PoE 2 Dawn of the Hunt - Patch 0.2.0 Release
12.03.2025 - 20:53:23
Game Guides , Path of Exile 2
How are you enjoying Path of Exile 2 so far? Have you been using the best builds like the Spark Stormweaver or Attribute Stacker Gemling Legionnaire? Were you able to finish Xesht and The Arbiter of Ash in Difficulty 4?
Well, if you are already done with the aforementioned pieces of content, you are probably itching for more. Thankfully, Grinding Gear Games did not disappoint as the company provided a lot of teasers for what’s to come in the game’s next major update—Patch 0.2.0.
In this article, we will go over the information that has been presented so far. We are here to tell you that it looks like Patch 0.2.0 is going to shake things up in a good way!
Before we begin, we invite you to go to our PoE 2 Store to stock up on rare items and uniques to make your leveling and endgame journey so much smoother. With that out of the way, let’s get started!
PoE 2 Patch 0.2.0 Release Date
GGG released a new teaser that highlights a new class called the Huntress. Patch 0.2.0 is now officially known as Dawn of the Hunt, signifying that the Huntress will be available to play once the game’s next major update drops.
Speaking of which, a reveal showcase is set for March 27 at 12 PM PDT. However, Patch 0.2.0 for Path of Exile 2 won’t be available until next week, specifically on April 4 at 12 PM PDT.
With the release date already revealed, here is everything that we know about Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt:
New Content
There is a bunch of new content that is in store for Path of Exile 2 players. Let’s begin by talking about something that will surely entice you to play this game once more.
New Class: The Huntress
It’s time to hunt! The Huntress is the newest class that will grace Path of Exile 2 in Patch 0.2.0. This is the first time that a class that specializes in spears is introduced to the franchise, which makes things a lot more exciting!
To give you an idea of how the Huntress performs, think about the Javazon in Diablo II: Resurrected. She can throw spears at the enemy from a relatively long distance, but she can also slash and thrust enemies with her weapon at melee range when needed.
The Huntress is another DEX class in PoE 2, which means that her starting point on the passive tree is near the Ranger. This part of the tree has plenty of evasion nodes. Additionally, you can traverse the lower-right portion, where you will find multiple passive skills that specifically boost spear damage in some way.
Aside from that, she can deal physical and elemental damage with skills such as the Whirling Slash, Storm Spear, Ice Spear, and Blazing Lance, among others. Are you going to play the Huntress when she becomes available in Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt?
New Support Gems
Perfection
In Path of Exile 2, good offense is very much equal to good defense. After all, killing monsters before they get close to you is already a form of defense because they cannot hit you. Therefore, your HP won’t get depleted. With this in mind, any boost in damage is always welcome and that is the philosophy of the first support gem we are going to talk about—Perfection.
Perfection is a new support gem that will be introduced in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.2.0. Basically, it supports any channeling skill that has something to do with perfect timing, such as Perfect Strike and Gathering Storm. Every time you execute a perfect timing with the aforementioned skills, you gain a damage buff called “Perfection” which grants 5% more damage per stack (up to 15%).
Despite the use of channeling skills, the buff provided by this support gem actually applies to your other skills as well. A good application of this is a PoE 2 Titan Hammer of the Gods build that uses Perfect Strike a few times before landing HoTG, potentially killing formidable bosses like T4 Xesht in one blow! You can read other viable Warrior builds in our guide.
Now, the community reaction to this new support gem in Path of Exile 2 is mixed. On one hand, the 15% more damage buff is nice, especially if you are including a channeling skill in your PoE 2 build.
However, on the other side of things, the conditional nature of the buff makes it cumbersome because you have to perfectly time a channeling skill a few times to gain the full effect. It is also not helping that the damage buff only lasts for six seconds (though its duration is refreshed by subsequent stacks).
It would be interesting to see how it fares in practice. But, if we are to make a guess, Perfection may seem far from perfect judging by what it can do on paper. That said, do you think that Perfection will be one of the best support gems in Path of Exile 2?
