If there’s one thing that’s been just as impressive as Path of Exile 2’s huge player counts, it’s the speed at which Grinding Gear is already balancing and refining its incredible ARPG. It’s not even been two weeks yet, and after a few sizable patches already, another looks set to arrive before the devs head off on their (extremely well-earned) Christmas break. Grinding Gear has dropped a preview of what’s to come in this update, and for those struggling to survive POE 2’s endgame, I’ve got good news for you.
Those keen to see more balancing and fixes in Path of Exile 2 have a huge new post on the RPG’s forum to dive into – and it’s not even the full patch notes for this upcoming update, just to give you a sense of how chunky it’ll be. One of the main areas being tackled is endgame difficulty and monster balance, and Grinding Gear says that these changes will “generally result in an endgame that is much more survivable than before.”
A big adjustment is to elemental resistance penalties – they will no longer be applied to Tier 6 and Tier 11 or higher maps, and will instead be “consistent across all of the endgame.” Also among the changes are a nerf to critical strikes from monsters, which now do 40% less bonus damage, and a fix for the Siphons Flask Charges monster modifier which is “unintentionally draining way too many charges” at the moment.
Elsewhere, a number of skills are receiving buffs to make them more viable choices. Changes are on the way for various Bow Skills and Crossbow Skills, the Rolling Slam and Shield Skills in the Mace section, and many more.
After Grinding Gear’s necessary nerf-fest last week, a few “remaining overachieving skills” are also getting tweaked. If you’ve been using Magnetic Salvo, Tornado, or Vine Arrow in your best Path of Exile builds, prepare for some nerfs.
Also arriving in this upcoming update are increased fast travel checkpoints, a rework to Honour Damage that should make Trial of the Sekhemas easier to manage, and plenty of other changes that should leave Path of Exile 2 in a stable, enjoyable state over the Christmas period. You can read the full patch preview here. There is currently no concrete date for this update, but I expect that it’ll ship later this week.
For more on Grinding Gear’s immense RPG, be sure to check out our vast library of guides which include our complete Path of Exile 2 quest list and our ranking of the best Path of Exile 2 classes.
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