A Discussion On An Extremely Underused Unique Body Armour In POE 3.21 - Doppelgänger Guise
We’re going to be talking a bit about the Doppelgänger Guise, which is a unique body armor in POE 3.21.
This unique item is Maven’s exclusive drop. It has about a 2% drop rate, so it’s quite rare. You’re going to need some good fortune to pick this one up if you’re playing SSF.
Doppelgänger Guise
This body armor has a few special mods on it. It grants you a new skill called Unhinge. Then there’s a few mods here that have prerequisites that you need to meet.
The first mod is “40 to 60% more Critical Strike chance while insane,” and also “Enemies killed by your hits are destroyed while insane”. And then, we have the “30 to 40% less Physical and Chaos Damage taken while sane” and “Regenerate 10% of Life over one second when hit while sane.
The way this works is the skill that you get from this item, the Unhinged skill. It’s basically like a Toggle, which is an instant skill and has a five second cooldown. And as a baseline, while you’re wearing this body armor, you’re considered being sane and then you can use this skill to toggle the Unhinged skill and you become insane. And then, of course, you can use it again after that to go back to sane and so on and so forth.
The actual skill itself doesn’t provide any additional upsides or downsides. It’s basically just a toggle. So, you can choose which of these modifiers are active on you at any time.
While Sane Mods
The more Critical Strike chance and corpse denial are really strong mods, but the main use case for this body armor is going to be the defensive properties, the two While Sane Modifiers.
These are both really strong. The “30 to 40 percent less Physical and Chaos Damage taken” is just crazy. This applies to all Physical and Chaos Damage you take even damage over time. So, stuff like Bleeding, Corrupted Blood, Poison and so on is going to be massively reduced by just this one modifier. What I mean is 40% less is such a huge modifier when you think about it with crazy amounts of damage reduction.
And then is the “regenerate 10% of Life over one second when hit” mod. That one is an incredible source of recovery and it’s really useful, especially good for those builds that don’t really have very good recovery. As long as you’re occasionally getting hit or whenever you do get hit and take a bit of damage, you’re just going to recover it back up again with this regeneration mod. So, that’s really nice.
Forbidden Rite & Boneshatter
This item has really good synergy with both Forbidden Rite and Boneshatter where both of these skills actually deal damage to you while you use them.
That damage is considered being a hit. So, Forbidden Rite deals Chaos Damage to you and Boneshatter deals Physical Damage to you. And that self-damage is going to be mitigated by the less damage taken modifier. Because the damage was the hit, you’re going to be able to recover 10% of Life over one second every time you use those skills. That’s really great synergy there.
Self Damage Items
There are some unique items that have a similar effect to the Eye of Innocence amulet, which would take 100% Fire Damage to you whenever you ignite an enemy.
There’s the Scold’s Bridle helmet that will hit you for Physical Damage whenever you use a skill. The Heartbound Loop ring will also hit you for some Physical Damage whenever one of your minions dies. And the Storm Secret ring that will deal a hit of lightning damage to you whenever the Herald of Thunder strikes an enemy.
There’s a few others like this, too. But these could be used in combination with the Doppelgänger Guise to enable some really good recovery that doesn’t rely on actually being hit by an enemy.
Divine Flesh
Then, there’s the crazy synergy with Divine Flesh too where half of all the incoming Elemental Damage that you take is actually taken as Chaos Damage instead.
So, all of those big chunky elemental hits that are coming in and going to have their damage split in half and half will be taken as chaos. And then, that half is going to be mitigated by that massive less damage taken modifier, which is really strong.
But it’s not just hits. Because Divine Flesh also works for damage over time. That means all of those pesky elemental dots the ground effects in the Shaper and Maven boss, fights, for example, or ignites and things like that. All of that damage over time is going to be split, with half of it taken as chaos. And once again, that’s going to be largely reduced by that less chaos damage taken modifier.
Armour/ES Masteries
Of course, if you’re using flesh, you can also make great use of the two new armor and Energy Shield Masteries. The “10% of physical damage taken as chaos damage that works from hits” is really strong to further mitigate that damage. And the “10% of armour applying to chaos damage once again for hits” is really strong as well if you’re stacking a bit of armor.