Battershout
Compared to the Sorceress, Warriors are a rare breed in Path of Exile 2. That is probably because of the lack of meaningful skills other than Stampede and Hammer of the Gods. Well, this next support gem might increase Warrior player counts once Patch 0.2.0 goes live!
Battershout is an interesting support gem. It supports warcry skills like Infernal Cry and Seismic Cry. What it does is it consumes fully broken armor on enemies and creates an explosion that deals physical damage. Damage is based on 50% of the broken armor of the target that triggered the blast, and it deals even more damage for every 50 points of STR your character has.
Warriors in PoE 2 generally have a high strength value due to their reliance on Giant's Blood, which is a keystone that enables them to equip a two-handed weapon in one hand. Are you curious about it? You can refer to our best PoE 2 keystone passives guide for more info on Giant's Blood and more!
This support gem is only usable after breaking the enemy’s armor. To do that, you need to use skills like Resonating Shield or Armour Breaker. Alternatively, you can rely on Mace Strike which is enhanced by Splinter Support to do the same thing.
Battershout could give more life to Warbringers in PoE 2. For context, this is the best ascendancy class to choose if you want to play a Warrior that specializes in shouts, warcries, and defense. If the resulting explosion after using Battershout-supported warcries is effective, we might see a drastic increase in the Warbringer population!
Derange
Derange is a new support gem in PoE 2 that might bring even more power to INT-stacking builds like the Spark Stormweaver. Basically, Derange adds a damage over time component to self-cast skills. More specifically, supported skills deal 8% more damage for every 100 points of INT that your character has. This damage is doled out over time (meaning, not in a bursty way as you may have initially thought).
While that may seem OP, you have to consider its downside. Every time you cast a skill supported by Derange, you also have to spend energy shield equal to the amount of total INT you have. So, if you have 450 INT, you have to spend 450 ES as well.
Sure, that might not be a problem for Chaos Inoculation (CI) builds since you naturally rely on energy shield as your primary defensive layer anyway. However, Derange might force you to take CI just to address the added ES cost.
On top of that, if you are going to use it on a Spark Stormweaver build, for example, you might even have to equip The Everlasting Gaze just to gain some energy shield back (after allocating Eldritch Battery).
Nevertheless, Derange could provide better value to other INT-based builds in Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt, specifically those that do not use Spark whatsoever.
Embitter
Embitter has the potential to be overpowered once it drops in Path of Exile 2. This support gem basically converts all extra damage to extra cold damage instead. Now, why can this be OP, you ask?
You see, whenever you deal elemental damage in PoE 2, you also inflict ailments based on the type of element that hits the target. So, if you are able to deal cold damage, you not only chill the enemies (thus, slowing them down), but you freeze them in place as well.
That means that you can play a lightning-based build like the Attribute Stacker Gemling Legionnaire (which uses Tempest Flurry) and have the potential to freeze monsters as you attack like a madman throughout the map!
Concoct
We can see a lot of Warrior Builds in PoE 2 that can make great use of this next support gem. Concoct essentially elevates the magnitude of bleeding inflicted on enemies by 2% for every charge taken from your Life Flask upon use.
A Titan that is heavily specced into bleeding can give a significant damage boost to Hammer of the Gods with Concoct as part of its support gems. To get the most out of Concoct, utilize a Life Flask that has “Increased Charges” as one of its modifiers.
Commiserate
PoE 2 builds that inflict ailment as part of their monster-killing strategy could take advantage of Commiserate to a much greater extent. What it does is it supports damaging skills, providing a 30% increased magnitude of ailments inflicted by them. The catch is that you have to be inflicted by the same ailment as well.
A good use case for this is the Infernalist due to her ability to get self-ignited with the help of the Grinning Immolation ascendancy node. If she uses, say, Fireball, to also inflict Ignite upon enemies, she can possibly deal insane amounts of Ignite damage as a result!
Volcanic Eruption
Are you fond of using strike skills like Tempest Flurry, Boneshatter, and Ice Strike? Then you'll love this last support gem in Patch 0.2.0!
