PoE 2 The Third Edict: Sprinting

Path of Exile 2's The Third Edict update will introduce a brand new Sprinting mechanic to alleviate player concerns with character mobility out of combat.

Faster Traversal

Sprinting is a mechanic that allows a character to travel faster, covering a greater distance in a shorter amount of time. However the mechanic has been designed purposefully to alleviate issues surrounding movement between engaging encounters - the 'dry' periods of gameplay, and backtracking.

Previously GGG sought to solve these issues with Checkpoints, a solution that was brought up quickly, but one that doesn't fix the problem at heart. Using Checkpoints, though useful, is jarring, removing the player from engaging combat to seek through a menu to choose where to go next. But Sprinting may yet provide a better solution.

A player can hold down spacebar (by default), or their button to Dodge Roll, and they'll perform the Dodge Roll as normal. However upon completing the roll, they'll proceed to run faster than normal while holding the button down. But there's a catch! The design is almost solely for use out of combat, to reach the next encounter faster. If the character gets Hit during Sprinting, they'll be knocked down for an extended period of time - a dangerous threat that will ultimately prevent the use of Sprinting during the majority of standard combat. To avoid getting knocked down, a player will need to get used to cancelling their Sprinting action by using a Skill or otherwise if danger presents itself.

A character Sprinting through an open area

Skill Expression

The Sprinting mechanic isn't only useful for mobility across empty areas however, as it can also be used as a method to flee and avoid danger in some scenarios. For example in a Boss encounter where a player is experienced with the mechanics of the fight, they can use their knowledge to their advantage, making use of the Dodge Roll into Sprinting mechanic to avoid and escape dangerous areas or slams if they know they're not going to be Hit while doing so.

Sprinting can also be used to retreat from some Monsters that you know you can outpace, to buy time for cooldowns or recovery, or to reposition to a more favourable location.

More Speed, Less Consequence

The introduction of Sprinting as a solution to the lack of Movement Speed is an interesting choice that attempts to solve the problems that players have been having in earlier versions of Path of Exile 2 without ruining the methodical pacing of combat. Simply increasing Movement Speed across the board could have solved the issues, but may have also presented many new ones in the form of simplifying combat to an extreme degree.

Path of Exile 2 has been praised by many for its difficulty, especially in the campaign, and the addition of Sprinting shouldn't impact difficulty too much in comparison to other solutions.