With the launch of Path of Exile 3.28: Mirage League, there’s a flurry of fresh content, including a wave of new uniques, big overhauls to existing chase items, and some impactful nerfs. Here, we will go over all the new and nerfed unique items, top builds that can capitalize on them, and the best strategies to farm them this season.
PoE 3.28 New Uniques (How To Use & Get)
Mirage League introduces a rich collection of new uniques and brings substantial updates to many existing ones. Some new items bring game-changing potential, with a few set to rival the dominance of Mageblood in late-game setups. There are also sweeping changes to drop rates, the pool of "very rare" T0 uniques, and adjustments to synergistic mechanics such as Energy Shield stacking and poison proliferation. This article will first spotlight the best new uniques you’ll want to keep an eye out for, then discuss methods to obtain them, before finishing up with a summary of nerfed classics you might want to skip for league start.
Screams of the Desiccated (Leather Belt)
+(25—40) to maximum Life
You have Diamond Shrine Buff while affected by no Flasks
You have Resistance Shrine while affected by no Flasks
+30 to Intelligence
+28% to Chaos Resistance
This is easily the most talked-about new unique. Screams of the Desiccated offers you two shrine buffs (offensive and defensive) whenever you are affected by no flasks. Popular combinations like Diamond Shrine (all hits are crits) and Resistance Shrine (plus max res) can make this belt absurd for glass cannon builds or defensive specialists.
Best Builds To Use:
Attribute stackers: Builds that already forgo flasks or use The Unseen Hand ring to disable utility flasks.
Certain crit-based or resistance-hungry characters, especially those leveraging shrine effect scaling (e.g. with The Gull helmet).
Unique staff and amulet synergies (e.g., Winds of Fate, Marylene's Fallacy) can reach meme status with "always crit" effects.
Farming Method:
Drops exclusively from the new Mirage League boss. Access may be limited and price will reflect rarity and desired shrine combo rolls.
Plan to farm boss fragments, join boss-carrie groups, or speculate early if you want a cheap “bricked” version with less desired shrines.
Fleshrender (Exquisite Blade)
+50% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
229% increased Physical Damage
+35% to Damage over Time Multiplier
33% increased Critical Strike Chance
Cannot Poison Enemies with at least 12 Poisons on them
Inflict 3 additional Poisons on the same Target when you inflict Poison with this weapon
Wither on Hit with this weapon against Enemies with at least 12 Poisons on them
A strong addition for poison builds. Fleshrender can stack poisons rapidly (inflicts 3 extra poisons per hit, with wither on hit if they have 12 poisons already), turning single-target attacks into heavy multi-poison sources. Sizable crit and DoT multipliers further encourage a hybrid scaling approach.
Best Builds To Use:
Poison-based melee builds (Assassin, Pathfinder, Trickster).
Skills with substantial single-target hits that can capitalize on rapid poison stacking and wither application.
Especially interesting for builds using newly buffed Bino’s Kitchen Knife or other poison-supporting gear.
Farming Method:
Likely a boss or deep-map drop (to be confirmed in league). Watch trade sites, as the supply will dictate early prices.
Skysunder (Exquisite Blade)
+50% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
130% increased Physical Damage
+35% to Damage over Time Multiplier
21% increased Critical Strike Chance
100% of Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage
Ignites you cause are reflected back too you
50% less Duration of Ignites you inflict
Ignites you inflict with this weapon spread to other Enemies within 2.8 metres
Unaffected by Ignite
This is a conversion weapon that transforms all physical damage to fire, then reflects your ignites back to you (but you are Unaffected by Ignite). It can proliferate ignites to nearby enemies—it’s a clear contender for ignite-centric melee (Chieftain, Juggernaut) or meme ignite reflect builds.
Best Builds To Use:
Pure ignite conversion melee (usually Chieftain or Elementalist).
Exploiters of Ignite proliferation, or those using support with ignite-multiplying skills.
Farming Method:
Deep endgame unique, almost certainly very rare. Likely tied to boss content, T17 maps, or rare drop pools.
