Where Does POE 2 Differ From The POE 1 Campaign?

Jun 12, 2023 Author: POECurrency.com

One of the tremendous chunks of content Path of Exile 2 will usher in is a cutting edge 7-act campaign stated to be slightly shorter than and a massive improvement over the current POE 1 campaign.

This additional path to teach and hook new players in POE while leading all Exiles to its fast endgame will enable players to access the set of 19 new ascendancy classes, a host of new gems and start their tale of dark dicey redemption on a remote azomite island off the shores of Wraeclast.

POE 2’s campaign is being built from the ground up as an infinitely repeatable experience for veterans and newbies alike. But how?

We learned most of this information during the initial reveal of POE 2 in November 2019 at ExcileCon and a nice slice more during the POE 2 Act 2 showcase in April 2021. Since then, nothing, though more will come at ExileCon 2023 at the end of July.

We’re building up to it if you are new to Path of Exile or would like a quick recap of the Path of Exile 1 campaign versus what we know about the upcoming Path of Exile 2 campaign. This is the place for you.

Where Does POE 2 Differ From The POE 1 Campaign?

The POE 1 Campaign Isn’t Disappearing

The Path of Exile 1 campaign is not going anywhere. It’s not disappearing. It’s not being locked away.

Instead, both Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2’s campaigns will be available concurrently and should lead to the same endgame. Presently, this endgame would involve fragments of the Shaper and Elder, buzzed encounters with the Conquerors of the Atlas and Sirus, the Maven’s playful mind, memory and gambit Games, the Siege of the Atlas by the Eater of Worlds and Searing Exarch and everything else accessible by the current Atlas passive skill tree and map system like Synthesis, Betrayal, Bestiary and Incursion.

When POE 2 releases, the next endgame edition or revamp will probably be mere months around the corner. Surely, the atlas shall experience some form of catastrophe then caused by the cleansing fire, the Tangle, Chaos itself, or let’s hope not more gods. Whatever that disaster will be, it’s not too long off.

The Path Of POE 2’s Campaign Length

POE 2 campaign will be shorter than POE 1’s 10-act campaign. Confirmed by GGG at ExcileCon 2019, they know the current campaign is a bit too long and are actively addressing it with Path of Exile 2.

The goal with this is to quicken the road to POE’s endgame while also improving the pace of the campaign for players new and old. It will still be linear in the sense of progressing from Act 1 to 2 to 3 and so on.

But with its tightening, Grinding Gear Game seeks to spell bind new players in the POE experience and recapture past and present players with a highly variable high quality new campaign. Plus, any qualms you might have with other titles aren’t part of POE. Cinematics are near non-existent. All conversations can be skipped and there’s no backtracking. You’re always moving to the next battle and story step.

Of course, this means folks who desire the optimal trail to endgame will probably always run the POE 2 campaign even though this is GGG’s overall goal. Those who arrive post Path of Exile 2 or are interested in a severe dose of nostalgia can always swap back to the POE 1 campaign, wash up near Lioneye’s Watch, overcome the trials of Dominus and final act boss Kitava in Oriath.

You’ll Need To Play POE 2’s Campaign For New Ascendancies

The 19 new ascendancy classes introduced in Path of Exile 2 will only be available by running through the new 7-act campaign at least initially.

The Lord’s Labyrinth will not be how characters ascend. Instead, a brand new system like the Lab or the Forbidden Sanctum will arrive. As it currently stands, once an account completes the new campaign at least once, all future characters can ascend to POE 2 ascendancies even if they choose to play through the first campaign.

This is also true for the POE 1 ascendancies. Once an account completes the POE 1 campaign at least once as many existing accounts will have already done by the time POE 2 releases, that account will be able to ascend into any POE 1 ascendancy even if they play the second campaign to reach endgame.

How this will work with the Trials of Ascendancy and Offerings to the Goddess in the Atlas and Maps is currently unknown.

POE 1 VS POE 2

Why This POE Campaign Is So Replayable?

