What's new in Path of Exile 2

The Path of Exile 2 release date is right around the corner, so it is a good time to review what we know so far about it in a short manner. Through numerous trailers and teasers we got to know about many new or altered systems and mechanics upcoming in the Path of Exile 2, but with the first public Early Access starting this month you should get ready for the influx of many new information. We will cover those mechanics in depth in the future, so stay tuned! 

Overview

The story of Path of Exile 2 begins 20 years after the events of its predecessor. At the beginning of your journey, you will choose one of the many Classes available to you. Like in the previous version, any Class can master any style of combat, although their unique traits can be beneficial for certain archetypes. There will be 12 Classes in the game, each with 3 original Ascendency options, although many of them are uncertain at the moment. You will progress through 6 rich and lore-intense Acts of the campaign until you reach the famous Endgame. Its exact resemblance is yet to be discovered, although with over 100 new Maps we can for sure tell it will be lots of fun. 

Early Access

When can you play the game? The first public Early Access starts November 15th and lasts for at least 6 months. Just like the Fall of Oriath Beta tests, it is not open to everyone. To participate in this event you will have to buy one of the new Supporter Packs or have lifetime purchases of over 500$. Remember that the game will be free to play upon release, so you don't have to stress over it too much. 
At the beginning, we will have access only to 3 first Acts and can choose only 6 Classes out of 12, but we expect new content to be added over the duration of tests. We will also for the first time since the announcement try out the Endgame, although probably in a greatly slimmed-down version. 

Classes

There are almost twice as many Classes in Path of Exile 2, and each brings 3 distinctive Ascendencies that further alter your gameplay. Currently, only 8 of them are confirmed. You will be able to play as a Warrior, Ranger, Huntress, Sorceress, Mercenary, Monk, Druid, or Witch. Some of them sound familiar from Path of Exile 1, but some are completely new. Notably, the Mercenary specializes in a completely new Weapon type: Crossbows! We will not see the Sion Class, however, as being a jack of all trades, but master of none proved to be very problematic for developers to balance.  

Skill Gems

Skill Gem system has been completely redesigned. You will still have Active and Support Gems, but their functionality is vastly different now. Firstly, Gem Sockets are no longer tied to your equipment. Instead, the Active Gem will host its Supports, removing the frustration of finding a new Gear piece but being unable to change it due to your current Socket setup.  All Gems are acquired as Uncut Gems, which can be turned into the actual Skill you desire. 

At some point, GGG tried to reduce the power gained through Support Gems in an attempt to popularise utility Supports, and we can once again see this philosophy in action. In Path of Exile 2 the Supports Gems no longer grant any amount of Damage, or at least come with an equally powerful drawback, which suggests significantly less importance of a 6-link setup. 

The Active Skills seem to be much more interactive with each other, in a similar style to the Flame Wall or Tornado from Path of Exile 1. We expect to see many more Skill combos used by most players, which is quite contrastive to the current trends. 

Another big shakeup is the new Spirit resource system. The Aura Skills will no longer reserve your Mana, instead they will use Spirit. The aim of this change is to make Mana an important resource to manage, instead of carefully balancing the remaining 5% of Mana you usually have left Unreserved. Spirit will also be used for Minions and Meta Skills. Meta Skills are the new terminology for complex Skills such as the famous Cast on Critical Strike Support. 

Minions

The Minion archetype is beloved by many players for its unique playstyle and feeling. The Minions in Path of Exile 2 reserve the new Spirit resource, which presumably limits your ability to empower them with your Auras. Most of the known Minions Spells can be found in Path of Exile 2 in refreshed form. Those changes include: 

• Skeletons and Spectres are automatically summoned.
• There are many various Skeleton types that you can easily assign via Menu, such as Skeletal Frost Mage or Skeletal Cleric.
• To choose a Spectre you will now use a Skill called Bind Spectre. This change greatly reduces the micromanagement required to play as a Summoner. 
• You can summon up to 10 Raging Spirits by Casting any Fire Spell. 
• The newly introduced Wolf howls upon being summoned, increasing your Critical Strike Chance. 
• Unearth reassembles corpses into temporary Minions that attack nearby Enemies. 

As you might noticed, this list doesn't cover all Minions found in the Path of Exile, such as Golems or Reaper, but it doesn't mean you won't see them in the future. 

Charges

In the first Path of Exile, you can have Power, Frenzy, and Endurance Charges that grant specific bonuses to your Character. You can raise or lower the maximum amount of Charges you can acquire, or convert them into different types such as Brutal Charges using specific Unique Items. In some cases, they are the epicenter of your Build and a main way to scale your Damage or survivability. Some Skills, such as Flicker Strike, can consume your Charges to bypass their Cooldown. Usually, you want to generate Charges as quickly as possible and maintain them during the fight. 

In Path of Exile 2 Charges no longer grant any bonuses. Instead, you will spend your Charges to alter specific Skills in a unique way, such as adding extra Projectiles or causing explosions upon impact. Presumably, the Charges are much easier to generate to fit in the Builder/Spender playstyle. 

Currency 

All existing Currency Orbs are reworked or removed, for example, Chaos Orb now adds and removes one modifier from an Item. The goal of this change is to make using Crafting more dynamic and raise the value of Looted Items, although it is hard to predict the final outcome. 

We will also see the Gold System, which you could try out in the Settlers League. The Gold will be used to buy goods from the NPC and respec points on your Passive Tree. 

Weapon Swap

There is much more initiative to use both of your Weapon Sets in PoE 2. You can now assign Skills to be used with specific Weapons, and you will dynamically change your Weapons without any additional input when you alter between various Skills. To promote this playstyle you can now Dual Specialise some Points on the Passive Tree, for example, to boost either Spears or Swords, and apply only if you Attack with a specific Weapon. Shapeshifting is also considered a separate Weapon specialization. 

Furthermore, most Skills are now tied to a specific Weapon type. The Wand Attacks are now considered a Spell, as Wands no longer provide any Attack modifiers. The Traps and Mines are now a separate type of Skill that requires a special type of Weapon to be used.  

Dodge Roll

With a great emphasis on fighting Bosses, you will have more tools to avoid their dangerous attacks. One such tool is the Dodge Roll, which can be used to quickly avoid danger or reposition. It can be used without any Cooldown and scales accordingly with your Movement Speed. At the start of the Roll, you will avoid all Attacks and Spells, but only for a short moment. The remaining part of the roll doesn't make you immune to Damage, but you can't be Stunned during the entire action. 

Various other changes

Path of Exile 2 is an entirely new game. There are tons of seemingly small differences between both versions that can completely change the way you play the game or Build your Character. Those changes include: 

• Ailments like Ignite or Poison once again scale off of the final Hit Damage. 
• Poison can be applied only once unless you use the Multiple Poison Support Gem. 
• Rework of Crowd Control Ailments to build up over time. 
• There is no Crafting Bench.
• Complex Boss fights, you can't leave the arena with portals, Boss resets upon your death
• Revamped Flask System

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games