General News

Players, just when everyone was getting impatient, Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 brought another surprise: a preview of new Ascendancy changes and new Unique items. This new information could once again revolutionize the game.

Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy

Gemling Legionnaire, previously at the bottom of PoE 2's pick rate, has finally received a substantial rework from the developers. The core idea behind this rework is to give each Skill Gem an additional quality effect.

Specifically, each Skill Gem already has a base quality bonus, but choosing Gemling Legionnaire will grant you an additional, completely independent enhancement attribute specific to that Ascendancy.

For example, with Fireball, the normal quality effect has a chance to fire two additional projectiles, while Gemling Legionnaire's exclusive effect adds another chance to fire projectiles simultaneously in eight surrounding directions, instantly transforming it into a visual effect similar to shotgun shells or a ring-shaped explosion, potentially significantly improving map clearing efficiency.

For example, Explosive Shot's original reload mechanic has been reworked to load additional bolts, resulting in higher burst damage per hit.

According to official sources, over 200 skill gems in the game now have this handcrafted variant. This means that almost every active skill can potentially lead to builds that differ from conventional playstyles.

Furthermore, this ascendancy also has a passive buff tied to attributes. Depending on the proportions of Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, the character will periodically gain Motes, providing bonuses such as Energy Shield, Life Regeneration, or Mana regeneration.

It's clear that the developers want Gemling Legionnaire to be a highly customizable ascension where the skills themselves determine the gameplay, while attribute allocation, in turn, enhances the skills.

While optimizing these quality effects may require a significant investment of PoE 2 currency, this ascendancy rework has revived unpopular classes and added another dimension to the game's already vast skill combination system.

Chronomancer Ascendancy

The newly added Phased Form node for Chronomancer is the biggest surprise of this update. This node contains two independent descriptions: first, all incoming damage is reduced by 30%; second, after being hit by an enemy, there's a 4-second delay before you receive 30% of the damage from that hit.

Many people's first reaction might be that 700 of the original 1000 damage is reduced immediately, and the remaining 300 is deducted after 4 seconds. However, these two effects are actually calculated independently.

The correct calculation should be that after a 30% reduction in damage, you will immediately receive 700 points of damage from 1000 points of damage. After 4 seconds, you receive an additional 700 damage (30%), which is 210 damage, for a total of 910 damage received, equivalent to an overall 9% damage reduction.

Compared to a simple 30% damage reduction, 9% may seem small, but its real value lies in the 4-second delay window.

You can use Flask, activate armor, or rely on other defensive mechanisms within these 4 seconds to mitigate the upcoming 210 damage.

More importantly, Chronomancer already possesses Temporal Rift skill. If used within these 4 seconds, the 210 points of delayed damage will be completely negated, as the system will determine that the damage has not yet occurred.

This means the actual damage taken is only 700 points, equivalent to a direct 30% damage reduction with no subsequent costs.

Additionally, this update also adjusts Chronomancer's node layout. Time Freeze and Time Snap now only require 4 nodes to unlock. A new Now and Again node has been added, giving Cascadable Spells a 20% chance to Echo and Repeatable Spells a 20% chance to Repeat.

Chronomancer also has the potential to synergize with other defensive mechanisms.

For example, passive skills like Sacrifice of Flesh can prevent 20% of your life loss when you take hit damage, with the prevented portion being converted into a slow drain at a rate of 150%.

Combined with the 30% damage reduction from Phased Form and Defiance of Destiny, a three-tiered defense system can theoretically be built: damage reduction, delay, and rollback. This is particularly suitable for boss battles in hardcore modes.

New Unique Items

Facebreaker

Facebreaker is a pair of gloves with no level requirement, meaning you can equip it from level 1. It provides an additional 1% unarmed damage for every 5% of Strength, and when attacking unarmed, if you would normally use a one-handed hammer skill, you now directly use the glove's base damage without needing any weapon.

Let's assume the character has 1000 Strength, that's 200% more unarmed damage; 2000 Strength is 400% more unarmed damage. With this setup, combined with the attack speed advantage of unarmed attacks and hammer skills, it performs well for clearing maps and fighting bosses in the mid-game.

But in the late game, it still struggles to surpass top-tier hammer weapons. However, for players exploring new content, leveling alts, or those who enjoy a strength-stacking playstyle, these gloves are definitely worth paying attention to.

The Auspex Exquisite Vest

This armor's effects include a chance to deflect when low on health and gain a level 20 Mist Raven.

The Mist Raven will use your Culling Strike threshold to perform a cooperative attack, converting 70% of physical damage into chaos damage. It has a 12-second base cooldown but deals a whopping 1000% damage.

Furthermore, it has a Companion tag, allowing us to synergize with Companion nodes in the summon skill tree for even more bonuses.

So, these are the exciting new features just leaked in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, and these new features could make gameplay even more insane!

Since Path of Exile 2 entered its Early Access phase, the game has finally received its most massive update to date: Patch 0.5.0 Return of the Ancients. Based on current reveals, this update may very well be the final major patch before the full 1.0 release.

In terms of sheer scope, 0.5.0 certainly does not disappoint. It introduces not only brand-new Ascendancies and an Atlas Tree rework but also a completely new Runes system. This system allows you to customize your gear, construct new defensive fortifications, and even upgrade otherwise mediocre unique items, fundamentally revolutionizing the existing build meta.

Do you want to avoid pitfalls, quickly identify the best starter build for your playstyle, and get a head start as you dive into Runes of Aldur League? That is exactly where this guide comes in handy! Below, drawing upon current patch previews and hands-on experience, we will break down the absolute best choices for your initial league start and progression in PoE 2 0.5.0!

Way of the Stonefist Monk

First up is Way of the Stonefist Monk, an evolution of the wildly popular Hollow Palm Monk build from Patch 0.3.0. In Update 0.5.0, the new Martial Artist Ascendancy introduces Way of the Stonefist skill, elevating unarmed combat to unprecedented heights and truly transforming your bare fists into solid stone.

By fully investing in Stun Buildup nodes on Passive Skill Tree, stunning bosses becomes incredibly effortless while simultaneously unlocking massive damage output. More importantly, the brand-new Hollow Resonance Technique perfectly resolves a major pain point of previous builds, the need to frequently place Bells. Now, players can permanently carry a Bell on their back, granting them a constant bonus to their stun capabilities.

It is also worth noting that the reworked Hollow Form, which enables the use of Channeling Skills, can be effectively paired with Whirling Assault skill to deliver sustained, channeled damage. Additionally, we can fully leverage Way of the Mountain passive within Martial Artist Ascendancy to further bolster our defensive capabilities.

