Microtransactions are the purchase of digital goods including cosmetic items, in-game content and premium account features. These digital goods are acquired by spending credits purchased with real world money. In Path of Exile, the digital goods acquired through such purchases are sometimes also referred to as microtransactions themselves.[1][2]
Purpose
Path of Exile is a free-to-play game that is supported monetarily through its microtransaction features. The policy of Grinding Gear Games regarding microtransactions is that they should not confer any significant advantage to the player. Microtransaction features are primarily cosmetic in nature or provide peripheral utility in the case of additional stash tabs and character slots.
How to purchase
The features available through microtransaction purchases are not otherwise available through playing the game. They are also not necessary for completing any of the game content.
Navigate to pathofexile.com and activate the Shop link in the main menu. On the Purchase page, a player can purchase Points for real money. A player can then browse the Shop and buy microtransaction features with Points.
Digital goods
The digital goods obtainable through microtransactions can be divided into the following categories:
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Account features
Additional stash tabs, the ability to customise them, extra character-slots for collectors and alternative mouse cursor.
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Alternate skill effects
Re-skins to various skills, such as replacing Skeletons with Statues.
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Character effects
Replacements to standard character effects, such as portals.
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Item effects
Extra glow or attachments on equipment.
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Item skins
Alternate appearance of weapons and armour.
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Hideout decorations
Additional decorations for a personalized hideout.
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Pets
Non-combat companions to follow the player around.
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Animations
Currently contain the /dance animations for each character class.
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Custom content
The option for players work with the developers to design their own content.
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Version history
| Version
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Changes
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| 3.22.1d |
- Character microtransactions other than weapon skins, weapon effects, flask effects and unique item skins no longer require an item equipped to the relevant inventory slot to display their effect.
- It is now possible to equip a Finisher Effect microtransaction to your off-hand weapon added effect slot when using a Two-handed Weapon or Bow, and you can also equip these to either or both weapon added effect slots while unarmed.
- It is now possible to apply both a Totem Skin microtransaction and a Skill Effect microtransaction to an applicable Skill Gem, such as
 Searing BondSpell, Totem, Fire
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (18-51) Mana
Cast Time: 1.00 secRequires Level 12Summons a totem that casts a beam of fire at you and each other totem you control, dealing burning damage to enemies caught in the beam. Enemies near either end of a beam also suffer burning damage.+1 to maximum number of Summoned Totems
Totem lasts 8 seconds
Deals (32.1-3899.6) Base Fire Damage per second
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Summons a Totem which uses this Skill
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
+(0.1-2) to maximum number of Summoned TotemsPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.  .
- Individual armour piece microtransactions that are part of an armour pack bundle can now be purchased individually through the armour pack shop listing, rather than having their own shop listing.
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| 3.19.0 |
- Added the ability to select which microtransaction tier to display as the maximum tier for relevant equipped microtransactions. For example, you can choose to have a semi-jacked Maroider as the highest displayed tier, rather than absolutely jacked Maroider.
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| 3.15.3 |
- Added an option for propagating Supporter Pack Weapon Effects to your off-hand. This can be set when equipping a Weapon Effect to your main-hand in the Cosmetics Panel.
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| 3.11.0 |
- Improved the behaviour of pets playing their animations while deployed as a hideout decoration.
- Updated the visual Surge effect played when casting an elemental spell.
- Spells with a Stygian effect applied now produce a Stygian surge around the player character when cast.
- Weapon Skins from Supporter Packs can now be applied to both weapons when dual-wielding.
- Added more music to the list of Hideout music options. The default music for any particular hideout is now indicated.
- Fixed a number of other wonky microtransaction interactions.
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| 2.6.3 |
- Redeployed the revamped the microtransaction system.
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| 2.6.1 |
- We have revamped Path of Exile's microtransaction system.
- We have added a Cosmetics screen next to the Inventory. Rather than applying your effects directly to items, these effects now have their own slots. This allows you to swap your gear around as you level up without having to constantly reclaim and re-apply effects.
- Skills that can have microtransactions applied are shown in a list. You can click them to see which microtransactions apply to them.
- The microtransaction stash has been entirely replaced with a new display that can easily show you what effects you have for each slot. It's easy to equip effects directly from here by just clicking on them. Everything you own is shown in this stash, including effects that are currently in use on other characters, so you can't misplace microtransactions anymore.
- If all your copies of a certain microtransaction are equipped to other characters, you can select which one you want to move to this character.
- Pets, portals, social frames and upcoming alternate character portraits now have individual slots, so that they are easy to equip. Like before, one instance of these can be applied to multiple characters.
- Mystery boxes are now grouped by type and have an improved opening experience.
- Microtransactions other than Skin Transfer can now be used in races where they were previously disabled.
- The way that you reclaim transferred skins has been changed. You now shift-click the skinned item to remove the skin from it.
- Note: Under the new system, it's possible to delete a character without losing microtransactions. The warning for deleting characters with microtransactions has been removed, but the regular deletion warning is still there. It is now possible to delete characters with items affected by Skin Transfers. Also, because microtransaction effects are not directly bound to items, the warning that you get when selling an item to a vendor doesn't occur any more. We will look into ways to make vendoring items safer.
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See also
References
