Path Of Exile 2 Announced

Grinding Gear Games has officially announced that yes, Path of Exile 2 is most definitely a thing. Yesterday at Exilecon, the New Zealand-based developer showed off a dreary but exciting trailer filled with combat, magic, and the difficult path of an exile. 

Path of Exile 2 features a new seven-act campaign culminating in the same endgame as the original story, meaning all your Path of Exile progress—even your cosmetics and stash tabs—will carry over. "One game, two campaigns" seems to be the tagline for this new adventure. According to a poll on the Grind Gear Games official Twitter account, this announcement was the most anticipated of all the good news dolled out yesterday on a Twitch livestream. 

Even though the sequel isn't technically a separate game, the team has overhauled some of the core systems that have been in the series since its start in 2013. Visually, the gameplay has been reworked, and the classes have also received a makeover. The story takes place 20 years after the original, and things have, unsurprisingly, changed for the worst.

The Grinding Gears devs have also released a 14 minute gameplay preview showcasing the stunning rendering and environmental improvements. Path of Exile 2 boasts all-new animations to match the new classes and the team put a lot of work into reworking skill animation—you can see the arrows bouncing off walls. Between the new animations, new skill gem system, new equipment, and 19 new ascendancy classes, there's a lot to get excited about. 

Despite all this work, Path of Exile 2 is nowhere near complete. The game is anticipated to start beta testing in late 2020, so it will be quite a while before we get to see what's next in Wraeclast. Until then, Grinding Gears Games has promised to continue its usual three-month expansion releases to tide over players.