Campaign promises extreme replayability and randomization in every aspect, from map and monster design to quest and item drops. No two playthroughs should be too similar.

GGG will achieve this through two facets: consistent forward movement and unpredictable but memorable area randomization. Unlike campaigns and other unnamed ARPG titles, you are always moving forward in Path of Exiles campaigns. Yes, you may get a quest and reward, such as POE Currency, from an NPC in town. But you need not return get a new quest, then run back to an area, then return, then get a new quest, then run back and add infant item. It’s shockingly simple but absent from Diablo 4 that recently released.

Plus, both areas and the world itself will always be different in the campaign, whether it’s the placement of the area itself, something new in POE 2’s campaign. And the actual layout of a map to the contents in the area from league mechanics, monster packs, and exciting random loot and campaign in Path of Exile will remain bizarre and randomly generated, but understandable and predictable to Veterans of the game. Many players may disagree.

But with a campaign like this or even in Path of Exile 1, there’s no need for an Adventure Mode. In a game like Diablo 4, it’s 100% needed.

Way Better Bosses In POE 2

From Path of Exile 1 to Path of Exile 2, Grinding Gear Games has learned a ton about boss design. In POE 2’s campaign, every area will have at least a mini boss fight with every battle boasting, meaningful combat, and aesthetically pleasing effects.

Additionally, it’s likely many of these awesome bosses will become fights in POE’s endgame once POE 2 hits, as many area bosses and mini bosses are presently map bosses. If not, the majority of these map bosses are not compelling fights, it is a good chunk. If changed or updated to POE 2 bosses, this will immediately change.

The Grittier Story In POE 2

Finally, we know the story of Path of Exile 2’s campaign will be wildly different from the tale of Exile in the first campaign.

In POE 1, our Exiles Adventure begins as we wash up on the shores of Wraeclast and Exile of Oriath, we trudge across the land and eventually defeat our oppressor Dominus before downing the original master Thaumaturge and slaying Gods like Tukohama, Solaris, Lunaris and Kitava. It’s quite the soaring of power level narratively.

Opposite POE 1 and POE 2, we start the campaign as criminals sentenced to hang at the neck until dead. Luckily, the rope breaks, our character escapes and leaps into a whitewater river and washes up on its shoreline.

The story from there shall remain shrouded in mystery. But Grinding Gear Games would like to lower the narrative power level and keep the story relatively grounded. There will be more hack and slash and low fantasy for the campaign and less God slaying.

The Fight Against Adventure Mode In POE

Numerous Exiles seek an adventure mode of some sort to level past the campaign without needing to do the campaign essentially.

This would be a system that allowed characters to path from level 1 to around level 65 without touching a single campaign quest along the way. There have been a myriad of suggestions for this:

Allow characters to endlessly Delve, let them go to the Rogue Harbor and Heist to endgame, rid of the barrier between the tutorial and endgame entirely and give characters a way to do maps beginning at level 1. Bring back an endless ledge and let us annihilate hordes of goat men for hours until we hit a reasonable endgame level.

I disagree on all fronts, and I am on the side of the developers with this one. Adventure Mode is unnecessary with a campaign like Path of Exile’s. Adventure mode or something like it is obsolete and there’s no way it’s coming with POE 2 or beyond. Adventure Mode is necessary if the campaign is a tremendous slog bogged down with unskippable dialogue, constant back and forth between NPCs with arduous fetch and protect quests when it lacks overall constant action and improvement and it boasts no real choosable rewards.

Additionally, muddying the content at endgame versus the content necessary when a character first starts lessens the sense of progression players feel. Moving from Act 1 to 2 and so on and so forth all the way to Maps, especially at the start of a league, is a great feeling that won’t be captured with something like Endless Delve or mapping from first level.

Path of Exile even with its first campaign and from what we’ve seen with its second campaign achieves highly in each of these spheres, Diablo 3 and now Diablo 4 do not and therefore need something akin to an Adventure Mode.

