Image: Grinding Gear Games
Path of Exile 2 will no longer be an expansion, but a full-fledged sequel with six new classes and a beta launching in 2024.
Developer Grinding Gear Games finally spilled the beans on Path of Exile 2 during ExileCon 2023, announcing that the game will now be a full-fledged sequel instead of the large content update it was originally meant to be. Path of Exile 2 was announced in 2019 with the intent of replacing the original game with a new playable campaign, much like Overwatch 2. The sequel has grown massively in scope in the last four years, however.
Here’s a new gameplay trailer:
During ExileCon, Grinding Gear Games’ co-founder Jonathan Rogers explained that Path of Exile 2’s scope has, “continued to grow and grow,” since its announcement four years ago. He described the game as, “just freaking huge,” and that, “There was a point where we realized that our plan to replace Path of Exile 1 with Path of Exile 2 would essentially be getting rid of a game that people love for no real reason. So we made a decision: Path of Exile 1 and 2 will be separate, with their own mechanics, balance, endgames, and leagues."
It’s easy to see why Path of Exile 2 is its own game too, as it comes with so many changes and additions that an actual list of patchnotes to the first game would read like a novel. ExileCon revealed a veritable avalanche of new content coming to Path of Exile 2, but here are the big ticket items you should know about:
- 12 total character classes, with six returning from the first game (new classes are the Monk, Huntress, Sorceress, Mercenary, Warrior and Druid)
- 36 ascendancy classes
- 600 new monsters
- 100 bosses
- 100 distinct environments (with a boss for each one)
- 1500 passive skills
- 240 active skills
- 700 equipment types (and new weapon types like spears and crossbows)
- Six-player co-op
- A new six-act story campaign
- A dodge roll with no cooldown
A list of bulletpoints can hardly do justice to the level of ambition these developers showed off at ExileCon, however. Path of Exile 2 will even run alongside the base game, which will continue to receive content updates on its own. In-game microtransactions like cosmetics will be shared between both games, “unless it’s hyper-specific to the content of one of them.” Rogers explained that players can’t transform into bears in the base game, so bear skins can’t be carried over. “But you absolutely can equip the awesome sword skin you got and use all your stash tabs."
An in-depth 30-minute gameplay walkthrough was also released, featuring the new Monk class in the ‘Jungle Depths’ of Act 3 in the main campaign. The Monk seems to be a mobility-focused class with a focus on ice skills, having plenty of options to maneuver around enemies to land attacks with precision. Later on, the demo shows off another new class: the Sorceress, an Intelligence-focused class themed around, “pure elemental destruction.” A new resource called 'Spirit' has also been introduced for ongoing abilities so players aren't battling reduced mana pools so often. The Sorceress can also master abilities of multiple elements efficiently thanks to the sequel's new auto-weapon swapping mechanic.
Unfortunately, this is probably the most we’ll see of Path of Exile 2 for a very long time. Rogers announced that Path of Exile 2 won’t launch this year, but a beta for the sequel will be available on June 7, 2024. The developer said, “Path of Exile 2 has been a long time coming, and we're incredibly excited to near the finish line, but we are not quite there yet. We are determined not to rush this, and make sure we get it right. In the meantime, there's a lot in store for Path of Exile 1." Sounds like fans will have to stick with the base game for another year at least - but it's getting plenty of love with ongoing updates, so that's not a bad thing at all.