Volcanic Eruption allows you to trigger, well, a volcanic eruption every time you hit an ignited enemy with your preferred strike skill. By the looks of it, the “eruption” here is a collection of small balls of fire that are created from the affected target.
For skills that naturally do not deal fire damage, you can add Fire Infusion as a support gem, and couple that with a Breach Ring that has added fire damage to attacks. This combination is more than enough to cause enemies to Ignite consistently, thus unlocking the power of Volcanic Eruption!
New Skills
Summon Companion
When you look at the Mercenary Class in Path of Exile 2, what comes to your mind? You are probably thinking about a Crossbow-wielding commando who is proficient at firing grenades and making stuff explode, right? Now, imagine having that particular figure as your companion. That is pretty much the gist of this new skill aptly called Summon Companion.
Summon Companion enables you to call forth a mercenary that will use any attack skill you have socketed into them. Furthermore, it appears that you have the power to equip them with powerful stuff, such as a rare Bombard Crossbow with high physical damage—perfect for firing Explosive Grenades and such!
Demon Magus
If the previous skill allows you to socket attack skills in them, this next one mainly utilizes spells. The Demon Magus is another minion skill that summons a subservient ally capable of casting damaging spells that make quick work of the enemy.
The Skeletal Sniper Infernalist or other minion builds in PoE 2 might get great value out of the Demon Magus. The only thing that they have to think about is addressing the hefty 100 Spirit reservation cost when activating the Demon Magus. Fortunately, there is a new unique item that might resolve this issue, which will be discussed a bit later.
New Unique Items
The Deepest Tower
This is probably one of the best unique items in Path of Exile 2 once it is implemented in Patch 0.2.0. The Deepest Tower is a unique helmet that makes nearby enemies count as being on low life. Why is this special, you ask? It’s special because this is the only effect of its kind on an item you can equip.
On top of that, enemies that are counted as being on low life means that you can kill them easily with a skill that’s supported by Execute. With such a potentially overpowered effect, we can see The Deepest Tower as a unique item that is highly sought after, but not reachable through ordinary means.
In other words, The Deepest Tower may only drop from pinnacle bosses, which only the elite players can do. Don’t want to be mediocre? Deck yourself out with powerful unique items by heading to our PoE 2 Store!
The Hammer of Faith
The Hammer of Faith is a unique two-handed mace that every Warrior Build in PoE 2 can certainly utilize. While it reduces your attack speed by a considerable amount, it does provide you with a hefty 230%+ increased physical damage.
More importantly, you gain a random shrine buff every 10 seconds when you have this mace equipped! This means that you could gain the effect of the Enduring Shrine, which increases your life and defenses by a certain percentage. How about the Resistance Shrine—a shrine that grants additional elemental resistances?
With such a powerful effect, it seems that GGG is really encouraging you to be a Warrior in Path of Exile 2. The question is: do you think that The Hammer of Faith is enough to convince you to play the said class?
Prism Guardian
With the new minion skills in Patch 0.2.0, you need every point of Spirit that you can get. The Prism Guardian can help you with that! This unique shield has a similar effect to the Infernalist’s Beidat Will, though instead of granting a point of Spirit per 25 HP, you get one Spirit for every 50 HP.
To ensure that you bring the best out of the Prism Guardian, you have to equip pieces of gear that contain “+ to Maximum Life.” This includes everything—from the helmet to the belt and accessories.
If we had to nitpick and highlight an issue with this thing, it is that this new unique shield does not provide an increased block chance. Despite this shortcoming, the Prism Guardian may finally dethrone the Oaksworn as the preferred shield for the Minion Infernalist builds in Path of Exile 2!
The Bringer of Rain
Rounding out the new unique items in Path of Exile Patch 0.2.0 is The Bringer of Rain. If you have read about the Giant’s Blood keystone passive from our guide, you will know that it enables you to equip a two-handed weapon in one hand, right? Unfortunately, that keystone has a huge downside, where the attribute requirements of your weapons are tripled, forcing you to have as much STR as you can to wield them.
