Path of Exile 2 developer Grinding Gear Games (GGG) has rolled out further emergency changes to their action role-playing game in response to the community backlash against the Dawn of the Hunt update. The update, which was released earlier this month, introduced significant nerfs that led to a sharp decline in Steam user reviews, dropping them to 'mostly negative.'
The Dawn of the Hunt expansion added the new Huntress class, which utilizes Spear and Buckler for a hybrid melee and ranged combat style. Additionally, it introduced five new ascension classes: the Ritualist, Amazon, Smith of Kitava, Tactician, and Lich. Alongside these, the update brought mechanical overhauls, over one hundred new unique items, and significantly expanded crafting options. However, the community's reaction was overwhelmingly negative, with many players feeling that the game's pace had been slowed down too much, turning it into a "total slog."
The most highly-rated review from the last 30 days on Steam is a negative one, highlighting the current issues:
"Every boss fight is incredibly longer than it needs to be. Most of the skills do little to no damage. I understand they said they wanted to slow gameplay down, but I don't think I will even make it more than one week in this league at this point. It just feels incredibly awful right now, IF you can even get the game to run and be stable. That is a HUGE if."
Another negative review reads, "If you're a masochist who enjoys being punished for little to no reward, this game is for you. If you're not, it's likely that you won't enjoy the game."
Players have also criticized the initial release version (0.1) for issues like overly large areas, slow movement, and forced combo gameplay, which were somewhat mitigated by player-found "unintended" build options. However, the new version (0.2 - Dawn of the Hunt) exacerbated these issues, slowing down the game further and nerfing loot to the extent that defeating rare monsters or bosses often yields no rare items or crafting currencies. Players have expressed frustration over being forced into a specific playstyle, contrary to the freedom expected in an ARPG. Despite initial feedback on map size and slow movement being largely ignored, the community's outcry has forced GGG to take action.
A dedicated fan with over 5,000 hours in Path of Exile 1 stated, "I have 5k hours in PoE 1 and it's my favorite game of all time. I love GGG but honestly, I cannot recommend this game to almost anyone as it is now. Hopefully, they will be able to fix these issues in the future and make the game more enjoyable."
In response, GGG has already outlined a list of changes and has now announced further adjustments coming with the 0.2.0e update, set to be released on April 11. The question remains whether these changes will be sufficient to address the community's concerns and restore a positive outlook for the game.
Despite the backlash, Path of Exile 2 has seen significant success, with a large influx of players at launch. This success, however, has brought additional challenges that have even impacted the development of Path of Exile 1, which still enjoys a loyal following.
Path of Exile 2 Update 0.2.0e Patch Notes:
Monster Speed Changes
Many players have reported being overwhelmed by monsters. GGG is addressing these issues on a case-by-case basis, with specific changes listed by act. General adjustments include removing interrupt events from human monsters, such as Cultists in Freythorn, Faridun, and Tribal Humans in Act Three, particularly for attacks with multiple hits. The Haste Aura modifier will no longer appear on already fast monsters.
Act 1
- Werewolf Prowlers and Tendril Prowlers now enter a walking stance after performing a melee action, only running again if the player moves away.
- Hungering Stalkers now have 12% less Life and Damage to account for their high movement and attack speed.
- Reduced the number of Bloom Serpents in The Red Vale and halved the number of Venomous Crabs in the Hunting Grounds.
- Cultists in Freythorn no longer have interrupt events on their attacks and now walk after performing a melee action.
- Blood Cretins' Blood Pools on death now last 4 seconds instead of 6, with the area of effect matching the visual more closely.
- Reduced the overall density of more challenging monsters in Ogham Manor.
Act 2
- Boulder Ants in Titan Valley replaced by Risen Maraketh to reduce irritating monster movement.
- Faridun modified to remove interrupt events on their attacks.
Act 3
- Diretusk Boar and Antlion Charger now more likely to push players to the side instead of along when charging.
- Lost City monster pack composition adjusted to reduce ranged monsters.
- Massive adjustments to Azak Bog, including changes to interrupt events and monster composition to reduce ranged and elite monsters.
- Fixed Slitherspitter's poison spray in Venom Crypts to deal Physical Damage instead of Chaos Damage.
GGG has also identified an issue with inconsistent monster spawn density in different rooms, which will be fixed in a later patch.
Boss Changes
- Viper Napuatzi's fight now has fewer and smaller Chaos Rains, with quicker cleanup of visual effects for clearer drop locations.
- Uxmal's fight now has fewer location changes, cannot recharge Energy Shield while in the air, and uses Flame Breath less often.
- Xyclucian's arena now has less ground foliage for better visibility of effects.
Player Minion Changes
- Minion revive timers now increase less with each successive minion death, mitigating repeated resets.
- Disenchanting Bind Spectre or Tame Beast gems now unbinds them for reuse.
- Tamed beasts can now fit through gaps the player can.
Other Player Balance
- Rally support can now support any Melee Attack, not just Strikes or Slams.
- Glory from Hammer of the Gods and Spear of Solaris is no longer consumed if the player is interrupted.
- Fixed a bug where Blood Boils from the Ritualist ascendancy didn't propagate on monster death explosions.
Crafting Changes
- All mods added to runes for caster weapons on Wands and Staves.
- Renly's abandoned shop in the Burning Village now has a Blank rune that can be forged into any elemental rune.
- 12 Artificers Orb's now drop at fixed locations throughout the campaign.
Performance Improvements
- Ground foliage in many areas optimized for better performance.
0.2.0E Deployment Timeline
The 0.2.0e patch will be deployed at around 10AM NZT. Additional internal changes did not make it into this patch but will be included in future updates.
Charm Changes
GGG aims to make charms more useful and easier to use:
- Charm slots on belts are now granted by implicit mods, with the number of slots random up to a cap based on the belt's level. Divine Orbs can reroll the number of slots.
- Belts have 1 charm slot until level 32, up to 2 until level 64, and up to 3 from level 65 onwards.
- Unique Belts can always have up to 3 charm slots, with future plans to remove the cap on charm-increasing mods.
- Charms now properly protect from the hit that activates them, with enhanced mods for increased power and rewards.
Stash Tab Affinities
- New affinities added for Socketables, Fragments (including Tablets and Trial Keys), Breach, Expedition, and Ritual items.
- Charms can now be stored in the Flask stash tab or any tab with the Flask affinity.
Atlas Bookmarks
- Players can now bookmark locations on their atlas for easy navigation, with up to 16 bookmarks available.
- Bookmarks can be accessed via icons around the screen or a list under the legend, allowing for quick travel to bookmarked locations.
