Path of Exile 2 Release Date, Beta, and More

Grinding Gear Games (GGG) has showcased the sequel to its popular ARPG, Path of Exile 2, for quite some time now and the game is shaping up to be one of the best in the genre for sure.

If you are looking for a website that tells you all of the latest scoop for PoE 2, you have come to the right place! Here are the things that we know about Path of Exile 2 so far.

Path of Exile 2 Beta

GGG planned to release a beta version of PoE 2 back on June 7 of this year. However, due to the complexity of developing a huge ARPG like this, that idea was scrapped.

When asked about the delay of the beta, Jonathan Rogers, game director for Path of Exile 2, stated that the company has “underestimated” the time and effort that it takes to push the game into a more polished state. The company knew that if they pushed through with the original schedule, the Path of Exile community would just shred them to pieces due to how bad the game could have been at the time.

The good news is that Rogers and his team still produced several gameplay trailers to give players a glimpse of what PoE 2 has to offer.

As to when the community can expect to playtest a beta version of the game, Rogers said that it will be pushed to later this year, most likely in November or December. If we are to speculate about the Early Access release, it will probably be in December just to end the year with a bang.

It is unclear whether the company will hold an open beta or a closed one like what was originally planned. If they go for the latter, those who want to gain access may have to purchase a Supporter Pack to get in.

It is also possible to have everyone playtest the game for a limited time, with no prior purchases of any kind. This not only lets the company know how the servers would hold up, but it tells them a lot more information that may be useful in improving the different aspects of the game as well.

Having said that, it has been confirmed that the Early Access beta is going to feature eight of the 12 playable classes in Path of Exile 2. These classes are:

• Warrior

• Ranger

• Huntress

• Sorceress

• Mercenary

• Monk

• Druid

• Witch

The ones that are not on the list are the Duelist, Templar, Shadow, and Marauder.

It is still not confirmed whether the beta testing phase is going to include some endgame content, such as pinnacle bosses or mapping. However, it would be interesting if they included, at least, several endgame maps for players to try out to their hearts’ content.

Path of Exile 2 Release Date

Grinding Gear Games wants to release a polished game. Depending on how the Early Access beta will turn out, we may have to wait a bit longer for PoE 2 to be officially released.

Historically, the original Path of Exile had its closed beta in August 2011. Then, the company hosted an open beta for the said title in January 2013. After many months of improvements, the game was officially launched in October 2013.

Should the company follow that, it will be a long way to go before we can get our hands on the full game. If anything, we might see it released at the tail-end of 2025.

It is important to note that the sequel is actually a standalone game compared to what was initially envisioned. Instead of being just a huge expansion on top of the original,  PoE 2 is now treated as a separate game entirely. 

What does that mean? It means that you can play between the OG and the sequel at any time you please. If you are not happy with PoE 2, for example, you have the option of going back to PoE if you want to.

Furthermore, any microtransactions you have purchased in the OG Path of Exile will be available in the sequel, and vice versa. This is great, especially if you have spent quite a love of money already buying your favorite cosmetics and whatnot.

POE 2 Basics

Enough about the speculations, let’s talk about what is already confirmed. Path of Exile 2 is a very expansive game, boasting over 100 distinct environments, 600 types of monsters, and 100 bosses (including those in the endgame).

The game will have six campaigns at launch and each area you visit offers something unique, so exploring the world is not going to be dull and boring at all.

If you have not played the original game before, mapping is an endgame activity you have to be familiar with. Basically, you put an item called a “map” into a specific device that opens portals toward a new area. This area contains monsters and a boss at the end.

The sequel might follow something similar, albeit each boss in the game is now more dynamic than ever. What we mean by this is that the bosses in the game have unique mechanics that you have to be acquainted with to succeed. Gone are the days when you can just “tank and spank” the enemy until they meet their demise.

Path of Exile 2 also boasts 700 equipment base types, including new ones like spears, crossbows, and flails.

The gameplay is more dynamic as you are now able to use the WASD keys for movement while on PC. For consoles, you can utilize the left thumbstick to move around, and the right thumbstick to strafe.

Now, each item in PoE 2 has modifiers. If you are a complete beginner, you might not know exactly what a mod does. Fortunately, the game now has a wiki that tells you all the information you need about them. Simply hover and click on a mod to learn more.

Speaking of items, some of them contain skills that your character can use. For example, a sceptre may roll with an ability that lets you summon minions to fight for you.

