Path of Exile 2 Full Release Date
09.02.2025 - 16:19:25
Game Guides , Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 is going to be fully released in June. Well, at least that was the speculation made by a lot of popular content creators in the community when it launched in Early Access last year. If there are no major issues, the game could leave Early Access in May or June this year.
However, things are a bit more complicated now given that Jonathan Rogers, one of the game directors for PoE 2, released a new statement about the things that are going on behind the scenes.
In this article, we give you the new details that surfaced in the past few days. We are also going to include things that we'd like to see once Path of Exile 2 becomes a fully-fledged title that's available to a broader audience.
PoE 2 Full Release Date
The question that everyone's been asking right now is when is the Path of Exile 2 full release date going to be? That is an interesting question because of the recent statement that Rogers made just a few days ago. Before that, let's talk about what was said in the past and contrast that with the latest announcement.
In a past interview, Rogers said that the development team planned PoE 2 Early Access to last at least six months. If that is anything to go by, we could expect the full release to be somewhere between May and June 2025. If you don't know, the Early Access version of the game launched on December 6, 2024.
Rogers also mentioned that Early Access could last longer than six months if there is any new content, major breakthrough, or bug that needs to be addressed. However, he and his team are committed to releasing the full game before 2025 ends, and given the New Zealand-based company's track record, we are inclined to believe him.
Now, here's the latest development. Rogers was candid in saying that Path of Exile 2 is a pretty difficult monster to deal with, so much so that some developers in the PoE 1 development team were transferred to PoE 2.
Rogers and his team promised that they would continue to develop content for both games, but previously unforeseen issues had made that more challenging than expected. Initially, they wanted to release a new expansion for Path of Exile 1 in October of last year, though it did not materialize because of more development time PoE 2 needed for it to be viable for Early Access launch.
So, December came, Path of Exile 2 Early Access was released, and the PoE 1 developers should have been brought back to the original team, right? Unfortunately, that was not the case. The team planned to release Patch 3.26 for Path of Exile 1 in late January and at the time of writing, this month is coming to a close.
Rogers and his team severely underestimated the development time needed to make Path of Exile 2 in a relatively stable state. Even now, the game requires more polishing because of technical issues like crashing, freezing, and poor optimization.
Not to mention that the content for PoE 2 is not yet complete in the slightest. The game only has half of the six-act campaign, the Druid and the Huntress are not yet introduced, and balancing issues make some builds stand out at the expense of others.
Given this new information, Rogers is reluctant to provide a definitive full release date for Path of Exile 2. Be that as it may, the speculation that Path of Exile 2 will leave Early Access in June may not come to fruition after all. Our estimate now is that the game will be fully released in Q4 2025, likely in November or December this year.
At the moment, Rogers said that the PoE 2 development team is busy making the finishing touches for the game's next major update, Patch 0.2.0. It is unclear what the update entails, though the Druid and Huntress may be its headlining feature.
In summary, Path of Exile 2 needs more development time, which could lead to a full release sometime in the latter parts of the year.
What is Included in the PoE 2 Full Release?
Now that you know that the full release will be in six or 12 months' time, what can you expect when Path of Exile 2 finally comes out of Early Access?
More Acts in the Campaign
According to the Path of Exile 2 Early Access FAQ, the game will have a total of six acts in the campaign. Right now, you can enjoy the first three acts of the game twice, with the second playthrough being set in Cruel Difficulty which contains enemies that are a bit harder to defeat.
If you have already played the beta, you know that the third act ends in a rather interesting cliffhanger. We won't spoil anything for those who haven't played the game yet, though suffice it to say, it's one hell of an experience!
Path of Exile 1 players are delighted to see a familiar name in the sequel. Would we get more in the second half of the campaign? That remains to be seen!
The Full Roster
Did you know that PoE 2 reportedly will have a total of 12 classes to choose from? That's right! The current roster of six is going to be doubled when the game comes out of Early Access sometime this year!
The classes that are yet to come to the game include:
- Shadow
- Marauder
- Duelist
- Templar
- Druid
- Huntress
The first four classes on that list have already existed in PoE1. However, the Druid and the Huntress are completely new ones that have something fresh to offer to beginners and old players alike.
A shapeshifter that also has the power to harness Earth Magic to eliminate his enemies, the Druid draws inspiration from the class of the same name in Diablo II: Resurrected.
For starters, the Druid can call forth a devastating Lightning Storm that damages and inflicts Shock on enemies unfortunate enough to be in its area of effect. Shock is an elemental ailment associated with lightning damage in PoE 2 that causes affected monsters to take increased damage for a limited time.
