Two weeks before its highly anticipated Early Access release, Path of Exile 2 is packed with information and looks pretty crazy for Diablo 4's free-to-play rival.
Path of Exile 2 will appear as a memory Early Access on December 6th on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series, following a recent delay of three short weeks. But Grinding Gear Games clearly intends to spoil us very much with a program that is as ambitious as it is busy. Truly colossal content awaits us in this early version for an even more gigantic 1.0 release that ultimately isn't that far away. We break it all down for you.
Path of Exile wants to bury the competition early
The big free-to-play competitor, which could certainly attract those disappointed by Diablo 4, will soon open in Early Access. However, please note that this early access to Path of Exile 2 will not be available not freewhich at least requires the acquisition of a “ Supporter Pack », with the first prize being 28.99 dollars (then 58.99 and 97.50 dollars for the others). Anyone who has spent around 480 dollars over the course of the first work will automatically receive access to it.
Grinding Gear Games certainly sees big things ahead for this first draft of Path of Exile 2. There are some numbers on the program that can make you dizzy: 6 classes, 400 enemies, 50 boss, three acts and an endgame called Atlas that promises to be gigantic in the truest sense of the word. And it would only be the visible surface of an even larger iceberg. The studio is confident it can do this Release your new game to version 1.0 six months after Early Access.
At this point there is a risk that these initial numbers will be radically inflated, especially with six acts for the main story (which promises about fifty hours of gameplay) 100 bossdes Collaboration up to six and nothing less than twelve classes. There are currently eight known: Warrior, Mercenary, Druid, Witch, Magician, Ranger, Huntress and Monk. The final four would most likely be Duelist, Shadow, Marauder and Templar.
The literal rise of the new best Diablo-like game?
Also note that Path of Exile 2's classes can change drastically thanks to a mechanic called Ascension. By passing tests that clearly require a certain level of mastery of our class, we receive points that we can distribute in three progression trees (two in Early Access), which are fundamentally different and completely redefine the gameplay of a given class. So on paper, we're technically entitled to 36 playable classes. This doesn't take into account the enormous building/theory building flexibility that Path of Exile 2 offers through its gem systems, immense passive skill tree, and extremely advanced itemization.
Essentially, Path of Exile 2 seems poised to deliver a very big blow to the small world of hack 'n slash. Enough to definitely overshadow Diablo 4 despite the healthy release of the first DLC “Vessel of Hatred”? The reaction in this sense began with the early access release on December 6th for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.
Sources: Path of Exile on YouTube ; steam
