ExileCon 2023 Race Winner!
In the ExileCon 2023 race, Path of Exile's 4 fastest players rushed to defeat Kitava and we now have a winner. To reach the main stage, all 4 contestants made it through a grueling series of qualifiers. Before we reveal the victor let's take a quick look at the contestants and their stories.
The Contenders
Tytykiller
If you've ever wanted to know more about leveling up in Path of Exile, you're probably familiar with Tytykiller's content! He's our Path of Exile leveling expert here on Maxroll, and is well known for blisteringly fast race times. When he first came onto the scene Tytykiller shocked the community, using innovative skips and tricks to go so fast we had to collectively pick our jaws up off the floor. Tytykiller is an ExileCon race veteran, having competed in 2019 as well. But, despite being one of the best racers in Path of Exile, Tytykiller makes sure to have fun and enjoy himself while he's zooming.
When he's not blasting in Path of Exile you can find Tytykiller relaxing with titles like World of Warcraft, and Oldschool Runescape. Or if you're desperate for more Tytykiller content right now, check out his interview with Grinding Gear Games!
Havoc616
Be so far ahead, that everyone's intimidated and makes mistakes trying to catch up. Havoc approaches his races with an attitude straight out of Cutthroat League. Havoc has been playing, and racing in Path of Exile since the very beginning. He claims he was baited into trying the game when Chris (or another GGG employee) said "reaching level 100 was going to be near unachievable" and Havoc's been going fast ever since. Havoc holds multiple world records and continues to push the limits of speed on how fast you can hit 100.
Havoc's always put a big emphasis on self-improvement. To him, it's not just about beating the competition but also surpassing his own limits. You can find him pushing those limits every league start! If you want to learn more about his motivations, check out his Streamer Interview.
ImExile
Nick, also known as ImExile exploded onto the Path of Exile racing scene, often going back and forth with Tytykiller for top times. He's pretty hardcore, laughing in the face of death to become one of the first players to take home multiple gauntlet wins. Making the stage was a big moment for him.
I'd say that was about as emotional for me as winning my first gauntlet, 2-3 years in the making of me saying "if there is another ExileCon, I will qualify". LETS GO!!!!!!!
On top of his prestigious Path of Exile racing accomplishments, ImExile raids in World of Warcraft for Team Liquid. Nick is finally free of the Act 5 prison, but what's he going to do next?
Tie23he
Tie23he (known as Tie23) is a bit enigmatic, and he's surely one of the most legendary racers in Path of Exile who made his name with 11 consecutive wins. After winning the ExileCon 2019 race he announced his retirement leaving him completely uncontested. Then out of nowhere he made a video taking down Uber Elder at level 24. He entered the ExileCon 2023 qualifiers under a variety of random names, and qualified anonymously earning a new title "mystery racer".
But now, the pressure's on! Tie23 is back out of retirement to defend his title and continue his domination of the ExileCon racing scene. Or maybe he's got a grand plan for some dank memes, nothing's off the table here!
The Race
All 4 racers started by using a Ranger to mule Momentum Support over to their Templars. Act 1 was close, with the lead going back and forth between all competitors but Tie23 was the first to defeat Merveil.
In Act 2 the racers encountered a plethora of Shrines, granting them additional speed, area of effect and much needed defenses! Tie23 was the first to activate the Vaal Oversoul, and absolutely dominated the fight maintaining his lead through Act 2.
In Act 3, players took some time to craft their weapons up before Piety. Getting Spell Damage on your weapons is a great way to boost your damage before the fight. ImExile was the first to take down Piety, taking advantage of her teleport to finish the fight almost immediately. After defeating Piety, ImExile continued to capitalize on his lead to take down Dominus and finish Act 3 in the lead.
The Shrine madness continued into Act 4 with players finding acceleration shrines to speed them through, at this point it almost felt intentional! During Kaom's Dream Tie23 took a moment to flex by using Leap Slam to jump up a lava fall, typically players use Lightning Warp for this skip due to its greater range! In Act 4 Tie23 retook his lead and then took a quick break to craft his gear up before Kitava.
Tie23 had a strong lead going in to Act 5, with nothing but a boss gauntlet standing between him and victory. Havoc was making steady progress slightly behind ImExile and Tie23, but he flew a bit too close to the sun on Innocence, dying late in the fight and facing a 1 minute penalty!
Kitava
ImExile and Tie23 were able to reach Kitava at the same time, making this an incredibly close race! The race was truly neck in neck with Tie23's health dropping to a mere sliver at several points. However, Kitava fell and victory was achieved.
The Victor
Congratulations to Tie23he for winning the ExileCon race! We all thought he retired, but with a new ExileCon he had to return and defend his title. A few seconds later, ImExile took second place making this one of the closest races in Path of Exile History!
Tytykiller's run was nothing if not consistent, he made it through 5 acts to defeat Kitava and take third place. He was even wearing his now infamous Tabulast for a little bit of extra luck. Havoc suffered an unfortunate second death putting him in fourth, but he had great zone reads and ran an amazing race!
Coming Up Next
With ExileCon 2023 coming to a close the Maxroll Team is wrapping up our coverage. There's been a lot of news about Path of Exile 2, Path of Exile Trial of the Ancestors, and much much more. Stay tuned for our wrap-up, and new guides coming shortly! If you haven't already, head over to our Discord and select the Path of Exile role in #roles to stay up to date with our content development. Stay sane, Exile.
Written by: Tenkiei
Reviewed by: Facefoot
