The Grove update is finally here, and if you’re jumping into Arcane Lineage after the wipe, there’s a lot more going on than it might seem at first.
The big thing everyone is going to want is the new Corruption system and Corruption powers, but there’s also a new gear identification system, new equipment, different Corruption paths, and a questline that can be surprisingly easy to mess up.
I went through the important parts below so you can get to the new content without wasting time on the less important stuff. Just keep in mind that some parts of the update were still buggy on Day 1, so a few mechanics may change or get fixed.
Arcane Lineage Grove Update Guide – Corruption Powers
The Grove update adds several major systems to Arcane Lineage, including:
- The new Grove/Corruption area
- Corruption powers
- Corruption forms
- A new gear identification system
- New gear with random stats
- New questline
- Different Corruption paths based on dialogue choices
- New combat mechanics connected to Corruption
- New gear that can improve crits, lifesteal and damage
The most important addition is definitely the Corruption system. Once you unlock your Corruption power, you can start building toward your chosen Corruption form and eventually transform using Soul Ignition.
New Gear Identification System
One of the first things you’ll notice after the update is that some gear you obtain isn’t immediately usable.
Enemies can now drop unidentified gear.
You’ll need to take those items to the NPC who identifies gear. He’ll reveal the item’s actual stats in exchange for Gold.
The price generally increases with the tier of the item, so don’t be surprised if identifying higher-tier equipment starts costing quite a bit more.
Gear Can Have Random Stats
The interesting part is that the gear doesn’t always have exactly the same stats.
An item can roll different bonuses, such as:
- Endurance
- Luck
- Crit-related bonuses
- Other random stats
This gives you another reason to keep checking your drops instead of immediately throwing everything away.
Some items can also reach much higher tiers. For example, certain pieces such as Vainglory’s Locket can reach Tier 6.
A Tier 6 item can receive special dialogue and potentially have up to eight additional stats, making high-tier gear particularly interesting for endgame builds.
How to Start the Grove Questline
If your main goal is unlocking the new Corruption power, this is the part you’ll want to pay attention to.
Start around the Seraphon portal.
From the Seraphon portal, head straight forward until you find the NPC named Seraphon.
Talk to him to begin the relevant part of the questline.
After that, you’ll be directed toward Yorn. Talk to Yorn and continue through his dialogue to gain access to the Grove.
The game should give you objectives as you progress, so you shouldn’t have to guess every single step.
Where Is the Grove?
If you’re having trouble locating the Grove, there’s an easy way to orient yourself.
The Grove is to the right of the Martial Artist, and it’s also around the area where the Heaven portal is located.
If you’re completely lost, use the game’s positioning tools and head toward that area.
Once you enter the Cursed Grove, you’ll start receiving objectives that guide you through the next section of the quest.
Important: Be Careful About Rejoining
This is probably one of the biggest warnings from the Day 1 version of the update.
Try not to rejoin in the middle of the Grove questline.
The game appears to remember which part of the quest you were on, but rejoining can still cause parts of the questline to become bugged.
In some cases, the quest can appear broken even though the game remembers your progress.
So, if you’re about to start the Corruption questline, it’s a good idea to have enough time to get through the important sections in one session.
How to Complete the Darken Affliction Quest
Once you’re inside the Grove, you’ll eventually reach a camp where you’ll meet Felius.
Talk to him to start the Darken Affliction quest.
The next objective involves helping him at the well.
I’d recommend having your Super ready before starting this section, especially if you’re using a melee-focused class. The quest can throw several enemies at you, and having a strong AoE attack makes the whole thing much less annoying.
Defend the Well
Go to the well and interact with the crank.
After turning the crank, you’ll receive the bucket and trigger a combat encounter.
You’ll have to deal with several waves of enemies. There are roughly five waves, so this is a good place to use your AoE abilities rather than trying to fight everything one enemy at a time.
Once you’ve cleared the enemies, continue the dialogue to move the quest forward.
Collect the Grove Roots
After the well section, you’ll eventually be asked to collect five roots/branches around the Grove.
Look around the nearby trees for the items you need.
They’re not restricted to just one tiny location, either. You can find branches around different parts of the area, including the other side of the Grove.
This section is mostly just a matter of exploring the nearby area and collecting the required amount.
Don’t Mess Up the Corruption Dialogue
This is the part where you really need to pay attention.
There are dialogue choices later in the quest that determine which Corruption path you receive.
So don’t just spam through the dialogue.
