PoE2 Updates to Shift Focus from New Classes

Path of Exile 2 enthusiasts, take note: the game's director, Jonathan Rogers, has shared that new classes won't be the focal point of future updates. Dive into the reasoning behind this decision and get a deeper understanding of the current game state.

Path of Exile 2 New Characters Might Not Be Introduced Every Patch

You Can Expect More Ascendancies Instead

During a recent Q&A session, Jonathan Rogers, the game director for Path of Exile 2, revealed that fans shouldn't anticipate new classes in every upcoming patch. The unpredictability of class development has led the team to reconsider their focus. Rogers expressed his desire to include a new class with every release but acknowledged a valuable lesson learned during the development of the current cycle. He noted, I would like it if every release would have a class, but I would say that we actually learned something during the production of this cycle, which is that it was a mistake to have a class as a wedge for the development of your expansion. The trade-off between setting a fixed release date and ensuring a substantial content update was too significant, causing delays, such as with the Huntress class. Rogers explained, We have to have the Huntress in the next patch, so therefore, the date had to float, and that meant that this expansion ended up taking a lot longer than what we had hoped. He emphasized the importance of a fixed release schedule over unpredictable class introductions, stating, While I’m very keen to have a class in the next expansion, I’m not going to promise that because that would mean we can’t fix the date anymore. Rogers concluded that due to these experiences, players shouldn't expect new classes with each patch, favoring more frequent and predictable updates instead. He highlighted the community's desire for consistent progress, saying, Players really do want to see forward progress, and they don’t want to be waiting six to nine months before they see a big update. However, he reassured fans that they can look forward to new Ascendancies in every patch, with potential additions of new classes even after Early Access ends. Rogers stated, As I said, Ascendancies, we can definitely do; maybe even after release, we continue to add even more classes as I’m certainly keen to add more.

Path of Exile 2 Dawn of the Hunt Brings More Changes to Endgame

Promising the End to Be A Lot Harder

The upcoming patch alongside the Huntress will introduce over 100 new skills, support gems, and unique gear tailored for midgame and endgame content. Grinding Gear Games (GGG) aims to make bosses significantly more challenging. Rogers explained the need to extend the time before players reach the point of trivializing the endgame while ensuring they can still achieve that level of power. He mentioned, There are certainly some things that are going to have to be nerfed because they’re completely trivializing certain mechanics. He added, People are getting [to] the point of complete outrageousness a little bit too early. Rogers believes that reaching high power levels should be a rewarding journey rather than an immediate achievement, stating, I think that you need to be able to get to the point of outrageousness at some point, but you don’t want it to be that you get to that point before you even finish your initial climb. He expressed disappointment over the quick defeat of Pinnacle Bosses, sharing his ideal scenario where the first player to face such a boss should struggle significantly. He noted that in reality, a boss was defeated in just fourteen seconds due to an overpowered build. Rogers hopes that new progression and balance changes will alter the initial experience of fighting Pinnacle Bosses, saying, The first time you fight a Pinnacle Boss, it’s going to be a hard fight and crazy. But as you fight the boss more times and you get more items and you get to optimize your build and stuff, you can get to the point where you kill the boss in fourteen seconds. It’s just that it’s not your first experience. He concluded by emphasizing that the balance changes aim to slow down the climb to becoming overly powerful, stating, Things have kind of gotten a little bit off the rails, in terms of the ability to get power too easily there, and that’s kind of the main thing. You should always be able to feel powerful and certainly should have that fantasy there, just not right off the bat. So that’s where a lot of our balance changes are focused.

Path of Exile 2 Game Director is Happy With Its Ruthless Difficulty

Things Aren’t Easier, You Just Got Better

The difficulty of Path of Exile 2's campaign sparked varied opinions among players, with some finding it too easy and others too challenging. Rogers expressed satisfaction with the campaign's difficulty, believing that player perspectives will evolve over time. He pointed out that many complaints came from players familiar with the previous game but not yet experienced with the current one, leading to comparisons. Rogers is optimistic that as players gain more experience, the difficulty will seem more balanced, stating, I don’t think we’re gonna get nearly as many complaints about it this time, and that’s because once you know how to play, you’re going to find the experience a lot easier. He added that if this doesn't hold true, they would gather more data to make necessary adjustments. Rogers concluded by noting the common surprise among players when replaying the game, saying, People are often surprised. A lot of the times what happens is that the second time people play through the game, they will talk about how they (GGG) must have changed the balance, but the actual reality is that they just got better at the game.