And our exploration does not end there. With the debut of a new array of Rune options in Patch 0.5.0, there is no doubt that we now possess a vast arsenal of tools to utterly crush our opponents. By utilizing Runic Meridians, we can embed brand-new Runes into our gear; simultaneously, we can tactically switch to a Charged Staff to unleash the Triskelion Cascade skill.

Natural Order Huntress

Next up, we present a build that is as entertaining as it is powerful: Pokémon Master, you've likely already guessed what we're getting at! This build takes full advantage of Huntress's brand-new Spirit Walkers Ascendancy. Within this talent tree, we can unlock The Natural Order node, granting us the ability to tame and capture unique Beast Bosses.

That's right: in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, you can recruit former enemies to your cause, turning them into your very own combat pets. When paired with The Catha's Balance node, which boosts your companions' damage by a massive 60%, you can effortlessly obliterate anything that stands in your way.

Depending on the specific boss captured and the chosen weapon path, this build branches into two incredibly potent variants:

• Bahlak, the Sky Seer: Visually reminiscent of the legendary Zapdos from the original Pokémon games, this variant synergizes with Huntress's Spear skills to trigger a frenzy of Twister and Hurricane effects, overwhelming enemies beneath a storm-filled sky.
• Land Shark: This pet-centric build focuses on physical damage over time. By leveraging the numerous Bleed-related nodes within Spear skill tree, combined with the Land Shark's unique visual effects and biting attacks, you can watch your enemies collapse as they bleed out endlessly.

Which boss are you most eager to capture and raise as your very own legendary Pokémon?

Twisted Empyrean Smith of Kitava

Now, let's turn our attention to Twisted Empyrean Smith of Kitava. This is a highly specialized build that relies heavily on specific unique items, yet offers an incredibly high damage ceiling right from the early game. If you have access to sufficient PoE 2 currency early on to optimize your gear, this build can even facilitate a seamless transition directly into the endgame.

Of course, the entire strategy hinges on Twisted Empyrean Two-Handed Mace. The true power of this weapon lies in its ability to completely convert Fire Trail damage from all your Mace skills into Cold damage, a transformation that is also visually reflected in the game world. 

Just imagine: your originally orange-red Volcanic Fissure suddenly transforms into a brilliant azure glacial rift, it's absolutely thrilling! This means we can focus entirely on Cold damage builds, crafting a brand-new aesthetic style and character build playstyle that is both visually stunning and incredibly innovative.

Furthermore, this piece of gear comes with an exclusive skill called Starborn Onslaught. However, casting this skill consumes Glory resources; this is precisely why we chose Smith of Kitava Ascendancy, as it provides us with increased Glory generation efficiency.

Of course, Titan is also an excellent choice. The additional stun buildup it provides, combined with Area of Effect (AoE) damage bonuses from slam skills, is sure to deliver a breathtaking combat experience that offers both powerful crowd control and a visual spectacle.

Builds Centered on New Unique Items

If the three mainstream league-start strategies mentioned above don't pique your interest, several brand-new Unique items introduced in Path of Exile 2 version 0.5.0 offer some highly promising alternative directions for your league start:

Periphery Spirit Walkers

Once Spirit Walkers unlock all Spirits, they grant Sacred Unity effect, allowing all Spirits to be active simultaneously. Additionally, Periphery unique item comes with an exclusive skill called Azmerian Swarms, which summons even more Azmerian Wisps. When combined with the extra idols provided by Idolatry gear, the resulting damage is absolutely cataclysmic, making it perfect for high-speed farming in the endgame.

Liminal Coil

This staff allows players to unleash a potent Chaos projectile; with just a flick of the wrist, you can use a torrent of green chaotic energy to clear an entire map.

The Ordained Grand Spear

The Ordained comes with high inherent Life Leech and Lightning Damage, and its attacks trigger wide-ranging Lightning Chains. When activating specific skills, your character will leap high into the air before smashing down onto the ground, effortlessly clearing every pack of trash mobs on your screen.

In summary, for players who prioritize stability and enjoy the visceral impact of melee combat combined with powerful crowd control, Way of the Stonefist Monk is an absolute Tier 0, top-tier choice for starting the league. For those seeking novel mechanics and eager to farm maps alongside their minions, Natural Order Huntress offers not only a fun and engaging playstyle but also powerful damage-amplification mechanics capable of easily carrying you all the way through T16 maps. 

We hope this Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 league starter build guide helps all Exiles successfully clear Return of the Ancients! Good luck!

Among the two new Ascendancy classes in Path of Exile 2, Spirit Walker offers one of the most varied - and arguably the most entertaining - playstyles. It allows you to capture beasts from the story campaign and have them fight by your side, much like taming creatures in a certain monster-collecting franchise.

These beasts are not limited to rare monsters; you can even use this skill to capture some troublesome bosses. Turning a difficult enemy into an ally is a remarkably cool idea, and players interested in this build will naturally want to know which beasts can become their most powerful companions.

Natural Order

Spirit Walker Ascendancy class's most impactful skill is called Natural Order. This ability permits players to tame Unique Beasts - that is, boss-level monsters. Moreover, tamed beasts receive a movement speed bonus and are possessed by random Azmeri Spirits, granting them additional area-of-effect abilities.

During an interview, the official development team behind Path of Exile 2 stated that tamed beasts would receive a triple damage bonus - they want players to truly rely on these bosses for dealing damage. However, they have not revealed which bosses can be tamed. Therefore, the evaluations below are speculative, based on players' combat experiences with these bosses, not on official data. For different bosses serving as followers, factors such as skill frequency, AI behavior, and survivability will all affect their actual performance.

Act 1

The Devourer (Tier C)

• Location: Mud Burrow

The Devourer frequently burrows underground to avoid damage, during which it does not attack. This passive behavior is a major flaw in a follower - players need an aggressively offensive ally. Lacking effective area damage, its overall performance is likely poor.

The Crowbell (Tier B)

• Location: Hunting Grounds

The Crowbell moves swiftly and has clean, crisp attack animations. It strikes a giant bell to deal respectable melee area damage. Since enemies won't deliberately dodge, its clear speed should be promising. However, a pure melee style may lead to survivability issues, and its health pool is lower than that of other bosses, so it might die frequently.

Count Geonor (Tier S)

• Location: The Iron Manor

In his wolf form, Count Geonor possesses terrifying area damage and a powerful guided ice spear ability. However, since he transforms from a humanoid leader, he likely cannot be classified as a beast. If capturable, he would undoubtedly be S-tier.