Recently, a game Diablo 4, which is also an ARPG, is very popular among players. Most players are racing against time to level up to experience more challenging content. If you want to level up quickly, it will be a good choice to prepare a large amount of Diablo 4 Gold in advance. Hope you can have a better experience!

Next: Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 Druid Reveal | Shapeshift Forms, Talismans, Data-Mined Skills & Endgame Changes

Previous: Knowing This Will Help You Unlock The Power In Your Build! - Path Of Exile Ascendancies Guide

The History Of Druids

Druids originated from the proto-Celtic people, serving as religious leaders who presided over rituals and sacrifices, built natural monuments, and were symbols of wisdom. Knowledge about them primarily comes from Romans, such as the accounts of Julius Caesar.

As Christianity spread across Europe, Druidism gradually disappeared, but some of its beliefs and customs were absorbed and assimilated by Christianity.

Scholars once believed that Druids' connection to nature was fictitious, until research in the 1960s and 70s confirmed they were a real group, although they did not possess magic.

Druids first appeared in Diablo II, but they were not part of the original class roster; they were added with Lord of Destruction expansion. Although many ARPGs now feature Druids, Druids in Diablo II are considered by many to be the best in all ARPGs.

PoE 2 Druid

Druids made their debut at ExileCon in 2019, when the official trailer confirmed their inclusion in Path of Exile 2 with a running Werewolf shot. The demo was operated by game director Jonathan Rogers, with founder Chris Wilson providing commentary.

At the time, Druid's form was considered an aura, permanently maintained after transformation, only dispelled by using incompatible skills (such as archery). Only logically compatible skills could be used in different forms, such as leaping and slashing in werewolf form. However, it lacked unique skills and appeared somewhat rudimentary.

When it was showcased again in 2023, Druid's mechanics had undergone a fundamental change. It shifted from a permanent form to skill-driven shapeshifting. Using specific skills would temporarily transform Druid into the corresponding form.

In addition to demonstrating Druid's shapeshifting, elemental spells such as Lightning Storm, Volcano, and summoning wolves and tornadoes were also shown.

Druid was initially planned for release with version 0.1 of Path of Exile 2, but was delayed with patches 0.2 Dawn of the Hunt and 0.3. The delays were reportedly due to design issues and animation problems. On the other hand, Path of Exile development team has a habit of conducting large-scale redesigns in the last days.

Data Mining

New Weapon Types

With the introduction of the new Druid class, new weapon types will be added to the game. The description of Martial Weapons reveals this.

These weapons are classified as Martial Weapons in PoE: axes, bows, claws, crossbows, daggers, flails, maces, quarterstaves, spears, swords, and talismans.

Talismans mentioned in the description are based on weapons specifically designed for Druids. They are two-handed melee weapons that require both Strength and Intelligence to equip. Shapeshifting transforms Druid into a non-human form. However, you can still use the skills of all forms.

Shapeshifting will transform Druid's character into a non-human form, but unless otherwise specified, shapeshifting abilities will still function normally in the character's base form. If Druid uses an ability incompatible with their current shapeshifter, they will automatically revert to human form.

Druid Forms

Interviews with players and media have confirmed that Druid will have three core forms: Wolf, Bear, and another unannounced form, which may potentially be a bird-like form Data mining suggests this mysterious form might be Wyvern form.

Players discovered extensive metadata referencing Wyvern in the game's data files, involving animations such as running, turning, walking slowly, hitstun, and death. The data also revealed related abilities, such as Dodge Roll, Wyvern Swipe, Empowered Swipe, Wing Blast, Flame Breath, and Electric Spit.

Therefore, Druids may start with a Talisman or Voltaic Staff as their initial weapon to complement shapeshifting or lightning and fire elemental builds. Their starting skill might be Volcano or a shapeshifting skill.

Druids are expected to initially receive two Ascendancies, one focusing on shapeshifting and the other on spellcasting, covering physical, fire, lightning, and even poison builds.

Patch 0.4 Predictions

Due to the addition of new classes, the passive talent tree is expected to undergo significant changes and new content in the northwestern Strength–Intelligence section of the tree, where shapeshifting nodes should be added.

