What Happens When a PoE League Ends? Characters, Currency & Standard Explained

Quick answer: When a Path of Exile challenge league ends, nothing you own is deleted. Your characters, their levels, your currency and every item merge into the matching permanent league — softcore leagues roll into Standard, Hardcore leagues roll into Hardcore (Standard), and the solo self-found variants roll into their SSF equivalents. All your purchased stash tabs were always account-wide, so those stay; the contents of your old league stashes reappear in Standard inside special remove-only tabs you can empty but not refill. Challenge-reward cosmetics (portals, pets, wings) are permanent account unlocks and are never lost. The only real "loss" risk is league-specific stored materials (beasts, sulphite, some crafting storage) when there isn't room to migrate them — so clear those out before the merge.

Applies to League 3.29 "Curse of the Allflame" (launched 2026-07-24) as it winds down toward 3.30. The merge mechanics here are evergreen Path of Exile behaviour and have worked this way for years.

Do I lose my characters when the PoE league ends?

No. This is the single biggest misconception for newer players. The long-running community reference guide on the official Path of Exile forums puts it plainly: "Nothing you own in a challenge league is ever lost by a league merge," and "Everything you own, including characters, items, hideout, masters, progress in the Atlas, etc. gets transferred." (That phrasing is from a veteran-player forum guide, not an official GGG post — but it matches how the merge has worked for years.)

A temporary league — right now that's 3.29 "Curse of the Allflame" — is not a separate save file that gets wiped. It's a fresh, parallel economy that runs for roughly three to four months. When GGG ends it, the whole thing is merged into its permanent parent league. Your level 95 character is still a level 95 character the next day; it just lives in Standard now, with the same passive tree, Ascendancy, gear and Atlas progress it had the moment the league closed.

So the honest framing before a league ends is this: you are not racing a deletion timer. You are deciding what's worth doing in your final weeks, because after the merge the fresh-economy momentum is gone (more on that below).

Which league does my character migrate to?

The migration is a fixed, like-for-like mapping. Per GGG's official guide:

• Softcore challenge league → Standard
• Hardcore challenge league → Hardcore (the permanent Hardcore Standard league)
• SSF (Solo Self-Found) challenge league → SSF Standard
• SSF Hardcore challenge league → SSF Hardcore Standard

Nothing crosses streams — a Hardcore-league character does not end up in softcore Standard at league end; it lands in permanent Hardcore. (Separately, during the league, a Hardcore character that dies is moved out of Hardcore — that death-migration is a mid-league rule, not the end-of-league merge, and it's the one place the two can feel similar.)

What carries over to Standard — and what doesn't?

Almost everything is preserved. The community's "what carries over" references confirm the transfer includes far more than just your characters and currency:

• Characters — full level, passive tree, Ascendancy points, bandit/campaign choices. Nothing is reset.
• Currency and items — every orb, every unique, every map in your stash.
• Atlas progression — your Voidstones, completed Atlas bonus objectives, Shaped/favoured maps and map-device upgrades all come with it.
• Account unlocks — the 5-slot (6-slot upgraded) map device, the Horticrafting/Harvest storage, unveiled Betrayal crafting recipes, Delve azurite/sulphite/depth, Expedition logbooks and Heist contracts all transfer.
• Hideout and masters — your hideout and its decorations move with you.

The headline rule holds: "If you think you have lost something during a merge, you aren't looking hard enough." Items that seem missing are almost always sitting in a remove-only tab or at the end of your tab list.

The one real loss risk: league-specific stored materials

Here's the one caveat the "nothing is ever lost" line glosses over. GGG hasn't published explicit wording on it, but it is well-documented by players: if you have more league-specific stored materials than there is capacity to hold after the merge — captured beasts in your Menagerie, stored Sulphite, certain crafting-storage contents — some of it can be lost on migration. The fix is simple and worth doing in your last play session: spend down or clear out your stored beasts, Sulphite and bench materials before the league closes rather than hoping they all survive the move.

What are "remove-only" stash tabs?

This is the mechanic that confuses everyone on their first merge. Your purchased stash tabs are account-wide microtransactions — they are not league-specific, and you have access to all your MTX in every league. So your currency tab, quad tabs and map tab already exist in Standard. They do not "move"; they were always there.

Your items, though, need somewhere to land. So at the merge, the game creates new tabs to hold them. As the community merge guide describes it: "For every non-empty stash tab you have in the challenge league, a new remove-only [tab] will be created in the parent Standard league with all the items you had in that stash in the challenge league."

A remove-only tab works exactly as it sounds: you can take items out, but you cannot put items back in, and the tab disappears once it's empty. It's a temporary holding pen, not a permanent tab. Practically, after a merge you'll log into Standard, see a stack of remove-only tabs full of your old league loot, and spend some time pulling the good items into your real tabs and vendoring or dumping the rest until the remove-only tabs vanish.

Do I keep my challenge reward cosmetics?

Yes — permanently, on your account. The cosmetic microtransactions you earn from the challenge grind are account unlocks, not league items. For 3.29, GGG's official Curse of the Allflame challenge-rewards post lays out the ladder: the Oceanic Weapon Effect at 12 challenges, the Fangtooth Moray Pet at 24, the Captain's Wheel Back Attachment at 32, and the Oceanic Portal Effect at 36. On top of those four headline cosmetics, you earn pieces of the Allflame Challenger Trophy hideout decoration across the milestones, completing the full trophy at 40. GGG confirms in that same post that "every reward you unlock can also be used in Path of Exile 2!" — so anything you unlock this league is yours across future leagues and across both games.

