Path of Exile 2 leaves Early Access on December 11 (PST) and becomes free-to-play on PC (including Steam and the Epic Games Store), PlayStation and Xbox, and for the first time on Mac. This is the full list of what GGG has put in writing so far: its Full Release page and its ExileCon press release. Things only shown on stage wait for the patch notes.
1.0 at a glance
- 10 classes and 26 Ascendancy classes.
- Over 320 skills and more than 400 unique items.
- Over 150 endgame maps.
- A complete six-Act campaign.
- A new challenge league, Conquerors of Wraeclast.
The campaign is complete: Acts 5 and 6
You return to Oriath, wrecked by war and corruption, to finish the fight against the Twilight Order and the Beast.
- 24 new areas, from the slums and fallen noble estates to the Temple District and the Grand Arena.
- 18 new unique bosses, with several phases each.
- More than 20 new Champion Rare encounters, each with its own mechanics.
New class: the Shadow
The Shadow fights with daggers, traps and shades. In GGG's story he's a descendant of the Perandus line who now owes a debt to the dark god Prospero.
- Stealth is new to Path of Exile 2. Monsters can't see you until you're close. Stealth also powers up dagger skills, from poison explosions to shadow clones that distract enemies. Every kill resets the Stealth cooldown, so you can chain ambushes.
- Traps are a new weapon type with eight trap types (impale, poison, fire and ice among them). Lay them while hidden; they go off in the order you placed them when you strike. Each trap works with at least three others.
- Shades are shadow copies that fool enemies and repeat your attacks.
- is a new resource that strengthens attacks from Stealth.
- Eclipse pulls you into the shadow realm for a short time: every attack counts as a Stealth strike, and your Shades join in.
- Ascendancies at launch: the Assassin (a contract killer who strikes before he's seen) and the Infiltrator (a master thief who keeps the artefacts he steals).
New class: the Duelist
A sword fighter raised in Oriath's slums and trained in its arenas.
- Stances are new. Ready Stance powers up sword skills in different ways.
- Stun enemies to enter Sand Stance (sand disks across the battlefield). Parry to enter Blood Stance (your hits make enemies bleed).
- Knight Ascendancy: recruit a Squire you equip with weapons and armour, who can use any melee skill gem. Plant War Banners themed on Wraeclast's empires (GGG's example: the Vaal banner covers the field in blood and empowers attacks). Mounted Charge rides a chariot into the enemy line, scattering and stunning them.
- Master-at-Arms: GGG's Full Release page lists it as the second Duelist Ascendancy "in 1.0", but GGG's press release says it arrives at a later date. We'll confirm with the patch notes.
Conquerors of Wraeclast, the launch league
Recruit an army, build a stronghold for one of three factions, conquer castles with every other player in your faction, and stop the resurrection of an ancient vampire lord. Commanders can even run your Atlas maps for you, and a new crafting system, Reforging, comes out of castle treasuries. Our full explainer comes on Monday.
Items, skills and trees
- Uniques: over 40 new ones and more than 70 reworked.
- Over 200 new base item types, including weapons and armour with their own skills.
- New skills for classes that lacked them. GGG names two: Molten Forge (summon a blazing anvil and charge your mace with fire for slams) and Soul Extraction (consume built-up Decay for a burst of chaos damage).
- Support gems: a big rebalance, better recommendations, damage types that adapt better to the skill they support, and many weak gems made stronger.
- Passive tree: a major rework with hundreds of new stats. All Jewel Sockets now sit inside clusters, so you take only the clusters your build needs.
- Reworked classes and Ascendancies: the Mercenary, , and . GGG mentions demonic companions, blood manipulation and deadly clones among the changes. The Mercenary now reloads ammunition in the background while you use other ammo types.
Endgame
- The Atlas passive tree is cut to about 70 more impactful nodes.
- You earn Atlas points as you go: objectives, powerful bosses and special maps.
- More direct access to league content, and more freedom to chase the activities and rewards you like.
Performance and platforms
- Up to 25% more CPU performance, lower memory use and smoother frame pacing.
- Steam Deck Verified.
- Mac at launch: M2-series Macs and newer, plus M1 Pro.
Supporter Packs and sign-up rewards
- Five new Supporter Packs. The top tiers include merchandise, a Path of Exile 2 figurine and a chance to have your hideout added to the Atlas as an area.
- GGG offers free cosmetic rewards for registering ahead of launch at pathofexile2.com/register.
What we're still waiting for
- The 1.0 patch notes and the launch hour on December 11.
- Whether the Master-at-Arms is in 1.0 or later.
- The full passive and Atlas trees, and every skill and Ascendancy number.
- GGG says two more classes come after launch; it hasn't named them.
What changes on PoE Source
- New class and Ascendancy pages, written from GGG's own text once the patch notes are out.
- Passive trees, Atlas trees and builds stay on 0.5 until launch, since the 0.5 league runs to December 11. We rebuild them from the patch notes, one at a time.
- A Conquerors of Wraeclast lesson in the League track once the details are confirmed.
On PoE Source
Summarized for PoE Source; see official sources for full details. Images: GGG's official press kit.
Sources: Path of Exile 2 Full Release (GGG, official) · GGG press release, "Path of Exile 2 Reveals New Shadow Class, Complete Campaign, and Conquerors of Wraeclast League Ahead of December 11 Full Release" (November 7, 2026, official press kit)