If you want something that can burn enemies to a crisp, the Druid can unleash a deadly Volcano that periodically fires projectiles to nearby enemies. The hotkey for Volcano can be held down a bit longer to force the volcano to unleash more projectiles at the start.
While harnessing earth magic is good, the real power of the Druid comes from his ability to transform into a fearsome bear that can obliterate monsters with ease. While in Bear Form, the Druid can perform various slam skills that interact with some of his earth magic abilities as well.
For example, when the Druid uses a slam skill like Stampede near a Volcano, the act will cause an eruption that triggers more projectiles to be fired as a result!
The Druid can also generate a resource called Rage, which amplifies his damage and empowers some of his abilities to deliver something more than usual. For instance, when he's surrounded by monsters, the Druid can slam the ground continuously with Rampage. This ability consumes Rage while active, but that is a fair compromise if doing so greatly increases Rampage's damage output.
Being a melee class, the Druid will undoubtedly get himself in trouble while mapping. Fortunately, he can summon his trusty wolves that will not only protect him but debuff nearby enemies as well, making them easier to kill.
How about the Huntress? Well, the Huntress is similar to the Amazon Class in D2R in that she, too, wields a spear and a shield. She can stab her enemies with her spear, perform a wide swing that hits multiple monsters at once, and hurl them toward hostile targets that foolishly attempt to escape.
One of the skills that GGG has showcased from the Huntress thus far is Whirling Slash. This prompts her to spin and create a wind storm that stays in her current position for a brief period. Subsequent uses of this skill will make the storm's area of effect larger, allowing it to hit more enemies.
When the Huntress exits the AoE, the storm will explode, dealing massive damage to enemies that are contained within. This is an awesome skill that lets the Huntress deal with more monsters at once. Getting mobbed is a common occurrence in endgame maps, so having this in her repertoire makes the Huntress a lot more appealing!
The Huntress can also utilize a still unnamed skill, where she initiates a backward leap similar to the Ranger's Escape Shot. The only difference here is that she slashes an enemy with her spear as she jumps instead of leaving behind an icy trail after firing an arrow. Use this skill to quickly get out of the wind storm created by Whirling Slash to initiate the explosion.
The Druid and the Huntress are expected to drop before the PoE 2 launch. Who knows, they might be available sooner rather than later!
All Ascendancy Classes
The full release of Path of Exile 2 will feature three ascendancy classes for each base class in the game. This amounts to a whopping 36 ascendancies that offer something unique!
Currently, there are 12 playable ascendancy classes in the game, namely:
- Warrior
- Warbringer
- Titan
- Ranger
- Pathfinder
- Deadeye
- Monk
- Invoker
- Acolyte of Chayula
- Witch
- Infernalist
- Bloodmage
- Sorceress
- Stormweaver
- Chronomancer
- Mercenary
- Gemling Legionnaire
- Witchhunter
GGG has been mum about the ascendancy classes for the Druid and Huntress. That is okay considering that they’re not close to being available just yet. Still, if you want to get the details about the other ascendancy classes in Path of Exile 2, be sure to bookmark our website for more PoE 2 release news!
Requires More Storage Space
If you have played Path of Exile 2 Early Access already, you know how beautiful and well-crafted the game is. It’s actually a lot smoother than its predecessor, though we have to admit that there are still a lot of things that need to be done in terms of optimization.
Having said that, with the possible wealth of content that is going to be introduced in the game’s eventual full release, expect PoE 2 to require close to (or approximately) 100GB of storage space.
Available for Free
With how awesome Path of Exile 2 is, you would think that the game will be sold for $60, right? After all, the price of entry to play the Early Access version is $30 at the minimum.
But, what if we tell you that the game is set to be available to a much broader audience? Why? Because GGG is not going to charge a single penny for it! That’s right! The full release version is not going to cost you anything! So, if you’re holding off for now, you’ll be happy to know that you can enjoy the sequel to Path of Exile 1 free of charge!
Now, it is worth noting that a game as big as PoE 2 will require some investment to maintain its development. That’s why there is an in-game store specifically for microtransactions.
There is nothing to worry about because all microtransactions in the game are purely cosmetic and provide no unfair advantages to those who can afford to splurge.
What We’d Like to See
The Early Access version of a game is just a glorified way of saying that it’s in open beta, and Path of Exile 2 is no exception. While there are a lot of things to rave about, there are some glaring issues that GGG must address ahead of the game’s full launch. In this section, we will cover them one by one and explain why they have to be resolved to ensure one’s full enjoyment of PoE 2.