Since Patch 0.4 focuses on Druids and the Endgame, Atlas Skill Tree may see major adjustments or even a complete overhaul, with the addition of new PoE 2 currency. New endgame bosses are also likely, possibly including Uber Bosses.

The league mechanics in patch 0.4.0 are likely not entirely new, but rather an adjusted version of the existing Path of Exile 1 league mechanics. This may involve a Breach rework or delve-related content. Like Druid, Trial of the Ancestors 2.0 was delayed in patch 0.3, so it's likely to debut in patch 0.4 as the third Ascendancy.

As a completely new class for Path of Exile series, Druid is undoubtedly very appealing, and many players will likely try it out as their first class in leagues. Unfortunately, the official announcement states that no new class will appear in PoE 1, so you'll only be able to play it in PoE 2.

Path Of Exile 3.27 Death's Oath Occultist Build | Best Setup For Mapping And Farming

As the saying goes, everyone has their specialty, and this applies to Path of Exile as well: different classes specialize in different powers and weapons, and the main functions of available builds also differ.

Unlike the classes, whose basic attributes are fixed, the builds themselves, as craftable creations, are entirely up to you. Whether dealing with bosses, developing new dungeons, or farming PoE currency, each build's fate is sealed when it's crafted.

Of course, with the updates to various mechanics in 3.27 league, your strategy for crafting builds should also be adjusted. To save you time, this guide will directly introduce how to craft Death's Oath Occultist Build, suitable for farming resources.

Death's Oath Occultist Build Overview

In fact, this isn't a completely new build originating from Keepers league; it appeared in earlier leagues, but 3.27 gave it another chance to showcase its power.

As the name suggests, this build revolves around Witch Ascendancy class Occultist and the unique Astral Plate of Death's Oath.

The Occultist specializes in cold, chaos damage, and curses. And Death's Oath, when equipped, grants Death Aura effect. This effect deals continuous chaos damage to enemies within a certain range and inflicts chaos damage on yourself when you kill an enemy.

As a key element of the build, Death's Oath's advantage lies in its easy availability at the start of the season, allowing you to farm currency or XP early on through its effective health, damage reduction, and wide-area explosion.

However, as the league progresses, this build becomes less effective due to its relatively low single-target damage, requiring you to adjust your build strategy.

How To Craft This Build?

Before you can unlock Occultist class for crafting this build, we recommend using Chaosslinger build as a transition, which also focuses on chaos damage output, to complete early battles, accumulate resources, and level up.

This transitional build is centered around Spellslinger, combined with other chaos damage-dealing skills to quickly farm XP. Of course, if you have a more suitable Occultist leveling build, you can play at your own pace.

Next, use your earned currency to exchange for some basic gear, such as shields or rings that increase damage, but more importantly, obtain at least two Voidstones.

Socketing these items into Atlas of Worlds will enhance the base map's tier, up to Tier 16. This will give you a chance to obtain more and rarer loot when clearing the map later. The available Voidstone types and their corresponding enemies are:

Ceremonial Voidstone - Drops from The Maven
Decayed Voidstone - Drops from Uber Elder
Grasping Voidstone - Drops from The Eater of Worlds
Omniscient Voidstone - Drops from The Searing Exarch

Next, use these buffs to wreak havoc within your capabilities! Continue until you've earned enough Divine Orbs. Then, try to acquire Cluster jewels to expand your talent tree and activate more passive nodes.

Based on this, combined with your existing Death's Oath and Occultist, the basic build and the resources to further optimize it are complete.

Recommended Gear

When crafting this build, aside from Death's Oath as chest armor, most gear choices are not fixed. Just ensure the rarity is at least rare and meets your attribute requirements. However, for the helmet and amulet, we recommend the following:

Helmet - Heretic's Veil:

Adds +2 to the level of socketed cursed gems.
Socketed gems gain a level 22 Blasphemy bonus.
Socketed cursed gem retention efficiency increased by 30%, dodge and energy shield increased by 90-110%, and maximum energy shield value increased by 40-50.

