leadership

Generals! High Command is aware that certain war correspondents have, in recent days, taken it upon themselves to question senior staff.

HOI IV Dev Corner | Warfare in the Third Dimension - Airborne Units in HOI

Hi all, it's time for the next Dev Corner. I'm Jamor. I started as a producer on Stellaris, Imperator, and other games back in 2017, and now I'm happy to be back as a designer on HOI.

• Airborne jumps are queued up by a number of tedious manual steps, from separately planned operations, the finicky process of getting jump capable troops to t…
• Airborne units teleport on to their objectives, in such a subtle way that it's quite easy for both attacker and defender to not notice it has even happened.
• Airborne troops take such ruinous damage and disorganization that they are incredibly feeble once landed, being generally only suited for the sort of highly…
• And the final straw for me, that a unit like the 101st Airborne, an ultra-elite division of 10,000+ men containing the cream of the army and famous for numer…
• What issues with airborne troops would you add to this list?
• What would you like to see changed or added to improve the HOI airborne experience?