Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2 is the next-generation Action RPG created by Grinding Gear Games. Set years after the original Path of Exile, you will return to the dark world of Wraeclast and seek to end the corruption that is spreading.

It will again be a free-to-play online multiplayer game with co-op for up to 6 players. Path of Exile 2 will have separate leagues from Path of Exile 1 and will share the same platform. Both game versions will be fully supported and microtransactions are shared across both games.

Since the death of Kitava, society has been slowly rebuilding, but Corruption has once again started to spread throughout Wraeclast. The people whisper of a ghastly living Seed that drives those around it to madness…

Here is a summary of what we can expect in Path of Exile 2:

• A whole new campaign with 6 new acts that takes place 20 years after the death of Kitava.
• 6 new character classes. Combined with the 6 classes from Path of Exile 1, there will be a total of 12 classes. The 6 new classes are Monk, Huntress, Mercenary, Sorceress, Warrior and Druid.
• 3 new ascendancies for each of the new classes making a total of 26 ascendancies.
• Over 100 new bosses across the campaign with brand new end bosses.
• Revamped skill system where the links are now in the gems, so no more 6 linking your items.
• 240 skill gems with 40 active skills and 200 support gems that modify their behaviour.
• New meta gems that can have other gems socketed into them.
• New weapons such as Crowssbows, Spears and Flails as well as support items like Traps, Focuses and redesigned Sceptres.
• More than 100 new endgame maps and its own boss fights with modifiers and revamped versions of many Path of Exile past leagues.
• Space bar will now give you a dodge roll that does not have a cooldown and can be used in towns.
• The iconic Passive Skill Tree returns with 2000 Skills that allow you to completely customize your playstyle.
• Changes to the crafting system and the introduction of gold as a currency.
• Mana has changed to spirit.

When Will Path of Exile 2 Launch?

While Path of Exile 2 is in full production and isn’t entering public beta until mid-2024, you may be able to play it before then! In addition to ExileCon in New Zealand, they are showcasing a large demo at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany (late August) and PAX West in Seattle, USA (early September). Grinding Gear confirmed they will have a closed beta on June 7, 2024.

New Campaign

Path of Exile 2 will offer a completely new campaign containing 6 new acts. What we have seen so far is that the game plays very smoothly but a lot harder and slower. NPC’s will have a more active role and will offer their help during the campaign.

New footage of Act 3 the Jungle Depths.

6 New Character Classes

Path of Exile 2 will release with 12 character classes total and 6 are coming over from Path of Exile 1 with the exemption of the Sion class. They are introducing 6 new character classes – including Monk, Huntress, Mercenary, Sorceress, Warrior and Druid. Each of these classes will focus on a different playstyle. With two classes for every combination of intelligence, Strength and Dexterity, you are able to combine skills from many classes together and create your favourite character.

Each of the 12 classes has its own 3 ascendancy options, meaning you have a total of 36 Ascendancy classes to play with.

New Skill Gem System

Path of Exile 2 has 240 Skill Gems with 40 Active Skills and 200 Support Gems that modify their behaviour. When combining those, you can create your perfect build!
This is the next generation Skill System and Support Gems are directly socketed into Skill Gems. This removes the frustrating system in Path of Exile 1 of six-linking your items as you can now six-link every skill your character uses with the new Skill Gem system.

Skills in Path of Exile 2 will not rely on cooldown but more on a reactive play style where the player does not feel forced to do a rotation but instead uses their Skills more actively against bosses. They achieved this with a completely new Skill system, Support Gem changes, Dual Specializations and a Spirit system.

Your Character will start with 9 Skill sockets and Skill Gems have their own socket. You can increase the number of support sockets a gem has and each upgrade will be more rare. You gradually upgrade these sockets which means that one Skill will not have more sockets than another Skill. As you progress a large number of your Skills will grow equally. Changing the socket colour is deterministic and we still use Chromatic Orbs, but we now use 2 Chromatic Orbs to get the colour you want instead of the gamble for the right colour.

Support Gems give no direct damage anymore but instead, they customize the role and mechanics of a skill. Not all Support Gems should end up on every Skill on a build but if it does it will be a Passive or Spirit Reservation. We will see old favourite Support Gems return but in Path of Exile 2 they will be more about changing the role of a Skill. Support Gems that give any offensive benefits will have restrictions that make a Skill more conditional.

Dual-Specialise Your Passive Skill Tree

Path of Exile’s iconic Passive Skill Tree has made a return, with over 1500 Passive Skills that allow you to completely customise your gameplay experience. It now features dual specialisation, the ability to allocate some Passive Skill points to 2 different sets of weapons. These Passives engage whenever the appropriate weapon or Skill type is used. For example, you can have some points allocated to both Daggers and Traps. This lets you specialise in multiple areas without opportunity cost.

Dual Specialization allows you to differentiate your build between two weapon sets and a shapeshift form. Different Passives let you take full advantage of the two weapon types, two different elements, or different combat focuses. When you transform it will have its own Passive Tree. Swapping your specialization has a small swap time cost and is not free for the level of flexibility it grants. This is a great new future where you can be more tanky in one spec and have more aoe damage in the other spec. The only disadvantage is you would need to find 2 great weapons that work together. The Dual Specialisation also works on Reservations effects, so for example in one spec you could have Cast on Shock triggering an area of effect for Spark and in your second set a Cast of Crit effect that focusses on your single target Arc skill and swap back and forth based on the situation. When you swap to your second specialization Reservations will automatically be enabled.

Spirit Reservation

Spirit Reservation is replacing Mana Reservation in Path of Exile 2. Permanent effects reserve Spirit now instead of Mana and you want to gain as much Spirit as you can get to reserve permanent effects. Spirit is obtained in the same way as Path of Exile 1 through items and Passives. Many trigger mechanics are Spirit reservation now and buffs and auras from Spirit can be set per weapons set.

Minions however have some changes to the rules. Permanent minions reserve Spirit while alive and they are complimented by temporary minions that still cost Mana to summon. It will be a balancing act between having an army of minions and still having enough Spirit for your auras, but there is a lot of flexibility in how you use your permanent buffs.

Crowd Control System

New to Path of Exile 2 is a more complex crowd control system with light stuns and heavy stuns. especially with melee weapons you be able to knock a monster in a state where they won’t be able to react for sometimes a very long time, giving you a huge opening for dealing damage while the boss is recovering. This system is a system that is connected to Freeze, Stun and a new Immobilise effect and can be applied right away when you deal enough damage. If you don’t apply it right away, it will build up on the monster you are fighting and make it easier to apply with the next hit. Once you apply it, there is a higher threshold for all these effects for a duration, so it’s easier to lock a monster or boss down at the start of a fight, but they become more resistant the more you and your allies attempt to control them.

The same goes for you as a player, if you are stunned you are more resistant to further stuns for a time, but as a player, you only store this for a brief period, so a swarm of enemies could stun you if they hit you close together, but as a player you recover much faster than bosses. These system effects also carry over so for example if you are frozen it is very likely you be stunned afterwards. Also, the player can not be heavy stunned or knocked down.

Path of Exile 2 New Items

In Path of Exile 2 we will see 700 base types of items and every one of them has its own Unique Item you can find. Most notable are the new weapons such as Crowssbows, Spears and Flails as well as support items like Traps, Focuses and redesigned Sceptres.

Explore new Endgame

When you finish Path of Exile 2 campaign, you will gain access to its endgame, in the same way you will enter the endgame in Path of Exile 1. Path of Exile 2 will have more than 100 endgame maps and its own boss fights with modifiers and revamped versions of many Path of Exile past leagues.