Act 2

Rathbreaker (Tier C)

• Location: Vastiri Outskirts

Rathbreaker has acceptable attack speed, with most attacks being narrow cones or small circles. But it lacks large-area AoE, and its signature arrow volley may come from off-screen minions rather than its own skill. If that ability does not belong to it, its value drops significantly.

Ekbab, Ancient Steed (Tier C)

• Location: The Bone Pits

Ekbab, Ancient Steed moves slowly. Its large size provides decent base area coverage, but it is also pure melee. It gains an enrage skill after another summoner boss dies, but that may not carry over as a follower. However, if its health pool is extremely high, it could work well with builds that scale off life.

Constrictor Queen Kabala (Tier B)

• Location: The Lost City of Keth

Constrictor Queen Kabala is a ranged-attack boss with solid area skills. If the snakes it summons during combat count as its own abilities, that could bring extra summoning synergies. It also has a projectile basic attack. If it uses that attack frequently and creates overlapping ground explosions, its potential increases further.

Act 3

Silverback Blackfist (Tier A)

• Location: Jungle Ruins

Silverback Blackfist has an excellent design. It delivers large-area AoE and high damage. The only drawback is that some of its slam animations have a wind-up, which may reduce damage output efficiency.

Xyclucian, the Chimera (Tier A)

• Location: Chimeral Wetlands

This creature has many different skills, each dealing different damage types. Its animations are fast and clean. The downside is that its skill set is too scattered to receive effective bonuses from a single damage type or curse. It is a cool follower but difficult to build around.

Act 4

Great White One (Tier A)

• Location: Whakapanu Island

Great White One's tail swipe is a wide-area sweep. The key is its summoned tornado skill - if the tornado is the boss's own ability rather than a terrain mechanic, it would greatly improve clear speed.

Blind Beast (Tier D)

• Location: Isle of Kin

Blind Beast, compared to other bosses in Path of Exile 2, feels more like an ordinary rare monster than a unique boss. Its model is small, its movements are slow, its attacks are weak, and it has no distinctive features.

Yama the White (Tier B)

• Location: Halls of the Dead

Yama the White is fast and has decent AoE, but its combat mechanics are numerous, and it is uncertain which will carry over. Some of its flashy animations may also slow down the pace of battle.

Scourge of the Skies (Tier S)

• Location: Shrike Island

Scourge of the Skies barely moves, but all its skills have enormous range and extremely high damage. It can summon small birds, and has abilities like tornadoes, blood rain, and a channeled vomit attack. It deals primarily physical damage - a single damage type - meaning you can further enhance its output through support gems. Overall, it holds great potential.

Diamora, Song of Death (Tier D)

• Location: Singing Caverns

Diamora, Song of Death has a human form and a beast form that differ greatly. Its core abilities - water spouts and shrieks - have small areas, and many of its mechanics are likely exclusive to its arena. As a follower, its performance may be completely different from its boss version.

Interlude

The Abominable Yeti (Tier A)

• Location: Howling Caves

The Abominable Yeti shares similar moves with Silverback Blackfist - AoE, damage, and speed - making it equally powerful. However, Silverback Blackfist appears as early as Act 3, giving it a relative advantage.

Rakkar, the Frozen Talon (Tier A)

• Location: Glacial Tarn

Rakkar, the Frozen Talon has respectable AoE and solid damage, but some of its skills have a casting time of up to three seconds, which would slow down the pace during fast clear mapping.

Trial of Chaos

Uxmal, the Beastlord (Tier A)

• Location: Temple of Chaos

Uxmal is essentially the same as Xyclucian, the Chimera - three-headed, winged, with a wide variety of moves, large-area AoE, and multiple damage types. Its strengths and issues are identical.

Chetza, the Feathered Plague (Tier S)

• Location: Temple of Chaos

Chetza can be considered an upgraded version of Scourge of the Skies. Its tornado skill is exceptionally powerful, and many players have fallen to it on their first encounter. Its damage is beyond question. As long as its AI favors frequent tornado use, you will have unparalleled clear speed.

Bahlak, the Sky Seer (Tier A)

• Location: Temple of Chaos

Bahlak, the Sky Seer also possesses highly promising tornado-based clear skills. However, it has a variety of other moves as well, so it may not prioritize using its best clearing ability.

The above is a list of all currently discovered tamable leaders. Please note that all ratings involve uncertainty; actual performance can only be verified after the version goes live. Hopefully, this guide helps you plan which targets you want to tame in advance.

Spirit Walker Ascendancy class will be a popular choice in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, which will also increase the value of related gear. But don't worry, you can buy cheap and fast PoE 2 currency at IGGM, allowing you to easily trade for the gear and weapons you want even during the early stages of the game!

According to the official confirmed timeline, Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 will be released in about two weeks. While this update doesn't bring a new class, Monk introduces a very cool ascendancy called Martial Artist. To help you have a smoother experience during your progression, let's explore Martial Artist's skills and mechanics together!

Martial Artist is Monk's third ascendancy. Players had long speculated that it would be some kind of hand-to-hand combat style, but the official announcement reveals that it's not purely hand-to-hand combat, but more like the attack-building, charging, and detonation combat loop style from Diablo 2.

Core Ascendancy Skills

Hollow Focus Technique

This skill periodically summons a ghostly bell near you. Your attacks instantly shatter the bell, releasing a shockwave that damages nearby enemies and powerfully stuns enemies already in a stun preparation state.

The bell itself remains in a stun preparation state and can be executed. This is essentially a significant upgrade to Monk's original bell skill, making it automatically triggered and requiring no manual placement.

Hollow Form Technique

After channeling Hollow Form, illusions will be summoned near your target location. These illusions will disappear after using one of the melee attack skills in your inventory once.

This means that skills with smaller ranges can now be used efficiently to clear mobs, especially when combined with the ghostly bell attack generated by Hollow Focus Technique for maximum map clearing efficiency.

Hollow Resonance Technique

A spectral bell is attached to the bell. When your other skills crit, the spectral bell emits a resonant wave that damages nearby enemies.

This is a huge boost to the critical strike Monk build, as the previous weakness of Monks was generating energy orbs; now, critical strikes can trigger resonance. Sustain and burst damage are significantly improved in boss fights.

Runic Meridians

By engraving runes on your body, you gain 5 additional rune sockets, distributed across your helmet (1), body armor (2), gloves (1), and boots (1).

Each piece of equipment can gain additional sockets through corruption. Martial Artist further pushes the limits, giving players more freedom in rune configuration to compensate for weaknesses.

Way of the Mountain

Gain Mountain's Teachings stacks when immobilizing enemies. Each stack increases attack damage and stun threshold.

