Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients - Everything You Should Know
09.05.2026 - 03:22:25
Game Guides , Path of Exile 2
GGG dropped a banger of a preview of what’s to come for PoE 2. The next league is officially called Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients, and I really believe that the title is truly deserved. However, the trailer is about 80 minutes long, so if you don’t have the time to watch it yourself, then I’ve got you! Today, I am going to run through everything you should know about Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients!
It goes without saying that there are a lot of new PoE 2 items up for grabs. Expect new pinnacle encounters, overhauled systems, and some challenging objectives that will keep you glued to your seats for extended periods of time.
Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients Release Date
Before I go over the new content, let’s first talk about the elephant in the room—the expansion’s release date. As you may have heard, Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients won’t be available until the end of the month, specifically on May 29 at 1 PM PDT.
According to game director Jonathan Rogers, the extended time from the reveal to the actual release is necessary. This is because there are a ton of things to iron out and to ensure a smooth launch.
Rogers also added that Patch 0.5.0 is the last major update before the game’s full release. That’s right! The 1.0 release for PoE 2 will happen this year! However, that won’t happen until the end of 2026.
The esteemed game director said that the full release will occur sometime after Exilecon. For those who don’t know, Exilecon starts on November 7, and although tickets to the live event are already sold out, you can watch it via livestream.
Now, if I were to guess, the 1.0 release might happen on December 4, 2026. Why did I think that? It’s because that date is a Friday, and expansions for Path of Exile 2 have always been released before the weekends.
More importantly, if it’s going to be released on December 4, that will be nearly two years after the launch of Path of Exile 2 in Early Access (which was on December 6, 2024). But, what do you think? Will GGG officially release Path of Exile 2 in December or much earlier than that?
Runes of Aldur League
Patch 0.5.0 is officially named Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients. However, the upcoming league has a different name—Runes of Aldur. This is an Expedition-themed league, where you help Farrow in his quest to uncover runes.
In every area of the game, you will encounter interactable objects called Ezyomte Remnants. When doing so, you will see a bunch of runes that influence the item you’re going to get, as well as the modifiers that are imposed on the monsters you have to defeat.
The Runes of Aldur League is essentially a league that introduces runesmithing in the game. By using various recipes, you can get some valuable PoE 2 Currency, such as a level 20 Uncut Skill Gem or a random high-quality rune, and more.
Take note, the more runes you’ll have to activate, the more challenging the ensuing battle is. But just like any challenging endeavor in Path of Exile 2, you can always expect more lucrative rewards after beating it!
Massive Endgame Overhaul
When Path of Exile 2 was launched in Early Access, the game’s endgame experience drew mixed reactions from the community. One of the major issues is that the Atlas was pretty limited in how you could focus on one endgame activity/content relative to the original game.
While the previous expansions that have been released have addressed parts of the problem, they still haven’t fixed everyone’s enjoyment of the sequel. Well, that is about to change in Patch 0.5.0!
In Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients, each direction of the Atlas now provides a specific type of endgame content, such as:
- East: Abyss
- West: Delirium and Ritual
- South: Breach
- North: Vaal City (possibly with Temple)
Additionally, each type of endgame content has been reworked. You now have to complete a unique questline for each activity, which will unlock the possibility of greater challenges and equally greater rewards.
On top of that, whenever you clear a tower for the first time, a huge fortress will appear. Apparently, the cataclysm of the Beast (that occurs after finishing Act 3) has invoked an ancient protocol that resulted in the rise of the Fortress. This Fortress is home to a new pinnacle encounter that is much stronger than the Arbiter of Ash.
Atlas Tree Rework
The Atlas Passive Tree that we currently have in PoE 2 is somewhat lackluster, and it could certainly use an overhaul just to make things more interesting in the long run. Fortunately, the developers know about this and are addressing it in Patch 0.5.0.
You can expect a massive rework to the Atlas Passive Tree in Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients. Basically, you can now allocate all nodes on the general Atlas Tree, and there are about 301 of them! This means that each and every node can now be allocated once you have progressed through the league enough to do so.
Now, this obviously makes it dull and boring when you can literally just get all of the nodes on the tree, right? The good news is that there are certain nodes on the Atlas Passive Tree that provide you with certain choices. It’s up to you how you mix things up according to your preferences.
According to Rogers, this overhaul of the Atlas Passive Tree is to let him and the developers create certain bonuses that wouldn’t have been possible with the current iteration of the tree.