Use Cases
Both of those are great, but actually I think one of the best use cases for the Doppelgänger Guise is actually when you lack armor and your lack of physical damage reduction. And you’re just going to be able to use this body armor in combination with some additional physical damage reduction mods, like a shield mod or the reduction that you get from Endurance Charges.
This means that you may even be able to completely forego using Determination or anything like that. Because with this kind of setup, you’re going to be so strong against those really dangerous physical dots like Bleeding.
I actually remember a hardcore build. The Octavian played a while back and it was a self-cast Forbidden Rite Occultist that used this body armor to help mitigate the Forbidden Rite self-damage. But it also just didn’t use anything like Determination and it got by just fine without it thanks to the less damage taken mod on this unique.
Popularity
And I’m really surprised at the relatively low popularity of the Doppelgänger Guise in this league. In Softcore Trade Crucible, only 0.3 of characters are using it and you could make the argument that players’ value defenses a little less than in hardcore.
But even when we look at Hardcore Trade Crucible, this is even lower, with just a 0.1 percent representation of characters using the Doppelgänger Guise.
Doppelgänger VS Fourth Vow
I think in a lot of ways, the Doppelgänger Guise has some similarities with the new body armor and the new unique body armor in this patch, the Fourth Vow.
But the Fourth Vow is significantly more popular in both leagues, with two percent of players using it in Softcore Trade Crucible versus the 0.3% using the Doppelgänger Guise. And in HC Trade, the difference is far greater with six percent of players using the Fourth Vow compared to the 0.1 percent using the Doppelgänger Guise.
Conclusion
Overall, I really feel this unique body armor, the Doppelgänger Guise is very underrated right now, and it’s significantly easier to slot into a build than the Fourth Vow is as it doesn’t really need any kind of armor scaling to really benefit from it. You can just slot this in there and you’re going to have that massive less damage taken modifier on both physical and chaos. If you don’t have this item yet, I suggest you use your POE Currency to purchase one now.
And as I said earlier, that’s going to really help you out if you don’t have any other kind of additional way to mitigate Physical Damage. And a lot of builds do struggle with that. I mean, you do have a lot of builds where you’re either not running Determination or you are running Determination.
But you don’t have very much armor scaling, so your armor is not very effective and this less damage taken modifier is really going to help you out and it’s going to cut a massive chunk off of that damage taken as physical. So, I am unsure as to why this is not used very much.
Finally, I want to talk about a digression. Path of Exile’s serious rival, Diablo 4, is about to be released. If you also want to dominate Diablo 4, then you’d better buy Diablo 4 Gold as you did before playing each new POE expansion.
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In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, there are some exceptionally rare items that represent the ultimate goal for many builds and can be worth hundreds of Divine Orbs.
Let's take a look at the endgame Unique items in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 that require no complicated crafting and can drop directly, with values ranging from dozens to several thousand Divine Orbs. They are still a long way from a Mirror of Kalandra, but they remain highly desirable targets.
Here are 10 items most worth chasing in the endgame:
- Bursting Decay Unset Ring
- Choir of the Storm (Level 20 Lightning Bolt)
- Right of Passage Series
- Headhunter
- Palm of the Dreamer
- Prism of Belief Diamond
- Mageblood
- Runeseeker's Call
- The Last Flame and Temporalis
- The Gnashing Sash
10. Bursting Decay Unset Ring
Bursting Decay is an entry-level endgame Unique item that can randomly drop during Atlas content when exploring Corrupted Nexus areas. However, it cannot be obtained by gambling with an Orb of Chance.
An Uncorrupted Bursting Decay, regardless of whether it is identified, is currently worth around 40 Divine Orbs.
It is useful for life-stacking physical damage builds, but this playstyle is not particularly mainstream in the current League, so overall demand remains relatively low.
9. Choir of the Storm (Level 20 Lightning Bolt)
Choir of the Storm can randomly drop by defeating Breach Bosses and the additional monsters around them. It also cannot be obtained by using an Orb of Chance on a normal Jade Amulet.