Additionally, minor damage from enemy attacks (damage not exceeding 30% of your maximum health after armor and resistance reduction) is reduced by 70%. Stacks disappear after 8 seconds without gaining new stacks, and are also consumed when hit or used.

Way of the Stonefist

Way of the Stonefist is the most crucial and anticipated skill in the entire advanced skill tree, though many players may find it absurd.

It transforms your equipped gloves into a new base called Fists of Stone, and the original affixes are converted into more powerful related affixes.

Fists of Stone is a glove base that cannot be obtained through normal means; it can only be created by using Martial Artist's Way of the Stonefist skill. Unequipping the gloves will restore them to their original base.

Fists of Stone provides a base stat of +3 evasion rating per level and +1 maximum energy shield per level.

But what's even more astonishing is the affix conversion mechanism of this skill.

A pair of ordinary gloves that originally only provided physical damage, cold damage, lightning damage, and various resistances, transforms into an extremely powerful piece of gear after being converted into Fists of Stone, providing additional physical damage, additional cold damage, additional lightning damage, percentage-based maximum resistances, and a massive bonus to damage dealt.

This is by no means the expected unchanged state; this skill may be significantly nerfed before Patch 0.5.0 is officially released.

Skill Synergy

Martial Artist has great potential for synergy with Nightfall, a new item dropped in Patch 0.5.0. Nightfall is a Unique Fortress Tower Shield, dropped by Breach pinnacle boss in Patch 0.5.0, and its essence lies in granting players the active skill Soaring Midnight.

Throw your shield as a projectile, and it will return after its flight. During the shield's flight, this skill will be replaced by Embrace the Fall. You can teleport to the shield's location and unleash a powerful downward slam.

This skill has a 4-second cooldown, but the cooldown can be skipped in the following two situations: first, successfully catching the shield upon its return; second, destroying Ice Crystals on the field during Embrace the Fall impact.

While Martial Artist's damage potential with this shield is impressive, from a pure efficiency standpoint, Titan, with its AoE nodes, might be a better fit for this skill.

However, Martial Artist's almost unbalanced Way of Stonefist glove amplification makes it difficult for players to be unwilling to sacrifice some area-of-effect damage for maximum damage.

Leveling Strategy

Nightfall drops from Breach pinnacle boss, a high-difficulty endgame item, making it extremely difficult to obtain.

We can use other strong leveling classes to complete early leveling and map clearing, farm Nightfall while also accumulating PoE2 currency, and then level a new Monk character to build the final build.

Monk ascendancy class Martial Artist in Patch 0.5.0 possesses almost monstrous damage potential. However, the official release is still about two weeks away, and Nightfall isn't easily obtained, so the final playability will depend on the official values ​​released when the new patch goes live on May 29th.

Given the three-week gap between the launch of Patch 0.5.0 and the official reveal livestream, Path of Exile 2 has adopted a new strategy for announcing its latest content updates.

Consequently, the comprehensive announcement has been postponed until May 21st; prior to that date, however, a series of short videos will be released to showcase key new features and items.

Among the videos released so far, the one introducing two new unique items has generated the most buzz. Below, we will walk you through these items based on the video's content and analyze their potential value.

New shield overview

The first item featured is a shield named Nightfall Fortress Tower. Visually, it is perfectly circular and predominantly black, featuring a pulsating red eye at its center surrounded by a decorative ring of hand-like motifs.

To equip this shield, your character must be at least Level 84 and possess the strength attribute of 249 points. Upon equipping it, you immediately gain access to two exclusive skills granted by the shield: Raise Shield and Soaring Midnight.

Furthermore, the shield provides a substantial bonus to block chance and offers a respectable amount of armor. More importantly, in addition to granting cold resistance, it converts a portion of incoming fire and lightning damage into cold damage.

Judging by the gameplay demonstration in the video, wielding Nightfall Fortress Tower effectively transforms you into the Captain America of Wraeclast!

You can hurl the shield while on the run; it flies outward, obliterating any enemies standing in its path as it makes its return journey.

If you double-tap the skill key, you can instantly teleport to the shield's current location, unleashing a powerful slam attack that simultaneously triggers an additional aftershock effect.

How does it synergize with other new mechanics?

As you may already know, beyond just new items, Return of the Ancients update introduces a host of brand-new mechanics, such as Ezomyte Runesmithing, which allow you to utilize Kalguuran technology to enhance your gear.

Currently, the best shields obtainable in the game via trading offer approximately 1,300 points of armor. While this figure exceeds the armor provided by Nightfall Fortress Tower, the latter compensates with the exceptional mobility offered by its unique skills.

Furthermore, if you enhance its quality through crafting, its armor value increases by an additional 20%; socketing runes yields a further 36% armor boost, ultimately allowing its value to rival that of existing high-tier shields.

However, it is crucial to note that when you upgrade unique items using Ezomyte Runesmithing, the gear loses its original base attributes.

While the specific impact on Nightfall Fortress Tower remains unclear, if the transformation indeed results in a loss of armor, you would be unable to equip it on a character utilizing a Shield Warrior build.

More unique attribute analysis

The effectiveness of this shield's damage conversion attribute depends primarily on the type of damage dealt by enemies during combat; thus, it proves most useful in specific situational contexts.

The truly impressive feature of Nightfall Fortress Tower is that it grants you an additional physical damage bonus scaled directly to the shield's armor value.

Consequently, if you empower it through crafting or by socketing runes, you can significantly boost its damage output, a mechanism that appears to be a remarkably potent offensive tool.

Additionally, the shield's effect, piercing through all enemies along its path as it flies out and returns, can be further enhanced by Support Gems that increase the number of projectiles.

New grenade launchers overview

This item is named Redemption Trarthon Cannon. Although PoE 2 classifies its gear type as a crossbow, its actual functionality is undeniably that of a cannon.

It boasts a base physical damage range of 53 to 124, an attack speed of 1.4 attacks per second, and requires a minimum character level of 65.

It is important to note that this weapon cannot load or fire standard arrows (ammunition); instead, it functions exclusively as a platform for utilizing grenade-based skills.

Statistically, this cannon possesses endgame-level power. Furthermore, compared to similar crossbows, its damage variance is significantly narrower, resulting in a much more consistent damage output.

Therefore, unless a workaround for this issue is subsequently discovered, the overall utility of Redemption Trarthon Cannon could be severely compromised.

Additionally, the item features a reduced cooldown recovery rate; however, for grenade-based skills, this is actually a beneficial attribute, as it allows you to launch grenades with greater frequency.

Another key feature of this gear piece is that every time you use a grenade skill twice, you gain one stack of Explosive Rhythm buff. This buff can stack up to a maximum of 10 times, at which point you enter Explosive Fervor state.

