Path of Exile 3.30 Covens of Umbra League has officially buried Scarabs, much to the surprise of many players. After all, the system wasn't particularly bad, and quite a few established farming strategies were built around it. Nevertheless, Scarabs are being replaced by an entirely new endgame system centered on Threads of Creation. This is one of the biggest shake-ups to Path of Exile's endgame in a long time. Let's take a closer look at how Threads system works, how it affects mapping and currency farming, and how players can make the most of Threads in the new league. Path of Exile 3.30 Threads of Creation Explained | How Scarabs Are Being Replaced? How The New System Works? In Version 3.30, players can place Threads directly into Map Device to select which league mechanics they want to encounter in their maps. So far, 10 major mechanics have been revealed, although more may be added later: Abyss Blight Legion Breach Incursion Betrayal Bestiary Expedition Ultimatum Ritual Threads drop from the regular core drop pool. Players can use up to 8 Threads for each mechanic in a map. Each map can have up to 3 mechanics in total, with additional Thread slots gradually unlocking as players progress through Atlas. Your selections will persist between maps, and Threads will automatically be pulled from your Stash. This significantly streamlines the mapping process and eliminates much of the tedious inventory management involved in preparing maps. Threads increase both the difficulty and rewards of monsters associated with the selected mechanic. They also introduce random events, with higher Thread counts increasing the likelihood of triggering additional outcomes from these events. With just 1 Thread, theoretically, any of the possible random events can occur, but the chances are relatively low. As you add more Threads, up to the maximum of 8, the likelihood of obtaining these outcomes increases. Although there are diminishing returns, stacking more Threads still improves your chances of getting the best possible outcomes. This makes farming strategies more variable than before. The official goal is to make Atlas Tree itself provide regular players with effects that were previously available through Scarabs. So, players worried that juicing is dead don't need to be overly pessimistic. What's more likely is that players will be able to make their maps extremely difficult and rewarding depending on how many Threads they invest. As a result, the strength of your character build will become much more important. Winners And Losers Losers Path of Exile 3.30 Scarabs Removal Scarab farmers are undoubtedly the biggest losers. Scarab farming has been one of the most consistent and rewarding strategies for a long time. However, the problem is that Scarabs required by popular meta strategies have become increasingly expensive, while other Scarabs have lost almost all their value. Players often end up picking up large quantities of worthless Scarabs and selling them to vendors at a 3:1 ratio, hoping to get lucky and receive a valuable jackpot Scarab in return. Another group likely to lose out is bulk traders and Scarab sellers. The market roles built around stockpiling Scarabs and earning profits from trading margins will largely disappear. However, the official announcement did not say that every Scarab would be transferred to Atlas Tree, only that many of them would. This means some strategies that players enjoy may no longer be available, although we will have to wait for the full Atlas Tree reveal before drawing any conclusions. Winners The biggest winners are casual players. Some of the additional mechanics that were previously inaccessible to regular players will now become baseline options through Atlas Tree, allowing everyone to experiment with interesting farming strategies. They may not necessarily offer the highest returns or the greatest rewards, but being able to try them simply by allocating points on Atlas Tree is a welcome change for casual players. SSF players are another group that stands to benefit. In the past, running a particular farming strategy in Solo Self-Found could be extremely difficult because obtaining the right Scarabs was often a challenge. Some rare Scarabs might not even appear throughout an entire league. Threads should make SSF experience considerably smoother. Overall, the biggest winner is character power. The strongest builds in the game will be able to push Threads to their maximum potential. The main barrier to making currency will no longer be whether you have enough PoE currency to acquire Scarabs, but whether your character is powerful enough to handle the content. Economic Impact The impact of Scarabs on the economy is actually not so bad, because their acquisition costs helped balance the rewards of different mechanics, preventing many farming strategies from becoming too profitable. When a particular strategy offered exceptionally high returns, Scarabs required to run it became expensive. Players who couldn't afford those Scarabs could instead farm them, find valuable ones, and sell them for currency. It was somewhat like selling shovels during a gold rush. Normally, at the beginning of a league, very few players trade Scarabs. Even fast players don't start farming them on Day 1 because the efficiency isn't particularly good, and there aren't enough Scarabs circulating in the market yet. This helped slow down the pace of economic inflation in previous leagues. Now, everyone will have access to Threads through drops at relatively similar rates. One major downside is that as long as their builds are strong enough, everyone can potentially run the same farming strategies. As a result, the most profitable farms and those offering the best item drops could suffer from severe reward inflation. The only major balancing tool available to the developers now is difficulty. However, Path of Exile 1 builds can become incredibly powerful, making it difficult to balance every potential farming strategy and its economic impact through difficulty alone. We still don't know the exact value of Threads. However, based on the official gameplay showcase, their drop rate doesn't appear to be particularly low. That said, if you focus on a single farming strategy, you may still struggle to sustain your Thread supply. We'll have to wait until Covens of Umbra League launches to see how much demand the system creates and whether players can sustain their preferred strategies.

