Last-Minute PoE2 Patch Notes Changes Endgame Boss

With The Last of the Druid update launching this week, Grinding Gear Games has released another round of changes to the already-revealed Path of Exile 2 patch notes. A few days ago, they had already released some additional changes, and now some more were added.

The update includes a wide range of fixes and balance changes across skills, uniques, and monsters, but it is the endgame adjustments that are currently the most interesting.

Endgame: Arbiter of Ash Gets Tougher

One of the most significant changes affects the Arbiter of Ash, so one of the most important endgame encounter. Here is what changes:

• The boss now phase transitions at a lower life threshold
• During the transition, the Arbiter heals back to full

This effectively turns the fight into a longer, more structured encounter, preventing anyone from running over the boss before he can even do his mechanics. For some builds, this will mean adapting damage and defenses rather than relying on sheer burst.

Not everyone is happy about that, as a lot of players think that if your build is strong enough, it should be allowed to one shot the bosses.

Support Gem Compatibility Adjustments

Several skills and unique-granted abilities had their cooldown support compatibility corrected, cleaning up unintended interactions:

• Some skills, like Quill Burst, Armour Explosion, and Volcanic Eruption, are now correctly supportable by cooldown supports
• Others, including Spark from Earthbound Voltaic Staff and Ancestral Cry, can no longer use them

These changes mostly fix inconsistencies rather than rework builds outright, but they may affect specific setups that relied on unintended scaling.

Skill and Unique Balance Changes

A few balance adjustments stood out, including

• Iron Ward receiving massive buffs to both Nova radius and stored mitigated Physical Damage
• The Hateforge seeing a huge Armour increase, but toned-down Rage charge generation
• Lethal Draw doubling its Life Flask damage scaling

Existing versions of some uniques can be updated using a Divine Orb, and others roll new stats only on new drops.

Monster AI and Spectre Changes

Monster behavior has also been refined again:

• Improved AI for many enemies and Spectres
• Reduced cooldowns on various monster skills
• Rebalanced Spectre costs for multiple monster types

One particularly impactful nerf is the Vaal Guards that throw Oil and Explosive Grenades now have an 11-second cooldown, up from just 2 seconds, making certain encounters far less punishing.

Additional Updates and Fixes

The updated patch notes also include notable buffs to:

• Escape Shot
• Ice-Tipped Arrows
• Rhoa Mount

With launch right around the corner, these last-minute updates are once again changing a few things. The Arbiter of Ash adjustments, in particular, mean more mechanically focused boss fights going forward. And not everyone is happy about that!

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For the complete Patch Note changes, you can take a look at the official post. For more information or guides about the upcoming update, head to our dedicated hub!