While in this state, your attack speed is significantly increased. Furthermore, your grenade skills bypass their cooldowns and fire an additional grenade, one that detonates instantly the moment it strikes a target.

This obviously results in excellent screen-clearing capabilities, proving highly beneficial for boosting farming efficiency.

Conclusion

Both of these items are expected to offer exciting new gameplay experiences in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0.

However, whether they are truly worth acquiring and investing in, specifically regarding upgrades, depends largely on your individual needs, as well as the remaining details yet to be revealed.

We hope this overview has helped you gain a deeper understanding of Return of the Ancients. Be sure to stay tuned for more exciting videos to be released over the next two weeks!

To continuously enhance the utility of these new items in Patch 0.5.0, beyond just utilizing the new crafting mechanics, it is highly recommended that you buy PoE 2 currency on IGGM!

This way, you can freely re-roll or add affixes to your gear whenever you wish, or even boost its overall quality! Ensure your gear is fully optimized to help you tackle the game's most challenging endgame content!

Guys, we now know more about Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, but is it really as much as you think? With so much talk about the dazzling update, what are the highlights and shortcomings we should pay attention to? Let's find out.

Amazing Improvements

Two Convenient Features

Patch 0.5.0 includes a built-in build planning system, allowing players to directly mark equipment slots, preset skill tree paths, and plan when to acquire skill gems in the character panel, eliminating the need to frequently consult external documentation or third-party tools.

Simultaneously, a built-in price lookup tool replaces some third-party plugins, allowing players to price items directly in-game, ensuring price competitiveness in trades.

Both of these improvements significantly reduce the frequency with which players need to leave the game, truly focusing on the player experience and improving game smoothness - definitely a highlight.

Challenge System Launch

A series of challenge missions have been added to the game, rewarding players with a very cool armor set upon completion. This challenge not only encourages players to try gameplay styles they wouldn't normally encounter, but also provides a clear long-term goal for each league, further enhancing the game's replayability.

Endgame Content Completely Overhauled

As most players know, the endgame content in Patch 0.5.0 has been almost entirely reworked, adding a story-driven league mechanic and a static points of interest system.

Each league mechanic, such as Ritual and Breach, now has its own independent storyline, new NPCs, and new items. Static points of interest are now clearly marked on the map; progressing just four nodes from the center will lead to the first tower, unlocking a large dungeon castle rising from the ground.

Atlas skill tree introduces multi-choice nodes, requiring players to weigh whether to buff themselves or strengthen the boss for additional PoE 2 currency rewards. The three Atlas masters, Doryani, Jado, and Hilda, will each offer different gameplay options, such as extra resurrections or replacing rare monsters with map bosses. 

In addition, the map search function not only highlights target nodes but also allows direct jumps, and the contrast clarity is far superior to the earlier skill tree search.

Campaign Guidance Optimization

After completing the ritual at Hunting Grounds, a swarm of locusts will fly from the ritual point towards Freythorn, a subtle environmental cue that subtly guides the player's path. This guidance method will be further expanded in Act 5 and Act 6.

Sometimes players need these subtle optimizations to make PoE even more enjoyable.

Two New Ascendancy Classes

Martial Artist ascendancy in Monk grants a set of custom gloves and a new active channeling skill; Spirit Walker ascendancy in Huntress allows the taming of beast-type bosses. Meanwhile, there are indications that interacting with the new NPC Chayula may unlock a hidden ascendancy.

Highlights Worth Noting

Runes of Aldur League

The new league Runes of Aldur brings expanded expedition mechanics and a Uniques upgrade system. This league allows players to travel to the southern islands and introduces a complex crafting system.

One key feature is the ability to upgrade lower-tier Unique items to higher-tier ones, resolving the long-standing issue of many Uniques being unusable because of low base stats.

A Plethora of New Unique Gear

This update adds Heavy Belt Mageblood and spears like Ordained. It also includes a hammer that converts all fire damage to cold damage and alters skill visuals, and the classic Brutus' Lead Sprinkler makes a comeback.

Furthermore, the game adds over 20 new active skills that are usable across weapons.

Endgame Maps and New Bosses

Over 30 brand-new endgame map layouts have been added, boasting stunning visuals. Several new pinnacle bosses have also been added, and judging from the trailer clips, these boss battles appear to be extremely challenging.

Existing Issues

No New Classes or Swords

While two new ascendancy classes were added, players expecting a duelist class and swords were disappointed, and these players have indicated they will not return to the game in this update.

Too Many Socketables

The development team originally claimed that the socketables system was intended to replace the overly complex Crafting Bench, lowering the barrier to entry for new players.

However, the actual game added hundreds, even thousands, of socketables with different functions, each relying on drops and farming, and disappearing once embedded. This made the system more complex than the original Crafting Bench.

Also Read: Path of Exile 2 0.5.0 Return of the Ancients may be the Biggest Update Ever | Endgame Rework Finally Arrives

Unclear Balance Adjustments

Specific patch notes won't be released until May 21st, and we currently know very little about the balance adjustments that will be made.

The official Q&A stated that the gap between top-tier and average players is reasonable, for example, a boss fight taking 119 seconds versus 8 seconds. But is this 15-fold difference really acceptable? Hopefully, the final balance adjustments will narrow this gap.

Overall Complexity Out of Control

The overall complexity of PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 has far exceeded expectations, posing a significant challenge for newcomers.

Although the game is still in early testing, its sheer number of systems, interaction methods, and the diversity of character progression paths are already extremely complex, potentially surpassing PoE 1.

If the in-game guidance isn't clear enough, many players will probably feel extremely lost after reaching the endgame.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Patch 0.5.0 should be the last major update in the early access phase of PoE 2. While there are no new classes, overall it's something to look forward to!

Based on live streams and other teaser information, it is now confirmed that Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 is an incredibly substantial update. It not only delivers the long-awaited endgame and Atlas Tree rework but also introduces a wealth of brand-new content.

Since Patch 0.4.0 introduced the new main class, Druid, PoE 2 has now shifted its focus to Ascendancy Classes.

By adding two new options, the update ensures that players of Monk and Huntress main classes can also enjoy a full selection of three distinct Ascendancy specializations.

With this in mind, this article will focus specifically on introducing Huntress's third Ascendancy: Spirit Walker.

Huntress and related Ascendancy Classes

While the design of some main classes in Path of Exile 2 draws inspiration from the first game, Huntress, who debuted last April in Patch 0.2.0, Dawn of the Hunt, is an entirely original creation. Upon her initial release, she proved to be an exceptionally powerful class.

