June 26th, 2012. A surely forgettable date to nearly everyone, but, for me, that date over twelve years ago represents the first time I signed up for a beta for a new, dark fantasy ARPG titled Path of Exile. Developed by a small team in New Zealand, named Grinding Gear Games, it aimed to replicate some aspects of Diablo 2 while creating a community for the ARPG enthusiast. Rare for the time, Grinding Gear Games also marketed the game as entirely free-to-play, with all revenue deriving solely from cosmetic micro-transactions.
It was an ambitious plan. And yet, over the nearly dozen years since official release, Grinding Gear Games has continued to be successful. By developing a deep, complex ARPG that kept players continually engaged with new content, they formed a dedicated community and, by some accounts, the greatest ARPG ever developed. So then, when an integrated sequel was announced at Exilecon in 2019 to be a major expansion for the game, it all made sense. But four years later, in 2023, GGG announced it would be a separate game.
So what does that mean for the original Path of Exile? Will over a decade’s worth of micro-transactions be lost? What’s changing? I was invited to Los Angeles to meet with some members of the development team, a discussion with Game Director Jonathan Rogers, and several hours of hands-on play of the early-access version that will launch on December 6th. Let’s dive in.
Where to Begin?
First things first. Path of Exile 2 is a direct sequel and a stand-alone game. However, GGG has gone through lengths to associate PoE 1 and 2 as much as possible. So:
- The vast majority of micro-transactions will be shared across both games. This means that your past purchases will move forward, and nearly anything you buy in the future will work on both games.
- The exception, as described by the team, are aspects of specific skills or items that may not exist in both games.
- The overall look and feel of the two games means the sequel will feel instantly familiar.
This is because both games are running on the same engine. This decision was made to ensure as much unity as possible between the two. However, there are some notable improvements in the sequel that become apparent rather quickly. This is due to the continued improvement and evolution of the game engine over the past decade-plus. Path of Exile 2 benefits from all of those updates, while areas of the original game haven’t been as fortunate. But experienced players will be sure to notice nearly immediately.
In speaking about the story and lore, Rogers is quick to point out that there will plenty to find in Path of Exile 2 for the lore buffs, and they’ve ensured it all flows together with the original so they won’t have to retcon anything down the line. That said, he was also clear that you won’t have to have played the first game to enjoy the second.
To immediately interest new players in the world of Wraeclast, one of the first things we were shown, and that you will experience when you begin, is a full, cinematic cut-scene. This is a first for the franchise, and Rogers informs us there are several throughout the game. They found that, narratively, players engaged more with the story when cinematics were introduced. After watching this initial cut-scene, I can certainly see why.
Keep it Classy
Getting started, early access will begin with six character classes, including the new Mercenary, Monk, Sorceress, and Warrior classes. Naturally, in my limited time, I decided to focus on two of those in the Mercenary and the Monk.
The Mercenary features a crossbow as their main weapon which can then be enhanced with varying status effects, as you would expect with the other skills. With directional, ranged aiming, and having to reload frequently, playing the Mercenary class reminded me of a top-down shooter (with GGG also commenting that all classes can aim with WASD if you prefer). While our time was limited, and I certainly want to experiment more in the future, I didn’t vibe with the Mercenary out of the gate. Frequently needing to reload for not only ammo, but also when changing shot types, felt cumbersome at best and clunky at worst. And yes, I realize I’m probably going to eat those words in due-time. Regardless, I started over after a short period, this time focusing on the Monk.
It didn’t take me long to feel at home with the Monk, and I spent the rest of my play time smashing my way through hordes of enemies with my quarterstaff. The Monk focuses on fast, 2-handed melee attacks and, when combined with various status effects, quickly becomes a force to be reckoned with. I found the ice skills particularly effective, and, in my few hours of play, I never tired of freezing groups of enemies only to smash them into cubes.
