On 11 December 2026, Path of Exile 2 launches with patch 1.0. At long last, PoE 2 will be free to play, and along with the full launch come a number of sweeping changes to the game
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Guide
Act 5 and 6
The Path of Exile 2 campaign is finally complete, and players will be able to travel throughout 24 new areas across two new acts and uncover the ending to the story of the game. Within these Acts, players will have exciting new bosses and monsters to fight, new areas to experience and even some secrets to discover.
Duelist
PoE 2 1.0 also introduces the Duelist Class, along with two new Ascendancies as well as the Sword weapon type. One of the Duelist Ascendancies allows him to summon a Squire who acts as a Mercenary that can equip items to aid the Duelist in combat
Shadow
The Duelist isn't the only new class coming to PoE 2 1.0. The 10th class being added to the game is The Shadow; a Dex/Int hybrid class that uses Daggers and Traps
The Shadow introduces a new mechanic called Stealth, that allows characters to slip out of sight of monsters before leaping out to perform devastating backstab attacks on unsuspecting enemies
The Shadow can also summon Shades that will repeat attacks performed by the character as they move out of Stealth
Many fan-favourite Skills are returning, such as Ethereal Knives and Blade Vortex, which utilise blades buried within enemies to create a whirling storm of knives that follow The Shadow, damaging anything that comes too close
8 Trap Skills are also being added, and these can be comboed in specific sequences to create different effects. For example, a Gas Trap can be thrown which creates a Gas cloud on detonation. This can then be ignited and exploded by a Fire Trap. To make the combo more interesting, players can follow up the Gas Trap with a Concussive Trap, which will cause the gas to spread out and cover more area before it can be detonated by an Fire Trap.
The Shadow also comes with two new Ascendancies: the Infiltrator and the Assassin. Little information has been revealed about these Ascendancies at this stage
Ascendancy Rework
The Acolyte of Chayula, Infernalist and Blood Mage are all receiving a new lick of paint to make them feel more fresh and on par with existing Ascendancies
Infernalist
The Infernalist now has more powerful Hellhounds that can be commanded to deal damage in an area
Blood Mage
The Blood Mage unlocks new skills, including the incredibly popular Exsanguinate
Acolyte of Chayula
The Acolyte of Chayula gains access to a brand new Herald, and the 
Embrace the Darkness Notable is now a Keystone found on the Passive Tree
Unique Rework
Unique items should always feel special, and in patch 1.0, over 80 existing Uniques are being reworked to make them feel like something players should feel excited to find. This is on top of a host of new Uniques being added for the new Sword, Dagger and Trap weapon types, bringing the total number of new and improved Uniques to well over 100
Radiant Grief now scales its Ignite Magnitude with Light Radius and also grants a Skill called Radiance that causes enemies to explode. To make it even better, now that Radiance is a Skill, it can use Support Gems
Enjoy Tornadoes but prefer playing from a bit of a distance? Windripper allows players to create a new playstyle with the Perfect Squall Skill that mimics popular Spear Twister builds
Even low level Uniques should now feel much more impactful. With the Apron of Emiran, players can summon a massive falling guillotine, similar to The Executioner
Death Summary
During the live playthrough on the Shadow class, Mark Roberts unfortunately died and accidentally revealed that a Death Summary will be available. Full information on this has yet to be released
Rebalance
Along with all of the other changes, a massive rebalance is coming to the game and many Skills, Supports and Passive Tree Points have been adjusted to keep the game feeling fresh and interesting.
Another major change is that Jewel socket positions have moved and instead of being found along the outside edges of the Tree, they are now contained within clusters, forcing players to navigate differently when building their characters
Atlas Passive Tree Rework
The Atlas Passive Tree is also receiving an overhaul and now features far fewer Points with a much bigger impact. Instead of needing to collect over 300 Points, there are now closer to 75 and these can be obtained by completing Maps within the Endgame Fortress
New Mechanic
A new Path of Exile 2 league wouldn't be complete with out a new mechanic, and PoE 2 1.0 introduces The Conquerors of Wraeclast
In Conquerors of Wraeclast, players will be able to assemble an army and battle warring factions across the campaign to acquire the spoils of war
The scope of this league seems to be massive and complex and reminiscent of turn-based tactical RPGs like Heroes of Might and magic. The difference is that in Conquerors of Wraeclast, battles will be done in real time
Conquerors of Wraeclast Endgame
In the Endgame, Conquerors of Wraeclast becomes even more intense. Players will meet Athela who they can hire to run Maps for them, gaining the spoils of war and unlocking new pathways in the Endgame Atlas
Players will also be able to select one of three factions in which to build their endgame base. Why would players need factions? Well, in Conquerors of Wraeclast, players will be able to battle against other players in different factions for control over sections of the Atlas. This is the first league mechanic to introduce a PvP-like mechanic to Path of Exile 2
New Crafting Materials
In Conquerors of Wraeclast, players can also find exciting new crafting materials, allowing them to reroll unwanted modifiers as well as discover brand new mods that take their power to the next level
Learn More
Path of Exile 2 1.0 launches on 11 December 2026 and there is even more coming that has yet to be revealed! Stay tuned for updates and in the mean time, you can learn more about PoE 2 from our guides: