The next Path of Exile 2 update is coming later this week for all platforms, and Grinding Gears director Jonathan Rogers said it should address the many complaints about boss troubles and the endgame's lack of rewards. Path of Exile's 0.1.1 update has a host of balance changes, including more chances to challenge Pinnacle enemies, improvements to high-level equipment, and three new tower maps.
"We have a huge amount of much more meta-shifting changes that we know we want to make," Rogers said in the update overview video. "And one of the best things about having the game in early access with the endgame, is that we now have a much better idea of where we want character powers to be and what the balance of bosses and monsters should be relevant to that. But, those types of changes are going to have to wait until we are ready to make a new league and a new economy for people to play in."
Leagues are what Grinding Gears calls Path of Exile 2's special seasons, where players start with a character at level one and work through a series of challenges different from those in the main campaign.
More treasure chests, magic monsters, and rare monsters will populate Path of Exile 2's late-game maps after the update releases, and important items such as essences and strongboxes should be more common as well. Rogers said the update will also make unique equipment -- Path of Exile 2's armor and weapons of the highest rarity -- stronger from the start. Previously, unique items began with few stat modifiers and special effects and gradually became more useful as players leveled it up, but Rogers said the general consensus was that this structure made unique items feel less influential than more common equipment.
Finally, players will have more chances to challenge certain Pinnacle enemies, Path of Exile 2's current strongest bosses. A recurring complaint after the game launched was that having just one opportunity to challenge a boss, before having to start the lengthy process of making it appear all over again, meant players had little chance to learn how the enemy behaved. The Arbiter of Ash fight has six chances, and Grinding Gear will eventually add the feature to other Pinnacle enemies.
Along with these major changes comes a suite of visual improvements designed to help players identify on-screen hazards before it's too late, such as exploding plants and lingering spell effects that were too challenging to see, and several bug fixes. Chief among those bug fixes is one that limited how many bosses would appear, and Rogers said the patch's adjustment should make Path of Exile 2 align more closely with what the team originally wanted -- a boss to spawn for every four maps.
Path of Exile 2 launched in early access in December 2024, over 10 years after the original game's release. Grinding Gear plans to keep it in early access for at least six months or longer to address issues such as those outlined above before launching it in a complete state.