The Runes of Aldur league brings the first full Challenge system to Path of Exile 2, with eight objectives that run from easy campaign tasks to the hardest pinnacle fights in the game. Finishing them is optional, but each pair you complete hands you a cosmetic reward, and clearing all eight gives you the entire Knight of Aldur armour set plus a hideout display piece.
All 8 Runes of Aldur challenges and their targets
Each challenge has a counter you fill by completing its specific tasks. Most fill up naturally while you play the campaign and push into maps. The two hardest, The Cartographer and The Vanquisher, require dedicated endgame progress.
| Challenge | Target | What it asks |
|---|---|---|
| The Runeseeker | /6 | Inscribe Runes at Runic Remnants using each slot length from 2 up to 7 or more. |
| The Hunter | /6 | Kill six optional campaign bosses. |
| The Ascendant | /4 | Earn all 8 Ascendancy Points through the Trials of Ascendancy. |
| The Master | — | Reach character Level 90. |
| The Reliquarian | /50 | Identify 50 Unique items. |
| The Artisan | /14 | Craft an item using each Verisium ingredient. |
| The Cartographer | /301 | Fully allocate the main Atlas Passive Tree. |
| The Vanquisher | /3 | Defeat three endgame Pinnacle Bosses. |
The Runeseeker: Inscribe runes at every remnant length
This challenge tracks the size of the Runic Remnants you complete. You need to successfully inscribe Runes from your Tome at remnants with 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 or more slots. Larger remnants appear as you progress through the campaign and into higher-level zones.
The seven-slot version is the gate here. It triggers six waves of empowered enemies, so you need enough single-target damage and mobility to survive the full sequence before the craft completes. The counter ticks up the moment you finish a remnant of a length you have not done yet.
The Hunter: Six optional campaign bosses
The Hunter sends you to six bosses scattered across the campaign. Five of them give you a Book of Specialization when defeated, with Blackjaw being the exception. Akthi and Anundr share the same arena, reached by following the dry river bed in The Khari Crossing during Interlude 2.
| Boss | Location |
|---|---|
| The Crowbell | Hunting Grounds (Act 1) |
| Kabala, Constrictor Queen | Keth (Act 2) |
| Blackjaw, the Remnant | Jiquani's Machinarium (Act 3) |
| Great White One | Whakapanu Island (Act 4) |
| Akthi, the Final Sting | The Khari Crossing (Interlude 2) |
| Anundr, the Sandworm | The Khari Crossing (Interlude 2) |
The Ascendant: Earn all 8 Ascendancy Points
You complete this by working through all four Trials of Ascendancy, which together grant the full 8 Ascendancy Points. The first two open up during the campaign, while the last two are endgame-level and can be done together.
Step 1: Clear the First Trial in Act 2 after defeating Balbala, the Traitor in Traitor's Passage, using a Djinn Barya to enter the Trial of the Sekhemas.
Step 2: Complete the Second Trial in Act 3 by entering the Temple of Chaos in Chimeral Wetlands and finishing a Trial of Chaos with an Inscribed Ultimatum.
Step 3: Run the Third Trial using a Level 60+ Djinn Barya with 3 Floors, or a Level 75+ Inscribed Ultimatum Trial of Chaos with 10 Trials.
Step 4: Finish the Final Trial. Either defeat Zarokh, the Temporal on the 4th floor of a Level 75+ Djinn Barya run, or complete 10 Trials in Trial of Chaos and use Deadly, Cowardly, and Victorious Fate to enter the Trialmaster's arena and beat him.
The Master: Reach Level 90
This one is purely a leveling milestone. Running high-tier maps is the fastest way to climb the experience curve. Deaths cost a portion of your experience, so play carefully through the 80s where each level takes longer.
The Reliquarian: Identify 50 Unique items
You need to identify 50 Unique items, and they do not all have to drop for your build. Keep Scroll of Wisdom on hand and identify uniques as you find them, or buy cheap unidentified uniques from the trade market to fill the counter quickly. Uniques you get from Ritual do not count toward this total.
The Artisan: Craft with all 14 Verisium ingredients
The Artisan requires you to craft an item using each of the following Verisium ingredients at least once. Most come from Runic Remnant and Expedition encounters. Some of the rarer alloys drop far less often, so hold onto them when they appear rather than spending them on filler crafts.
| Ingredients (1–7) | Ingredients (8–14) |
|---|---|
| Verisium | Exceptional Verisium |
| Runic Alloy | Cyclonic Alloy |
| Adaptive Alloy | Prismatic Alloy |
| Protective Alloy | Mystic Alloy |
| Expansive Alloy | Sovereign Alloy |
| Swift Alloy | Celestial Alloy |
| Any Kalguuran Crest | Any Flux |
The Cartographer: Fully allocate the Atlas Passive Tree
The Atlas tree now holds over 300 nodes, and this challenge wants every one of them allocated. There are two ways to earn the points.
Step 1: The slow route is to complete each map inside the Fortress one at a time, banking passive points as you go.
Step 2: The faster route is to defeat the Arbiter of Divinity, who auto-completes a large chunk of the Fortress each time you beat him. Hunt for Citadels on the Atlas, each marked by a glowing beam visible through the fog, to find these fights. After four Arbiter kills, the entire Fortress finishes automatically and the tree fills out.
The Vanquisher: Defeat three Pinnacle Bosses
This is the toughest challenge, asking you to kill three endgame Pinnacle Bosses tied to separate questlines. You will need to push through each of those endgame systems before you can even reach the fights.
| Boss | How to reach it |
|---|---|
| Vessel of Kulemak (full strength) | Defeat Tasgul, Swallower of Light in the Lightless Void or Vandroth, Blackblooded Enslaver in the Dark Domain to get Kulemak's Invitation, then enter the Black Cathedral from the Well of Souls. |
| The Bodach | Follow the Ritual endgame questline. |
| Tangmazu | Follow the Delirium endgame questline. |
Knight of Aldur rewards for each pair completed
Every completed challenge grants a Runes of Aldur Challenger Statue for your hideout, and every second challenge adds a piece of the Knight of Aldur armour set. You keep whatever you earn even if you do not finish all eight, so partial progress still pays out cosmetics.
| Challenges completed | Reward |
|---|---|
| 1 | Runes of Aldur Challenger Statue |
| 2 | Knight of Aldur Boots + second statue |
| 3 | Third Challenger Statue |
| 4 | Knight of Aldur Gloves + fourth statue |
| 5 | Fifth Challenger Statue |
| 6 | Knight of Aldur Body Armour + sixth statue |
| 7 | Seventh Challenger Statue |
| 8 | Knight of Aldur Helmet + final statue |
How to confirm a challenge is done
Open the Challenges screen with H at any time. Each objective shows its current count and target, so a completed challenge reads as filled (for example, 6/6 on The Hunter or 50/50 on The Reliquarian). Your finished challenge total also appears publicly in global chat and on the forums, and the matching reward arrives as soon as the count crosses each pair threshold.
Start with the objectives that fill on their own, like The Master, The Reliquarian, and The Runeseeker, then save The Cartographer and The Vanquisher for when your character can handle the Fortress and pinnacle fights. Worked in that order, the full Knight of Aldur set is realistic to claim before the league ends, and several of the harder tasks can be cleared in a group if you get stuck.