What if we tell you that there is an item that you can equip that basically allows you to do the same thing, albeit without the huge attribute requirements? If you like the sound of that, then perhaps you will love The Bringer of Rain.
This new unique item is like having Giant’s Blood without having to worry about getting your STR to an acceptable level. However, wearing this thing presents a new problem for you to address: you cannot equip a chest armor.
Fortunately, there are multiple ways to resolve the defense loss of not equipping body armor. For one, you can utilize a shield with incredibly high defense and block chance. Besides that, you can invest heavily in armor from your other gear pieces, making sure that each one has “Increased Armor” and “+ to Armor” modifiers.
New Ascendancy Classes
GGG teased that new ascendancy classes are coming to Path of Exile 2 as part of Patch 0.2.0. At the time of writing, the company did not give any specifics. However, GGG did provide an image:
As you can see, it looks like we are going to have a new ascendancy class for the Mercenary. If the Witch Hunter is proficient at gunning down his opponents, and the Gemling Legionnaire can decimate monsters with lightning-fast strikes, this new ascendancy class might be adept at setting up ballistae to deal with the enemy.
Right now, there are a couple of ballista totems that you can summon on the battlefield. The first is Artillery Ballista, which unleashes a bolt of fire skyward and then explodes shortly after landing. The second is the Ripwire Ballista—a ballista totem that fires bolts that can maim enemies that are hit.
It is possible that this new Mercenary ascendancy class has some nodes that make him an effective ballista totem user. That still remains to be seen, though, so be sure to bookmark our page for future updates!
Changes and Improvements
Improved Towers
In the previous major update, GGG introduced several new layouts to Lost Towers. While the new additions certainly made clearing Lost Towers a bit more bearable, they are still rather boring. Hence, GGG will improve towers in a more meaningful way in Patch 0.2.0.
The company intends to add endgame content to Lost Towers. This means that you can see additional PoE 2 endgame systems, such as Breach, Delirium, and Ritual when attempting to take a tower.
As if that’s not enticing enough, you will see bosses in towers as well!
This change just makes sense because traversing a tower requires you to put a Waystone anyway. Right now, it is a waste to put a heavily juiced-up Waystone just to clear the tower. In Patch 0.2.0, that will no longer be an issue!
Weapon-Locking System
The ability to use specific weapons for the purpose of amplifying the damage of different abilities is one of the best features in Path of Exile 2 compared to its predecessor. However, utilizing the weapon set skill system forces you to have a completely separate weapon, which is probably something that you do not have at the moment. You can read our weapon set skill points guide to learn more about this.
Well, in the game’s next major update, GGG will introduce a new mechanic called the Weapon-Locking System. As you can surmise, this allows you to use the weapon set skill system by using the same weapon for both sets! This alleviates the need to find a suitable second weapon, especially if you do not have the budget for that yet.
For instance, when you are playing the Stampede Titan, you only need to have a two-handed mace with “+7 to All Melee Skills” and a high amount of physical damage for weapon set 1 and weapon set 2!
The new Weapon-Locking System is a godsend for those who make great use of the Dual Specialization feature, such as the Warriors and Mercenaries.
New Atlas Passives
Atlas passive skills greatly enhance your endgame mapping experience, particularly if you want to engage with specific types of content. Whatever content you are trying to accomplish, you will always find Shrine Buffs handy.
That said, we believe the new Atlas Passive Nodes that are going to be implemented in Patch 0.2.0 enhance Shrines and Strongboxes in some way. This is considering that they are situated in the lower-left portion of the Atlas Tree, where similar nodes currently reside.
