How to Prepare for PoE 3.30 League Start: Your Day-One Checklist

Last verified October 14, 2026 — applies to Path of Exile 3.29 "Curse of the Allflame" and the upcoming 3.30 expansion (release date confirmed by GGG).

Path of Exile's next expansion, 3.30, launches on November 13 (PST). That gives you roughly a month to turn up to the starting gun prepared instead of improvising at 2 AM on launch night. A clean league start is worth a lot: the first days of a fresh economy are when currency is most valuable, when the best farming lanes are least contested, and when a day or two of planning compounds into a week of progress. This is the day-one checklist — what to do before the server goes live, and what to do in the first hours once it does. It is not a build guide; it is the prep work every build needs.

Quick answer: how do I prepare for PoE 3.30 league start?

Do five things before November 13: (1) cash out your 3.29 wealth into things you'll actually keep, because league currency loses its trade value the moment it migrates to Standard; (2) pre-download the client and any day-one patch so you're not stuck downloading during the login rush; (3) install and update your loot filter (NeverSink via FilterBlade) so the floor is readable from level 1; (4) lock in a leveling plan — a campaign route plus a couple of cheap leveling uniques — so you're not theory-crafting in the character-select screen; and (5) decide your opening economy plan (what you'll farm first, what you'll buy). GGG reveals the 3.30 league name, mechanic and patch notes at ExileCon on November 7–8, so finalize the build-specific details after that reveal, but everything above you can do right now.

When does PoE 3.30 actually start?

GGG posted the official timeline on the forums on October 12, 2026. The exact wording:

"Our next expansion ... will be released on November 13 (PST), with full details to be revealed at ExileCon 2026 this November."

So the sequence is fixed:

• ExileCon 2026 — November 7–8: the full 3.30 reveal, including the league name, the new mechanic and the patch notes. GGG said "full details to be revealed at ExileCon."
• November 9, 1 PM PST: the 3.29 "Curse of the Allflame" Challenge League ends. In GGG's words, "The Curse of the Allflame Challenge League will end at 1PM November 9th (PST)."
• November 13 (PST): 3.30 goes live.

For the full breakdown of the dates, time zones and what the ExileCon reveal means, see our PoE 3.30 release date guide. This article assumes you already know when — and focuses on how to be ready.

One thing to be clear about: as of today, GGG has revealed nothing about 3.30's league name or mechanic. The reveal is the entire point of ExileCon. You'll see plenty of community speculation ("it'll bring back X", "it's a Y rework") — treat all of it as rumor until the Nov 7–8 stream. The prep below is deliberately mechanic-agnostic, so none of it is wasted no matter what GGG announces.

Step 1 — Cash out your 3.29 wealth before the league ends

This is the step players most often skip, and it costs the most. When a Challenge League ends, your league characters migrate to the permanent Standard league (hardcore characters move to Hardcore), and each non-empty league stash tab becomes a remove-only tab in Standard — you can pull items out but can't deposit new ones. So nothing is deleted. But Standard has a glut of accumulated currency and items from every past league, so the trade value of your currency collapses the moment it lands there. A stash of Divine Orbs that is a fortune in the final week of 3.29 is worth a fraction of that in Standard, because nobody is racing to buy it.

The move is to convert wealth into things you'll keep or use, not to hoard raw currency you'll never spend. Practical options in the last two weeks of 3.29:

• Buy mirror-tier or build-defining uniques you've always wanted and park them in Standard — a Headhunter, a Mageblood, a chase unique for a future Standard build. These hold value and give your Standard characters something to do.
• Spend down into cosmetics and stash space. Microtransactions and extra stash tabs are account-wide and carry across every league forever. Points and tabs you buy now are permanent infrastructure for 3.30 and beyond.
• Finish your challenges. You have until November 9 to complete any remaining 3.29 challenges — the cosmetic rewards are gone once the league ends.
• Don't dump everything into a last-minute mega-craft. A 200-Divine craft you finish on November 8 gets exactly one day of use, then migrates to Standard where you'll rarely log in. Spend on permanence, not on a one-day flex.