Amulet - Impresence (Chaos):

All attributes are increased.
Damage over time increased by 30-40%.
Adds extra chaos damage.
Maximum health increased by 50-70.
Chaos resistance increased by 17-23%.

How To Obtain Enough Divine Orbs?

There are many ways to obtain this currency, but we recommend Heist and Delirium. Heist's advantage lies in its optimization in 3.27 league; rogues' skills will upgrade along with their chosen jobs, accelerating your reward farming.

Since the enemies in Heist are not dangerous, you can easily complete it even in the early stages of the season when your character's damage output is insufficient. If you want to improve efficiency, you can equip items that increase movement speed.

To maximize your Delirium currency earnings in League 3.27, you need to add Delirium orbs to the relevant maps to increase the level of Delirium enemies encountered and the final reward. Currently available orbs include:

Abyssal Delirium Orb
Armoursmith's Delirium Orb
Blacksmith's Delirium Orb
Blighted Delirium Orb
Cartographer's Delirium Orb
Diviner's Delirium Orb
Fine Delirium Orb
Foreboding Delirium Orb
Fossilised Delirium Orb
Fragmented Delirium Orb
Jeweller's Delirium Orb
Singular Delirium Orb
Skittering Delirium Orb
Thaumaturge's Delirium Orb
Timeless Delirium Orb
Whispering Delirium Orb

How Effective Is This Build In Combat?

If you're familiar with PoE player community, you'll know that Death's Oath Occultist Build is often considered a chaotic version of Righteous Fire build, which inevitably results in a very slow combat pace.

But don't worry, with the right gear selection, you can ultimately gain increased chaos damage and damage over time, and further enhance your build's defense by stacking chaos resistance.

More importantly, besides direct damage output, Occultist class allows you to curse enemies, slowing their movement speed and reducing their damage output, thus ensuring you survive longer to the end.

That concludes this introduction. Hopefully, it will help you delve deeper into 3.27 league!

Path Of Exile 3.27 Grey Wind Totem Build Guide: Best High-Damage Setup For Keepers Of The Flame League

Dear Exiles, it's been over half a month since the release of Path of Exile 3.27. Have you found your best build yet? Here, we'd like to share a very interesting new build from Keepers of the Flame League, centered around The Grey Wind, added in 3.27.

Frankly, when we first saw this unique axe, its insane damage multiplier made us feel it was definitely going to be the focus of all builds in this league.

About The Grey Wind

This axe has an affix: When attacking with this weapon, deals an additional 8%-12% of the player's maximum health as fire damage. In other words, it's essentially a life-based version of Ephemeral Edge. The affix descriptions are very similar; the former provides maximum lightning damage based on an energy shield, while this axe provides fire damage based on the player's health.

It's worth noting that the difference between The Grey Wind and Ephemeral Edge is that The Grey Wind provides fixed damage with no area of effect. That is, the damage value remains constant. However, Ephemeral Edge provides maximum lightning damage, so its scalable damage range is very large.

Considering its damage type, this axe is well-suited for Ignite build because it also has another affix: an additional 2% fire damage over time bonus for each Rage stack.

However, here we're not opting for continuous Rage stacking, but rather a hit-based totem setup.

How Does It Work?

But before we discuss the totems, let's talk about the basic principles of this Grey Wind build. There's nothing particularly new here; it mainly revolves around Rathpith Globe and Crown of Eyes. So, we get a large amount of fixed damage from Grey Wind, and then use Rathpith Globe to boost that damage, which provides a 5% spell damage bonus for every 100 points of the player's maximum health.

However, this only applies to spell damage; to convert it into attack damage, this shield is needed. This means the spell damage increase/decrease effect applies to attacks at 150%, resulting in a 7.5% attack damage bonus for every 100 health in this build.

In other words, Rathpith Globe shield provides such a high damage bonus that we essentially don't need to invest in any other damage bonuses anywhere else in the build.