Although Huntress's player base has naturally shifted somewhat following subsequent balance adjustments and the introduction of new classes, she remains, on the whole, a highly viable and worthwhile main class choice.

At launch, Huntress featured two Ascendancy classes: Amazon and Ritualist. The former specializes in dealing ranged critical damage using spears and projectiles, while the latter focuses on a dark caster playstyle.

Building upon this foundation, Patch 0.5.0 introduces the third Ascendancy for Huntress: Spirit Walker.

Spirit Walker Overview

If you choose to unlock this Ascendancy, you will gain access to the power of Azmerian Animal Spirits, allowing you to harness the unique abilities of three distinct animal spirits: the stag, the owl, and the bear.

Furthermore, Spirit Walker features a suite of unique skills. Based on their thematic effects, these skills are categorized into three types: Primal, Vivid, and Wild. Each corresponding directly to one of the three animal spirits. These skills include:

• Vivid Stampede
• Primal Bounty
• Wild Protector
• The Morrigan's Guidance
• The Mhacha's Gift
• The Catha's Balance
• Sacred Unity
• The Natural Order
• Idolatry

Overall, the primary strength of this Ascendancy lies in its ability to adapt to a wide variety of combat situations by utilizing different types of skills.

However, precisely because this versatility allows for a multitude of complex build combinations, Spirit Walker can be a challenging class to fully master.

Azmerian Animal Spirits in-depth guide

As the core mechanic of Spirit Walker, Azmerian Animal Spirits feature three distinct animal forms, each with its own unique characteristics.

First, the stag form allows you to gain a stack of Vivid Wisp for every 20 meters you move. Upon consuming these stacks, you summon a herd of stags that leap up to four times; furthermore, these stags convert 60% of their physical damage into lightning damage.

In practical terms, this means that if you are wielding a weapon with high physical damage, you can achieve a massive conversion of damage types, thereby unleashing astonishing damage output.

The owl form grants you beneficial effects as feather blessings: not only do these increase the number of projectiles you fire, but they also significantly boost the flight speed of the projectiles from your next skill usage.

The function of the bear form is quite straightforward: it directly summons a massive bear companion to fight alongside you.

Additionally, all three forms are fully compatible with standard skill gem setups, allowing you to build entire character builds centered around these specific mechanics.

While each of the three spirits offers its own advantages, the bear form is generally the recommended choice during the early stages of the game, as it grants your minions an additional 20% damage boost and an extra 20% to their maximum life.

Furthermore, the bear spirit will leap toward enemies to inflict the maim status effect upon them. It simultaneously leeches life while mauling its targets and periodically lets out a roar to intimidate its foes.

The first two effects directly boost your damage output, while Intimidate effectively reduces the damage you take.

It is worth noting that the bear spirit does not count toward your standard minion limit. This means you can still have this great bear by your side even while you have other standard minions summoned.

The detailed breakdown of Idolatry

Among Spirit Walker's nine unique abilities, Idolatry stands out as particularly distinct, as it is heavily tied to Idols you have socketed.

The effect of this ability is that for every Idol socketed in your gear slots, the damage dealt by your animal companions increases by 10%. Additionally, for every Idol socketed, your skill reservation efficiency increases by 2%.

This allows you to summon more companions simultaneously while dealing increased damage. However, for the sake of balance, for every Non-Idol Augment socketed in your gear slots, all of your elemental resistances are reduced by 4%.

In short, this ability is designed to encourage you to socket as many Idols as possible to mitigate the negative effects, while fully capitalizing on the various positive buffs, such as increased companion damage, that they provide.

As for the issue of losing some elemental resistance, this can be easily compensated for using the various new enchantments and crafting systems introduced in Patch 0.5.0.

How to unlock Spirit Walker?

In terms of unlock requirements, there is essentially no difference between the various Ascendancy Classes.

First, you must ensure that your character's main class is Huntress. Then, upon reaching Act 2, complete Trial of the Sekhemas to unlock your chosen Ascendancy Class and receive two initial Ascendancy points.

However, before you can do that, you must first defeat the boss Balbala, the Traitor, to obtain either Djinn Barya or Balbala's Barya coin, which serves as the key to unlock the trial.

Afterward, you can complete additional trials in Act 3 to earn more Ascendancy points. While your choice of Ascendancy Class is permanent and cannot be changed, you can reset your allocation of Ascendancy nodes.

That concludes this preliminary introduction to Spirit Walker, one of the new Ascendancy Classes introduced in Return of the Ancients. We hope it delivers a truly spectacular performance in your actual gameplay!

To enhance your Spirit Walker experience and smoothly craft your desired builds, you can buy PoE 2 currency on IGGM once Patch 0.5.0 goes live!

Because if you have extensive and abundant currency inventory, you can acquire or upgrade your gear at any time, so that boosting the strength of your builds and maximizing your gains as a Spirit Walker player!

After nearly five months, Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 Return of the Ancients has finally been unveiled. During the official livestream, while the full scope of Runes of Aldur League wasn't shown, what was revealed was already immensely exciting.

PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 is scheduled to launch on May 29, 2026, at 1:00 PM PDT, and it is far from a simple league update - it's a colossal release that includes 30 brand-new endgame zones, a new pinnacle boss, five legendary storylines, and a massive wave of mechanical overhauls. You can think of it as an expansion on the scale of Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred, one that will almost reshape the entire game.

Rune Smithing

After freeing the blacksmith in Act 1, you will unlock a huge monolith, introducing the new Rune Smithing system. Activating the monolith summons waves of monsters, and defeating them yields generous rewards.

Once you learn specific recipes, you can reliably obtain a certain Augmentation very early in the campaign, making story progression much smoother. The monolith also resurrects nearby undead monsters and grants them various empowering affixes, which becomes particularly challenging in high-level endgame zones, as those monsters can carry extremely deadly enhancements.

You'll need to find Rune Stones scattered across the world to learn more recipes, and the entire process is simple, engaging, and rewarding.

Verisium and Kalguuran Spells

Closely tied to Rune Smithing is a new crafting and spell system. You will discover new currency, Verisium, which you can bring to Runes of Aldur League NPC to have your equipment imbued with a Runic Ward. This is an entirely new defensive mechanic that is only consumed when your life reaches zero, essentially serving as a third health layer beyond energy shield and life.

What's truly exciting are Kalguuran Spells, which you can obtain by defeating special monsters near the monoliths. Kalguuran Spells don't consume any resource, have no attribute requirements, and are usable by all classes. Instead of mana, they draw upon your Runic Ward. In addition, a wealth of new support gems will interact with Runic Ward mechanic.

