Path of Exile: What Happens When the Mercenaries Challenge League Ends
1. Overview: The Mercenaries League Comes to a Close
Introduced in the 3.26 expansion, the Mercenaries Challenge League was one of Path of Exile’s most experimental systems yet. It allowed players to recruit AI-controlled allies—each with their own equipment, roles, and abilities—to fight alongside them in Wraeclast’s most brutal encounters.
From customizable loadouts to specialized mercenary traits, the league added an unprecedented level of tactical depth to PoE’s buildcrafting. The system was generally well-received, praised for adding more personality and strategy to map clearing, bossing, and league challenges.
Now, as the league concludes, Grinding Gear Games (GGG) has confirmed that Mercenaries won’t immediately go core in 3.27, but will return in the future after balance adjustments and mechanical refinements.
That means while the mercenary system is temporarily retiring, your rewards and progress will carry over in specific ways.
2. Key League End Date and Time
The Mercenaries Challenge League ends on October 27, 2025, at 2:00 PM PDT.
After this time:
The Mercenaries League realms will close.
Your characters will be automatically migrated to the permanent Standard League.
All mercenary-related systems will be disabled.
Make sure to log in before the cutoff to manage your mercs’ inventories and organize your stash. While the game will safeguard most of your items automatically, it’s best to prepare early to avoid post-migration confusion.
3. What Happens to Your Mercenaries
Once the league ends, all mercenaries will be deleted. This includes every mercenary you’ve hired, equipped, or leveled during the season.
Here’s how that transition works in detail:
Mercenary Equipment: Any weapons, armor, or accessories you gave to mercenaries will automatically return to your account. These items will appear in new “Remove-Only” stash tabs in your Standard League stash.
Mercenary Progress: All experience, stats, and passive upgrades on your mercs will be lost. Since the system isn’t going core in 3.27, there’s currently no way to retain or reuse your mercenaries after the season ends.
Mercenary Contracts or Tokens: If you have unspent recruitment tokens or unused mercenary crafting items, they will also migrate into your remove-only tabs. However, they will have no functionality after the league ends, since the Mercenary system itself will be disabled.
Essentially, all your personal loot and investments are safe—but the mercenaries themselves are not.
4. Trarthan Gems: A New Source in Heist
One of the most exciting changes coming after the league ends involves the Trarthan Gems—a major crafting and socketing currency originally tied to Mercenary progression.
In 3.27, Trarthan Gems will become a new reward type available from Gem Chests in Heist.
This is a smart transition by GGG, ensuring that these valuable crafting materials remain relevant even without the Mercenary system. In Heist, you’ll find them in Gem Chests scattered throughout contracts and blueprints, particularly in Rogue’s Marker areas.
How they’ll function post-league:
Trarthan Gems can still be used to augment and enhance skill gems.
Drop rates will likely be adjusted to maintain rarity parity with other special gem currencies (like Prime Regrading Lenses).
The gem mechanics will integrate with Heist’s existing reward scaling—meaning higher-level blueprints yield better Trarthan Gem chances.
For players who enjoyed the unique crafting flexibility Mercenaries introduced, this is a welcome continuation of that design space.
5. Mercenary League Uniques Join the Global Pool
Another major change coming with the end of the league is that Mercenary-specific unique items will now be added to the global drop pool.
These uniques include weapons, armor pieces, and accessories originally available only through Mercenary contracts or special encounters. Examples (depending on what dropped for you during the league) may include:
Commander’s Oath: A ring that grants aura-sharing properties similar to your mercenary’s support style.
Trarthan Guard’s Embrace: A chest piece that rewards high-block, high-barrier playstyles.
Vigilant’s Mark: A unique amulet that boosts nearby allies’ resistances.
By merging these uniques into the standard item pool, GGG ensures that the most memorable parts of the Mercenaries League—its distinct loot flavor and synergies—remain accessible for future builds.
Practical impact:
These items can now drop anywhere in the game: maps, bosses, Heist chests, and future leagues.
Players in Standard and future challenge leagues will be able to trade and use them freely.
Their drop weighting will likely be balanced to maintain rarity and excitement.
This move preserves the creative itemization introduced in Mercenaries without requiring the entire system to stay active.
6. Tips to Prepare Before the League Ends
Here’s how to get ready for the transition and minimize potential losses:
Unequip Mercenaries: While items will transfer automatically, manually unequipping them ensures no visual or stash bugs during migration.
Clear your stash tabs: Remove clutter so that “Remove-Only” tabs can appear clearly post-league.
Complete your challenges: If you’re aiming for the Mercenaries League’s exclusive microtransaction rewards, finish them before the cutoff.
Sell or trade Mercenary tokens early: Once the league ends, their market value drops to zero.
Run Heist contracts: If you want an early stockpile of Trarthan Gems, Heist will become their new home—so level your Rogues and prepare your blueprints.
7. Looking Ahead to 3.27 and Beyond
While the Mercenaries system won’t be part of the 3.27 expansion, GGG has confirmed that they intend to bring it back later, after thorough rebalancing. Expect adjustments to:
Mercenary AI pathing and targeting behavior
Equipment slot balance (especially double-slot items)
Scaling mechanics to fit non-league environments
If history is any indicator—like how Delve, Expedition, and Heist evolved before going core—the Mercenaries feature will likely return stronger, more refined, and with new endgame relevance.
8. Conclusion
The end of the Mercenaries Challenge League marks both a farewell and a transition. While your loyal soldiers will soon retire, their spirit—and their loot—lives on. Your items will safely transfer to Standard, the Trarthan Gems will find a new home in Heist, and buy POE orbs the league’s unique items will enrich the global drop pool for years to come.
So before October 27 arrives, tidy up your stash, unequip your mercs, and enjoy one last mission with your squad. Because when Path of Exile 3.27 launches, it’s time to forge new legends—until the Mercenaries march again.