There’s a noticeable improvement in the look and feel here from the original, particularly when using a controller. Animations and attacks are more fluid, and movement and item collection is more refined. Noticeable immediately as well is excellent sound design and direction. Weapons hit with emphasized force, and even small effects, like the reloading of the crossbow, sound clear and detailed. Directionally, PoE2‘s sound really impressed me. For instance, there’s a mini-boss early on that is crying, whom I could hear from screens away ever so faintly when the action was subdued. As I approached from varying angles, the crying blended seamlessly with everything going on around me until it was most prevalent upon my direct approach. Bravo GGG!
Joining the Mercenary and Monk for early access are the Witch, Warrior, Ranger, and Sorceress.
- The Witch is a summoner who uses sceptres to summon an army of undead minions to overwhelm enemies.
- The Warrior is the heavier melee class, which focuses on maces and can fully utilize a shield for blocking and smashing enemies to pieces.
- The Ranger is an archer who focuses on rate of fire and AoE attacks to conquer hordes of foes quickly.
- The Sorceress is a mage who uses staffs to combine elemental effects from range which combine to obliterate enemies.
While classes return, some aspects of their play have been evolved. For instance, the Ranger (and all classes for that matter) can now move while shooting, which is a small change with big impact.
Additionally, each of the classes has two Ascendancy Classes at launch, with an additional one for each class being added for the 1.0 release. These allow you to specialize even further in each class with some absurdly creative skills and abilities. In Path of Exile 2, Ascendancy is achieved by conquering unique trails that you will encounter throughout the campaign. These trials feature upwards of 70 rooms across up to 4 floors, all with randomized enemies and layouts.
Most importantly, the six classes at early-access launch are only the beginning, with GGG confirming six more classes are to be delivered in “relatively quick” order after launch. With PoE focusing on the core three stats of Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, here’s how the twelve classes will break down from a design perspective:
- Strength: Marauder – axes
- Strength: Warrior – maces, hammers
- Dexterity: Ranger – bows
- Dexterity: Huntress – spears
- Intelligence: Witch – minions and occult spells
- Intelligence: Sorceress – elemental spells, staves
- Str/Dex: Duelist – swords
- Str/Dex: Mercenary – crossbows, grenades
- Int/Dex: Shadow – daggers and traps
- Int/Dex: Monk – unarmed, quarterstaves
- Str/Int: Templar – flails, shields
- Str/Int: Druid – shapeshift spells, staves
Skills, Items, Gems, Orbs, Oh My
Skill design has undergone several changes in Path of Exile 2, even though the foundation will feel familiar to returning players. The biggest change you’ll notice immediately is that items no longer have sockets for skill gems. Rather, skill gems are still found and evolved like loot, but they are managed via a skill table instead. To me, this is a massive quality of life update as not having to worry about socket drops on items, linking, socket-orb hunting, etc., is a very positive change.
Each class has its own skills that can be activated and leveled as you find skill gems throughout play. Certain skills require higher-level skill gems to activate, and it’s up to you when finding a new gem if you want to level your current skills or activate new ones. While our time was limited, it’s a system that felt more intuitive and certainly less cumbersome than in the original.
Supplementing your normal skill gems are new spirit gems which utilize a resource named…spirit (seems to make sense). These can provide additional bonuses and add-on effects to your existing skills while combining with one another to enhance your attacks. Each skill can be supplemented with up to five spirit gems, and they can be moved around freely. Additionally, while the game recommends certain spirit gems for skills, they are not locked, meaning there’s a dizzying number of potential combinations.
According to GGG, not only can these become very powerful, but there are so many possible combinations that they haven’t even fully experimented with yet. It’s going to be amazing seeing what the community pieces together in time!
Perhaps the most well-known aspect of Path of Exile is the passive tree. Each time you level up, you will receive a point to spend on the passive tree to further enhance your abilities. In PoE2, the tree contains a mind-boggling 1,500 nodes, with all 12 classes eventually being represented and inter-connected. Each class begins at a unique point on the tree and is surrounded by the most notable skill buffs for that class. But the player has complete freedom in how they progress, including the capability to unlock bonuses typically aligned with other classes.
