PoE2: GGG Addresses Zizaran Interview and Community Feedback

Grinding Gear Games is clearly listening. Just one day after a community Q&A with Zizaran, the developers followed up with a hefty list of internal balance updates, system fixes, and quality-of-life improvements based directly on player feedback.

These Path of Exile 2 changes are being deployed over the next few days, and while this apparently is not the full list of everything they are working on, it’s a strong step forward, especially for players who felt underpowered or frustrated by certain mechanics.

Here is a breakdown of the most important updates and talking points.

What Was Said in the Interview?

During the Zizaran interview, one thing was made clear: the PoE2 team is not happy with the current state of the game. Here are some of the main takeaways:

• They know things are a bit too hard right now.
• Monster swarms are overwhelming and are being reviewed.
• Skills that feel terrible to level with are being re-evaluated.
• The dev team is currently “firing from the hip,” making fast changes in Early Access, while working toward more permanent fixes.
• They emphasized that mid-league buffs are fine, but mid-league nerfs should be avoided unless critical.
• Twink items are in the works, and Rare monsters will soon appear on the minimap.
• Long-term, they want to reduce how much obscure game knowledge creates power gaps between new and experienced players.

Jonathan also ended the interview by admitting he was not in the best mood, which was a moment of honesty that the community widely appreciated.

Balance and Gameplay Changes

Here is what has already been finished and is rolling out soon:

Sorceress

• Arc now creates a lightning explosion on shocked enemies (but can no longer apply shock).
• Eye of Winter gains bonus elemental damage when interacting with Solar Orb, Orb of Storms, or Frost Bomb.
• Incinerate, Frost Bomb, and Ice Nova all received significant duration or effect buffs.
• Mana Tempest now works with all spells and applies to split targets instead of chaining/forking.
• Several changes improve Shock, Freeze, and Ignite uptime or clarity.

Huntress

• Parried enemies can no longer evade.
• Rapid Assault spears now always apply bleed and deal 67% more damage.
• Spearfield lasts longer and scales better.
• Herald of Blood no longer removes corpses of Rares/Uniques (fixing Ritual issues).

Warrior

• Temper Weapon (Smith of Kitava) now applies more empowerments and is 25% faster.
• Shield Wall can now be detonated using Warcries.
• Armour Break bug fixed and enemy versions rebalanced.

Ranger

• Stormcaller Arrow now shocks nearby enemies with a larger AoE.
• Lightning Rod and Lightning Arrow have been buffed.
• Tornado Shot duration increased to 15 seconds.

New Support Gem: Inhibitor

This new support gem stops charges from being consumed when you use a supported skill. It was originally meant to also increase damage based on how many different charge types you had, but that scaling effect was scrapped for now due to technical limitations.

Still, the main effect – preventing charge consumption – is going live and should open up some interesting new build options.

Delirium Buff and Crafting Changes

• Delirium encounters will now last 2.5x longer.
• Artificer’s Orbs have been added to more campaign locations.
• Attribute Runes now help fix early-game stat requirements.
• Runes will also apply to Wands and Staves, with possible support for Soul Cores and Talismans coming soon.

Campaign and Map Improvements

• Rare enemies will soon always show on the minimap to help prevent missed objectives.
• Matlan Waterways was reworked to reduce lever spam (on average, 6 fewer levers).
• Monster speed and swarm density are under review, with more specific changes expected soon.

Ritual Exploit and Bans

GGG confirmed that 301 accounts have been banned for abusing the Ritual deferral exploit using a now-fixed Unique Tablet. The exploit was active for around 8 hours before being patched. The developers also noted that the economic impact outside of those banned accounts was small.

What Is Next?

More changes are coming to Path of Exile 2! In their latest message, the team emphasized that these updates are only what has been finished so far, and additional improvements are still in the works. This means that we can probably expect further adjustments based on player reports and internal testing very soon.

In the meantime, stay sane, Exiles.