Path of Exile 2 leaves early access and becomes free to play on 11 December PST, with Acts 5 and 6 completing the six-act campaign, Grinding Gear Games said in a Steam announcement.
The 1.0 release adds 24 distinct new areas and 18 new unique bosses, along with more than 20 new Champion Rare encounters, each with its own mechanics. It also brings two new classes and weapon types, a new challenge league and what the studio called sweeping balance changes.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in Early Access and has supported us throughout the years,” the announcement said. “Without you, Path of Exile 2 would not be possible.”
Players who want the launch cosmetic rewards have until 11 December to sign up at pathofexile2.com/register, the studio said in a separate Steam post.
Two new classes: the Shadow and the Duelist
The Shadow uses daggers, traps and shades, and introduces Stealth, which the studio described as an entirely new mechanic in Path of Exile 2. While in Stealth, monsters cannot see the player until the player comes within a short distance of them.
Being in the shadows also empowers the class’s dagger skills, granting them a range of additional bonuses. Traps are a second new weapon type for the Shadow.
Traps are prepared while in stealth and triggered automatically as the player strikes. They explode in the order they were thrown, which allows combinations to be set up in advance. The Shadow has two Ascendancy classes at release: the Assassin and the Infiltrator.
The Duelist is a swordsman built around speed, precision and well-timed strikes. The class uses Stances, another new mechanic. Ready Stance empowers sword skills, enhancing each of them in different ways, and can be upgraded to Sand or Blood Stances.
The Duelist also arrives with two Ascendancy classes in 1.0: the Knight and the Master-at-Arms.
Conquerors of Wraeclast challenge league
The new challenge league, Conquerors of Wraeclast, puts players alongside Varek and his mercenaries. Its endgame storyline involves preventing the awakening of the ancient Blood Lord.
Players rescue new allies, locate enemy fortifications, deploy troops on the battlefield and lead an army to victory. Ranks are built by recruiting skilled warriors to stand against the enemy army.
The league adds more than 70 new points of interest, which offer chances to recruit troops and take on unique missions. Conquering castles uncovers treasury rooms holding a new type of crafting material that lets players reforge their gear.
In the endgame, players establish a stronghold for their growing army and choose between three factions. Each faction has its own style of fortress and its own troops to recruit.
A new endgame storyline, the Blood Lord’s promise, covers dark secrets of the ancient Sanguar bloodline. Atlas progression can be delegated to a player’s own commanders through a new real-time endgame system.
Players can also team up with everyone else in their chosen faction across the league to capture castles from other player factions.
Unique Items and the Passive Skill Tree
The 1.0 release introduces more than 40 new Unique Items and revamps more than 70 existing ones with improved modifiers, skills and visuals, which the studio said will make finding Unique Items more rewarding.
New skills are being added for classes that were missing them, such as the Warrior and the Witch, and Support Gems have been rebalanced to make them more useful.
The Passive Skill Tree has been given a major makeover with hundreds of new stats. All Jewel Sockets have been moved into the clusters, so players weigh which clusters a build needs instead of going after every Jewel Socket.
Several existing classes and Ascendancy classes have been reworked, and the studio gave four examples. The way reloading works on the Mercenary has been changed at a fundamental level.
The Infernalist Ascendancy gains a demonic minion that can cast any spell it is given, can have up to three Infernal Hounds and has new Covenant skills.
The Blood Mage Ascendancy gets new skills and curses alongside a rework of the Corrupted Blood mechanic.
The Acolyte of Chayula Ascendancy can summon a companion that uses any Quarterstaff skill, and can sacrifice its own life to transfer its soul into a clone.