Aside from that, the game will have ascendancies for your Atlas Progression as well! This is via the “Masters of the Atlas” system, where you have the freedom to choose between three different types of masters, each providing different effects. The masters include:
- Doryani: Has certain bonuses that add an extra revival or increased rarity while you're in a map.
- Hilda: Has effects that empower map bosses, making them more challenging.
- Jado: Has bonuses that improve the effect of Precursor Tablets and Corrupted Waystones. He also possesses a unique bonus that significantly increases the chance for Exceptional Items to drop.
You can freely change whatever Master of the Atlas you want to use in the endgame. With this new system, the overall mapping experience has just been dialed to 11!
PoE 2 New Ascendancy Classes
Although the Return of the Ancients expansion was teased with a sword on the graphic, there is actually no Duelist class in Patch 0.5.0. At least, GGG did not leave us empty-handed because there are a couple of new ascendancy classes that will keep things fresh and exciting for beginners and experienced players alike.
The first ascendancy class is for the Huntress, and it is called the Spiritwalker. She has the ability to gain the powers of some Azmeri Spirits, such as the Stag, Owl, and Bear. The Owl, for example, can empower projectile skills like Twister to not only gain additional projectiles, but also increased projectile speed.
However, the main feature of the Spiritwalker is that she can tame even the wildest of beasts. With that, she can actually control certain animal bosses, including the Mighty Silverfist, Xyclucian (the Chimera), and Rakkar (the Owlbeast from the Glacial Tarn), among others.
The second ascendancy class is for the Monk—the Martial Artist! Unlike the other Monk ascendancy classes in PoE 2, the Martial Artist has trained for years, mastering three of the seven “Hollow” techniques: Hollow Form, Hollow Resonance, and Hollow Focus.
That’s not all! The Martial Artist can literally tattoo runes on his body, allowing him to insert a rune on his head (helmet), hands (gloves), chest (body armor), and feet (boots). With this, he can utilize some runes that only work when slotted into certain equipment, such as Thane Grannell’s Rune of Mastery or Farrul’s Rune of the Chase.
Genesis Tree
The Genesis Tree from the original game will now be introduced to Path of Exile 2 via Patch 0.5.0. For the uninitiated, the Genesis Tree is a Breach mechanic that allows you to incubate Wombgifts to create powerful items.
You will need to power the Genesis Tree, though, because it has become dormant for so many years. To do that, you’ll have to stabilize the Breaches in maps. After doing so, some powerful creatures are going to spawn. Killing them will give you some Hiveblood, which can be used to revitalize the Genesis Tree once more.
I can see the Breach mechanic being popular in the early days of the Runes of the Aldur League, mainly because the Genesis Tree can help gear one’s character easily via the various Wombgifts.
Tons of Quality of Life Features
If you thought that GGG would only stop at asynchronous trading when it comes to quality of life features for PoE 2, then you are gravely mistaken! Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients has a wealth of QoL features so massive that it warrants its own article.
But to give you a glimpse, here is a rundown of the best features revealed so far:
- Fragment Stash Tab: Finally! The Fragment Stash Tab will house a bunch of in-game items to help save some stash space. You can store various fragments, including boss key fragments, precursor tablets, and trials keys.
- In-game Price Checker: There is now a feature in the game that lets you check the price of an item by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Left mouse button. Gone are the days when you had to rely on third-party apps.
- Build Guides for In-Game Use: Yes. GGG has provided build creators with a means to import their guides directly into the game. Once imported, the build guides can easily be swapped while in the game, giving information about what passive nodes to take, what items to equip, and what gems to use, among other things.
Of course, this is just a preview of what’s to come. Be sure to check our RPGStash Blog for more in-depth articles about each of the features mentioned in this article.
FAQ
What Are the Biggest Changes in Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients?
- Atlas Skill Tree Rework.
- Overhaul of all the endgame systems, including Breach, Delirium, Expedition, Abyss, Vaal City, and Ritual.
- Two new ascendancy classes for the Huntress and Monk.
- The addition of the Genesis Tree.
- Over 30 new maps and 40+ uniques.
How Does the League Mechanic Work?
You will meet an NPC in the first area of the game who will teach you about Kalguuran Runesmithing. He is going to put you on a mission to discover more information about that, but the quest is not going to be easy.
When Will the New PoE 2 League Launch?
Unlike the previous expansions for Path of Exile 2, the Return of the Ancients won’t be available until the end of the month, specifically on May 29 at 1 PM PDT.