Path of Exile 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to Grinding Gear Games’ 2013 sleeper hit action role-playing game (ARPG), is inching ever closer to its 7 December Early Access release and the team has dropped some new info on the content players can expect during the period leading up to the game’s full release.
Upon launch, the game will feature the first 3 of its 6 story campaign acts, alongside a hefty portion of endgame content. To help fill in the gaps between the end of Act 3 and its endgame, which requires a recommended player level of 65, the game will also include new “Cruel” variations of its first 3 acts, more difficult versions of the campaign missions that will test a player’s skills and allow them to level up sufficiently for the endgame. Upon full release, these will be replaced with the remaining acts to provide the full campaign experience.
According to game director Jonathan Rogers, the team shifted priorities during development to focus on including endgame content from the get-go over rounding out the campaign. “Something that happens almost every time a new action RPG launches is that there isn’t enough endgame content. We want to make sure that in PoE2, people don’t feel this way, and we actually only changed our development priority for this recently,” he explained.
“We realised that finishing the rest of the campaign for early access was actually a bad idea. Instead of having acts 4 to 6 in Early Access, we could concentrate on the endgame and make that great.”
That’s not to say that there won’t be enough content campaign-wise for Early Access players, with Rogers assuring fans that the included three acts would already be a “pretty significant campaign”, offering new players around 25 hours worth of gameplay. This, of course, doesn’t factor in the new “Cruel” mode, which not only makes enemies harder but will also switch up details such as attack patterns to provide a fresh, challenging experience. Endgame, on the other hand, will be a whole different ballgame, offering players hundreds more hours of play.
Path of Exile 2 will launch into Early Access with 6 character classes:
- Monk: A fast melee fighter with a focus on building and keeping momentum.
- Warrior: A slower, more hard-hitting fighter equipped with heavy weapons and armour.
- Ranger: A mobility-focused bow-wielder who makes use of lightning, poison, ice, and physical attacks.
- Mercenary: A cross-bow wielder with access to multiple ammo types for maximum versatility.
- Witch: A summoner who calls forth undead minions to do her bidding while supporting them from range with spells.
- Sorceress: A spellcaster who bends the elements to devastate foes with powerful magic.
An interesting point to note is that all skills in the game are not class-restricted, allowing players to mix and match to complement their playstyle, provided they have the required attributes. Each class will also have access to 2 Ascension classes (the full release will include 3), unique specialisations that can drastically change a character’s build and are gained from completing special trials. Throughout the Early Access period, 6 more classes will be added for a total of 12 leading to its full release.
With the team’s focus on endgame content, it comes as no surprise that what’s on offer is staggering, even during its Early Access period. Tasked with fighting a blight that has spread across the land, players will face a variety of challenges across the Atlas, a vast and expansive overworld map filled with different areas, each distinct from the campaign and chock full of randomised enemy encounters.
Endgame will also feature different unique systems to shake up the experience, such as Breaches, a returning mechanic from the previous game that tasks players to kill enemies as fast as possible to keep the breach open while earning increasing amounts of loot, and Rituals, special altars that are charged by defeating monsters in its vicinity, then resurrecting them once activated and requiring players to survive for increasing rewards.
At the start of Early Access, the game will feature 50 bosses and 400 monster types, and will steadily push out updates to roughly double the amount of content leading up to its full release, a massive experience indeed and one that is sure to keep fans of the genre hooked for a long time to come.
Players can gain access to the game’s Early Access launch by purchasing one of the Path of Exile 2 Supporter Packs, which starts from a base price of US$30 (~S$40) for the Early Access Supporter Pack. Returning players who have obtained the lifetime supporter title from the original Path of Exile will also receive an Early Access key for the sequel.
Each Supporter Pack tier will include all content of the previous ones, with higher tiers even gaining access to unique goodies, such as physical merchandise like the Path of Exile 2 T-shirt, hoodie and artbook upon purchase of the Liberator of Wraeclast Supporter Pack and higher, or additional early access keys for account holders who purchased the Thaumaturge of the Vaal Supporter Pack to play with a friend. Full details of the Supporter Packs can be found on the Path of Exile 2 website.
Path of Exile 2 will launch into Early Access on 7 December 2024 (GMT +8) for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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