Engaging Final Act
As mentioned previously, Act 3 ended with a thrilling cliffhanger. In the next six months, GGG must not only polish the remaining acts of the campaign, but also ensure that the game sticks the landing so that you will have a fulfilling experience.
One way that the company can do that is to introduce new characters that contribute something meaningful to the overall story. The concept is only one part of the equation, though. GGG should also think about how to execute things properly as far as the main campaign is concerned.
It is clear that GGG has focused a lot of its time and attention on making the campaign awesome. That is why we have no doubt in our minds that the company has a good chance of pulling it off!
Remove the One-Portal Design
Dying in Path of Exile 2 is quite costly. Why is that, you ask? Well, if you die while mapping, you lose the chance to loot whatever item has dropped from defeating the monsters in the area because you can no longer return to it.
As if that’s not punishing enough, any additional content that was present in the last map will be gone for good. So, if that map had a boss and Breach encounter, these endgame systems will no longer be available in your second run.
This is in stark contrast with what Path of Exile has. In the original game, you have six chances of redeeming yourself per map. That’s because you have several portals that you can use to get back into the action in case you meet your demise.
GGG has to do away with the one-portal design because it can drive some of its players off, especially Path of Exile 2 beginners. Fortunately, the company has added six revives in The Arbiter of Ash encounter in Patch 0.1.1 and may do so for the other pinnacle bosses in the game sometime in the future.
Good Character Balance
Balancing adjustments have to be made in order for other ascendancy classes to shine. The Stormweaver is quite popular at the moment because builds that focus on utilizing Archmage to its fullest extent reign supreme in terms of damage output.
Classes that can effectively eliminate monsters from afar take the spotlight. This is largely because they have an easier time getting out of harm’s way compared to melee classes.
Speaking of which, melee classes and ascendancies are in a rough spot, with the Warrior being the hardest one to use in the current version of the game. All default skills available to the Warrior Class don’t feel powerful at all. The most common ones being used are Stampede and Hammer of the Gods but that’s it.
We’re hoping that GGG will do a complete balancing pass before the PoE 2 full release. Buffing the least-used skills is a good place to start. However, this will also likely lead to currently overpowered builds getting nerfed. If that has to happen for the sake of maintaining the balance, then so be it!
Improvements to Armor
If you look at the different top PoE 2 builds right now, you will see that the vast majority of builds utilize primarily evasion or energy shield as their main defensive layers. Why is that? To put it simply, that’s because armor sucks in Path of Exile 2.
The armor’s function as a defensive layer is to mitigate incoming physical damage. However, some people in the PoE 2 community discovered that it’s not effective at reducing damage at all. It is so bad that you have to stack as much armor as you can in order to mimic a fraction of what evasion or energy shield can do to help you survive.
Because of the state of armor in the game, it puts STR-based classes like the Warrior and Mercenary in a tough position. GGG has already buffed armor in Patch 0.1.1 by 15%, but this increase is almost negligible. Hopefully, the company will go back to the drawing board and make more meaningful adjustments to armor ahead of PoE 2’s full release.
Good Map Layouts
The Path of Exile 2 community has mixed reactions to the current state of mapping. While there is a lot of loot to be had, almost all maps in the game are pretty huge, so much so that you’ll spend a lot of time backtracking just to kill that one remaining rare monster.
Sure, the developers from GGG probably intended this to showcase their creativity. However, most people only marvel at the design of the maps at the beginning and they want efficiency more than anything after that.
The obvious solution is to somehow condense the maps so that they’re easy to circumnavigate. If that’s not possible, maybe the developers can think of adding movement skills like Flame Dash or Frostblink from PoE 1.
Checkpoints were introduced in an update, allowing you to teleport from point A to point B like in the campaign. However, this just highlights that maps in Path of Exile 2 are needlessly too long, especially given that you have to farm them multiple times when progressing through the Atlas.
Easier Trials
If you are new to Path of Exile 2, you have to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas and the Trial of Chaos to ascend and make your base class even more awesome! You have to accomplish these Trials of Ascendancy several times to get eight points, which you can allocate to any ascendancy nodes of your choosing.
With such a crucial part of your character progression, you would think that the said trials are relatively easy to finish, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Right now, you have to ask higher-level players for a carry to successfully complete the third and fourth trials. Needless to say, it’s quite difficult for those who are not geared enough.
