The Test of Time Barya in Path of Exile 2 interacts deeply with three core trial systems: Honour, Afflictions, and Boons—each shaping the Trial of the Sekhemas experience.
Honour
- Honour acts as a separate health resource representing your trial endurance.
- It is based on your combined Life and Energy Shield but is distinct, depleting whenever you take damage.
- Unlike life/energy shield, Honour cannot be restored via flasks or regeneration, only through special trial rewards, shrines, and boons.
- Losing all Honour causes a trial failure, so managing Honour carefully by avoiding hits and maximizing restoration opportunities is vital when using Test of Time Barya.
Afflictions
- Afflictions are negative modifiers applied to your trial run that increase difficulty, such as increased monster damage, reduced damage output, slower movement, or additional traps.
- The Test of Time Barya influences which afflictions appear—often including challenging time constraints or damage increases promoting faster, yet more dangerous runs.
- Players must balance affliction impact by selecting boons that mitigate damage or provide crowd control immunity to survive.
Boons
- Boons are positive modifiers granted throughout the trial via shrines, merchant purchases, or relic effects.
- With Test of Time Barya, prioritizing boons that restore Honour (e.g., “Earned Honour”), prevent damage after hits (e.g., “Ahkeli’s Guard”), or increase mobility/speed (e.g., “Hare Foot”) directly supports survivability in time-pressured rooms.
- Other key boons disable traps, increase Sacred Water drops, or revive the player upon Honour/life loss.
- Discussing boons is especially important with this Barya because Honour restoration is limited, so maintaining Honour through boons is crucial for success.