Path of Exile 2 launched into Early Access on December 6, 2024, and quickly became my favorite ARPG of the year. But not everyone was happy with the direction that Grinding Gear Games went with the sequel to the long-running Path of Exile. Jump forward eight months, and GGG is preparing to release The Third Edict update, set to drop on Friday, August 29. Wednesday’s developer livestream gave us our first peek at what the update had to offer, and there was a lot to take in. If you don’t have the time to take in the full livestream, we’ve put together a cliffnotes version below.
Act 4 and Beyond
GGG will be expanding PoE2’s main story with the addition of Act 4. With Doryani defeated in Act 3, Act 4 will find the player heading to the Islands of Ngamakanui, home to the Karui tribes. There are eight islands in total to explore, and we will be island hopping in search of four pieces of a great weapon, the Third Edict.
In a fresh twist, your island adventure will be non-linear, allowing each player to tackle the islands in any order. It should be a nice change of pace from the linear story progression of Acts 1-3. And with 16 new areas, over 100 new monster types, and 12 new bosses to defeat, I’m sure we’ll discover plenty of secrets along the way.
Speaking of secrets, it was no secret that players weren’t fond of having to repeat Acts 1-3 to reach the endgame of the initial launch. GGG took this criticism to heart. So, along with the addition of Act 4, they are introducing three Interludes to bridge the gap to the endgame until Act 5 is added in a future update.
Each Interlude will have six or seven areas to explore and four new bosses to fight. And don’t worry, the Interludes will be recycled as new endgame content in the future. Waste not, want not.
Character Class Changes
Every update brings myriad changes to characters, and The Third Edict is no different. Some of these changes will be class-specific, like improving the cold abilities of the Ranger, upgrading the Huntress’ Parry ability to be more reliable, and making unarmed combat a viable option for the Monk. Other changes, such as the new Deflect mechanic that affects all DEX builds, will be game-wide changes that can buff the power of every character. Players will also find that many of the skill changes will improve combo synergies.
Along with active skill changes, the Passive Tree is getting some changes of its own. Players will notice there are more nodes than ever, and many of the new nodes will have
Another new character mechanic is Sprinting. This out-of-combat skill adds an unlimited sprint for your character, making map traversal much faster. Sprinting makes your character faster than any monster, making it an excellent last-ditch method to get out of combat range. However, sprinting does make your character more vulnerable. If a monster happens to land an attack while sprinting, your character will fall to the ground, allowing any chasing monsters a chance to catch up and lay down a world of hurt.
Support Gems
There are plenty of changes to items, but the biggest one for me would be the update to Support Gems. Although we won’t be going back to the original gem system of PoE, we will once again be able to add more than one of each support gem to our build. I personally like the limitations that the current single support gem system imposes, and I doubt this change will help realize GGG’s vision of players stringing together skill combos and increasing overall build diversity.
Even if I’m not excited about multiple support gems for each character, I am really excited about the other changes to support gems. Not only will we be getting two additional tiers of support gems, but some gems will also have multiple tiers. An interesting aspect to this is that for some gems, the top tier won’t be just another incremental upgrade, but it will actually change the functionality of the gem. Now you’ll have to decide whether or not it’s worth it to fully upgrade a gem or keep it at a lower level that better suits your build.
The final change to Support Gems is Lineage Supports. These endgame-only supports will be found as normal drops, while others will be farmable in specific boss fights. We can expect about 40 lineage supports, some of which will be build-defining gems.
Crafting and Trading
Several improvements are being made to crafting. Essences will now work similarly to Regals, adding specific modifiers with specific values. Each essence will have multiple tiers, allowing you to upgrade a lower-tier essence later on. This not only lets you know exactly what you will get from a craft, but you won’t need to hold onto low-level essences and can use them at power-appropriate times throughout the campaign.
Changes are also being made to improve endgame crafting. At higher levels, you will find Greater and Perfect Orbs. These will work like regular Orbs, but they will have higher base values, similar to how endgame drops have better modifiers than low-level trash.
The most exciting announcement about crafting wasn’t actually about crafting. The biggest change to endgame gear is the introduction of asynchronous trade. Yes, you can finally trade items without needing the other player to be online. You will encounter a new NPC during Act 4 that can be recruited to run your Currency Exchange. In this new system, you will give your items to your NPC. After you set the price, other players will be able to find it on the trade website. The player will then be able to purchase the item without needing the seller to transfer the item manually.
Rise of the Abyssal League
The Rise of the Abyssal League is Path of Exile 2’s first expansion league. The Abyssal are a thought to be extinct race of creatures that harness forbidden magics and necromancy. Your first sign of the return of the Abyssal will be nightly undead attacks on Clearfell. As you investigate, you will come across fissures that are connected to underground pits. These fissures affect nearby monsters. As you defeat the monsters, the fissure will close, releasing a horde of Abyssal from underground pits. Closing all of the fissures will unleash the most dangerous Abyssal. Defeating all of the Abyssal will seal the pit and earn you an Abyssal Trove.
Nearby creatures affect the difficulty of the encounter. Any magic creatures slain will have their abilities transferred to any Abyssal spawns. Furthermore, rare creature kills will spawn rare Abyssal, and any nearby boss or Rogue Exile you happen to defeat will spawn additional special encounters. The greater the difficulty, the greater the reward.
Endgame Update
The Third Edict will add 25 new endgame maps, providing more monsters and additional environs. Some new nodes will have more powerful versions of Act 4’s bosses, and will require a key to unlock. Other new encounters will include special conditions that must be completed before you can take on the boss.
GGG agreed with player feedback that the new waystone affix system introduced in PoE2 wasn’t fun, and therefore, they have reverted to the affix system of Path of Exile. This change will make it easier to increase the challenge and rewards of each map as you see fit. Changes have also been made to Breach, Pinnacle, and other endgame content to make it more accessible and enjoyable. All of this should make leveling to the mid-90s a smoother, rewarding experience.
Wrapping It Up With A Free-Play Weekend
So there you go. That’s a lot of changes for existing and returning players to experience when The Third Edict drops on Friday, the 29th. But what if you are still unsure about investing in PoE2 while it is in Early Access? Well, now you’ll get the chance to try it out for free. GGG is offering a free-play weekend so that everyone can check out all that Path of Exile 2: The Third Edict has to offer. The free weekend begins at 1 pm PDT on August 29 and runs through 1 pm PDT on September 1.
The free weekend will include access to all content and is available on PC (Steam or EGS), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. All progress will be saved, waiting for your return when you purchase a Supporter Pack or when PoE2 finally exits Early Access into full release.
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