The most important special effect of Choir of the Storm is that Critical Damage can ignore enemy Lightning Resistance, while also allowing Lightning Bolt to trigger.
A standard Choir of the Storm has little value. The real target is a version with Level 20 Lightning Bolt. An Uncorrupted version that naturally has the level 20 Lightning Bolt modifier is worth around 50–60 Divine Orbs.
If the boss drops a corrupted version, or if Lightning Bolt is below Level 20, its value drops significantly.
8. Right of Passage Series
Right of Passage has a chance to drop when Rare Monsters or Unique Bosses possessed by the corresponding Animal Spirit are defeated.
It always provides 15% increased Rarity of Items found and automatically triggers when you kill a Rare or Unique enemy. Once triggered, you become possessed by an Azmeri Spirit for 10–20 seconds and gain the special effect associated with that Spirit.
Right of Passage drops with a fixed Spirit variant, and the actual combat effects vary significantly between versions. Spirit of the Stag is worth around 80 Divine Orbs, while Spirit of the Cat is worth around 255 Divine Orbs.
An Uncorrupted version can have its duration modified to 18–20 seconds with a Divine Orb, and versions with this duration are worth more.
7. Headhunter
Headhunter has a chance to drop directly from monsters in any map content, provided the monsters meet the required level.
The value of an Uncorrupted version has been gradually declining and is currently around 70–80 Divine Orbs.
It can also have a chance to appear when using Remnants during Expedition to craft Rare Belts or Unique items.
Another option is using an Orb of Chance on a Heavy Belt. However, the success rate is extremely low, at roughly 1/2,000 to 1/3,000, so this method is not recommended.
A more efficient approach is combining Ritual with Head of the King. Since Headhunter can appear directly in Ritual Favours shop, this provides a more targeted way to farm it than simply running maps.
6. Palm of the Dreamer
Palm of the Dreamer is an extremely powerful Scepter that causes slain enemies to explode, dealing Chaos Damage equal to 25% of their maximum Life. This can significantly improve clear efficiency while farming maps.
Palm of the Dreamer drops directly in an Uncorrupted state. You need to corrupt one of the following three base Scepters to obtain it:
- Guiding Palm of the Heart
- Guiding Palm of the Eye
- Guiding Palm of the Mind
Corrupting any one of these has approximately a 3% chance of transforming it into Palm of the Dreamer. These three base Scepters are worth around 1.5 Divine Orbs, while Palm of the Dreamer is currently valued at 80–220 Divine Orbs.
5. Prism of Belief Diamond
Prism of Belief can only drop from The Arbiter of Ash. It randomly selects a skill and increases its skill level.
An Unidentified version is worth around 50 Divine Orbs. Once identified, however, its value can vary enormously depending on the resulting modifier.
A +1 modifier for an unpopular skill may bring its value down to less than 1 Divine Orb, while a +3 modifier for a meta skill can potentially push its value above 1,000 Divine Orbs.
4. Mageblood
Mageblood provides effects through Charms equipped on Utility Belt, allowing it to simultaneously provide substantial defensive mechanics, ailment protection, and resistances. Its value is around 280 Divine Orbs.
Like Headhunter, Mageblood can drop from monsters throughout the game, but Expedition and Ritual are the best ways to target it. It is also not recommended to use an Orb of Chance on a Utility Belt, since the odds are far too low.
3. Runeseeker's Call
Runeseeker's Call can enhance socketed Runes, and its value has risen from around 400–600 Divine Orbs early on to approximately 1,300 Divine Orbs.
You first need to obtain a Depleted Mana Rune, then charge it into an Infused Mana Rune. After reaching 10,000 Mana to complete the required objective and finishing the remaining Farrow objective, you can obtain Runeseeker's Call.
Completing the required objectives requires a substantial investment, and each character can only obtain it once. Farming it therefore requires creating multiple alt characters, which makes the item particularly valuable.
Instead of creating the alt and wasting a lot of time, you can directly buy PoE 2 Currency at PoEcurrency.com and trade with other players. Farming the boss and completing the quest yourself could take dozens of hours.