Throughout the passive tree, players can find larger nodes, labeled “Notables,” which provide significant bonuses and enhancements. Even larger and more unique, “Keystones” provide build changing aspects but often come with a compromise. These are for players who want to truly experiment with unique builds. Jewels also return, which can be socketed at points in the tree to gain even more positive effects.
A very welcome addition in PoE2 is the ability to assign passive nodes to two-different skill/item sets simultaneously. This means you can swap attacks in real-time and your associated passive skills will swap with you. For example, if you’re a sorceress and swapping between fire and ice skills, you will be able to enhance both at the same time in the passive tree.
Seeing all of the skill combinations demonstrated for us is truly astounding. PoE already raised the bar in this regard, and, with the addition of spirit skills, new Ascendancies, and new item affixes, I can only imagine how wild players in PoE2 will eventually become.
Itemization in the sequel is quite similar to the original. Items come in common, magic, rare, or unique varieties, and you can use orbs and vendors to continually improve them. The most welcome change in this regard is that orbs that are used to modify items are far more common than in the original and will drop regularly.
Additionally, you can acquire orbs in different ways now, including selling items, scrapping items, and simply buying them with gold. In that vein, buying and selling items is much more aligned with other games in the genre as PoE2 now features a normal gold currency that you acquire as you play. Lastly, even though skill-socketing is gone on items, you can still find items with sockets or add sockets to them in more of a traditional sense, to merely enhance their abilities further.
Just like in PoE1, unique items are very rare but feature build-impacting abilities. Rogers has also confirmed that every Unique in the game, of which there are “hundreds,” has been updated with unique graphics in the new engine. Their design focus for Uniques is to function as “build-enablers” which will take players down new paths on the passive tree to build and customize in new ways.
A new function, named “charms,” can now be equipped as well as a function of your belt. Up to three can be equipped at once (depending on your belt), and they are used to provide further bonuses and/or resistances after using flasks. The charm meter fills as you use flasks, and, as I seem to be saying endlessly, you can customize these to supplement your build further. And yes, flasks, too, have changed. While PoE1 had you equipping up to 8 flasks and, as Rogers describes, playing “musical flasks,” with PoE2 they’re simply enabling one flask for health and one for mana. You will still find flasks of varying sizes and bonuses, but you won’t be smashing keys endlessly to refill your pools.
Overall, even in my short time, I found that I spent far more time improving gear rather than hoping for a certain socket type to drop which, in and of itself, is a big improvement over the original. It feels as though GGG has managed to sand the rough edges while maintaining, and even adding, functionality. That’s a tough line to walk, but from what I’ve seen and played so far, they’ve managed it.
Welcome to Wraeclast
Most striking upon setting out in the sequel are the environments. Even in my short time playing through the early parts of Act 2, environmental diversity was a large step up from the original game. And it’s not merely the diversity or variety, but the environmental detail. With improved animations, foliage density, and enhanced lighting and sound, PoE2 feels far more alive than its predecessor.
In speaking with Rogers, each act has a theme that is inspired by different cultures. Obviously, with GGG being based in New Zealand, Islander culture comes into play, alongside influences from many cultures around the world. This certainly comes through in the footage we’ve been shown, so I can’t wait to see what the whole picture looks like in the 1.0 release.
Similar to the original, the game is broken up into acts, and you will progress through the region while encountering small side stories, boss battles, and hidden areas along the way. As with many other aspects, this is a little more intuitive in PoE2. The map highlights the paths to each region but also shows you where you can expect various boss types and special skill enhancements to hunt down. For instance, should you conquer a specific “major” boss in each act, you can earn permanent stat boosts or additional passive skill tree points.