In terms of graphics, PoE 2 is leaps and bounds better than the original. In fact, we would even go on to say that it is now comparable to Diablo 4. The areas are fine in terms of coloring because each place you go to is not too bright and not too dark.

Classes

Path of Exile 2 features 12 different base classes and 36 ascendancies, giving you plenty of options to suit your playstyle. As mentioned earlier, only eight classes will be available in Early Access, but that is more than enough to give you an overall feel of the sequel.

In this section, we invite you to explore the different classes that you can select in PoE 2. Before we begin, it is worth noting that the description for each class stems from what has been revealed so far. This means that what we are going to discuss here may not be fully accurate when the game launches. Grinding Gear Games may implement some changes that may completely alter our current perception of each class.

Moreover, even though each class specializes in using a particular weapon type, you can still equip other weapons so long as you satisfy their attribute requirements.

With that out of the way, here are the classes that you can expect in Path of Exile 2:

Warrior

The Warrior is a melee class that specializes in wielding maces. They are proficient in using slam skills like Earthquake or Ground Slam to obliterate their foes.

What’s more, the Warrior can utilize powerful warcries that provide buffs and enhancements to “exert” their next skill casts, making their abilities deal even more damage in the process.

Monk

If you like to fight enemies using only your fists, then the Monk class is definitely right up your alley. This is reportedly one of the hybrid classes in the game, with a good balance of DEX and INT compared to STR.

Aside from punching enemies to their deaths, the Monk can utilize quarterstaves to a more significant degree. Unleash lightning-quick attacks or devastating skills to deal with your foes.

Witch

In the original Path of Exile, the Necromancer ascendancy is the game’s premier summoner class. However, in the sequel, the Witch carries that distinction.

The Witch is an INT-based class that specializes in summoning minions to do their bidding. If you are into building your own massive army, then you might want to give the Witch a try.

Ranger

There are two classes in PoE 2 that attack enemies from a distance – one of which is the Ranger.

According to Rogers, the idea of the Ranger class was heavily inspired by Legolas from the popular Lord of the Rings franchise. Think about a skilled bowman who is able to make quick work of the enemy with damaging critical strikes and agile movement.

The Ranger boasts incredible mobility, so if you want a speedy character that can zoom in and out of the battlefield in a jiffy, then perhaps this class won’t disappoint.

Marauder

Throwing axes and dicing up enemies are the Marauder’s forte. This class does have the same name as that of the STR-based character in PoE. But make no mistake, this class has some new tricks up its sleeves.

From what we can gather, the Marauder in PoE 2 specializes in using an axe to cull his foes. Moreover, he can throw the axe when needed, particularly when killing off enemies that are embarrassingly trying to run away.

Huntress

The Huntress is a DEX-based class in Path of Exile 2 that uses spears to great effect. She is akin to the “Javazon” in Diablo II: Resurrected, able to engage in close combat, or throw the spears to deal with fleeing enemies.

Very little is known about the Huntress at the time of writing. But, the good thing is that it will be one of the classes that you can try in the Early Access beta.

Duelist

Armed with a sword, the Duelist can stab the enemy’s heart to kill them as quickly as possible. This is another hybrid class that has a relatively high amount of STR and DEX to begin with.

If you are new to the franchise, the base class you choose influences where you start out in the passive skill tree. That said, the Duelist is reportedly going to start somewhere near the STR and DEX nodes, giving you a lot of room for flexibility.

Shadow

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a ninja? Even though being one is not going to happen in real life, at least, you have the option of playing a class that does something similar.

The Shadow has pretty good mobility. He also possesses the power to spin and dance around the enemy, dealing damage as his daggers slice them up quickly.

In addition, the Shadow class can utilize traps to this advantage. Snare your foes in place and then quickly unleash a flurry of attacks shortly after.

Mercenary

If the Ranger can only wield bows, this next class can utilize three different weapons to a much greater extent. The Mercenary is one of the newest classes in the franchise. He is capable of using a few weapons, such as the Crossbow, Shotgun, and Assault Rifle.

Crossbows enable the Mercenary to slay monsters from a distance. If he decides to go up close and personal with his foe, he can use Shotgun to decimate them. And, if he ever gets surrounded, he can rain hell upon his enemies with the Assault Rifle.

Aside from the fact that the class can wield a few different weapon types, the Mercenary introduces the new “ammo” mechanic as well. This is a way of preventing this class from being too overpowered because the Mercenary has to reload whenever his weapons run out of ammunition.

Templar

The Templar is not an original class by any means. But, in PoE 2, it looks a lot younger than its original counterpart.

