Path of Exile 2 first major patch brings big changes to endgame content
More "meta-shifting changes" on the way soon.
Path of Exile 2 will receive its first major patch later this week, 0.1.1, which primarily brings some big changes to endgame content.
More is planned for a future update too, as game director Jonathan Rogers explained in a new video (below).
"We have a huge amount of much more meta-shifting changes that we know we want to make," he said. "And one of the best things about having the game in early access with the endgame, is that we now have a much better idea of where we want character powers to be and what the balance of bosses and monsters should be relevant to that. But, those types of changes are going to have to wait until we are ready to make a new league and a new economy for people to play in.
"That's still a little while away yet, but in the meantime we'll be continuing to identify things that are causing frustration and try and address them."
So what are the biggest changes?
Firstly, maps have received balance tweaks to the likes of monsters, chests, essences, and other materials. This is to ensure maps are more rewarding to explore.
Four new towers have also been added, as only one tower map was available previously, in order to improve variety. The existing map has also been "redone" to "make playing there less boring".
More maps with bosses will also be spawned as the rate was previously incorrect. What's more, Pinnacle content currently takes too long to reach and players have only one attempt at the boss. Now Citadels will spawn within closer reach on the map, and six respawn attempts will be provided on bosses - though only on the Arbiter of Ash boss so far.
Other quality of life changes include: better visibility of attack effects thanks to reduced clutter on maps; tweaks to strongboxes to spawn monsters more quickly; an increased zoom level on the Atlas; removal of terrain collision issues; the ability to overwrite item sockets with new runes; and other boss balance changes.
Full patch notes will be revealed later this week when the patch arrives. For now, check out the video above for details.
Developer Grinding Gear Games admitted back in December Path of Exile 2 was "not rewarding enough" and listed a number of tweaks it's been working on. It's clear, then, the developer is not slowing down now the game is out in early access.
"Soulslike thrills combine with sky-high production values to make Path of Exile 2 a hugely impressive package, even in early access," reads our Path of Exile 2 review.