Khatal's Geyser (Lapis Amulets)
+(20—30) to Intelligence
Can't use Life Flasks
+65 to maximum Mana
Increases and Reductions to Effect of Flasks applied to you
also applies to Effect of Arcane Surge on you at 210% of their value
You have Arcane Surge during Effect of any Mana Flask
Mana Flask Effects are not removed when Unreserved Mana is Filled
Mana Flask Effects do not Queue
Enables crazy Arcane Surge synergies for mana-based builds. Mana flask effects, including Arcane Surge, apply at 210% of flasks’ effectiveness.
Khatal's Weeping (Lapis Amulets)
+(20—30) to Intelligence
+89 to maximum Life
Can't use Mana Flasks
On non-channelling Attack, set a Life Flask with greater than 50% of maximum Charges remaining to 50%
For each Charge removed this way, that Attack gains +2% to Damage over time Multiplier
While on Low Life, Life Flasks gain 4 Charges every 3 seconds
Hybrid scaling, letting life flask charges power damaging attacks (for each charge, +2% DoT multiplier). Also, trickle life flask recharge when on low life, engineered for builds abusing low-life mechanics, possibly Righteous Fire or Reap.
Best Builds To Use:
Mana stackers (Hierophant, Trickster), Essence Drain/Contagion, or Archmage setups for Geyser.
Low-life scaling DoT builds for Weeping, especially anything using instant flasks or looking to artificially remain on low life.
Farming Method:
Amulets of this type usually drop from league bosses, invitation events, or nightmare (T17) maps.
The Sands of Time (Tyrant's Sekhem)
26% increased Elemental Damage
Trigger level 20 Suspend in Time on Casting a Spell
60% increased Spell Damage
65% increased Mana Regeneration Rate
10% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate
10% increased Cast Speed for each different Non-Instant Spell you've Cast Recently
Offers high spell damage, mana regeneration, and uniquely, triggers a level 20 "Suspend in Time" skill automatically when casting spells. This can be used both defensively and to create slow/stall fields for mapping or bossing.
Best Builds To Use:
High cast-speed spellcasters (Inquisitor, Occultist, Trickster).
Builds suffering from poor uptime who want to reset, stall, or control monster phases.
Farming Method:
Presumed to be a rare drop in the highest tier content. May be target-farmed with specific league mechanics once known.
How To Farm New Uniques in Mirage League
New Bosses: Most chase uniques, especially Screams of the Desiccated, are locked behind new Mirage League bosses. Expect to engage with league mechanics, collect boss fragments, and push into endgame map tiers (possibly T17/Nightmare).
T17/Nightmare Mapping: The rarest "Tier 0" uniques tend to drop from the hardest content, including bosses at the end of super-challenging maps.
Divination Cards: With new div cards released, keep watch for sets that reward these uniques once card databases update.
Trade: Expect that the economy will see "bricked" versions (undesired shrine combos, low rolls) go relatively cheap, especially early, compared to perfectly rolled chase items.
Events/Invitations: Special event drops (Simulacrum bosses etc.) and Uber-Uber bosses can drop very rare uniques.
PoE 3.28 Best Nerfed Uniques
GGG has revisited several older uniques that have been collecting dust for leagues, or in some cases, years. Some of these adjustments are modest quality-of-life tweaks, while others amount to complete identity overhauls that push previously ignored items back into real build contention.
Lioneye's Glare
Lioneye's Glare has received arguably the most dramatic rework among all buffed uniques this patch. The bow now grants "attacks you use yourself repeat an additional time" and "attacks you use yourself have 50% more attack speed." This is a total identity shift for an item that the community widely considered one of the worst T0 uniques in the game, a weapon whose pitiful damage fell below even a mid-tier crafted rare bow.
The built-in attack repeat effectively doubles your hit output, and the 50% more attack speed modifier ensures the repeated attacks come out fast rather than creating a clunky delay. Community speculation ties this buff to GGG's apparent interest in reviving bleed bow archetypes, since the repeated attacks synergize extremely well with builds that want frequent, heavy-hitting physical attacks to apply strong bleeds. The bow still carries its signature "hits can't be evaded" modifier, freeing up accuracy investment entirely.