If you want to start 3.30 with a currency buffer rather than farm it from zero, the cleanest route is to buy league currency and services at launch rather than racing the economy — our PoE currency and boosting & carries pages exist for exactly that early-league jump-start. For a deeper look at what happens to your characters and tabs when a league closes, see our guide on what happens when a PoE league ends.

Step 2 — Pre-download the client and beat the login rush

Launch day is the single busiest moment in Path of Exile's calendar. Two things reliably go wrong for unprepared players: a last-minute download, and the login queue.

• Pre-load the patch. Path of Exile pushes a large patch at league start. If you only open the client at go-live, you'll be downloading gigabytes while everyone else is already in the Twilight Strand. Launch the client the morning of November 13, let it patch, then close it and wait for the servers.
• Expect a login wall. Tens of thousands of players hit "login" in the same minute. The login server gets hammered; a queue or repeated login attempts are normal in the first 30–60 minutes. This is not your connection — it's the launch crush. Players joke about it every league ("just missing the queue page"), but it's real: budget time for it and don't panic-relog in a way that puts you further back.
• Have your settings and filter already applied (see Step 3) so the first thing you do after logging in is play, not configure.

Step 3 — Set up your loot filter ahead of time

A loot filter decides what drops are highlighted, hidden, played a sound for, or marked on your minimap. Without one, a fresh character's screen is an unreadable wall of white and blue item names. With a good one, the currency and bases that matter pop immediately. This is the highest-value five-minute job on this list.

The community standard is NeverSink's filter, configured at FilterBlade.xyz. Set it up before launch:

• Download or sync the latest NeverSink filter (the "Semi-Strict" or "Regular" strictness is the usual league-start choice — strict filters hide low-tier items you still want while leveling).
• If you customize on FilterBlade, save and re-download after the 3.30 patch notes drop, because a new league can add new currency and bases the filter needs to catch. A quick re-sync on November 13 after the reveal keeps your filter current.
• In-game, the filter lives under Options → UI → Item Filter. Have it selected before you make your character, not after you've already walked past your first drops.

Step 4 — Lock in a leveling plan and a couple of cheap uniques

You don't need your full endgame build figured out before ExileCon — you can't, because the mechanic isn't revealed. But you can commit to a leveling plan: a class, a leveling skill, and a campaign route. The campaign is ten acts, and the "real" game begins when you hit maps: a Tier 1 map is area level 68, and the full map pool runs 16 tiers up to area level 83. Getting through those ten acts fast and safely is pure preparation and totally independent of whatever 3.30's mechanic turns out to be.

A few evergreen truths that make every league start smoother:

• A Tabula Rasa is the single best leveling item in the game. It's a 6-linked white body armour with no requirements, so you can run your main skill fully linked from the moment you can equip a chest — it comfortably carries you into the 80s. If you want one ready on day one instead of farming it, grab a Tabula Rasa.
• Cheap leveling uniques punch far above their price. Goldrim (big all-resistance from level 1), Wanderlust (movement speed plus freeze immunity), and Lifesprig (early spell damage and life) each cost almost nothing and smooth out the campaign dramatically.
• Movement speed boots matter more than almost any other stat while leveling. Prioritize a pair with movement speed early.
• Have your gem links written down. Know which support gems go into your main skill at which act, so you're buying them from the act vendors as you go rather than guessing.

For a full campaign walkthrough and the leveling-unique shopping list, see our PoE leveling guide. If you'd rather skip the campaign grind entirely at launch, leveling and boss carries are what our PoE services page covers.

Step 5 — Plan your opening economy

The first 48 hours of a league are the most lucrative stretch of the entire three-to-four-month cycle, because the whole economy resets to zero. Early currency is scarce, so early sales are worth the most; the best farming lanes aren't yet flooded. You can't optimize the specifics until the 3.30 mechanic is revealed, but you can decide your approach:

• Have a day-one money plan. Are you a fast campaign-rusher who sells early maps and bases? A crafter who banks regals and alchs? Knowing your lane before you log in means you start earning on act 1, not act 6.
• Know how to trade efficiently from the start. The sooner you can list items on the trade site and use the Currency Exchange, the faster your early currency compounds. Our PoE trading guide covers the premium stash tab setup and the exchange mechanics you'll want live on day one.
• Decide where your Atlas focus goes once you hit maps. You can't allocate your Atlas tree for a mechanic you haven't seen, but you can plan to funnel your passive points into one strong lane rather than spreading thin — see our breakdown of the best Atlas tree for currency farming for the general method.