GGG must make improvements to the experience so that everyone can ascend and unlock their characters’ full potential. In the Trial of the Sekhemas, for example, the company could implement a checkpoint feature that lets players restart from the same trial room where they’ve died instead of forcing them to restart from the very beginning.
For context, if you wish to accomplish your fourth Trial of Ascendancy in the Trial of the Sekhemas, you have to finish several rooms rife with increasingly difficult challenges. If you die in the third room, you’d have to go and complete the previous rooms once again, which is quite time-consuming.
Respec Ascendancy Classes
Once you’re able to finish the Trial of the Sekhemas for the first time, you can interact with the Altar of Ascendancy, where you can choose any of the ascendancy classes available for your character. You have to be sure about what you pick because you can only do that once in Path of Exile 2. If you’ve made a mistake, that’ll be a costly one since there is no way to respec ascendancy classes in the game, at least, for the time being.
That was not an issue in the previous game. Back then, if you’d already chosen an ascendancy class and you had changed your mind at some point, you could simply refund all of the notable ascendancy nodes you’d selected by using the PoE Currency called the Orb of Regret. After that, just complete a Labyrinth Trial once more to pick a different ascendancy class.
If GGG decides not to bring the Orb of Regret to the sequel, then what the company can do is use gold as PoE 2 currency to respec all notable ascendancy passive skills. Having the option to change ascendancy classes is a huge quality of life, especially since you don’t have to start from scratch to try something new.
Better Crafting Systems
Oh boy, crafting was a huge part of Path of Exile 1, and when GGG announced that it was going to simplify the entire system, a lot of people were happy about it. Well, things have changed after Path of Exile 2 went live.
Don’t get us wrong, the company did simplify things. However, GGG went overboard with that, so much so that we’re left with something that does not even resemble crafting in PoE 1 in the slightest.
If anything, what the game has is a gambling system, where you’re at the mercy of RNG. Using crafting currencies like the PoE 2 Exalted Orbs, for example, can either result in a god-tier mod or a completely useless one if you’re unlucky.
Although the previous system was very complicated, no one can argue the incredible results one can achieve with having the right knowledge about crafting. The good news is that this conundrum is relatively easy to resolve.
If GGG does not want to add the other crafting currencies from Path of Exile 1, they can at least consider bringing the Orb of Scouring in PoE 2. For the uninitiated, the Orb of Scouring is a useful currency item that completely removes the existing modifiers on a non-corrupted rare weapon, armor, or accessory.
Having Orb of Scouring alone already solves a lot of issues with crafting in the game. For one, it alleviates the need to farm and store high-end base items to craft on. Additionally, the presence of the Orb of Scouring in the game can encourage more people to engage in crafting despite the RNG nature of the system.
Replaceable Runes and Soul Cores
One of the most glaring issues in Path of Exile 2 is that you cannot replace Runes and Soul Cores in the game. These are new items specifically made for the sequel that grant different bonuses depending on the type being used.
The Soul Core of Tacati, which provides a 7% boost to chaos resistance when socketed into armor, is one of the most valuable soul cores in the game. Not being able to replace the existing runes and soul cores you have on your item in favor of this one is huge and definitely needs to be addressed.
GGG has to understand that people are less likely to make equipment upgrades once they’ve reached level 80. By this time, you can wear a mirror-tier item with all of the best mods out there, and the fact that you cannot replace socketed runes and soul cores may render the item obsolete, especially if you need to change something about your build.
One possible solution to this problem is for the company to give you the power to overwrite socketed soul cores and runes. Not getting the upgrade currencies you’ve socketed back is fine as long as there is an option to change them if the need arises.
Faster Movement Speed
Backtracking is a common thing that you’ll do in the endgame, primarily because of the needlessly large map layouts we’ve alluded to earlier. Although GGG seemingly wanted Path of Exile 2 to be more grounded in terms of how quickly you can move around, the company could at least provide you with a means of moving faster than normal.
Maybe they can think of adding some of the movement skills present in the original game, such as Flame Dash and Frostblink. This is a simple fix that doesn’t require any changes to the existing maps.
Ability to Respec Quest Rewards
When you finish certain quests in Path of Exile 2, you'll get permanent bonuses that will make your characters stronger. What if you've decided at some point that you want to change things up? Wouldn't these bonuses become obsolete? Unfortunately, yes.
A good example of this is if you've chosen the additional chaos resistance venom draught reward from completing the Slithering Dead quest in Act 3. The bonus 10% chaos resistance is rendered useless if you decide to take the Chaos Inoculation keystone passive.