The Frigate has become one of the more frustrating challenges in ARC Raiders, with players reporting that repeated attempts to complete its complex objectives are being undermined by uncooperative teammates, aggressive Raiders, and a lack of support during fights against ARC enemies. Although the encounter is designed around cooperation, getting a random lobby to work together can be just as difficult as surviving the Frigate itself. A recent complaint shared by Facebook user highlights the problem. After more than 20 unsuccessful attempts, the player is reportedly close to giving up on the encounter altogether. What makes the situation particularly disappointing is that they actually enjoy the Frigate's design. Their frustration comes from the difficulty of finding other players willing to cooperate rather than from the challenge itself. The discussion raises an important question for the community: Has Frigate become too dependent on random player cooperation, or are Raiders simply approaching the encounter with different priorities? ARC Raiders Frigate Runs Frustrate Players as Teamwork Breaks Down Why Frigate Is So Difficult to Complete? Introduced with the October 8, 2026, Frozen Trail 2.0 update, the Frigate is a new map condition that brings a large airborne structure, dangerous ARC enemies, environmental hazards, and a multi-stage objective. It is not simply another location where Raiders can enter, collect loot, and leave. The encounter requires players to destroy multiple components, navigate the ship, deal with powerful ARC enemies, and coordinate their actions to unlock the cargo. Some objectives require simultaneous interactions, making cooperation particularly important. According to the community discussion, however, many players seem more interested in grabbing whatever valuable loot they can find before leaving. Others may enter the encounter without understanding the puzzle or having enough resources to contribute to the fight. This creates a frustrating situation for players who genuinely want to finish the encounter. Even when several Raiders are present, having a crowded lobby does not necessarily mean having a coordinated team. The problem is especially noticeable when players reach objectives that require multiple people. If enough Raiders refuse to participate, those who remain interested in completing the puzzle may have to spend additional time and ammunition handling the remaining tasks. Frigate therefore creates a difficult distinction between having enough players in the same location and having enough players working toward the same goal. Related: How to Complete Frigate in ARC Raiders Friendly Lobbies Do Not Always Mean Cooperative Gameplay One of the biggest complaints from the community concerns the behavior of other Raiders, even in supposedly friendly PvE-style lobbies. The player describes situations where other Raiders turn against them, refuse to help eliminate ARC enemies, or simply ignore teammates who have been knocked down. The lack of defibrillators is another major source of frustration. This is an important distinction because a friendly encounter does not automatically guarantee teamwork. Players can choose not to initiate PvP, but that does not mean they will actively help strangers complete objectives or share resources. There is also an important matchmaking detail worth clarifying. Embark Studios introduced a temporary PvE matchmaking toggle from October 13 to October 20, 2026. However, the official rules explicitly excluded the Frigate map condition from PvE matchmaking. Frigate remained part of the standard PvPvE experience during that test. Consequently, reports of friendly or PvE-like Frigate lobbies should not be confused with access to the official PvE matchmaking option. Friendly behavior is a player-driven choice, not a guarantee provided by the encounter's matchmaking rules. This distinction helps explain why even Raiders expecting a relatively peaceful experience can still encounter unexpected hostility. Defibrillators and Team Support Matter More Than Players Expect Another issue raised in the discussion is the shortage of Raiders carrying defibrillators. In a conventional Arc Raiders extraction run, players can often prioritize personal survival, avoid unnecessary fights, and extract with whatever resources they have collected. The Frigate creates a different situation because surviving its multiple stages can require sustained cooperation. When a player gets knocked down during a fight against ARC enemies, having another Raider nearby with a defibrillator can make a significant difference. Without that support, a team loses another potential contributor, potentially making an already difficult encounter even harder. The same applies to ammunition, healing