Since 2013, Grinding Gear Games has slowly built a community around the free-to-play Path of Exile, a game by creators dissatisfied with the lack of dungeon crawlers available at the time. As Grinding Gear Games plans another Path of Exile expansion, Ultimatum, it’s working hard on the next series entry: Path of Exile 2. The sequel introduces new gameplay mechanics and weapon classes, but doesn’t leave the community behind. In a nice touch, your Path of Exile character and purchases carry over into Path of Exile 2, letting you jump into the new PC game without losing a step.
Exiled Again
Path of Exile 2 continues the first game’s story, a dark fantasy set on the continent of Wraeclast. There’s a lost Eternal Empire, ancient immortals, demons, and pacts to save or destroy the world. Naturally, the land is filled with monsters to kill and loot in large numbers.
Path of Exile 2 is built on the same engine as the previous game, with the sequel jump letting the team make gameplay changes without alienating the current Path of Exile community. You only need one account to access both games—once the sequel launches, you can login and decide to make characters in either Path of Exile or Path of Exile 2.
“We didn’t want to split our community,” explained Grinding Gear Games founder Chris Wilson during a gameplay demo. “And also, we wanted to make sure that Path of Exile 1 would continue to be upgraded. It was all upside for us there.”
Your Path of Exile characters and purchased cosmetic items carry over to Path of Exile 2. The shared client also means that some Path of Exile 2 gameplay improvements will flow back into the first game. That doesn’t mean that the first Path of Exile will receive all of Path of Exile 2’s features. Monsters and items are specific to each storyline, so you won’t see much crossover, in that regard.
Which features will make the jump? The new Skill Gem system (explained in a bit) will appear in the original game. In addition, both games’ communities will enjoy the same endgame content.
The Tip of the Spear
That endgame content includes the new weapon classes. Spear, for example, lets you make melee and ranged attacks, and each weapon within the class has a skill built for mobility. The spear has an engage/disengage ability that lets you dash into melee range, and bounce back out if things get too hot.
Crossbow is the second, new weapon class. With it, you load different Bolt Skill Gems into your weapon to enjoy various effects. Armor Piercing bolts hit all targets in a line; Incendiary bolts set enemies ablaze; and Permafrost bolts build a line of frozen enemies. By slotting different bolts and switching between them, you gain many tactical, ranged options. For example, the Siege Crossbow, which uses the same bolt types, shoots blasts in high arcs that land on enemies, instead of firing straight ahead like the standard Crossbow.
Some Path of Exile weapon types will be tweaked in Path of Exile 2 to give them unique identities. In the original game, daggers and claws carry similar feels. In Path of Exile 2, claws will be classified as unarmed weapons, letting you use them for unarmed attacks and combos.
Path of Exile 2’s campaign is the work of a veteran, 150-person team that’s been improving its craft. Not only are the new Acts designed from the ground up be better than the first game’s Acts, but improved tutorials will help new players get their feet wet.
Hardware Hopes
It’s too early to talk about recommended system specifications on PC, as Grinding Gear Games is still in early Path of Exile 2 development. Currently, the team doesn’t have HDR output planned, but it may be added to the game as more players acquire HDR-capable monitors. Wilson stated that he needed to look into whether Nvidia DLSS support is in the works.
Given that some fans would rather use a gamepad than point-and-click their way through hordes of demon flesh, Grinding Gear Game is working on giving Path of Exile 2 native controller support—something that the original game lacked. “I really want that to be the case, so that people can use console controllers on PC and also use mouse and keyboard on the consoles,” replied Wilson, when asked about alternate control options. “We’ll definitely make sure that that is happening.” Unfortunately, native controller support may not be available at launch.
The Path Is Open
Grinding Gear Games is hard at work on Path of Exile 2, and is promising many new features, including 19 classes, the new Skill Gem system, updated abilities, and new weapons and armor. Path of Exile 2 has no firm release date yet, and the studio isn’t committing to a beta phase until “2022 at the earliest.”
That’s potentially pitting Path of Exile 2 against Blizzard’s Diablo 4, which also lacks a firm release date. While Diablo 4 is a new start, Path of Exile 2 is an evolution of what came before, carrying forward the community’s existing characters and purchases. Path of Exile 2 will serve as a continuation of an action-RPG that you already love, while providing a potentially great starting point for newcomers looking to see what lies within the game’s dark dungeons.
If dungeon crawlers aren’t to your liking, take a look at our lists featuring the best RPGs and the best MMOs. They highlight the many, fantastic fantasy worlds that you should explore.
