Path of Exile 2

Grinding Gear Games is pushing Path of Exile 2 forward with its third season, The Third Edict. There's no new class this time, but instead the studio has gone after long-standing complaints about story structure, combat feel, and the awkward state of trading.

Although in our previous article we listed and mentioned the new features, let's take a deeper look at what we can expect after the August 29 release.

The update introduces Act Four, sending players to Kingsmarch and its scattered islands. Unlike the earlier acts, progression here isn't locked to a strict path; you can sail between areas in whatever order you like. From there, three interlude acts take over, bridging the midgame to level 65 and the start of the endgame. That means 35 new PoE zones and 24 bosses, with the promise that once the full story is in place, these temporary chapters will vanish, but the areas and fights will stay on as part of the endgame pool.

Two new features are worth mentioning above everything else. The first is PoE 2 sprinting. By holding the dodge key after a roll, characters can run faster than almost any monster in the game. It's risky, though; take a hit while sprinting and you'll hit the dirt, and you will be vulnerable to whatever's around you. The second feature introduced is asynchronous trade, which players have desired for more than a decade. A new NPC, Ange, lets you sell PoE 2 Items from a stash tab at a fixed price. Buyers can teleport straight to your hideout, even if you're offline, and complete the deal. No more whispers, waiting, or awkward negotiations.

Combat systems have been rebalanced across the board. Evasion now links to a new stat called Deflect, which cuts incoming damage when it triggers. Blocking is more reliable since nearly every attack can now be parried. Accuracy requirements for melee fighters and minions have been stripped back, making close-range and summon builds smoother. Spellcasters see changes too, with curses rolled together into a single Elemental Weakness skill and new “infusions” that let one spell pass lingering effects to another.

Weapons feel lighter in hand. Crossbows no longer slow you during reload, and weapon swapping is instant. PoE 2 Support gems, previously restricted to one copy each, have been reworked with multiple tiers and unique “lineage” versions in the endgame. These offer dramatic twists, like changing how skills reload or scale. The passive tree also grows denser, with more than 150 new notables aimed at encouraging themed builds rather than forcing stat investment.

Crafting gets its share of tweaks as well. Essences now work more like targeted upgrades, higher-tier PoE currencies guarantee stronger mods, and the Recombinator gains an unpredictable mode that always produces something new.

On top of the core overhaul sits The Rise of the Abyssal, the first proper league for Path of Exile 2. Abyssal fissures rip open across the world, spawning enemies that grow stronger based on what you kill nearby. Clear them out, and you might uncover a pit leading to the Dark Domain, an underground city ruled by Lichborn overlords with exclusive PoE 2 Items and powerful support gems.

The Third Edict lands August 29. There's no flashy new class to chase, but the changes to campaign flow, combat balance, and especially trading may prove far more important for the game's future.