Enhanced Essence Visuals
Essence monsters are already pretty distinct in that they are always trapped inside crystallized essences. However, GGG took it a step further by improving the visuals of Essence Monsters. Here is a preview:
Predictions
Apart from the information provided in this article so far, we speculate that there are more new things coming in Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt. Here are some of our predictions:
Meta Shake Up
Historically speaking, every major update always comes with an overhaul of some sort, and expect Patch 0.2.0 to be the same. Right now, the Spark Stormweaver and Attribute Gemling Legionnaire are the top builds in Path of Exile 2 because of their sheer power and dominance over other classes.
It would be nice for the least-played classes like Warriors and Mercenaries to get a glimpse of the spotlight. This would, of course, lead to the inevitable nerf to the aforementioned PoE 2 builds, but that is probably something that the community is okay with if it means that there’s better build diversity.
Economy Reset
If this is your first time playing Path of Exile 2, then you are likely going to have a hard time catching up. The prices of items in the game are so absurd that new players may not have the PoE 2 Currency to purchase them.
An economy reset like a new league start may provide more players a chance to enjoy the game as well. If a full reset does not happen, do not worry. You can go to our PoE 2 Currency Store to get a huge stock of Divine Orbs and Exalts!
More Accessible Omens
Omens are a type of PoE 2 currency used for endgame crafting. They can only be acquired as a possible reward for completing Ritual Encounters, which is kind of a bummer considering that you have to allocate certain Ritual Nodes to increase their chance of appearing.
Because of their usefulness in the endgame, it would be nice if GGG could adjust the parameters a bit, making Omens a bit more available. Perhaps a 20% increase in their chance to spawn is in order?
Less Buggy Atlas
At the time of writing this article, there are still some map nodes that should have been connected but are not for some reason. This means that you cannot go to them even if you path towards nodes that are relatively near.
We hope to see less buggy Atlas Map Nodes in Patch 0.2.0 so that no map node goes to waste!
Reduced EXP Loss
For those who are new to Path of Exile 2, you lose 10% of your experience points every time you die past level 80. At this level, gaining 10% back requires a couple of hours or so. This is a pain point that the community wants GGG to address. Patch 0.2.0 is a good opportunity for the company to implement a respectable adjustment to this system. Maybe reducing the EXP loss upon death to just 5% is not too much to ask for?
More Hideouts
The hideout is quite an important part of Path of Exile 2 because it is basically your base of operations in the endgame. Right now, the number of hideouts you can choose from is only five, and it doesn’t help that the fifth one is locked behind a paywall.
Although there are more pressing issues to resolve, a couple of new hideouts will not hurt.
Improved Armor Performance
Among the three major defensive layers—armor, evasion, and energy shield—armor is the weakest of the bunch. Although the company already buffed it up by 15% in the last major update, it still has much to be desired! GGG should go back to the drawing board and improve armor in a more significant way, especially since new items have been added in Patch 0.2.0 that may entice more players to go for Warrior Builds in Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt.
Better Crafting
Not a lot of players find crafting in the original game enjoyable, though it does present them with an avenue to create something special. Contrast that with the very basic crafting of the sequel and you will probably clamor for a return to form.
However, things may change in Path of Exile 2 if the company is able to implement new crafting methods somehow. Maybe they can add metacrafting to the game, such as “Prefixes Cannot Be Changed” and the ever-powerful “Can Have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers.”
If GGG is not going to bring the Crafting Bench to the sequel, they could introduce metacrafting via new Omens.
Final Thoughts
Patch 0.2.0 or Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt is the game’s next major update, and as such, GGG is looking to shake things up by adding new support gems, new unique items, and new skills, allowing you to create more interesting builds! More importantly, you will be able to play a class never before seen in the franchise!
The proposed changes and improvements, such as the new weapon-locking system and improved towers, are quite welcome indeed. The new Atlas Passive Nodes could present you with new options for a much easier mapping experience as well.
Although we are skeptical that our predictions will be true, we are still hopeful that the company could implement at least a few of them. Those are what we (and the community) believe to be the most impactful changes, which can potentially breathe new life into Path of Exile 2.
With that said, what are the things that you are hoping to come in Patch 0.2.0? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Additionally, if you want to gear up your character, do not forget to visit our PoE 2 store!