supplies, and combat equipment. Players who enter the Frigate expecting others to handle the dangerous ARC encounters may find themselves contributing very little to the overall objective. For Raiders preparing their next attempt, choosing appropriate Arc Raiders items and bringing enough combat supplies is therefore important. However, even a well-prepared loadout cannot compensate for an entire lobby that refuses to cooperate. The encounter also creates a difficult risk calculation. Bringing valuable weapons and equipment increases the player's ability to fight ARC enemies, but it also raises the potential loss if another Raider decides to attack. That uncertainty can discourage players from bringing their best equipment, creating another obstacle to completing the encounter efficiently. Frigate's Teamwork Problem Is Showing Up Across Reddit The complaint is not entirely isolated. Several recent Reddit discussions show similar frustrations with how players approach the Frigate. Frigate is a waste of time: Players loot a few containers and leave without progressing the puzzle. Kitted Raiders trying to complete the Frigate: Players struggle to coordinate the lower-deck objectives and destroy the coils before time runs out. Has anyone actually completed the Frigate in Solos: Solo players report running out of ammunition, shields, and time while attempting the objectives. Friendly lobbies in squads during Arc Frigate: Players report encountering hostile Raiders despite looking for cooperative runs. These discussions suggest that the problem extends beyond individual disagreements. Different players enter the same encounter with very different expectations. Some want to complete the entire Frigate and obtain its final rewards. Others are primarily interested in searching breachable containers, collecting valuable materials, or completing smaller objectives before extracting. Neither approach necessarily requires malicious behavior. However, when the encounter depends on several players coordinating their actions, conflicting priorities can make successful completion considerably harder. It is also worth noting that Reddit discussions represent individual experiences rather than a comprehensive picture of the entire player base. Not every lobby is hostile, and some players report successful cooperative runs. Could Embark Improve the Frigate Experience? The Frigate's current situation raises questions about whether its cooperative design provides enough incentive for strangers to work together. One potential improvement would be to make objective progression and individual contributions more transparent. Clearer indicators showing which components still need to be destroyed, which interactions require multiple players, and where additional help is needed could reduce confusion. Another possibility would be to improve the relationship between participation and rewards. If players have a clearer reason to remain involved in the main objective, they may be less inclined to grab a few containers and immediately leave. A dedicated PvE option for the Frigate could also appeal to players who want to focus on its environmental challenges without worrying about hostile Raiders. For now, the official PvE matchmaking test has ended, and Embark has not confirmed that the Frigate will receive a separate PvE queue. The underlying design challenge is straightforward: Frigate asks strangers to cooperate, but the game does not guarantee that they share the same objectives. Is the Frigate Still Worth Attempting? Despite these frustrations, the Frigate remains an interesting addition to ARC Raiders. Its multi-stage puzzle, dangerous ARC encounters, and large-scale environment offer a different experience from ordinary scavenging runs. The bigger issue is that its difficulty does not come exclusively from the enemies or the puzzle mechanics. A considerable part of the challenge comes from coordinating with people who may have completely different plans. For players who enjoy cooperative gameplay, that unpredictability can make successful runs particularly rewarding. For others, repeated failed attempts and lost equipment may eventually outweigh the excitement. Until Embark makes further adjustments, players attempting the Frigate may benefit from entering with a coordinated squad, agreeing on objectives before starting, and avoiding unnecessarily expensive loadouts when relying on random teammates. Ultimately, the Frigate should challenge Raiders to work together against ARC, not leave them wondering whether the person standing beside them is actually on their side. What has your experience with ARC Raiders Frigate been like? Have you managed to complete the entire encounter with random teammates, or have uncooperative players made you give up?