What you can't prepare yet (wait for ExileCon)

Be honest about the limits of pre-planning. These depend entirely on the November 7–8 reveal, so don't lock them in early:

• Your final build. The 3.30 patch notes will rebalance skills, supports and ascendancies. A build that's S-tier in 3.29 may be gutted — or buffed — in 3.30. Pick your class and general archetype now; finalize the skill and gear after patch notes.
• Your Atlas and farming strategy. You can't optimize for a mechanic you haven't seen. Plan the method (focus one lane), not the specifics.
• Which league-specific items to chase. The new mechanic will introduce new currency, bases and uniques. Those become clear only at reveal.

The rule of thumb: prepare everything that's mechanic-agnostic now (filter, leveling plan, client, economy approach, 3.29 cash-out), and leave everything mechanic-dependent for after ExileCon.

Your 3.30 league-start checklist at a glance

When	Task	Why it matters
Now → Nov 9	Cash out 3.29 wealth into keepers (uniques, tabs, MTX)	Currency loses trade value once it migrates to Standard
Now → Nov 9	Finish remaining 3.29 challenges	Cosmetic rewards are gone after the league ends
Now	Install/update NeverSink filter via FilterBlade	Unreadable loot floor without it; biggest 5-min win
Now	Pick class + leveling skill + campaign route	Mechanic-agnostic; start playing immediately on day one
Now	Line up cheap leveling uniques (Tabula, Goldrim, Wanderlust)	They carry the whole campaign for almost no cost
Nov 7–8	Watch ExileCon reveal; read patch notes	Finalize build, Atlas and chase items here
Nov 13 morning	Pre-load the patch; re-sync filter	Avoid the launch-day download + queue scramble
Nov 13 go-live	Execute leveling plan; start your day-one money lane	Early economy is the most lucrative window of the league

FAQ

When does PoE 3.30 release? PoE 3.30 releases on November 13 (PST). GGG confirmed the date in its official 3.30 expansion timeline forum post on October 12, 2026, and will reveal the full details — league name, mechanic and patch notes — at ExileCon 2026 on November 7–8.

When does the 3.29 Curse of the Allflame league end? The Curse of the Allflame Challenge League ends at 1 PM PST on November 9, 2026. After that your characters migrate to the permanent Standard league and each non-empty league stash tab becomes a remove-only tab there (nothing is deleted), and 3.30 launches on November 13.

Should I spend all my currency before the league ends? Spend it on things that keep their value or carry forward — build-defining uniques, extra stash tabs, and microtransactions (tabs and MTX are account-wide and permanent). Don't leave a large stack of raw trade currency, because it loses most of its value once it migrates to Standard, and don't blow it all on a last-minute craft you'll only use for a day.

Do I need a loot filter for league start? Yes. Without a filter a fresh character's screen is an unreadable flood of item names. Install NeverSink's filter via FilterBlade before launch, and re-sync it after the 3.30 patch notes so it catches any new currency and bases. It's the single highest-value few minutes of prep you can do.

What's the best leveling item for a league start? A Tabula Rasa — a 6-linked white chest with no stat requirements, so your main skill runs fully linked from the moment you can wear a body armour, carrying you into the 80s. Pair it with cheap leveling uniques like Goldrim (all-resistance) and Wanderlust (movement speed), and prioritize movement-speed boots.

Can I plan my 3.30 build now? Only loosely. Pick a class and general archetype now, but don't finalize your skills, gear or Atlas tree until the 3.30 patch notes land at ExileCon on November 7–8 — the rebalance can make or break a given build, and the new league mechanic isn't revealed yet.