Path of Exile 2 is developer Grinding Gear Games’ self-dubbed “next generation action RPG,” and this round-up will take you through everything you need to know about the game between its early access launch, to 1.0, and beyond.
After getting announced all the way back in 2019, Path of Exile 2 arrived in Early Access in December 2024 after it was delayed from its initial November 2024 release window. When it arrived a little more than a year after Diablo IV, comparisons between the two ARPGs were all over the place.
But at least at the time of its early access launch, it was already making a case for itself as the ARPG that all fans of the genre should play, as Wccftech’s Francesco De Meo wrote at the time of its early access launch that “Grinding Gear Games has a very strong idea of how to evolve the formula of its predecessor to deliver an experience that is, undoubtedly, very fun at all skill levels.” Right at launch, it saw more than 1 million players jump in, and that’s all before it even hit 1.0.
Release Date, Platforms, Pricing
Path of Exile 2 arrived in early access on December 6, 2024. At the time of this writing, it remains in early access, and is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Grinding Gear Games has yet to announce an official 1.0 release date, but it is currently set to arrive at some point in 2026.
The base game is currently available for $29.99 USD, though there are several supporter pack DLCs that can be purchased to unlock some of the additional paid content that has been released since its early access launch. The Lord of Ogham Supporter Pack, for example, costs $59.99 USD and includes several additional cosmetics on top of the base game, while the King of Faridun Supporter Pack includes several more cosmetics and all of the ones included in the Lord of Ogham pack for $99.99 USD.
Here’s a breakdown of each edition you can grab:
Image credit: Grinding Gear Games
Path of Exile 2 Early Access Supporter Pack – $29.99,
Image credit: Grinding Gear Games
Path of Exile 2 Lord of Ogham Supporter Pack – $59.99
Base Game
Lord of Ogham Armour Set
Lord of Ogham Back Attachment
The Rust King Portal Effect
Iron Count’s Zweihander Sword Skin
Baby Crowbell Pet
Lord of Ogham Kiwi Pet
Commemorative Hillock Statue Hideout Decoration
Lord of Ogham Supporter Forum Title/Badge
Lord of Ogham Supporter Social Frame
600 points
Image credit: Grinding Gear Games
Path of Exile 2 King of Faridun Supporter Pack – $99.99
Base Game
King of the Faridun Armour Set
King of the Faridun Back Attachment
Deshret’s Blessing Level-up Effect
The Dreadnought Hideout
Tyranny’s End Spear Skin
Faridun’s Glory Bow Skin
King of the Faridun Kiwi Pet
Commemorative Vaal Oversoul Statue Hideout Decoration
King of the Faridun Supporter Forum Title/Badge
King of the Faridun Supporter Social Frame
Everything from the Lord of Ogham Supporter Pack
1000 points
On top of that, there are several DLC supporter packs that only add cosmetics and other in-game items, they do not include a copy of the game, only the above three supporter packs include the game itself.
Genre and Setting
Path of Exile 2 is an action RPG or ARPG for short, and is set within developer Grinding Gear Games’ established Path of Exile universe. It also includes MMO elements as it is a multiplayer focused game, though it can certainly be enjoyed as a single-player experience.
The game takes place in the fantasy world of Wraeclast, an oppressive and lethal continent filled with dangerous creatures and old secrets that threaten to destroy the world, corrupting Wraelcast and turning it into an even more dangerous place than it was before.
Gameplay
Path of Exile 2’s gameplay is action-focused and asks you to deal with multiple enemies all at once in its top-down isometric view. You’ll pick classes for your characters and build out their strengths to match your playstyle, and each class has its own Ascendancy specializations which further customizes your character to match your preferred method of play.
Outside of picking specific classes and building your character as you level up, Path of Exile 2 also features a skill gem system that grants you incredibly powerful active skills and 200 support gems that allow you to modify their behaviour for even deeper layers of customization. You can also dual-specialize your passive skill tree, and hundreds of items to collect for, once again, even deeper layers of customization.
You’ll take your heavily customized character and pit them against multiple bosses as every area of the game’s campaign ends with a boss fight, and once you’re in the endgame, you’ll be able to explore over 100 endgame maps to grind through and defeat a boss at the end of each one.
Tech and Specs
For all of its customization capabilities and intense combat encounters, you don’t need a beefy machine to run Path of Exile 2. It has incredibly reasonable hardware requirements between its minimum and recommended specs, both of which you should be able to clear even if you have an aging PC.
Path of Exile 2 SpecificationsMINIMUMRECOMMENDEDOSWindows 10 64-bitWindows 10 64-bitProcessorIntel Core i7-7700 or AMD Ryzen 5 2500xIntel Core i5-10500 or AMD Ryzen 5 3700XMemory8 GB RAM16 GB RAMGraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (3GB), Intel Arc A380, or ATI Radeon RX 470 (GPU must have at least 3GB of VRAM)NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, Intel Arc A770, or ATI Radeon RX 5600XTDirectXVersion 12Version 12NetworkBroadband Internet connectionBroadband Internet connectionStorage100 GB of available space (SSD recommended)100 GB of available space (SSD recommended)