Path of Exile 2 developer Grinding Gear Games (GGG) has introduced more emergency changes to the action role-playing game following a significant backlash to the Dawn of the Hunt update. This update, launched earlier this month, added the new Huntress class, five ascension classes (Ritualist, Amazon, Smith of Kitava, Tactician, and Lich), over one hundred new unique items, and expanded crafting options. Despite these additions, the community's reaction was overwhelmingly negative, with recent Steam user reviews dropping to 'mostly negative' due to the game's slowed pace, which many players described as a "total slog."
The 'most helpful' review on Steam from the last 30 days highlights the issues players are facing, such as elongated boss fights, skills that deal insufficient damage, and overall game stability problems. Another review criticizes the forced combo gameplay and the lack of rewarding loot, expressing frustration over the game's direction away from the freedom of build customization that defines the ARPG genre. Players with thousands of hours in Path of Exile 1 have expressed disappointment, hoping for future fixes to make the game enjoyable again.
In response, GGG has released patch notes for the upcoming 0.2.0e update, set to launch on April 11. The changes aim to address the community's concerns:
Monster Speed Changes
GGG has made adjustments to monster behavior across various acts to reduce the overwhelming feeling players experienced. Key changes include the removal of interrupt events for human monsters like Cultists, Faridun, and Tribal Humans, which previously allowed them to relentlessly pursue and attack players. The Haste Aura modifier has also been removed from already fast monsters. Specific adjustments were made to monsters in Acts 1, 2, and 3, reducing their speed, life, damage, and density in certain areas to create a more balanced gameplay experience.
Boss Changes
Boss fights have been tweaked to reduce frustration. Viper Napuatzi's Chaos Rains have been reduced in number and size, and visual cleanup has been improved. Uxmal's fight has been adjusted to reduce his mobility and frequency of certain attacks, while Xyclucian's arena has been cleared of ground foliage to improve visibility of his effects.
Player Minion Changes
The revive timer for minions has been adjusted to prevent continuous resets, making minion-based gameplay more manageable. Additionally, changes to Bind Spectre and Tame Beast gems allow for more flexible use of these summoned creatures.
Other Player Balance
Further balance adjustments include expanding the use of Rally support to all melee attacks and fixing issues with certain skills and ascendancy abilities to improve gameplay consistency.
Crafting Changes
Crafting options have been enhanced with the addition of mods to runes for caster weapons and the introduction of a Blank rune at Renly's shop, which can be forged into any elemental rune. The availability of Artificers Orbs has also been increased through fixed drops.
Performance Improvements
Optimizations to ground foliage have been implemented to improve game performance, addressing one of the community's concerns about game stability.
0.2.0E Deployment Timeline
The 0.2.0e patch is scheduled for deployment at around 10AM NZT. GGG has also outlined future changes, including updates to charm slots, charm effectiveness, stash tab affinities, and the addition of Atlas Bookmarks, which will be implemented post-weekend.
The question remains whether these changes will be substantial enough to reverse the negative feedback and restore player satisfaction. Path of Exile 2's launch was a success, but the subsequent issues have also affected the development of Path of Exile 1, which continues to have a dedicated player base.
