In 2019, Grinding Gear Video games gave us our first take a look at Path of Exile 2, and excluding a few small teasers, we have heard nearly nothing about it since then. It was speculated to be a sequel akin to Overwatch 2—initially not likely a brand new sport per se, however extra like an enormous patch or remaster that may replace the sport with new graphics, content material, and techniques.
At ExileCon this yr, all that obtained blown up. Path of Exile 2 is a separate sport, and it is a true sequel set 20 years after the unique. I for one cannot wait. We realized a ton about GGG’s new child throughout the keynote presentation, so let’s get into it.
Two video games, one Path
The story of Path of Exile 2 is one in every of scope creep. It began with a need to replace some historic (2007ish) character fashions. Then, as sport director Jonathan Rogers described it, it turned a sequence of enjoyable initiatives. ‘Why do not we replace the fashions’ turned ‘Why do not we replace Act 1’ turned ‘Why do not we repair the way in which ability gems work’ turned ‘Aww screw it let’s make a brand new sport.’
“We realized that our plan to interchange PoE 1 with PoE 2 would primarily be destroying a sport that individuals love for no purpose, so we decided,” Rogers stated within the keynote. “Path of Exile 1 and a couple of will probably be separate, with their very own mechanics, stability, endgame, and leagues.”
What this implies for us as gamers is actually twice the Path of Exile. Each video games will run concurrently, with a league every each three months (a brand new league each month and a half for sickos like me who will nearly actually play each). Relaxation assured, nevertheless, that the one that you love stash tabs and Righteous Hearth skins will not be going to waste. Your not possible to craft legacy six-links in Customary will not be retconned to have humorous new gem hyperlinks, and something you buy sooner or later will probably be usable in each video games (except it is one thing like a shapeshifting werebear pores and skin, ‘trigger that is not in PoE 1).
Oh sure, my buddies, we’re gonna be shapeshifting. Here is a fast (and nearly actually incomplete) listing of latest options for Path of Exile 2.
- Six new character lessons, together with the six from PoE 1 for 12 complete (Sorceress, Monk, Huntress, Mercenary, Warrior, Druid)
- New ascendancies, with three for every class
- A revamped ability gem system the place the hyperlinks are within the gems themselves, not tied to tools
- Tons of latest expertise, together with shapeshifting (bear, wolf, cat) and big comets
- Meta gems, that are gems that may produce other gems socketed into them (assume issues like forged on crit or spell totem)
- New weapon varieties, like spear and crossbow which have their very own expertise
- A six act story marketing campaign set 20 years after the loss of life of Kitava
- A brand new map-based endgame
- A dodge roll for everybody that does not require a gem hyperlink, with the flexibility to dodge-cancel skills
- Modifications to crafting and the economic system, together with adjustments to the way in which chaos orbs work and the introduction of gold as a forex
- Over 100 new bosses to battle, every with distinctive mechanics
All techniques nominal
So there’s… so much there. In a choice that is telling of the studio’s total philosophy for PoE2, not solely will we get a brand new character class for every attribute and two-stat mixture, however the authentic six lessons are playable as properly. It looks like each time GGG requested itself ‘properly, ought to we do A or B?’ the reply was all the time ‘why not each?’
Talent gems obtain a significant overhaul in Path of Exile 2, essentially altering the connection between gear and expertise. As an alternative of things dropping with sockets to fit your expertise in, your ability gems could have the sockets. Uncut gems drop off monsters, and may be assigned to expertise of your selecting. Merchandise stage will nonetheless decide the variety of help gems that may be connected, however these gems drop on the stage of the monsters you are combating, so you do not have to stage them up from scratch. This could permit gamers to make use of extra expertise with better flexibility, since you will not be locked in to 1 or two six-link objects in your predominant damaging expertise.
Talking of things, it must be a lot simpler to swap them out and in. Since your expertise are not tied to merchandise sockets, you will not must forgo a giant improve you discover simply because you do not have the jewelers, fusings, and chromes to make it work. Simply swap it out. You can too assign entire sections of your passive ability tree to a weapon swap, so if you wish to clear packs with shock or arc after which swap staffs and drop an ice comet, your ability tree will come together with you.
These adjustments ought to make fight much more dynamic, since we’ll have the ability to use greater than only one or two expertise at full or near full capability.
Meta gems will additional allow you to customise your equipment. These gems help you socket a number of ability gems inside them, letting you reserve Spirit to robotically forged expertise when sure triggers are met or tying a number of expertise to a single button press. You possibly can even hyperlink a number of expertise to intelligently forged so as, resembling a spell totem gem that first casts a curse, then casts an assault ability. Spirit is a brand new useful resource used to order issues like buffs and set off expertise, which opens up mana to be greater than the 15 factors I’ve left behind after reserving grace, hatred, and skitterbots.
Opening up this design house makes mana prices extra related, and permits for some nutty expertise that value plenty of mana however hit like a truck. Like ice comets. I really like ice comets.
Grinding Gear Playing
One factor I all the time inform individuals about Path of Exile, supplied they permit me the time to clamber onto my soapbox, is that one of the good issues it did was not embrace a generic forex like gold in its economic system. Each forex orb does one thing, like reroll an affix or redo the gem hyperlinks on an merchandise. This offers them an intrinsic worth that naturally anchors the player-driven economic system. So it was with some trepidation that I heard Rogers inform us that they have been implementing gold in Path of Exile 2.
To be truthful although, their causes are sound. The intention is to easy out some issues within the early sport with out the gold piece changing into the de facto buying and selling forex. In any case, if I’ve to portal again to city to get an orb of likelihood for Siosa another time within the library in Act 3, I’d punch somebody. Having gold will permit GGG to streamline among the fussiness of early forex drops and scale back the necessity to drop as a lot trash gear to promote, which could give our loot filters time for a relaxation… they’ve earned it. It will be implementing playing as a gold sink, which actually is the most effective use for gold anyhow. Zana is aware of exiles like to gamble.
Path of Exile 2 seems like a large enterprise, and a real sequel to a sport that is been rising for a decade now. As soon as preliminary growth is completed, I am advised that the GGG workforce will probably be cut up fairly evenly between the 2 video games, making for an formidable content material launch cycle that may simply truly be unimaginable. If the top result’s that we get leagues each month and a half as a substitute of three months, with new lessons, expertise, endgame, and who is aware of what else, we may very well be in for a golden age of Path.
The Path of Exile 2 closed beta begins on June 7, 2024.