My journey through act 1 featured a very strong mix of environments and enemy types. But what I really enjoyed is that it felt more connected narratively than in PoE1. I felt more invested in what I was doing, but the layout and structure also felt more familiar in the gaming sense. It’s a difficult thing to describe, but it simply feels like a more well-organized game. When combined with the refined map, hunting down boss battles and upgrades, and exploring the environments, I found myself fully sucked into the world so much that I didn’t even want to take a break to eat.
The End…or the Beginning?
Perhaps the most notable information shared with us is that, earlier this year, the development team completely changed their focus and priority. Less than a year prior to release, that would typically be cause for alarm. Fortunately, in this case it has resulted in what I believe to be the best decision GGG has made.
Path of Exile 2‘s full release will feature a six-act campaign, which should provide players about 50 hours worth of content. While the original plan was to provide players access to the full campaign in early-access and then build out the end-game from there, the team recognized that most players will spend hundreds or even thousands of hours in end-game, while the campaign merely becomes a means to an end eventually.
With that in mind, early access will feature three-acts, which will provide about 25 hours of campaign content. After completing the three acts the first time, you will then play a “Cruel” version of the first three-acts again, reminiscent in ways of new-game plus. There will be new bonuses and some changes on the cruel playthrough. Meanwhile acts 4-6 will launch with the game on its 1.0 release.
Playing through in this way should level you to approximately level 65, which is where the end-game begins (with max level being 100). With the priority shift, GGG has focused their efforts on building out a much more substantial end game that is ready immediately for early access launch. I’ll provide a high-level overview, but to be clear, the end-game features and content are extensive. I highly recommend watching the full gameplay presentation from GGG to give you the full details, particularly if you’re new to Path of Exile.
The end game begins with The Atlas: an infinitely expanding map full of nodes that each represent a type of content to consume. Each of the nodes has randomly generated levels and enemies, and, as the map expands, it will feature a mix of end-game content to conquer, special engagements, and even monolith towers featuring pinnacle bosses.
Pulling over and evolving some of the league content from PoE1, there are 8 different trees/event types of end-game progression that will be available at launch in early-access. A few examples include:
- Expeditions in which you plant bombs across an area to discover chests, caverns, and areas to combat enemies. Finding Logbooks allows you to continue expanding your search.
- Rituals in which you earn tribute to spend on items and continuously increase the enemy challenge. Finding Omens enables you to increase your player and item powers.
Working through the map means an endless string of progression across not only your core character and skills, but the eight unique end-game trees and nearly endless item optimization. Additionally, certain unique items can only be acquired at some of the later areas of the end-game.
At early-access launch, PoE2 will feature 50 bosses and over 400 enemy types. While this will expand to 100 bosses and over 800 enemy types with the 1.0 release, even in early-access there is a great deal of enemy and boss variety in your encounters. With several unique activities, an endlessly expanding activity map, and deep randomization, there will be an awful lot to consume, even on day one of early access.
Ancillary Aspects
There are some additional aspects worth calling out in Path of Exile 2. Players will likely be happy to learn that there are no trading restrictions on any items. While gold is locked to your character, all other items can be freely traded with other players.
There is also a new “Currency Exchange” feature in which you can offer trades with players globally. If you’re looking for specific items, orbs, or just to earn some gold, you can put an offer out publicly for players to review and accept. From a playability perspective, Grinding Gear Games is enabling players to form community and control their own experience, which I certainly applaud.
PoE2 also supports up to 6-player co-op multiplayer, including local on-screen co-op, and cross-progression and cross-play. GGG has done a tremendous job in aiming to support both new and returning players alike.
Preparing to Walk the Path
As someone with thousands upon thousands of hours in ARPGs, I’m extremely excited for Path of Exile 2. Even in early-access, it features hundreds of hours worth of content and unique aspects in the genre. I can’t wait to dive in fully without time restrictions!
Path of Exile 2 early access launches on December 6th on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5. They will also be supporting enhancements for PS5 Pro for those interested. The core supporter pack to get early-access is $30 USD, but there are other packages available as well. You can find all the details via the Supporter Page here.
And stay tuned for our full review in the near future!