Path of Exile 2 leaves Early Access on December 11 (PST), when version 1.0 launches as a free to play game with the finished six Act campaign, two new classes and a new challenge league. Grinding Gear Games laid out the full list in a Steam news post, and PC Gamer published a detailed walkthrough of it on November 6.
The studio says the update closes out the story after two years of Early Access, adds the Shadow and the Duelist, and reworks skills, support gems, unique items and the passive tree.
What does the finished campaign add?
Acts 5 and 6 complete the story and send players back to Oriath and beyond while they chase the Beast, according to PC Gamer’s summary of the reveal. Grinding Gear Games lists the new campaign content like this:
- 24 distinct new areas
- 18 new unique bosses
- Over 20 new Champion Rare encounters, each with its own mechanics
PC Gamer adds that the new campaign bosses also return in the endgame, across over 25 new maps.
Which new classes arrive with 1.0?
The Shadow and the Duelist are the two new classes, and each brings a mechanic that Path of Exile 2 has not had before.
The Shadow fights with daggers and traps. Its Stealth mechanic means monsters cannot see you until you get within a short distance, and dagger skills gain extra bonuses while you stay hidden. Traps can be prepared in stealth, then trigger automatically as you strike and explode in the order they were thrown. At release the Shadow has two Ascendancy classes, the Assassin and the Infiltrator.
The Duelist is a swordsman built on speed and precision. Stances are the new mechanic: Ready Stance empowers sword skills, and upgrading it to Sand or Blood Stances unlocks stronger combinations. The two Ascendancy classes in 1.0 are the Knight and the Master-at-Arms. PC Gamer notes that swords can be used two handed, dual wielded or with a shield, and that fan favourite skills such as cyclone and hemorrhage arrive with them.
What is the Conquerors of Wraeclast league?
It is the new Challenge League that starts with 1.0, and it turns the endgame into a military campaign. Players join Varek and his mercenaries to stop the awakening of an ancient enemy, the Blood Lord. The developer lists these features:
- Over 70 new points of interest where you can recruit troops or take on unique missions
- Castles to conquer, whose treasury rooms hold a new crafting material for reforging gear
- A stronghold for your growing army, with three factions that each have their own fortress style and troops
- A real time system that lets your own commanders push Atlas progression for you
- League wide battles in which players of one faction capture castles from other factions
PC Gamer names the factions as Karui, Ezomyte and Marraketh, and compares the commanders to Kingsmarch in the first Path of Exile, since they can run maps on your behalf.
What changes for existing characters?
Grinding Gear Games describes 1.0 as a broad rebalance, not only new content:
- More than 40 new Unique Items, and over 70 existing ones revamped with improved modifiers, skills and visuals
- New skills for classes that were missing them, such as the Warrior and the Witch
- Support Gems rebalanced to be more useful, with PC Gamer pointing to the elemental penetration gems being merged into one
- A reworked Passive Skill Tree with hundreds of new stats, and every Jewel Socket moved into the clusters, so players choose clusters for their build instead of chasing sockets
- Reworks for the Mercenary’s reloading, the Infernalist, the Blood Mage and the Acolyte of Chayula
Prices
No price is listed. The post closes by inviting players to play for free from December 11 PST, and it names no price in any currency. The sources do not describe in game purchases, and they do not say how Early Access supporters are treated at launch, so check the Steam store page for those details.
Who it suits
Returning players. If you stopped because the campaign was unfinished, Acts 5 and 6 are the reason to come back, along with the passive tree and gem changes that affect every build.
Newcomers. Free to play and a complete six Act story make 1.0 the point GGG itself treats as the full release, and the post mentions no paid entry step.
Build tinkerers. Daggers with traps, swords with Stances and jewels inside clusters all give reasons to plan characters from scratch.
Who should wait. If you want balance numbers before investing hours, hold off until patch notes appear. The reveal describes changes in general terms, and PC Gamer’s account is based on that presentation.
What is still unknown?
The sources do not give an exact launch hour beyond the PST date, a full platform list, or details of in game purchases.
Next step: read Grinding Gear Games’ full post on the Path of Exile 2 Steam news page, and watch the official trailers on the Path of Exile YouTube channel before December 11.