Totems Regarding totem setups, since Ehemeral Edge synergizes well with totems (for example, its affix grants you Lightning Damage based on your Energy Shield still works when used with totems), it's reasonable to assume that Grey Wind will also work well with totems. Excitingly, the effect is indeed quite good.

In the previous Path of Exile league, Trickster build players preferred using totems for damage, but that was before the totem rework. Now, in patch 3.27, the only way to obtain melee totems is through Dawnstrider unique boots.

These boots provide a level 25 Earthbreaker Support effect to socketed gems. This is a support skill that converts your attack skills into a totem, which then performs a slam on your behalf.

Therefore, totems spawn here, and when nearby monsters are present, they will slam at those monsters to quickly stack damage.

Sand Stance & Blood Stance

Here, we need to focus on the changes to Perforate totem under different Stance systems.

In Sand Stance, Perforate slams like Starfish, but you can only hit once, regardless of where the monster is standing. However, when you switch to Blood Stance, the damage multiplier is reduced by 70%. Furthermore, the attack pattern completely changes after switching stances.

In Blood Stance, the attack range is much smaller, and many spikes will emerge from the ground. Their positions are not fixed, and they will fly in different directions, covering different areas. But the key to Blood Stance is that once you enter this stance, your attacks can hit the same target multiple times. So even with the reduced damage multiplier, it actually generates additional spikes to deal more damage.

In this version, we're using Perforate of Duality, meaning you gain 5 spikes in your base stance, and then an additional 10 spikes for 4 seconds after switching stances. So when we switch to Blood Stance, we have 15 spikes.

Theoretically, all 15 spikes could hit the same target, dealing massive damage, but in reality, this is unlikely unless your target is large and stationary. However, if you position yourself correctly, its damage is still significantly higher than Blood Stance.

Equipment

Next, let's quickly look at the equipment needed for The Grey Wind Totems build.

Weapon: The Grey Wind
Helmet: Crown of Eyes
Chestplate: Kaom's Heart
Shield: Rathpith Globe
Gloves: Oblivion Grasp
Boots: Dawnstrider
Belt: Cataclysm Locket
Rings: Havoc Grip & Brimstone Coil

Our gear selection criteria are simple: a thin layer of defense to protect our lives, allowing us to absorb damage before we lose health. If hit by a critical strike, we essentially need to buy time to break free of the pre-emptive state.

Ascendancy

For the Ascendancy class, we actually have many interesting options.

For example, Ascendants, because they also grant +1 totem, and you can choose other Ascendancy passives on top of that. You can also choose Juggernaut, which provides additional accuracy.

There's also Gladiator, with its high base block chance. Since our shields only provide about 50% base block chance, this is very beneficial for improving blocking ability. You don't need to invest too many resources in blocking.

Another notable feature is Hierophant, whose totem placement speed is exceptionally fast. Hierophant provides a 100% totem placement speed bonus, which, combined with the 20% from other nodes, results in a total 140% increase in totem placement speed - making it almost indispensable for totem builds.

Furthermore, you also gain a totem duration bonus, which is extremely useful in certain situations. When placing five totems, this provides an additional 25% damage.

In short, The Grey Wind Totems build, with its incredibly high fire damage output and hit rate, is definitely the best choice for quickly clearing areas in Path of Exile 3.27. Give it a try!

Path Of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 Update Predictions | ToTA, Delve, Breach Rework & New Classes

Path of Exile 2 is currently in patch 0.3.0, Rise of the Abyssal League, which is now in its third month. The current league will end in a few weeks. After it ends, player characters and items will be migrated to the Standard or Hardcore early access league without any data erasure.

If PoE 2 follows a four-month release schedule, patch 0.4.0 is expected to arrive in early December. An official livestream and the exact release date for this patch will be announced soon. According to leaked information, patch 0.4.0 will include a new class.