Besides the change in appearance, this class can utilize the new weapon type: Flail! Armed with his trusty flail in one hand and a shield in the other, the Templar is likely one of the more balanced classes in the game.

Druid

You can really tell that the developers from GGG take a lot of inspiration from Blizzard’s Diablo franchise. That is because the Druid has a lot of similarities to the class of the same name that you can find in Diablo 4.

Having said that, the Druid in PoE 2 can shapeshift into a powerful bear that has no problems shredding his enemies to bits. It is unclear whether this class can turn into another form of animal, but the idea is certainly on the table should GGG decide to make that happen.

Sorceress

The Sorceress is the quintessential mage class of Path of Exile 2. She can use new powerful spells, including Comet, which allow her to pull a massive chunk of ice from the air, dealing damage to monsters upon impact.

If the Witch now has the role of the Necromancer in PoE’s sequel, then you could safely assume that the Sorceress is the new Elementalist given her penchant for using elemental damage to a greater extent.

Skills

Developer Grinding Gear Games has completely overhauled the skill gem system in Path of Exile 2. Back then, you’d have to rely on your gear just to insert your active skills and support gems. This proved to be cumbersome because not only do you have to use Jeweller’s Orbs to get the maximum number of sockets on a particular item, but you’d also have to spam Chromatic Orbs just to get the right socket colors.

Thankfully, the company has completely ditched the old system. So, what has changed? Well, in Path of Exile 2, gear that used to have sockets, such as body armor, helmet, gloves, boots, and weapons, no longer have them. Instead, the game now has a dedicated UI specifically for active skill gems and support gems.

Skill Gems UI

As if that is not exciting enough, support gems are now attached directly to the active skill gems, thus solving a lot of problems that were present in the old system.

New Skill Gem System

What’s more, in the recent closed playtesting session where GGG invited a handful of popular streamers, PoE 2 has removed socket colors entirely, so you are now left with just regular sockets. This changes everything because you no longer need to use Chromatic Orbs just to get the socket colors for your specific build.

You will start with nine sockets for skill gems. There is a specific currency item that has yet to be revealed that will add more sockets for support gems later down the line.

Anyway, GGG stated that the game will have 240 active skills at launch, as well as a staggering amount of 1,500 passive skills to enhance them in more ways than one!

In terms of the actual gems, the game will no longer drop gems that are ready to be equipped. You have to use a few new currency items, such as the Uncut Skill Gem, Uncut Support Gem, and the Uncut Reservation Gem to make some.

When you have the new currency items, you can bring up the Gemcutting interface so that you can create the skill gems or support gems that you want to use.

Gemcutting UI

Dual Specialization

Part of what made the OG Path of Exile great was that you could create builds that normally wouldn’t be possible in other games. To give you an idea of what we are referring to here, think about playing the Marauder class but with a wand equipped. This concept is too far-fetched in similar games in the ARPG genre.

While you could utilize any active skill or support gems you wanted, you were still limited by the passive skills you could set at a time. Because of this, it was impossible to use a wand, then shift to a completely different weapon and continue feeling the extent of your power with similar results.

However, that all changes in Path of Exile 2 with the introduction of the Dual-Specialization system. This system allows you to allocate skill points to two completely different sets of skills. They are automatically enabled whenever the appropriate weapon type is used.

For example, you play the Templar class and you want to allocate points to nodes that improve the Flail and one-handed sword. That is now possible with the Dual-Specialization system.

In the same example, if you want to activate the passive skills that improve Flail damage, then you simply use the Flail, and that’s it! Conversely, enabling the passive skills for the one-handed sword is easily achieved just by using the said weapon type.

It is definitely interesting to see how the community utilizes this system. We are certainly excited! How about you?

Dual Specialization Skill Tree

New Active Skill Gems

As mentioned earlier, the company intends to bring 240 active skills to the game in the official launch of Path of Exile 2. Most of them are those that are already present in the previous installment, but there are certainly new ones as well.

For the purpose of this article, we are only going to talk about several skill gems that we believe have the biggest impact. The first is Comet, which is a skill gem that allows you to pull a massive chunk of ice from the air and have that land in a targeted location, dealing damage to a huge area.

Next, you have Maul. This enables you to shapeshift into a bear and use its massive claws to shred enemies to bits. From the skill gem’s description, it seems that Maul is not specifically made for the Druid, though the said class may have notable ascendancy passive skills that enhance it in certain ways.

