PoE 2 Devs Talk Druid Delay, Endgame Changes & Sprint Buffs

Path of Exile 2 Q&A Recap – What the Devs Said After 0.3.0

Grinding Gear Games held a dev Q&A stream right after revealing The Third Edict update for Path of Exile 2 just hours ago. In the session, they went over the main goals of Patch 0.3.0, upcoming class plans, tower problems, endgame tuning, and lots of quality-of-life fixes.

Here is a quick recap of the most important info from the stream:

Patch 0.3.0 Goals

• Main priority: fixing major community complaints.
• Sprint was added, zones were shrunk, and boss pacing improved to fight “campaign slog.”
• The devs used a whiteboard to list every pain point and worked down from the top.
• Not everything made it in – towers and Druid were both delayed, but still planned.

Druid Class Delayed

• Druid was originally planned for 0.3.0 but was cut late in development.
• Shapeshifting animations are complex and need more polish.
• It is still coming – the devs said they already made good progress on it.

More Melee Builds Coming

• The team said it would be “criminal” to release PoE 2 without real sword builds.
• A Duelist or sword-focused class is likely next after Druid.

Endgame Updates

• New bosses and Atlas content were added, but this patch was not a full endgame rework.
• Pinnacle bosses are now available earlier.
• Waystones are cheaper at lower tiers to smooth the climb.
• Atlas reward pacing was improved through quests and better boss access.
• League mechanics (like Abyss) appear earlier and more consistently.

Tower System Will Be Reworked

• The current tower system creates FOMO and gameplay friction.
• Players feel forced to stack towers and know bad ones in advance.
• Devs want to fix this while keeping the exploration feel intact.
• Future plans might include placing towers yourself.

Abyss League Changes

• Abyss now appears in every zone by default.
• Mechanics interact with others – e.g. Rogue Exiles can trigger special Abyss bosses.
• There is no separate Atlas tree for Abyss yet; it is tied to Waystones.
• Full integration may come depending on player feedback.

Campaign & Act 4 Rework

• Cruel difficulty is gone, replaced by 3 linear interludes and a full Act 4.
• You can do the interludes in any order, and each gives scaled rewards.
• Vendors, bosses, and loot rotate to encourage replay.
• A 4th Ascendancy trial in Act 4 was cut for time, but it is still coming.

Sprint & Movement Buffs

• Sprint and dodge rolls now make campaign movement feel much better.
• Mobility skills got better synergy and cancel options.
• Faster recovery, instant weapon swaps, and better combat flow overall.
• Players can now skip trash more easily without making bosses feel trivial.

Support Gem Rework

• You are no longer limited to one gem per type – stack them!
• Multiple “Fist of War” gems? Totally fine now.
• Build variety is way up thanks to more flexible support slots.
• Lineage supports are limited to 1 per type but act as strong late-game boosts.

Element Combos & Buff Scaling

• Shock, Freeze, Ignite now work better together.
• Unified Exposure system removes penalties for multi-element builds.
• Some buffs escalate to powerful Tier 2 versions (e.g. Shattered Armor).
• Creates natural rotations and better damage payoff against bosses.

UX & Loot Fixes

• Support gem suggestions are smarter and easier to understand.
• UI shows better recommendations per skill.
• Gear and gem drops are now more consistent – Level 20 gems are less rare.
• Junk-tier crafting currency can upgrade into better tiers.
• You can now downgrade higher-tier currency as well (like breaking Exalts).

That is it for the big stuff! The devs also mentioned a few more changes, but these were the highlights. The big takeaway is that they are listening! Patch 0.3.0, The Third Edict, was all about clearing out frustrating points and making PoE 2 more fun to play.

You can also watch the full Q&A here:

Remember, you can try out The Third Edict update for free during the weekend starting August 29. For everything else PoE2, head back to our main hub here.