Mechanic Changes

Expedition

Expeditions will now feature Remnants from Kalguuran. These remnants apply additional buffs to all summoned enemies, dramatically increasing the danger while making POE 2 Currency and items from a single expedition more concentrated and of higher quality.

Once you reach the endgame, you'll find a small port in the southern part of Atlas, which triggers an entirely new core Expedition mechanic. You'll set sail, fight your way to an island, and take on a new boss that dominates it. Defeating that boss awards a Log Book, which unlocks more optional content across the seas.

Delirium

Delirium will now show a progress bar indicating how deeply you're venturing into the madness; the deeper you go, the greater the peril. Touching and destroying shards creates insanity effects that alter encounters.

Furthermore, Delirium emotions now have a brand-new use - they can be applied to Jewels to add specific affixes that are normally extremely difficult to roll, effectively adding a precise, small-scale crafting method to the game.

Breach

The remaining time before a Breach closes will now be displayed accurately. You need to keep Breach open to reach the second tier, destroy all monsters, and trigger an insane explosion of items. You can summon powerful bosses to earn Breach offerings used for crafting powerful gear on a dedicated crafting tree.

Breach crafting tree needs to be fed continuously; it will gradually grow, unlocking new base types and brand-new affixes, allowing you to forge specific items that cannot be obtained anywhere else in the game. Once you craft a Breachstone, you can unlock new Breach domains visible on Atlas to challenge a new pinnacle boss.

Ritual

Items obtainable from Rituals will no longer include junk; they will consist exclusively of unique items or Omens. You can also choose to sacrifice tribute for a chance to fight a boss.

Find and defeat it, and after fulfilling certain tasks you will unlock new Ritual variants that can summon colossal beasts. Defeat them to harvest their body parts and use them to build your own altar, which influences subsequent maps. Monsters will not simply respawn in place - they accumulate from one map to the next, meaning you may have the chance to face five bosses at once.

Endgame Atlas

Atlas passive tree has been completely reworked and filled with powerful new nodes. For example, Rogue Exiles who retreat during a fight will return with better equipment to challenge you again; or you can make Strongboxes have up to seven prefixes and additional suffixes. The tree can even combine mechanics - such as having Delirium spirits inhabit Strongboxes, empowering all the monsters that pour out of them.

Now, you can earn points by clearing maps within strongholds to unlock all nodes on Atlas tree. The developers said this approach allows them to design extremely potent bonuses without worrying about players constantly respecing their tree for different activities. Of course, many nodes still require you to make a choice, preserving the strategic depth.

Atlas Masters

Another intriguing new mechanic within Atlas Passive Tree is the introduction of Atlas Masters. These Masters will teach you specialized skills and grant access to independent, mini-passive trees. You can switch between different Masters at any time, selecting the one best suited to your current strategy.

Ascendancy Classes

Spirit Walker

Spirit Walker is Huntress's Ascendancy Class. She can create multiple types of Wisps; you can specialize in one or command all three simultaneously, unlocking hidden powers that strengthen all of your Wisps. She can also use idols to enhance her abilities and even manipulate beast bosses.

Martial Artist

Martial Artist is Monk's new Ascendancy Class, capable of channeling a Holo Form that creates duplicates which use your skills. He can gain special bonuses through Runic Tattoos, granting effects akin to wearing additional equipment.

Quality of Life Updates

In terms of quality of life, new markers have been added to the campaign to guide players, along with signpost-like arrows so you can know your objective's direction without constantly opening the minimap.

For players who love theorycrafting, an in-game Build Guide system has been added. You can directly load a build file, and it will highlight all necessary nodes on the passive tree, as well as guide you on required Ascendancy points, skill gems, support gem recommendations, and even gear requirements.

Patch 0.5.0 hasn't just met player expectations - it has arguably surpassed them. It gives players a new goal after reaching the endgame, and you can easily sink thousands of hours into it.

Players, by now you all understand the importance of Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0; its scale likely surpasses many major PoE 1 updates. The official announcement previously revealed that Patch 0.5.0 would be an endgame update, and the development team has been working on it for a long time. So, what changes are needed in the new Patch to make the endgame content truly outstanding?

Infinite Atlas

The current problem with Atlas is that the system is both simplistic and confusing, lacking meaning. Players simply mechanically move from one map to another, completely devoid of strategy. It's a huge difference compared to PoE 1 Atlas and feels mediocre compared to other ARPGs.

Currently, the maps only have occasional corrupted areas, offering little variation or surprise. It feels like a piecemeal, cobbled-together system.

If Patch 0.5.0 is to address this, it should ideally significantly improve the depth and playability of Atlas. While a patch can't completely rewrite the game, we hope to at least see noticeable progress. The goal is to give players a sense of purpose in every step of their exploration, rather than blindly pushing through maps.

Atlas Skill Tree

The development team has actually stated that they are not entirely satisfied with the current Atlas Skill Tree.

Atlas Skill Tree is too weak overall. Most of the minor talents increase the number of rare monsters, monster density, or item quantity, without truly changing the gameplay.

Currently, players either choose Shrine or focus on Essence or Wildwood Wisp, offering very limited options.

Ideally, Atlas Skill Tree should be at least three times larger than it is now. The new Patch needs to provide more diverse map buffs, affix adjustments, and gameplay customization options, making each skill point feel significant. Patch 0.5.0 will probably completely rework this part.

Tiered Rare Gear

Frankly, the current Tier 5 to Tier 1 rare gear is generally mediocre. In most cases, a white base with simple crafting can create gear that is better than Tier 5 drops.

After 20-30 hours of exploration, players completely ignore all tiered rare gear, focusing solely on white base items for crafting. In contrast, crafting with PoE 2 currency is the mainstream method for obtaining powerful equipment, which renders tiered equipment dropped on the ground almost worthless.

I really hope Patch 0.5.0 will significantly buff Tier 5 gear, perhaps by giving Tier 5 base items naturally top-tier affix combinations. This would make ground drops exciting again, instead of forcing players to rely solely on crafting tables. After all, the fun of ARPGs lies in obtaining thrilling loot.

Map Layout Issues

Currently, unlike PoE 1, players can't freely choose which specific map to farm. Furthermore, in Infinite Atlas, you're often forced into poorly designed layouts to progress.

Molten Vault is a prime example of this; its complex terrain, long routes, and scattered mobs make it incredibly frustrating.

When you're forced to traverse these poorly designed maps to reach the next tower or corruption zone, it creates intense fatigue and an urge to quit.

If players aren't allowed to freely choose maps, then every map's layout must be at least good or acceptable; extremely poor layouts are unacceptable. Each map can have its own unique characteristics, players shouldn't feel like they've already played that map.