2. The Last Flame and Temporalis
The Last Flame is a Unique Incense Relic. Completing the challenge with it causes Zarokh, the Temporal to drop Temporalis.
Temporalis is dropped by Zarokh, the Temporal in Trial of the Sekhemas, and the chance is extremely low. Its direct value is around 3,500 Divine Orbs.
Obtaining Temporalis is also extremely difficult. In addition to using The Last Flame, you must defeat Zarokh, the Temporal without losing Honor, meaning you need to finish the fight with 1 Honor remaining. Otherwise, The Last Flame will be consumed.
Unless you have a highly specialized build and extensive practice, using The Last Flame yourself is not recommended.
1. The Gnashing Sash
When equipped, The Gnashing Sash allows Flask recovery to exceed your maximum Life, temporarily giving you more recovery than your Max Life and creating an additional Life buffer.
It also increases Flask Charges gained and Flask Life Recovery, making the mechanic easier to sustain.
The Gnashing Sash can only drop from Corrupted Boss in Corrupted Nexus. It is extremely rare, and very few players list it. Its value is around 3,500–4,500 Divine Orbs.
Obtaining these items either requires a substantial amount of currency, an extremely powerful build, or both. However, most of them do not drop consistently, so they are best viewed as additional rewards that can appear while farming.
The currency system in Path of Exile features a vast array of orbs, each with distinct types and functions; if you are a relatively new player, you will frequently encounter orbs you haven't seen before.
While you don't need to master the details of every single currency item, Chromatic Orb is particularly important during PoE 3.29 update. This is due not only to its inherent function but also to the significant changes introduced in this version.
In this guide, we will outline these changes and provide the best strategies for obtaining and using Chromatic Orbs during Curse of the Allflame league.
Functionality and recent changes
As a consumable currency, the primary function of PoE Chromatic Orb is to randomly reroll the colors of an item's gem sockets. The higher the item's quality, the greater the chance of rolling a non-white socket.
Historically, this effect was valuable because socket colors strictly dictated which gems could be slotted, for instance, a red socket could only accept a red gem.
However, in version 3.29, Path of Exile completely overhauled the interaction between sockets and gems: gems can now be slotted into any socket regardless of color, though matching the gem color to the socket color grants a +10% quality bonus to the gem.
This change means that rolling a matching color is no longer a hard requirement for using specific skills; instead, it has become an advanced strategy for maximizing damage or other bonus effects.
Consequently, the effect of Chromatic Orb has been adjusted: it now forces one socket on the item to be non-white, while the remaining sockets are randomized as usual. The influence of item quality on socket colors remains unchanged.
These changes have also made the currency rarer than before. As a result, the option to exchange Jeweller's Orbs for Chromatic Orbs has been removed, and the gold tax required to acquire them via Currency Exchange Market has been increased.
Therefore, if you want to acquire more Chromatic Orbs to enhance your build or expand your crafting options, the best choice is to buy PoE Chromatic Orbs at POECURRENCY.com. Place your order now and use code COA for an 8% discount!
How to maximize the value of Chromatic Orbs in 3.29?
The socket colors resulting from the use of a Chromatic Orb are not purely random; they are strongly correlated with the item's base attribute requirements. For instance, a dexterity-based item is more likely to roll green sockets.
However, if you roll a socket color that differs from the item's primary attribute (e.g., rolling red or blue on a dexterity gear), this is known as an off-color socket.
While off-color sockets have a lower probability of appearing, they are often crucial depending on the specific requirements of your build.
Therefore, for standard socket colors that match the item's attributes, simply using a Chromatic Orb is sufficient. If you wish to increase your chances of obtaining one or two off-color sockets, you can utilize the special mechanics available at Crafting Bench.
If you need to modify the socket colors of a corrupted item, standard Chromatic Orbs will not work; you must use Tainted Chromatic Orbs instead.
The unique feature of this currency is that it ignores the item's attribute requirements, making it easier to roll off-color sockets.
Whether you are rerolling socket colors on standard or corrupted gear, we advise against doing so haphazardly, as Chromatic Orbs are quite valuable.