The important combinations shown in the update are:
- Purpose + Nothing + Vengeance = Heresy
- Power + Myself + War = Blasphemy
- Control + Everything + War = Tyranny
If you’re specifically trying to get Heresy, the choices you want are:
Purpose → Nothing → Vengeance
Once you’ve made the correct choices, you’ll be able to obtain the corresponding Corruption power.
How to Get the Heresy Corruption Power
For Heresy, follow this dialogue route:
First choice: Purpose
Second choice: Nothing
Third choice: Vengeance
Choose those three options in order and you should receive Heresy.
This is important because you can’t simply choose your favourite option at every stage and expect to get the same Corruption path.
If you’re building around a specific Corruption form, decide which one you want before making the dialogue choices.
The Voice and Moria Section
As you continue through the quest, you’ll encounter a voice in your head and eventually be directed toward its source.
You’ll also encounter ghosts during this part of the quest.
If the voice causes you to get teleported back, don’t immediately assume you’ve completely broken the quest. There are quest interactions involving reporting the ghosts, so continue following the objectives and dialogue.
Eventually, you’ll reach the area near the waterfall, where the relevant dialogue progresses.
From there, you’ll be able to speak directly with Moria and reach the dialogue choices that determine your Corruption path.
Corruption Powers Explained
Once you obtain your Corruption power, you’ve reached the main reward of this update’s questline.
The different Corruption forms have their own mechanics, but the general idea is that you build up Corrupt Power.
When you reach 100 Corrupt Power, you can activate Soul Ignition to transform.
That’s essentially the core gameplay loop of the new system:
Build Corrupt Power → Reach 100 → Use Soul Ignition → Transform
The exact way you use the transformation depends on which Corruption path you’ve chosen.
Heresy Corruption Form
Heresy has a particularly interesting mechanic involving Light and Dark Wings.
You can meditate to switch between the two modes.
The important thing to remember is that switching modes does not consume a combat turn, but it does consume a Corruption Mark.
So you don’t want to constantly switch back and forth for no reason.
Light Wing
While using Light Wing, your attacks generate Light Energy.
You can build up this energy through combat and then switch into Dark Wing to make use of it.
Dark Wing
Dark Wing gives you access to the other side of the mechanic.
Your stored energy can be converted into bonuses such as crit chance, while the system also has mechanics involving shadow/void debuffs.
The basic idea is to build resources in one form and then switch forms when you’re ready to cash them in.
For a DPS-focused build, this can be particularly useful.
How to Use Heresy Effectively
A simple way to think about Heresy is:
Light Wing → Build Energy → Switch to Dark Wing → Spend Energy → Boost Crit Chance → Deal Heavy Damage
You can also approach it from the opposite direction depending on the situation, using the different energy types to work toward debuffs.
This makes Heresy potentially useful for classes that rely heavily on burst damage, especially Assassin and other DPS builds.
Just be careful with your Corruption Marks. Since changing forms consumes them, switching constantly can leave you without the resource you need later.
New Grove Gear
The update also introduces several pieces of gear tied to the new content.
Some of the notable items mentioned include Lucky Horns, Shadow Gauntlets, First Line Spike, Blooming Eye, Infected Skin, and Blast Me.
Not every item was fully understood during the first day, especially with some mechanics appearing buggy, so don’t treat every early stat as final.
Lucky Horns
Lucky Horns provide a Crit Chance boost.
It’s a straightforward bonus and can be useful for builds that are already heavily focused on critical hits.
Shadow Gauntlets
Shadow Gauntlets appear to provide lifesteal.
Early testing suggested roughly 5% lifesteal, although the exact value wasn’t fully confirmed.
Because this was Day 1 testing, I’d treat the exact number as subject to change.
First Line Spike
First Line Spike looks like one of the stronger pieces of the new gear.
Its main benefit is increased Crit Damage, making it particularly attractive for crit-focused builds.
If you’re building around burst damage, this is one of the pieces I’d keep an eye out for.
Blooming Eye
Blooming Eye increases the damage of certain one-energy moves.
Early testing showed a very large additive increase on a fresh character, but the effective bonus is lower on a more developed character because of how the new additive damage system works.
So don’t look at an early fresh-slot test and assume you’ll get exactly the same percentage on a maxed character.
Infected Skin
Infected Skin is another new piece of gear, although its exact effect wasn’t confirmed during the initial testing.
The new gear appears to be fairly common, so there’s no need to panic about farming a single piece immediately.
Blast Me
Blast Me appears to have a mechanic connected to energy, but early testing suggested that it wasn’t working properly.
This may simply be a Day 1 bug, so I’d wait for a fix or more testing before building around it.