Path of Exile 2 is officially in the works, Grinding Gear Games announced at its annual ExileCon event last week.
Unlike most sequels, Path of Exile 2 is not slated to be a stand-alone game, but is instead a new seven-act storyline available alongside the original Path of Exile 1 campaign. Both storylines will lead to the same shared endgame, and Path of Exile 2 will retain all expansion content released for the first game. In addition, the sequel introduces a new skill system, ascendancy classes, engine improvements, and more.
Path of Exile 2 introduces 19 new ascendancy classes, all of which fall into the same class archetypes as those available in the original game. The original classes will still be available in the Path of Exile 1 campaign. The sequel also brings with it a new skill gem system, where players will socket support gems directly into skill gems. The intention is to remove the frustration inherent in the current system while maintaining the same amount of depth.
Armor and weapon progression has also been redone from start to finish, and the sequel will also feature new character models and animations. All previously purchased microtransactions will remain compatible and available between the two iterations of the campaign.
On the reveal page of the Path of Exile website, developers stated that they plan to announce more information in the coming year, such as changes to the passive skill tree and other core game systems. “Over the years there have been many changes that we would have loved to make to Path of Exile but couldn’t, because they would break existing characters,” they said. “Path of Exile 2 is an opportunity to make all of these changes in one large update.”
No release date has been set, and developers stated that they don’t even expect a beta test until “at least very late 2020.” In the meantime, however, they will continue to release Path of Exile expansions on their regular three-month cycle, for which all content will be available in both campaigns.
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