That's the real argument for pushing challenges in the back half of a league: the currency you make is about to be diluted into Standard, but the cosmetics you unlock are forever. If you're close to a reward tier, a final push is pure permanent value — and the stretch to 40/40 is exactly where a challenge or boss-carry service saves the weeks of grinding the last few objectives would otherwise cost. Our full 3.29 challenge rewards breakdown covers every tier.

Is Standard's economy worth anything after the merge?

Here the honest answer needs a caveat, because this part is community consensus, not an official GGG statement. The widely held view among long-time players is that Standard is a heavily inflated, low-liquidity economy. Every item and all the currency from every past league pours into Standard permanently and never leaves, so high-end currency like Divine Orbs and Mirrors of Kalandra accumulates for years. Most active trading, price discovery and build-of-the-week demand happen in the fresh temporary league, which leaves Standard as more of a long-term collection and mirror-service economy than a place to quickly flip gear.

What that means for you, in plain terms:

• Currency you hold in the league is worth far more spent now than merged into Standard. A stack of Divines buys a lot more in a live league economy than it will in the Standard glut.
• Don't hoard "for later" in Standard. Later never comes with the same value. If you want an upgrade, buy it while the league economy is liquid.
• Standard is great for one thing: a permanent home for your collection — mirror-tier items, finished builds you want to keep, and anything you'll want to revisit between leagues.

So the end-of-league play is to convert, not hoard: turn surplus currency into either the last upgrades you actually want to play with, or into the challenge/boss progress that leaves you with permanent cosmetics. If you're short on time before 3.30, topping up with instant PoE currency to finish a build or a pinnacle-boss goal in the live economy is far better value than dragging an un-spent stack into the Standard dead zone.

How do I know when the league is actually ending?

There is no in-game countdown timer. GGG announces the end of a league with an official forum and news post that gives a specific date and time — historically a "prepare for the end of the league" post a week or two out — and that announcement is the signal to start wrapping up. Watch the official Path of Exile news feed and your launcher news panel.

As of this writing, 3.29 "Curse of the Allflame" is still live and GGG has not announced an official end date. The known anchor is ExileCon, November 7–8, 2026 in New Zealand, where GGG's biggest reveals are expected — and the community widely anticipates the next league (3.30) will be shown there, though GGG hasn't officially promised a 3.30 keynote. Based on the 2023 ExileCon precedent, players are projecting a launch roughly a week after the convention (a frequently cited guess is mid-November), but treat any specific 3.30 date as a projection until GGG confirms it. For the full timeline, see our 3.30 release-date breakdown.

Your end-of-league checklist

Run this in your last play session or two before the merge:

• Spend down league-specific storage — clear captured beasts, Sulphite and bench crafting materials so the capacity caveat can't eat them.
• Finish any challenge tier you're close to — the cosmetic is permanent; the currency is about to inflate away.
• Convert surplus currency into upgrades or goals you'll actually use now, not a Standard hoard.
• Know where your loot will be — expect remove-only tabs in Standard holding everything from your non-empty league stashes; plan an hour to sort them after the merge.
• Watch the official news post for the real end date — there is no in-game timer.

FAQ

What happens to my characters when the PoE league ends — do I lose them? No. Nothing is deleted. Your characters, their levels, passive trees, Ascendancies, currency and items all merge into the matching permanent league (softcore → Standard, Hardcore → Hardcore Standard). As the long-standing community merge guide on the official forums puts it, nothing you own in a challenge league is lost by the merge — the one exception is league-specific stored materials that overflow capacity, so clear those first.

Do my stash tabs carry over to Standard, and what are these "remove-only" tabs? Your purchased stash tabs are account-wide microtransactions, so they already exist in Standard. The items from your old league stashes reappear in Standard inside new remove-only tabs — one for each non-empty league tab. You can take items out of a remove-only tab but not put items back in, and the tab vanishes once it's empty.

Do I keep my challenge reward cosmetics after the league is over? Yes. Challenge rewards (portal effects, pets, back attachments, hideout decorations) are permanent account unlocks, not league items. For 3.29 the four headline cosmetics unlock at 12/24/32/36 challenges, with the Allflame Challenger Trophy hideout decoration completed at 40 — and GGG confirms every reward can even be used in Path of Exile 2.

Can I actually lose anything in the merge? Only league-specific stored materials — captured beasts, Sulphite, some crafting storage — if there's more than the parent league can hold. Clear or spend those before the league ends and you'll lose nothing.

When does 3.29 end and when does the next league start? 3.29 "Curse of the Allflame" is still live and GGG has not announced an end date. ExileCon runs November 7–8, 2026, and the community widely expects the next league (3.30) to be revealed there, with a launch commonly projected for roughly a week later — but GGG has not officially confirmed a 3.30 reveal or date, so watch the official news post.

Is it worth saving currency into Standard for next time? The community consensus is no — Standard's economy is heavily inflated and illiquid because every past league's wealth accumulates there permanently. Currency is worth far more spent in the live league economy than merged and hoarded. Use Standard as a home for your collection, not a savings account.

Finishing 3.29 strong before the merge? Spend the currency while it's worth the most — on the upgrades and goals you'll actually play.

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