If you are in the early stages of the league and cannot immediately roll the desired colors, there is no need to worry. Simply socket your gems to keep your skills functional for now, and aim for matching socket colors, which offer quality bonuses, once your overall setup has stabilized.
Before attempting high-level socket recoloring in the mid-to-late game, evaluate whether the skill gems you intend to use will provide satisfactory benefits. If they do, apply the process to the core gear of your chosen build in Path of Exile 3.29.
How to obtain Chromatic Orbs?
Relying on random drops during combat is not the most efficient farming method, as this currency has no specific source and can drop anywhere.
Generally, we recommend using specific recipes to acquire them. Available recipes involve three specific divination cards: The Heroic Shot, Emperor's Luck, and The Void.
The Heroic Shot
Divination cards in Path of Exile are items that can be exchanged for other rewards; for example, The Heroic Shot can be directly exchanged for 17 Chromatic Orbs.
As for obtaining The Heroic Shot itself, you can acquire it by trading in the divination cards The Gambler, Stacked Deck, or The Void, or by finding it in Arcanist's Strongboxes.
Arcanist's Strongboxes are a variant of standard Strongboxes that have a low chance of appearing during mapping or other monster encounters. In addition to The Heroic Shot, they may also contain standard currency items.
Emperor's Luck
Collecting a full set of five of these divination cards allows you to exchange them for five random PoE currency items.
Emperor's Luck can be obtained through trades involving other cards or by farming directly; however, it only drops in four specific maps: Plaza, Residence, The High Gardens, and The Imperial Gardens.
The Void
This is a unique PoE divination card that acts as a special medium, allowing you to exchange it for other cards. In other words, if your primary goal is to farm Chromatic Orbs, it is best to prioritize exchanging The Void for The Heroic Shot.
The Void drops only in Tier 13 or higher maps: Abomination, Citadel, Fortress, Sanctuary, and Ziggurat.
Beyond these three specific divination card methods, you can also obtain Chromatic Orbs through player-to-player trading. However, be sure to research market rates beforehand to minimize your costs.
If you are currently in need of Chromatic Orbs, this guide should prove helpful. Best of luck with your PoE 3.29 journey!
Nearly a month after Path of Exile Curse of the Allflame League began, the in-game economy has undergone significant changes, with the value of some items and currencies that were highly sought after at the start of League declining over time.
The value of Gemcutter's Prism has fallen to almost half of what it was during the early days of the league. However, if you compare this with the situation in Mirage League, you will find that its value is now only around one-fifth of what it was then. Why has this change occurred? Is Gemcutter's Prism still worth farming in the current League?
Gemcutter's Prism in PoE Patch 3.23
Gemcutter's Prism can add 1% Quality to a Skill Gem until the gem reaches the maximum Quality of 20%.
This translates into higher damage, faster casting speed, or stronger utility, making it an essential part of character builds.
Its effect varies depending on the type of gem. For Attack or Spell Skill Gems, Quality typically increases damage, the chance to inflict ailments, or other important stats. For Aura Gems, Quality often increases the radius of the aura's effect.
In Patch 3.23, a major change was made to Gemcutter's Prism. Players could no longer use the vendor recipe of 1 Level 20 Skill Gem + 1 Gemcutter's Prism to obtain a Level 1 Skill Gem with 20% Quality. However, this recipe remained available for non-Awakened Support Gems.
Although this change appeared minor, it directly removed the traditional low-cost method of consistently obtaining 20% Quality on Skill Gems. As a result, the barrier to obtaining Gemcutter's Prisms and high-Quality Skill Gems increased significantly.
After this change, the value of Gemcutter's Prism in the league rose to around 5 to 6 Chaos Orbs.
Gemcutter's Prism in PoE Patch 3.29
However, why has the value of Gemcutter's Prism fallen so sharply in Path of Exile 3.29? GCP itself has not undergone any major changes, but it has been heavily affected by changes to Path of Exile socket system.
In PoE 3.29 Curse of the Allflame league, equipment sockets default to White Sockets. Furthermore, skill gems can be inserted into sockets of any color, and if a skill gem or support gem's color matches the socket color, it gains a +10% Quality.
