Patch 0.5.5 "The Forbidden Rites" went live on September 4, 2026 (event realm opening 20:00 UTC / 1:00 PM PDT), and the official patch notes confirm 17 brand-new Soul Cores on top of the existing roster — 13 in the Jiquani's family and 4 in the Atziri's family — plus significant buffs to three existing ones. Here's the honest state of play: GGG shipped the names and the drop source, but the exact modifiers on the 17 new cores are not published yet (the reworked Trial of Chaos is where they drop). This guide gives you every confirmed name, what we actually know today, what's still pending, and — because Soul Cores trade freely on the Currency Exchange — which ones are shaping up to be worth real Divines.
Quick answer: 0.5.5 adds 17 new Soul Cores — 13 Jiquani's (Automation, Malediction, Targeting, Rallying, Radiance, Severing, Rippling, Quaking, Munitions, Snares, Abundance, Squalls, Thundering) and 4 Atziri's (Devotion, Vitality, Alacrity, Inoculation). They drop from the reworked Trial of Chaos (whose runs now reward only Currency and Soul Cores) and are tradeable on the Currency Exchange. Their exact effects aren't published yet. Three existing cores got a confirmed buff: Zantipi (Intelligence), Atmohua (Strength) and Cholotl (Dexterity) now convert 40% of Requirements (up from 20%). Chase potential goes to the named endgame cores, not the level-0 basics — price-check live before you buy or sell.
PoE2 - Divine & Exalted Orbs
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What are Soul Cores in PoE2 (quick refresher)?
Soul Cores are Vaal-empire Augments that slot into the same Rune/Augment sockets as Runes — on martial weapons and armour. Once socketed, a Soul Core cannot be removed (replacing it destroys the old core; an Orb of Extraction saves the core but destroys the item). They pull from a stronger, wider effect pool than plain Runes: flat Spirit, charge generation, penetration, crit, and ES-based defences.
There are two broad tiers already in the game:
- Base Soul Cores — Requirement Level 0, drop level 35. Cheap, plug-and-play, no downside.
- Named "X's Soul Core of Y" cores — Requirement Level 50, drop level 65. These are the endgame, market-relevant ones. The 0.5.5 additions all sit in this named tier.
If you're new to the whole system — how sockets work, how to extract, the full base-15 list — read our full PoE2 Soul Cores guide first. This page is specifically about what 0.5.5 added.
Every new Soul Core added in 0.5.5
The 0.5.5 patch notes list 17 new Soul Cores by name under "Added the following new Soul Cores." Names are confirmed straight from GGG; individual modifiers are not yet documented, so we've flagged the status honestly rather than invent numbers.
Jiquani's Soul Cores (13 new)
| Soul Core | Family | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Automation | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Malediction | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Targeting | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Rallying | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Radiance | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Severing | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Rippling | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Quaking | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Munitions | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Snares | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Abundance | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Squalls | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
| Jiquani's Soul Core of Thundering | Jiquani's | New — effect pending |
Atziri's Soul Cores (4 new)
| Soul Core | Family | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Atziri's Soul Core of Devotion | Atziri's | New — effect pending |
| Atziri's Soul Core of Vitality | Atziri's | New — effect pending |
| Atziri's Soul Core of Alacrity | Atziri's | New — effect pending |
| Atziri's Soul Core of Inoculation | Atziri's | New — effect pending |
Why "effect pending" and not made-up numbers: maxroll's 0.5.5 patch-notes breakdown states plainly there are "17 brand new Soul Cores, with their modifiers unknown so far." We'll update this table the moment poe2db and the wiki confirm each modifier from the live realm. If a site is already quoting exact rolls for all 17, treat it with suspicion — GGG hasn't published them.
The confirmed buffs: Zantipi, Atmohua and Cholotl
The new-patch modifier values GGG did confirm are a straight doubling on the three attribute-conversion cores:
- Soul Core of Zantipi — now grants Convert 40% of Requirements to Intelligence (previously 20%).
- Soul Core of Atmohua — now grants Convert 40% of Requirements to Strength (previously 20%).
- Soul Core of Cholotl — now grants Convert 40% of Requirements to Dexterity (previously 20%).
That's a real power bump for attribute-stacking and hybrid builds that lean on these cores to hit gear requirements, and it signals the design direction: requirement-shaping cores are getting more generous. GGG also notes that "some other existing Soul Cores [were] buffed significantly" without listing individual values — another reason to check tooltips in-game on day one.
Where the new Soul Cores drop (and why that matters for price)
0.5.5 reworked the Trial of Chaos, and the reward structure changed in a way that directly affects Soul Core supply:
- Trial of Chaos runs now reward only Currency and Soul Cores. Corrupted items are no longer a reward outcome. That concentrates the loot table onto exactly two things — so if you want the new cores, the Trial is the tap.
- Wager Modifiers (the new risk/reward layer) also pay out in Currency or Soul Cores exclusively.
- Quality-of-life wins that make farming them realistic: you can now leave a Trial and resume from the same room, there's a reward chest at the end of each room (dying is far less punishing), and higher Area Levels grant inherent bonuses (more Rares, more modifiers, Exceptional-item drops) to compensate for Atlas passives not applying inside.
