Path of Exile II Launches This Year For PC and Consoles

Developer Grinding Gear Games recently announced that the free-to-play action RPG Path of Exile II will launch in late 2024 in Early Access for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. A new trailer was also released. According to the developer,

Path of Exile II is a new seven-act storyline that is available alongside the original Path of Exile 1 campaign. Both the old and new storyline lead to the same shared Atlas endgame. Path of Exile 2 retains all expansion content that has been created over the last six years and introduces a new skill system, ascendancy classes, engine improvements, and more.

The game’s details can be seen below:

Path of Exile has always been a game that plays great with your friends, but until now, you needed multiple devices to play it on. For Path of Exile II though, we really wanted to bring the experience of playing together to the couch. Players can play collaboratively on a single account, or log in with two separate Path of Exile accounts on the same console.

In addition, Path of Exile II is introducing full cross-play and cross-progression. Play with your friends without losing any progress!

Key Features

Twelve Character Classes – Path of Exile II features twelve character classes, two for every combination of Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence. While each of the class variants focuses on a different playstyle, they’re just a starting point. You can combine skills from many classes together to create your ideal character build. Each of the twelve character classes has its own three Ascendancy specializations, resulting in a total of 36 Ascendancy Classes to pick between.

New Skill Gem System – Path of Exile II features 240 Skill Gems that grant devastating active skills, and 200 Support Gems that modify their behavior. Earn the Gems as you play through the Campaign and combine them together to create your perfect build. This is the next generation of Path of Exile’s famous skill system. Support Gems are now socketed directly into Skill Gems, removing many of the frustrations present in the old system while maintaining all the previous depth. It’s now possible to six-link every skill your character uses.

Dual-Specialize Your Passive Skill Tree – Path of Exile’s iconic Passive Skill Tree has made a return, with 1,500 skills that allow you to completely customize your gameplay experience. It now features Dual Specialization, the ability to allocate some passive skill points to two different sets of skills. They engage whenever the appropriate weapon or skill type is used. For example, you can have some points allocated to both daggers and traps, or ice and lightning, and as you swap between attacks, the appropriate skill points will apply. This lets you specialize in multiple areas without opportunity cost.

Uncover All-New Items – Path of Exile II features 700 equipment base types and every single one has its own unique item you can find. You can augment your arsenal with new weapons such as Spears, Crossbows and Flails, as well as supplementary items like Focuses, Traps and redesigned Sceptres.

Encounter Unique Bosses – In Path of Exile II, every area of the Campaign contains a boss encounter. There’s over a hundred bosses to fight as you make your way through the Acts and they all have unique mechanics to learn.

Explore a New Endgame – At the conclusion of Path of Exile II’s six-act campaign, you’ll gain access to its endgame. Each of the more than 100 endgame maps has its own boss encounter! We’ll reveal more details of the surprises that await you in Path of Exile II’s endgame in the leadup to release.

Fair-to-Play. Never Pay-to-Win – Path of Exile II is a separate game to the original Path of Exile. We will continue to offer expansions for both games going forward. They are completely free-to-play and will never be “pay to win.” Purchases are shared between the two games.

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