If the base damage numbers hold up once the full JSON data is available, Lioneye's Glare could become one of the premier bow options for physical-focused builds, including Puncture, Split Arrow, and potentially Tornado Shot of Splitting. For a T0 unique, this is the kind of build-defining power the rarity tier demands, and what it lacked for far too long.
Bino's Kitchen Knife
Bino's Kitchen Knife received a straightforward but impactful change: its poison proliferation radius has doubled from 1.5 metres to 3 metres. It also picked up a bit more life regeneration and chaos resistance. On paper, going from 1.5m to 3m sounds incremental, but in practice it crosses a threshold that transforms how the weapon feels during mapping.
For context, Obliteration's on-kill explosions have a 2.2m radius, and those are already enough to chain-clear packs reliably. At 3 metres, Bino's proliferation will consistently reach enemies in adjacent packs, particularly in T17 Nightmare maps where monsters tend to spread out more. Players who dual-wielded Bino's in previous leagues and already hit the DoT cap reported that the only weakness was clear coverage in low-density areas, exactly what this buff addresses.
On Pathfinder, where poison proliferation already exists through the ascendancy, Bino's now offers a larger radius than the native proliferation, giving even Pathfinder players a reason to slot it in. With the Mamba Strike nerfs pushing players toward alternatives, Bino's arrives at the right moment to fill the gap. The weapon remains best suited for poison builds on Pathfinder, Assassin, or Guardian, paired with Pestilent Strike or regular Viper Strike.
Guardian Minion Package
Guardian received a collection of buffs that, taken together, amount to a meaningful revival of the holy minion archetype. Sentinel of Radiance is now a permanent minion with approximately 36% more speed, removing the old duration constraint entirely. Absolution's base debuff duration increased from 1 second to 3 seconds, and its base minion duration jumped to 15 seconds. Holy slam skills used by Herald of Purity minions and Dominating Blow minions now have 30% increased area of effect. Guardian also gained two additional ascendancy points and Marshall of Divinity, which inflicts Hallowing Flame on melee hits.
None of these changes individually would redefine the class, but stacked together, they make Guardian minion builds, particularly Herald of Purity setups, considerably more comfortable and powerful. Players who enjoy minion-focused playstyles will find the holy minion package noticeably stronger in 3.28 than it has been in quite some time.
Essentia Sanguis
Essentia Sanguis received a notable stat increase. Its flat lightning damage now scales up to approximately 850 at the top end (up from a previous range of 600–700), and it grants 200–300 flat energy shield, a large amount for a weapon slot, where ES is normally unavailable. It also now provides ES overleech, with leech instances lasting 10 seconds instead of the standard 5. Dual-wielding two of these alongside the claw mastery for 20% instant leech creates a genuinely appealing defensive package.
However, the community's reaction has been lukewarm, and for good reason. Even at 850 top-end lightning damage, the weapon's effective DPS sits around 600, a number that struggles to compete when crafted weapons routinely exceed 1,000 DPS. Ephemeral Edge still outscales it once you have more than about 5,500 energy shield, and Energy Blade surpasses it even more decisively. The ES overleech is a nice perk, but Ghost Reaver already exists near CI on the passive tree, and Trickster provides overleech natively. The fundamental problem remains its T0 rarity. At T2, Essentia Sanguis would be an excellent stepping-stone weapon for ES attack builds during early mapping. At T0, it competes with Mageblood for rarity and falls laughably short of that comparison. It could find a home in niche setups, perhaps Elemental Strike Inquisitor or a shield skill build that does not rely heavily on main-hand damage, but for most players, it will remain a disappointment relative to its drop rate.
Consecrated Path
Consecrated Path and Consecrated Path of Endurance both received flat damage increases. The numbers are not massive on their own, but for a skill that was already sitting at the edge of viability, any upward push helps. Paired with Skysunder's full fire conversion and ignite spread, or with Chieftain's native fire synergies, Consecrated Path becomes a more attractive melee fire option this league than it has been in recent memory. The new holy skill support gems (Excommunicate, Blessed Call) also complement this skill's thematic identity, opening up additional damage and utility layering.