This effectively reduced players' reliance on traditional Gem Quality optimization. Before PoE 3.29, GCP was one of the primary ways to raise a Gem to 20% Quality.
Now, however, part of the demand for Quality is being handled by the new Socket system, which has reduced demand for Gemcutter's Prism.
Does Gemcutter's Prism Still Have Value?
Although demand for Gemcutter's Prism has declined, it still retains considerable value, as reaching 20% Quality remains extremely important for top-tier builds.
Chasing stronger Level 21 Gems, 20% Quality Gems, or Gems with Vaal versions is a core endgame goal for many players.
Creating these Gems requires large quantities of 20% Quality Gems as materials, which means you may need a substantial number of Gemcutter's Prisms.
Therefore, as many players begin to upgrade their builds, the value of Gemcutter's Prism may rise again, presenting a good investment opportunity. You can buy PoE Gemcutter's Prism at PoE currency.com to position yourself in advance.
How to Farm Gemcutter's Prism?
Once the value of GCP is understood, finding efficient ways to obtain it becomes the key. There are several main methods.
Monster Drops
This is the most basic method, as Gemcutter's Prisms can drop randomly from slain monsters. Increasing monster pack size and modifiers that improve Currency drops can effectively increase the number of GCPs you obtain.
You can combine this with Strongbox farming strategies, particularly Artisan's Strongboxes, which have a chance to drop GCPs. Remember to check your loot filter so that Gemcutter's Prisms are not hidden.
Another method is farming The Union Divination Card in Cemetery Maps. Collecting 7 cards allows you to exchange them for 10 GCPs.
When farming T16 Cemetery Maps, it is recommended to remove all Essence-related passive points. Essence monster modifiers are stronger and deal more damage, so the additional risk does not justify the efficiency. However, you can keep and strengthen passives related to Strongboxes.
Vendor Recipes
Selling 1 Gem with 20% Quality grants 1 GCP. This recipe remains worthwhile for Support Gems, but caution is advised with Skill Gems because a 20% Quality Skill Gem itself can be highly valuable.
Alternatively, you can sell multiple Gems with a combined Quality of 40% to receive 1 GCP. For example, you can sell four Gems with 10% Quality each.
For players looking to conserve Gemcutter's Prisms, you can use a Support Gem together with 1 Gemcutter's Prism in the vendor recipe. The gem's level will be reset to Level 1, while its Quality will be raised to 20%.
You can then level the gem again. Since Support Gems can level relatively quickly, especially in endgame content, this method can save a substantial number of Gemcutter's Prisms. Normally, raising a Gem to 20% Quality directly with GCP requires 20 Prisms, whereas this recipe requires only 1.
Gemcutter's Prism is still worth farming in the current League. You can combine a Stacked Deck farming strategy with Cemetery Maps to focus on this currency, which can provide solid returns. Any excess GCPs or finished Gems can be converted into worthwhile profits while still meeting your own needs.
Discussions about Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 have been heating up recently, with the most pressing question for players being: Will GGG add a new class to this patch?
Let's start with the conclusion: the probability of Patch 0.5.5 directly adding a class isn't as high as some might think. Rather than releasing a test class early, the official team is more likely to use Gamescom on August 25th at 11 AM as a major promotional event to showcase the direction of the official PoE 2 Patch 1.0 release.
However, don't despair! GGG has a history of skillfully building suspense at major events, and new classes, new gameplay, and demo content are all possible glimpses at Gamescom.
But considering the overall pacing, 0.5.5 seems more like a tweaking update paving the way for the official release; the real big content will likely be saved for 1.0.
New Content Predictions
For many PoE 2 players, Gamescom has become a crucial window into the future direction of PoE 2.
Looking back at previous events, the official team does have a habit of releasing playable demos of classes at exhibitions. The most typical example is Druid class; before its official release, a playable build was offered at this exhibition, allowing players to experience the class early.
However, the showcase build underwent numerous adjustments between the demo and the final release. Early showcases were more about demonstrating the direction of development than the final product.
