Patch 0.5.0 (29 May 2026, “Return of the Ancients”) rebuilt Path of Exile 2’s endgame. If your reference is PoE 1, or PoE 2 before 0.5, very little of the Atlas loop transfers directly.
This is a player summary of the systems change — not the full notes, and not a gem-by-gem balance table. Full text stays on pathofexile.com. Later 0.5.1–0.5.4 passes were balance and QoL on top of this structure, not another rebuild.
What actually matters
- The Fortress is the new hub. Clear a Precursor Tower and it rises on your Atlas. Origins of Divinity (Arbiter of Ash as a gate, then Arbiter of Divinity) routes through it.
- Five new storylines shipped together: Fortress, Breach, Ritual, Delirium, and Masters of the Atlas. Abyss and Fate of the Vaal were rebuilt into endgame. Runes of Aldur is the new league mechanic.
- Each storyline (except Masters) has its own hub, quest chain, and a pinnacle. Masters is a hot-swap Atlas layer — Hilda, Jado, and Doryani — not a boss fight.
- Pinnacles have two versions: a one-time Quest kill, then a repeatable Infinite Farm version. Treat that as two modes of the same encounter, not two bosses.
- Ignore “15 Atlas Pinnacle Bosses” if you see it in a guide. The sourced roster is seven main pinnacles (nine if you count Abyss’s two gating Commanders separately). PoE Source’s Endgame lessons list them by name.
- Waystones must be identified before they work in the Map Device. T16 does not drop naturally — Vaal a T15.
- Tablets still go on the Map Device (that rule is from 0.3.1 and did not revert). Do not put them on Towers.
- “Fortress” means two different things. The Origins of Divinity structure on your Atlas is not a Breach Domain sub-area that happens to share the word.
On PoE Source
- Your first Fortress map — orientation lesson
- Atlas Passive Tree — where points actually come from
- Waystones & Tablets
- PoE 2 Endgame track
The nightly companion at `/poe2/endgame` is a separate feature, still in development. These lessons are the reference.
Summarized for PoE Source; see official sources for full details.
Sources: 0.5.0 Patch Notes