Additionally, it's recommended to directly display the layout name or its initials on the map icon to avoid requiring players to hover and wait for a delay to identify the map. This small operational burden will inevitably exacerbate player fatigue over time. Good games always excel in the details.

More Endgame Content

It must be acknowledged that players can now experience all of the game's current endgame content after 20 hours of character progression. Furthermore, the endgame bosses had their health significantly reduced in Patch 0.3.0 and 0.4.0, making their mechanics completely invisible.

It's very likely that after playing Patch 0.3.0 and 0.4.0, players won't even know what skills those bosses have, because they've already been instantly killed. The endgame content consistently lacks challenge and playability.

We still hope that Patch 0.5.0 can introduce a boss similar to Uber Boss in PoE 1, and a Tier 16.5 super map, as a truly top-tier challenge.

The new Patch needs to increase the health and mechanism complexity of existing endgame bosses, ensuring players experience at least one full round of skill interactions. It also needs to add more valuable endgame pursuit objectives, giving the game a clear direction for improvement even after 20 hours.

Addressing Energy Shield Balance Issue

ES have been extremely powerful since the release of PoE 2, with builds boasting over 20,000 shields in every league. This is what we mean by a loss of game balance.

Therefore, Patch 0.5.0 should either significantly reduce the maximum value or recovery mechanism of ES, or significantly strengthen bosses to an equal degree.

If the balance isn't addressed, all the previous discussions about difficulty, bosses, and tiers are meaningless. As long as players can still one-shot everything with 20,000 ES, even the most difficult boss won't survive 10 seconds.

Patch 0.5.0 should truly bring meaningful balance adjustments, making boss battles no longer just a 10-second close-quarters fight, but requiring positioning, mechanic awareness, and character development.

So, these are my predictions for the endgame content of PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, which also reflect some of the players' sentiments. Hopefully, players will see a different endgame experience in the near future!

After months of waiting, we finally have news about the next major update for Path of Exile 2. Patch 0.5.0, officially named Return of the Ancients, will be fully revealed on May 7th.

However, in an unexpected twist, the patch won't go live shortly after the reveal stream as usual. Instead, players will have to wait until May 29th - three weeks after the announcement. This is clearly different from the official plan, and it may have some impact on the official release of Path of Exile 2.

An Unusual Release Cycle

This marks the first time since the launch of Path of Exile 1 and 2 that a patch has arrived more than eight days after its announcement. Typically, the reveal is scheduled about a week before release, so revealing all the details on May 7th is rather uncommon.

The developers have already hinted that the core focus of Patch 0.5.0 is the endgame, claiming it will be the largest update ever.

Impact of Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred

The release date of PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 clearly breaks the developers' earlier promise of a new league every four months. Following that schedule, the update should have started around the end of April. Instead, players are being asked to wait an extra month.

One can't help but consider whether Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred, launching in late April, played a role. Although, from a player perspective, the audiences of Diablo 4 and Path of Exile don't entirely overlap - Torchlight: Infinite shares more with PoE, while Last Epoch is closer to Diablo 4 - the clash between the December release dates of Diablo 4 Season 12 and Patch 0.4.0 did have some impact on both games.

Since this is one of Diablo 4's biggest updates to date, PoE 2 team may have wanted to avoid a repeat of past scheduling conflicts (Diablo 4's Paladin class was revealed in Season 12, and the new class for Season 13 is Warlock). Delaying by a month would help stagger the releases.

Teaser Content

The first teaser trailer, only 30 seconds long, appears to show the area where the endgame boss, Arbiter of Ash, resides, as Burning Monolith rises.

Given the patch name and the teaser, Patch 0.5.0 seems to revolve around Precursors, who are deeply intertwined with the core story. Many endgame elements - Precursor Towers, Precursor Tablets, the weapon the player assembles in Act 4, even Arbiter and Flame Seed he guards - all originate from Precursors.

Until May 7th, it's hard to say exactly which endgame mechanics will be featured. However, the developers have leaked an image related to Patch 0.5.0, and that image points directly to Keepers of the Flame league from PoE 1.

The developers have previously experimented with an asynchronous trading system(allowing players to trade PoE 2 currency offline) in PoE 2 before bringing it to PoE 1, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them take designs from PoE 1 and bring them back to PoE 2. Therefore, we might speculate that Patch 0.5.0 will include a rework of Breach mechanic.

ExileCon

The third ExileCon will take place in November this year. Hosting such a large event naturally means there will be major announcements. The most likely candidate is the full 1.0 release of Path of Exile 2.

Some believe it will launch in December, about a month after the convention. Considering how packed this year's schedule already is - even if Patch 0.5.0 arrives in early May, the developers might have only one more update before needing to prepare for PoE 2 Patch 1.0 toward the end of the year. By then, the game would likely remove its access fee and become free-to-play, with a complete campaign.

This would mean the developers won't follow a steady, incremental patch cycle - they might jump directly to the official release after Patch 0.6.0.

But one thing to keep in mind is that an event like ExileCon requires planning far in advance, often 12 to 18 months. When they started preparing for it, they simply couldn't be sure whether Path of Exile 2 would be ready for a full launch by then.

After all, at the second ExileCon in 2023, they announced that early access would begin nearly a year later, in June 2024. That date was eventually pushed back twice, finally landing in December 2024.

It's very likely that when they were planning the second ExileCon, they had hoped the game would be in a more polished state, allowing them to announce a closer release date. But things didn't go as planned - development doesn't always align perfectly with expectations.

When Will 1.0 Arrive?

Patch 0.5.0 is set for May 29th, which to some extent disrupts the developers' original timeline. If version 1.0 really is targeting December, that leaves only a 6-month window - far too tight for just two updates.

If the plan is still to launch the full game this year, the team will likely pour all their efforts into developing version 1.0 from now on, ensuring it lives up to expectations as a massive content drop.

The developers will almost certainly announce a complete launch plan for Path of Exile 2 at this year's ExileCon. But the exact timing remains unclear. It could be December, or it could just as easily be planned for summer 2027, or even December 2027.

Ultimately, much will depend on how the community reacts to Patch 0.5.0. If the response is positive, they might accelerate work on the remaining campaign acts, add one or two new classes, and aim straight for a December 2026 release window. But if the reaction is lukewarm, that could disrupt the plan - and then a backup strategy would kick in.

In summary, Patch 0.5.0 is bound to affect both their original update schedule and the release timing of Patch 1.0. But for players, that's a good thing - you won't have to choose between PoE 2 and Diablo 4 anymore.