Therefore, the appearance of playable content at Gamescom is expected. However, what GGG will ultimately choose to show remains to be seen.
Currently, new chapter content is unlikely to be a focus. This is because the story experience of PoE 2 is a major selling point of the full release, especially later chapters. Revealing too much too early could easily diminish the sense of exploration for players on their first playthrough.
New Class?
Necromancer
Speaking of new classes, one of the most discussed topics in the community is Necromancer.
After all, in the eyes of ARPG players, summoner builds always hold a special place. Many players also hope that PoE 2 will add this classic class. However, judging from the current official design of PoE 2 class system, the possibility of Necromancer being added is not very high.
This is because PoE 2 and PoE 1 have different understandings of class roles. In PoE 1, a character's final style largely depended on their Ascendancy class. For example, a Witch could go through different Ascendancy paths to Summoning, Elemental, or other routes, with the class itself bearing a significant role in theme creation.
But PoE 2 aims to reduce this limitation. The developers hope that players will create their own playstyles through skill selection, gear combinations, and talent paths, rather than being fixed in a certain gameplay framework simply by choosing a class.
This direction seems to offer more freedom, but it has also sparked considerable discussion among players.
Passive Tree Limitations
Many veteran players loved PoE 1, largely because of its extremely high degree of freedom. You could see many strange builds, such as a character who seemed destined to charge with a shield, but ended up being played as a Summoner or Spellcaster.
PoE 1's Passive Tree allowed players to traverse vast areas to find the attributes and nodes they needed, which was one of the game's greatest charms.
However, things changed in PoE 2. Because of the adjusted Passive Tree structure, a character's starting point has a more significant impact on gameplay direction. If a character wants to switch to a completely unique system, they need to invest more resources.
For example, a melee class wanting to play a summoner build isn't theoretically impossible, but it might require a significant investment of resources, including substantial PoE 2 Currency, and even special equipment. This results in some playstyles existing but not as natural as in PoE 1.
This is why Necromancer class is controversial. If the developers insist on letting skills determine gameplay, they might not design a separate summoner specialization class, but continue to adjust the system, allowing players to create summoner builds through combinations.
Templar and Duelist
While the possibility of Necromancer is low, player speculation about the new class hasn't stopped. Currently, the two most discussed directions are Templar and Duelist.
Templar has always been a class many veteran players have been hoping for. This class itself possesses very distinct elements of strength, faith, and holiness; if added to PoE 2, it could greatly expand melee and support gameplay.
Especially with the addition of more new weapon systems in the second generation, many players are eager to see how the developers will design paladin-style characters.
However, based on recent demonstrations, a Duelist-oriented approach is also highly probable. Previous footage showed two-handed swords and daggers, leading many to speculate that the developers might prioritize a new, more agile, melee-focused class.
Compared to a traditional summoner class, sword and dagger classes are more likely to showcase combat differences in gameplay demonstrations and are better suited to a large-scale event like Gamescom.
Transitional Update
The answer to whether a new class will be added in 0.5.5 is likely to be no.
Of course, GGG could still choose this approach, as a new class would help boost testing activity and attract more players to get beta access. However, from a development and marketing perspective, a single class is unlikely to sustain a major update on its own.
To make it impactful enough, it needs to be bundled with more content, which could disrupt the developers' current schedule for Patch 1.0.
In contrast, releasing a class, new gameplay, and a large amount of new content in Patch 1.0 would have a stronger impact. The official launch of PoE 2 is a significant milestone. A larger initial launch attracts more streaming platforms, content creators, and new players.
For a long-running ARPG, the initial buzz is crucial. Once a community and content ecosystem are established, the game's influence will continue to grow.
Therefore, it seems likely that Patch 0.5.5 will focus more on balance adjustments and system optimizations, while Gamescom will showcase the future direction of Patch 1.0.
If GGG really wants to create a surprise, they might announce a new class at Gamescom.
However, more than a new class, players are probably more concerned with whether Patch 0.5.5 can demonstrate the overall plan for the official PoE 2 release and what direction the game will take in the future.