In case you're wondering, it was possible to respec quest rewards in Path of Exile 1 by utilizing a certain vendor recipe, where you sell a full stack of Orbs of Regret coupled with an Onyx Amulet. If this feature was present in the previous game, we have no doubt that GGG can implement something similar in the sequel.
Less Reliance on Item Rarity
Modifiers that increase the rarity of items that drop in maps are pretty busted right now in Path of Exile 2. That is because item rarity not only influences the quality of gear that you can get but alters the amount of currency as well.
If you do not have any item rarity mods on your gear, you're missing out. You forgo the chance to get a ton of PoE 2 currency because of how many currency items you can get by defeating monsters and looting chests.
This is sort of tricky to address, though one thing the company could do is implement the system of diminishing returns. Stacking item rarity is still possible but going over a certain threshold would yield nothing extra.
That way, you can think of only having a few item rarity modifiers on your equipment so that the rest of the mods can be anything that your character truly needs.
Fix 'One-Shots'
We get that Path of Exile 2 is intentionally harder than its predecessor. To be honest, the extra challenge is quite enjoyable. However, dying as a result of not being able to dodge at the right moment is harsh, especially when you're killed by something that you cannot see.
Although there are mechanics that can kill you in one blow, they are highly telegraphed for the most part. We hope that GGG will fix random one-shots that occur one or two screens away. A single pesky ground effect that is barely visible could mean death if you're not careful.
Better Optimization
Many people love the various content GGG has crammed into PoE 2. Despite the level of enjoyment you can experience from playing the game, some optimization issues have to be resolved in time for the full release.
First off, you have to go through a bunch of loading screens before you can go to where you need to be. If you don't believe us, head to Aggorat in Act 3 and use a town portal from there.
In addition, just staying put in any town will make your PC draw quite a lot of resources. This doesn't necessarily translate to reduced frame rates, but it uses up more power than it needs to.
These are just some telltale signs that PoE 2 is poorly optimized in its current state. Fortunately, there is a long way to go before the game is fully launched, so there is time to fix things to ensure a near-perfect product.
More 'Chase Uniques'
Chase items are a term used to refer to unique items that are difficult to obtain and, therefore, highly sought-after. Ingenuity is one of the best examples of this. This is a unique belt in PoE 2 that greatly amplifies the effects of your equipped rings by up to 80%!
Adding more chase uniques can help entice competitive players to sink more time into the game. Maybe we can see the Mageblood in Path of Exile 2? Only time will tell.
Higher 'Citadel' Spawns
The Citadel is a collection of maps found in the Atlas, where formidable monsters and challenging bosses reside therein. These maps house the familiar act bosses in the game, which we won't spoil in case you haven't played PoE 2 just yet.
Anyway, the Atlas in Path of Exile 2 is different from PoE 1. That's because the map nodes that you can traverse are generated randomly, which means that the layout of your Atlas might not be the same as another person's.
We actually love the Atlas in the sequel. However, we would have liked to have the Citadel Maps pop out more often. Currently, you have to search far and wide to see such maps. In fact, some people claimed to have never seen the mythical map node even once!
GGG increased the spawn rate of the citadels in Patch 0.1.1. However, we feel that it's just a marginal improvement since the Citadel Maps are still few and far between. Despite that, however, we do like the inclusion of the light beam that tells you that one of the citadels is nearby.
Increased Drop Rate of Some Currencies
Essences and high-value Distilled Emotions are pretty rare. Sure, you can take some Atlas Nodes to somehow increase their spawn rate but that is not enough. We'd love to see these high-value currencies drop more often so as to encourage people to dabble in crafting gear.
We also hope that the PoE 2 Divine Orbs become more accessible. It seems that the Path of Exile 2 trade economy is gearing towards the direction of making the Divine Orb the primary currency for trading as well.
Final Thoughts
In light of the recent news, PoE 2 launch may happen in the latter parts of the year. This is because GGG has underestimated the development time needed to make the game in a playable state. The issue was so severe that some of the PoE 1 developers were tapped to help with the creation of the sequel.
There certainly are a lot of things that GGG needs to address, particularly in the areas of class balancing, easier Trials of Ascendancy, and technical optimization, among others.
That said, what are the things that you want the company to resolve before the game fully releases sometime this year? Sound off in the comments section and let your thoughts be known!
In the meantime, if you're already enjoying the game as it is, you might want to head to our PoE 2 Store and stock yourself up with enough currency items and whatnot. We offer greatly discounted bundles unlike any other trading platform out there.
So, what are you waiting for? Head to our PoE 2 Store today!