Escape Shot is probably the Ranger’s best friend. When used, you leap backward into the air while you fire an arrow that can chill or freeze the enemies that are hit.

Utilizing the new spear weapon type, the aptly named Spearfield is a skill gem that prompts you to stab the ground, causing multiple spears to burst in a large area in front of you. The spears will remain there for a short amount of time, though they will explode if enemies happen to touch them.

Lastly, the Tempest Bell is a new skill gem that is heavily inspired by one of the Monk’s skills in Diablo III, specifically Wave of Light. Whenever you have this skill gem equipped, you build up combo stacks for each successful hit of the enemy using your skills. After getting five stacks, you create a magical bell in the process. What’s interesting about this bell is that it can be attacked with your skills, and every time you do so, you create a powerful shockwave that deals considerable damage to nearby enemies.

Monsters

The monsters in the game are not the same as those in Path of Exile in terms of difficulty. They start out relatively easy to kill, but as you progress through the later stages of the campaign, you will find that they become more aggressive, especially when it comes to applying various curses and status effects. You might want to stock up on health and antidote potions because you are going to need them at some point.

Aside from that, the monsters in PoE 2 now come with a “Stagger Bar” located at the bottom part of their health bar. This gradually fills up so long as you are able to land successful hits to the enemy in quick succession. Once it is full, the target is stunned, giving you a brief window of opportunity to use your more devastating attacks without retaliation.

Stagger Bar (Yellow)

It is also reported that the enemies you encounter are varied every time you enter a new area. This is so that you won’t come across the same monsters over and over again.

Bosses

Path of Exile 2 features 100 bosses that you can fight against at launch, with more coming in later expansions.

What interests us the most about the bosses is that they each have their own unique mechanics. Gone are the days when you could just employ a “tank and spank” playstyle, just soaking up damage while you continuously hit enemies with everything you’ve got.

In PoE 2, you now have to study their every move so that you can act accordingly. In other words, you have to have a more proactive approach when you’re fighting against these new bosses.

You are also encouraged to move around because you will likely get hit if you just stay in one place.

Co-op Mode

The Path of Exile 2 team really wants to entice non-PoE players to join in on the fun. Hence, they have created the new “Couch Co-op” mode that allows up to six players to come together and play.

In this mode, the screen will not be split with an ugly line in the middle. Instead, you and several of your friends are going to work with just one screen, which could lead to more frenetic gameplay!

Another thing to note is that the camera follows the player who leads, meaning, the screen does not stay static when the other players are AFK. This is likely intended to prevent those who plan on going AFK from ruining the fun for everyone.

When it comes to questing, all of the players must confirm when speaking to an NPC to complete the quests and get their rewards.

To keep the pool of players large enough so that it would be easy to find people to play with, Path of Exile 2 will support crossplay at launch. What this means is that you can enjoy the game with other people regardless of the platform they use to play PoE 2.

In line with that, the game is going to support cross-progression as well. This feature allows you to play on one platform and then play on another platform with all of your progress intact.

For instance, if you’ve played for several hours on PC and you just want to relax and play the game on your console while sitting on the couch, you can theoretically continue where you left off, assuming that GGG is able to polish this feature when it goes live.

Supported Platforms

Due to the massive graphical improvements and the overhaul of major systems in the game, Path of Exile 2 may require a lot more horsepower than what the current-gen consoles can provide.

That is why the game is only playable on PC, as well as on next-gen consoles, such as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Final Thoughts

Path of Exile 2 does not have a definite release date as of now, but as fans of the game, GGG has definitely outdone itself, especially with the things that are coming to the sequel of its massively popular ARPG.

The major overhaul of the skill gem system certainly opens up many new possibilities. Not having to use Chromatic Orbs just to get the right socket colors, and not relying on Jeweller’s Orbs or Orbs of Fusing to link the different slots together, make it so much easier for you to utilize the skill gems that you want.

If a game’s graphics are a major factor for you, then the visual improvements Grinding Gear Games has made here will surely not disappoint!

In terms of the monsters and bosses that you face, the huge variety that the company promises will make your encounters with them a lot more dynamic. And, with over 600 monsters and 100 bosses, there is no shortage of enemies to fight with!

Anyway, the game director, Jonathan Rogers, said that the Early Access beta will be available later this year. We assume that it will be sometime between November and December, with the latter being the most plausible. But what do you think? Are you going to enter the beta once the date is revealed?

Also, are you excited about Path of Exile 2? Which of the things we have talked about in this article caught your attention the most?