Grinding Gear Games has released the full Path of Exile 2 patch notes for its new Dawn of the Hunt league, and you’re probably going to need to find yourself a new build for the ARPG’s second season. Alongside the Huntress class, new Ascendancies, and a big bump of content for the endgame, Path of Exile patch 0.2.0 packs in a tremendous number of changes that include nerfs to many of the most powerful skills and items from the launch version of the game.
The free Steam game) but this latest update is a big step in that direction.
You can read my full Path of Exile 2 builds from its first season have been impacted.
Starting with more general adjustments, players will now be more vulnerable to ailments (such as freeze and shock), while using freeze on enemies will now take a lot longer to build up. Suffering heavy stun will be a lot more punishing, lasting three times as long and with no ability to block or evade – expect it to be a death sentence in most cases. The base duration for Endurance, Frenzy, and Power Charges has fallen from 20 seconds to 15, making it harder to stack them up. The radius of presence (seen on buffs that affect ‘allies in your presence,’ for example) has been significantly reduced, although you’ll now see a visual representation of its size when hovering over a related skill.
Over on the PoE 2 ive skill tree, twelve Jewel sockets have been removed (note that you can get back any you previously had equipped by using the ‘/reclaimjewels’ command in chat). These typically offer some of the biggest buffs in endgame, so they’ll be greatly missed. One of the most popular keystones, Eldritch Battery (which converts your energy shield into mana), now doubles your mana costs, making it a lot less valuable. Among the many other node nerfs, drops to Falcon Technique, Master Fletching, and Spaghettification are going to sting.
Archmage has been heavily nerfed, while the number of projectiles created by Spark is severely reduced, so it’s looking tough for one of the most popular endgame map-clearing builds to survive in the new league. Flame Wall, a very popular ing skill, will now offer a lot less additional damage to projectiles that through it at high levels, so it’ll likely be reduced to a leveling skill rather than one that can push into the late-game. Decompose, the skill from the Corpsewade unique boots that became widely known as the ‘fart build,’ now deals a lot less damage than before.
Minions have also been pretty dramatically impacted, with damage and life scaling lower at high levels, which will hurt their endgame viability. Changes to Cast on Minion Death will hurt the popular Summon Raging Spirits build in particular – and to make matters worse, the skill now creates fewer spirits per cast. Scepters can only roll up to +4 to Level of all Minion Skills (a reduction from its previous maximum), and quality will no longer multiply the amount of Spirit they grant, making them a lot less potent for endgame scaling.
GGG does also state that “Many skills have had their base damage and/or damage growth per level rebalanced,” but that “most of these changes are not specifically mentioned below as the changes are too widespread.” That does add a little more uncertainty to proceedings. There’s also further good news with a reduction in mana cost across all attacks, marks, and warcries, which should help resolve some mana issues for certain builds.
Grinding Gear Games is certainly shaking the barrel rather vigorously, then, but is this bad news? Probably not. Top players were already demolishing most of the endgame, but newcomers were struggling to reach the likes of high-tier maps or pinnacle boss fights. Hopefully, these adjustments should smooth out the curve, giving everyone a chance to delve deeper into the Atlas while providing a longer tail at the upper end. It’ll also encourage new builds to thrive rather than seeing everyone play the same things as last season.
Of course, we’ll just have to wait until the season begins to know for sure. Path of Exile 2 Dawn of the Hunt releases Friday April 4 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm BST / 9pm CEST. While I’ve tried to pick out the biggest adjustments, there’s a whole lot more to dig through, so take a look through the full patch notes courtesy of Grinding Gear Games if you want to track down individual changes for your favorite skills, gems, and loot.
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