Path of Exile 2’s Future: Patch Plans, Balance Updates & More

In a recent interview with Talkative Tri, Path of Exile 2 Game Director Jonathan Rogers shared detailed insights into the future of PoE2, including their new patch schedule, upcoming gameplay changes, and how player feedback is actively shaping development.

If you are interested, the full video is linked at the end of this article. The interview covers a lot of ground, so here is a full breakdown of every major topic:

Patch Timing and Strategy Changes

Path of Exile 2 and Path of Exile 1 will now alternate patches every four months. GGG is going back to their old “fixed date, flexible features” model; if something is not ready, it simply moves to the next patch instead of causing a delay.

• Patch rhythm: One major update every four months per game, alternating between PoE1 and PoE2.
• Next PoE1 patch: June 13
• Next PoE2 patches: August and December

Jonathan stated that morale at the studio has also improved significantly since the rocky 0.2.0 launch. The balance team still has a lot on their plate, but overall things are stabilizing, and PoE2 development is now running more smoothly alongside PoE1.

Player Numbers and Console Split

PoE2’s early access launch had ~485,000 concurrent players, just under the internal target of 500k. Around 15–20% of the audience is on console, with GGG noting that console players tend to be a bit less interested in Early Access.

The game is still not officially live in China, but VPN traffic is strong, and an official release is planned. PoE2 will remain pay-to-play globally, even in China.

Skill Balance, Deaths, and Scaling

Volatile Plant was responsible for nearly 50% of endgame deaths at one point, which the devs admitted was a huge oversight.

• Skill scaling issues:
  • Some core skills currently fail to scale into endgame properly, and the team acknowledged that their initial assumptions around damage and tagging were off
  • 0.3.0 will address damage scaling, tags, and endgame viability.

On top of that, GGG also made it clear that no mid-league nerfs will happen again.

• Mid-league balance changes:
  • No more nerfs mid-league; GGG says it feels too punishing.
  • Mid-league buffs are possible, especially once PoE1 team resources free up.

Crafting, Attributes & Gear Progression

The Recombination system is intentionally meant to be a rare, high-end crafting tool. GGG says you might use it “once per expedition” on average, and they do not plan to make it more common.

Socketables will shift from simple resistance/attribute fillers to rare, impactful items.

Attribute requirements, especially for things like Spears and certain gems, are being reviewed. Minor reductions are likely in future patches to make gearing feel better.

They also want Unique items to scale better into late game, especially since many feel too weak or too rare to bother with. Expect future patches to improve both availability and usefulness.

Weapon Swap, Movement, and Combat Feel

Weapon swapping is still a bit clunky, but GGG is working on improvements:

• Tying swap speed to local weapon attack speed (likely in 0.3.0)
• Adding weapon-locking to prevent accidental swaps

Movement speed is also getting a bigger update in patch 0.3.0. GGG agrees that the baseline feels too slow, and they are making changes to improve responsiveness without harming combat pacing.

Atlas Progression, Mid-Tier Maps, and Surprises

Players have made it clear: Atlas progression right now feels too slow, too predictable, and not very rewarding. Grinding Gear Games plans to:

• Add more mid-tier content (like breach) with new bosses and mechanics
• Introduce surprise mechanics like random breaches
• Fix map drop variety so players are not locked into bad layouts
• Possibly revise Atlas structure to reintroduce exploration excitement
• Confirmed: “Precursor Tablet” fast travel feature will remain optional, not core

They want the endgame to feel exciting again, like it did in PoE1, with unexpected moments and a better sense of natural progression.

Data Usage and Connection Issues

• GGG is now using internal tools to track lag/disconnects via ISP and data center pairing
• DDoS attacks still occur but are not the root cause of most problems
• A new data dashboard is helping the team respond faster to player-reported issues

Monster and Boss Design

Jonathan shared that rare monsters with unique abilities were planned, but only a few exist currently due to time constraints. However, GGG wants to expand the identity of monsters, with Eternal Knight and Quill Crabs mentioned as being standout encounters.

The goal is for every zone to eventually feature a unique boss, though this might not be ready for full release.

QoL Changes & Community Feedback

GGG is also reading your feedback: Reddit, Discord, the forums, and especially YouTube videos with clear arguments all get forwarded internally. A few things already confirmed:

• In-game chat system overhaul is coming
• New-player experience and tutorials will be improved (e.g., crafting basics)
• Passive skill tree layout saving/loading
• Mouse/controller swap improvements
• Separate accounts for couch co-op planned
• Adjustable auto-targeting is being considered for WASD players

Archetypes, Tags, and Future Buffs

Some archetypes are clearly stronger than others right now, and GGG knows it. Lightning-based builds scale naturally and are dominating early metas, while Fire and Cold fall behind without major investment.

• Acolyte of Chayula was specifically called out as needing help and will be buffed soon.
• Buffs are planned for upcoming patches (likely 0.2.2 or 0.3.0), but the balance team is small and still helping with PoE1’s expansion for now.
• GGG is also exploring more flexible gem tagging to allow minion and spell gems to scale off multiple tags, especially to improve hybrid archetypes like Storm Mage.

They are aware that some tag setups and scaling rules feel too narrow, and fixing that is a priority going forward.

Campaign, Druid Class, and Future Acts

The current campaign feels long to many players, but GGG believes that is more about pacing than actual content length. Future changes may focus on speeding things up without cutting anything.

As for the long-awaited Druid class? It was meant to launch alongside the Huntress in 0.2.0, but simply was not ready yet. Jonathan avoided giving technical details (animation? balance? something else?), just that the team did not want to rush it out.

• No confirmation yet on when Acts 4–6 will launch.
• Future dexterity-focused classes are expected to have mobility options that do not rely on INT (like blink).
• The studio still wants each zone to eventually have its own boss fight, but cannot promise that for the full 1.0 release.

Want to watch the full interview? Click here or check out the video below:

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For more news and upcoming patch coverage, head over to our PoE2 hub here. In the meantime, catch up on the previous update about socketables, Talismans, and Soul Cores right here.