Practically: on a fresh Forbidden Rites economy, everyone re-levels and pushes the Trial of Chaos to gear up, so the new cores will flood in during week one and settle in price after. Early on, the strong named cores can be worth a lot before supply catches up.
PoE2 - Items
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Which new Soul Cores are worth chasing?
Until modifiers are public, value is a read on family history + supply, not confirmed rolls. Here's the honest framework:
- Named cores (Req 50) are the money tier. The existing charge-duplication trio — Opiloti's Soul Core of Assault (chance for an extra Frenzy Charge), Xopec's ... of Power, Guatelitzi's ... of Endurance — and armour-conversion cores like the Atmohua's/Hayoxi's/Zalatl's family have historically carried Divine-level value because they enable specific build breakpoints you can't get from an affix. Expect the best of the 17 new named cores to slot into that same "chase" bracket.
- Attribute-conversion cores (the Zantipi lane) are quietly some of the most tradeable, because attribute-stacking and requirement-shaping are universal problems. If any of the new Jiquani's/Atziri's cores convert or grant flat attributes, watch them.
- A datamined detail worth flagging (community, unconfirmed): some players report the new cores include +skill-level style modifiers that stack alongside the existing +1 spell/attack runes rather than competing with an affix — which is exactly why they'd be strong in unique items that can't roll those mods. Treat this as community observation until poe2db confirms it.
- Level-0 basics are not chase items. They're plug-and-play convenience; price them as cheap consumables.
If you'd rather buy the cores or the Divines to afford them than grind the Trial of Chaos on a fresh realm, our PoE2 currency store and Trial of Chaos & boss carries get you there on day one.
How to buy, sell and socket the new Soul Cores
Soul Cores are stackable, so they trade on the Currency Exchange (the order-book market), not the item trade site — look for the Soul Cores row alongside Runes, Essences and Breach Catalysts. No whispering, no meeting a player; you set "I Want" vs "I Have" and it fills automatically. That's the fastest way to convert farmed cores into Divines, or to grab a specific named core you need.
To socket one: right-click the Soul Core, left-click an empty Rune/Augment socket on a martial weapon or armour piece. Remember the hard rule — once it's in, it's in. Plan the slot before you commit, especially on expensive gear.
Skip the grind on the fresh economy:
- PoE2 Currency (all orbs) — divine · chaos · exalted · more
- PoE2 Divine Orbs — instant delivery · trusted · best rate
- PoE2 Exalted Orbs — fast & secure
- PoE2 Leveling & Boss Carries — skip the grind · pro players
A note on prices during a fresh league
Forbidden Rites is a separate, fresh economy — currency ratios reset near-zero and climb as the league matures. On the ongoing Runes of Aldur league, 1 Divine trades for roughly 442 Exalted Orbs as of September 3, 2026, but on the brand-new event realm early Divines are worth far more relative to Exalted, and Soul Core prices will swing hard in the first days. Never trade off a stale number: check the live ratio on our PoE2 price-check tool before you buy or sell.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many new Soul Cores did PoE2 0.5.5 add? Seventeen. The datamined item filter lists 13 Jiquani's Soul Cores (Automation, Malediction, Targeting, Rallying, Radiance, Severing, Rippling, Quaking, Munitions, Snares, Abundance, Squalls, Thundering) and 4 Atziri's Soul Cores (Devotion, Vitality, Alacrity, Inoculation). Their exact modifiers weren't officially published at launch.
What do the new Jiquani's and Atziri's Soul Cores do? GGG confirmed the names and the drop source but not the individual modifiers — maxroll's patch-notes summary states the 17 new cores have "their modifiers unknown so far." The only confirmed value changes are buffs to three existing cores — Zantipi, Atmohua and Cholotl. Be cautious of any site quoting exact rolls for all 17 new ones already; wait for poe2db/wiki confirmation from the live realm.
Where do the new Soul Cores drop? From the reworked Trial of Chaos. In 0.5.5 a completed Trial run rewards only Currency and Soul Cores (corrupted items were removed from the reward pool), and the new Wager Modifiers also pay out in Currency or Soul Cores. Higher Area Levels give inherent bonuses, and you can now leave and resume a Trial from the same room.
Can you use two of the same Soul Core? No — you can't equip duplicate identical Soul Cores across your sockets; the game blocks the second one ("you cannot use this item"). Mix different cores instead. Note that some cores also carry a corrupted-item socket restriction, which caught players out at launch.
Are the new Soul Cores tradeable? Yes. Soul Cores are stackable and trade on the Currency Exchange (the Soul Cores row), so you can buy or sell them without whispering another player. The valuable named cores (Requirement Level 50) are the ones worth listing; the Level-0 base cores are cheap consumables.
What changed with the Soul Core of Zantipi? It now grants Convert 40% of Requirements to Intelligence, doubled from the previous 20%. GGG applied the same doubling to its sibling cores — Atmohua (Strength) and Cholotl (Dexterity) — in the 0.5.5 notes, making all three noticeably better for attribute-stacking and hybrid builds trying to meet gear requirements.
