The Path of Exile livestream shows Path of Exile 2, Ultimatum Expansion

Grinding Gear Games hosted a new livestream on Thursday with the focus Way of exile 2. The studio also announced the new ultimatum expansion for Way of exile, should start on April 16th.

Grinding Gear Games has broken its livestream into several parts, starting with a new one Path of Exile 2 Trailer and an expanded gameplay section before jumping into ultimatum. The studio then hosted a Q&A ZiggyD – a popular one Way of exile YouTuber.

Path of Exile 2 It was first announced at ExileCon in 2019. Chris Wilson, founder of Grinding Gear Games, started the stream by delving into the team’s long radio silence. Wilson spoke about the scope of the game and the team’s desire to nail the new campaign, as well as some of the game’s major system overhauls, including Skill Gems. In a Q&A with Polygon and other news outlets earlier this week, Wilson said Path of Exile 2 It’s not quite there in terms of development, but the studio is getting into a groove with production.

The trailer features several new gameplay clips and locations from the new Vastiri Desert location – the second largest location in Path of Exile 2After the island of Ogham, which was first presented at ExileCon 2019. After the trailer, Wilson told a gameplay showcase for Path of Exile 2, completely set at the new location.

Image: grinding teeth games

The showcase showed different areas in the Vastiri Desert as well as the huge new caravan that guides players between different areas of their choice. But the star of the showcase are two of the new types of weapons for Path of Exile 2: Spears and crossbows.

Both types of weapons have specific skills that are specific to that type of weapon. For example, the spear shown in the showcase gave players a Whirling Slash ability that conjured up a storm near the player. Leaving the storm causes it to explode in one area – which is facilitated by another of the spear’s abilities: its ability to detach, which causes the player to fly backwards and throw blades at enemies. The crossbows are similarly unique and can be switched to different elemental or armor piercing studs depending on the combat requirements. Wilson told the press that the studio is unsure which, if any, older weapon types will have similar intrinsic capabilities.

The studio also showed off new mini-bosses – a bigger focus in Path of Exile 2 – and the game’s improved animations. Enemy packs also have more unique AI in the sequel, with groups of monsters patrolling certain areas like soldiers.

One of the most interesting aspects of Path of Exile 2 is that it doesn’t replace the original campaign. Both the original campaign and the follow-up campaign will live on within the same game client, with players being able to run their old characters and accounts – including any microtransactions – through the new or old story. Both for this purpose Way of exile and Path of Exile 2 will converge on a joint post-endgame campaign. And there is Way of exile: Ultimatum comes in.

After this Path of Exile 2 Wilson switched to Ultimatum, a new expansion and League (Way of exile‘s word for seasons) comes next week. Wilson also said that all current and future leagues will be built with it Path of Exile 2 in the head.

Ultimatum offers players what is essentially a Do you want to be a millionaire? –Game show style, but with a little more death and blood. Players meet the Trialmaster – an emissary of Chaos – who challenges players to take tests.

Trials show players a reward and prompt them to choose a difficulty modifier. If they pass the exam, the reward is theirs. However, the Trialmaster also offers a second, possibly even better, piece of loot if players decide to move on. The second test becomes even more difficult than the first, as does the third, fourth, etc. when the players choose to push them.

Players can walk away with their rewards between these levels, but if they eventually die, they lose everything. Players can trigger these events with items from the world, and even sacrifice items to create even stronger drops from an upcoming trial. Trials can also grant players unique rewards with interesting effects.

Image: grinding teeth games

Ultimatum trials work in multiplayer too, which is a nice touch. Players can conduct exams together, and one can fold their rewards while the other pushes their luck. Players even vote on which level of difficulty they prefer, with the game rolling the dice on a tiebreaker.

Ultimatum also features the usual quality of life improvements and additions to the game. In this league, the Grinding Gear Games focused on drops of loot, switching for various items that enemies can and cannot drop. Final Act bosses are now also more lucrative for figuring out how players spend their time farming items. Some items that were league-specific – that is, players had to create certain content to get a chance at them – are now also displayed in the general item pool.

Finally, Ultimatum adds some new skills to help you defeat enemies. For a full breakdown of the new skills and an extensive list of reward changes, check out the full livestream.

Wilson and the team did not offer a release window for Path of Exile 2even though we know it won’t come out until the end of 2021. Way of exile: Ultimatum will be published on April 16th.