Path of Exile 2 is leaving early access with ten of its 12 promised classes, and Grinding Gear Games says the two missing ones, the Templar and the Marauder, are meant to fill gaps the current roster still has. Game Director Jonathan Rogers told PCGamesN at Exilecon 2026 that he would be unhappy if neither class were in the game by next year.
Version 1.0 arrives on Friday December 11, when the game becomes free to play for everyone, according to PCGamesN. It adds the Duelist and the Shadow, which brings the roster to ten, plus the last two acts of the campaign.
What gaps are the Templar and Marauder meant to fill?
The Templar is the answer to the spellsword problem. Rogers said the studio has not yet managed to truly mix attacks and spells in one class, and that the Druid was an attempt at it. In practice, he explained, most Druid players end up building either a pure animal-form character or a pure spellcaster, because the game gives them no reason to do both.
For the Templar, Rogers said the team would count it as a failure if the merge does not work. He added that the changes needed to get there should also help the Druid.
The Marauder has a simpler brief:
- Gap named: the weapon type that has not been added yet, which is axes
- Open question: what axes can do that no other weapon type can
- Status: Rogers said the studio already has an answer, but has had little chance to test it lately
When will the Templar and Marauder arrive?
They will not be ready for 1.0. Rogers said the original plan was to have both by the 1.0 launch, and that he feels bad it did not happen because the work is taking longer than expected. His target is next year, though he added “we’ll see”, so no firm date exists.
He also noted that early tests of all the classes were done long ago, before the game’s WASD movement, and may not suit the game as it is now. The studio has the campaign to thank for part of the delay, since it had to be built alongside the live service work. Rogers said the studio is looking forward to leaving that extra project behind.
What else comes with the 1.0 launch?
PCGamesN’s Exilecon coverage lists a long package around the release:
- Acts Five and Six, with 24 more areas and 18 new major bosses
- The Duelist, a sword specialist, and the Shadow, a dagger and trap specialist who starts with the Assassin and Infiltrator ascendancies
- Conquerors of Wraeclast, the launch league, where you join one of three factions, build a stronghold, lead troops and fight for castles on the endgame Atlas
- 40 new unique items and a wider overhaul of uniques, plus passive tree reworks and new skills
Rogers said the faction system will probably need tweaking once the full player base tries it, since the studio cannot test that scale itself. At Gamescom 2026, Grinding Gear Games confirmed the December 11 date, according to Notebookcheck.
Prices
The sources do not list a price for the Templar or the Marauder, and neither class has a release date, so there is nothing to buy or pay for yet. PCGamesN reports that the 1.0 release moves the game from paid early access to free to play on Steam.
The current early access price is not stated in the pages we read, and no regional prices are given. Check the Steam store page for the price in your currency before you buy anything.
Who it suits
Spellsword fans. If you want one character that casts and swings in equal measure, the Templar is the class Rogers is aiming at that fantasy. It is the one to watch, but it is not on the 1.0 roster.
Axe and heavy melee players. The Marauder is tied to the axe, a weapon type the game does not have yet. Anyone waiting for it will need to start on another class first.
Druid players. Rogers said the work done for the Templar should also benefit the Druid, so this is worth following if the current Druid feels split between its two styles.
New players. The game goes free on December 11 with ten classes available, so the missing two are not a reason to hold off.
What is still unknown
Neither class has a release date, a skill list, an ascendancy list or a test build. Rogers described the axe idea and the spellsword goal only in broad terms, and he did not say what the axe’s special feature is. Whether either class lands in a seasonal league or a mid season patch has not been said.
Next step
Read the full PCGamesN interview for Rogers’s own words, and watch the official Path of Exile 2 pages and Steam news for the first Templar and Marauder details after 1.0 launches.
