Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2 is about to get its biggest shake-up since early access launched. The new update, called The Third Edict, lands on August 29, bringing with it a fresh campaign act, sweeping class buffs, and a long-overdue fix for trading. Players will also get the chance to try the game for free during a Steam event that runs through September 1.

The timing couldn't be better. The last update didn't land as well as expected, with players making their voices heard through Steam reviews and complaining about nerfs that slowed the action and turned progression into more of a grind. True to form, Grinding Gear Games listened, addressed the concerns, and is hoping this new patch will get things back on track.

PoE 2 Act 4

The centerpiece of the update is Act 4 of the campaign. This one plays out across a chain of islands, eight in total, which can be tackled in any order. Along the way you'll be piecing together parts of an ancient PoE 2 Weapon, fighting through more than a hundred new monster types and a dozen bosses. Crucially, the campaign no longer needs to be repeated. The old Cruel difficulty is gone, replaced by three shorter “mini-acts” that act as a bridge until the full story is complete.

Buffs Across the Board

Instead of adding a brand-new class, Grinding Gear has reworked the existing lineup. Rangers get a big set of improvements to their cold skills, Warriors see fire, shield, and melee accuracy overhauls, and other classes have had awkward mechanics smoothed out. It's less about reinventing the wheel and more about making the current toolkit feel sharper.

On a system level, evasion has been one of the weakest defensive stats in the game. That's being addressed with deflect, which is a new mechanic that rolls alongside evasion and reduces incoming hits by 40 percent. It scales all the way to 100 percent if you build into it, finally giving Dex-focused characters a reliable form of protection.

Movement and Support Gem buffs

Traversal is getting faster thanks to a sprint ability, but be careful, as if you're hit while sprinting, you'll be knocked down. PoE 2 Support gems are also being overhauled. They can now link to multiple skills at once, and new “Lineage Supports” bring unique, item-like effects. Existing PoE 2 Gems are being restructured into tiered versions, creating new upgrade paths and combinations, just like in the prequel.

Trading

The other headline addition is asynchronous trading. Instead of waiting for a seller to log in, you'll be able to buy directly from their hideout merchant if they've listed a PoE 2 item. It's a major quality-of-life boost, since players are often online when sellers aren't, which has long been a source of headaches.

The First PoE 2 League

The Third Edict also introduces Rise of the Abyssal, PoE2's first proper league. New characters will face fissures that spawn dangerous bosses, with rewards that let you add abyssal modifiers to Rare PoE 2 Items. There's also the chance to dive into glowing pits, though Grinding Gear is being deliberately secretive about what happens down there.

GGG has listened to its community once again. More content, reworked combat mechanics, fewer restrictions, and a new trading system sound like the real deal. If everything goes as promised, we might be heading toward one of the biggest Path of Exile experiences of our lives.