Predicted Release Date For Patch 0.4.0

Based on the four-month release cycle of PoE 1 and the fact that Rise of the Abyssal League launched at the end of August, it is speculated that PoE 2 patch 0.4.0 will be released soon. Considering the development team’s Christmas break, they typically don’t release new patches right before the holidays, so patch 0.4.0 should arrive in the first half of December.

The next league’s launch event is usually held the week before the current league ends, and the likely date is December 6th, which also marks the one-year anniversary of PoE 2. The official release of patch 0.4 is expected around December 13th. It’s anticipated that full patch notes for 0.4.0 will be revealed in the last week of November.

Of course, the development team might also announce a delay due to unfinished content, releasing it after Christmas holidays in January 2026.

Possible New Content

ToTA Mechanics

ToTA (Trial of the Ancestors) mechanic was originally planned for patch 0.3.0 but wasn’t completed, so patch 0.4.0 is almost certain to introduce it. It will be a full gameplay mechanic, not a small seasonal feature, and may be tied to Ascendancy Class system.

Delve

Delve is one of Game Director Jonathan’s favorite mechanics. The related content was already present in the patch 0.3.0, which is Isle of Kin.

Since tablets in PoE 2 now function similarly to scarabs in PoE 1, introducing a mechanic like Delve - which consumes PoE 2 currency to enter - is a logical next step. Delve is also a nearly infinite long-term mode that can sustain player engagement, making it an ideal feature for a Christmas season release.

Breach Rework

Breach received a major rework in PoE 3.27, and the outcome was well-received. PoE 1 currently acts somewhat like a beta realm for PoE 2, so the developers may rework systems in PoE 1 to refine them before porting them into PoE 2. Therefore, Breach is very likely to receive a rework in patch 0.4.0.

New Classes

Patch 0.4.0 will likely introduce new classes, as patch 0.3.0 made very few updates to classes and ascendancies. To deliver a strong seasonal update impact during Christmas, the official team is expected to release at least one new class. While nothing is confirmed yet, several possibilities exist.

Druid

Druids were mentioned alongside Huntresses in patch 0.2.0, suggesting that development on the class may already be complete. Therefore, seeing a Druid class in patch 0.4.0 seems logical. However, Druids are inherently complex, with form-shifting mechanics that may conflict with certain design systems, so delays are possible.

Templar

If Delve is added, PoE 2 will need more tank-oriented classes capable of enduring sustained damage. Warrior and its ascendancies alone may not be enough. Therefore, introducing Templar class alongside Delve is a strong possibility.

With the introduction of new classes comes a wave of new skill gems, support gems, and possibly new weapon types.

These new skills will not be restricted to the new classes; all classes can use them, which will inevitably impact existing builds and the broader meta. Some balance changes are expected, potentially affecting overperforming builds such as Lightning Arrow Deadeye.

Predicted Content

Atlas Endgame Overhaul

Patch 0.3.0 added more unique maps, further refined Atlas Tree, and removed the requirement to use Towers, completely changing how players cultivate the map.

These changes lower the reward ceiling for top-tier players on maps, but simultaneously raise the reward floor for average players, making farming smoother for less hardcore players.

Patch 0.4.0 is likely to include a major overhaul of the endgame. Since patch 0.3.0 already adjusted towers and tablets, this may be a prelude to even larger changes.

If currency-intensive mechanics like Delve are added, the existing Atlas passive skill tree may require adjustments. Additionally, there are signs that the team favors certain PoE 1 endgame philosophies. They may keep the large otherworldly maps of PoE 2 but rework how they operate, improving tower interactivity to make gameplay more engaging and reduce the current tendency toward mindless grinding.

New Acts

If patch 0.4.0 already includes large systems like Delve and ToTA, the team may not have enough development bandwidth to finish Acts 5 and 6. These may instead be introduced next year in patch 0.5 or 0.6.

Players can remain optimistic about PoE 2 Patch 0.4.0, as Patch 0.3.0, by adjusting the pace between PoE 1 and early PoE 2 versions, has brought significant improvements in player numbers, playtime, and player satisfaction. Therefore, future updates to Path of Exile 2 will continue to move towards hyper blast fun.