Path of Exile 2 – First major patch announced: Better loot, new checkpoints, improved dodge mechanics and much more


The contents of the first major patch for Path of Exile 2 have been announced.

The contents of the first major patch for Path of Exile 2 have been announced.

After Path of Exile 2 started its paid early access phase on PS5, Xbox Series

When will the first major update be released? The patch will be rolled out across platforms this week. When exactly, however, is still unclear.

The biggest changes from Patch 1

As the developer writes, the first changes were based primarily on feedback from the PoE 2 community. And if we look at the most important points from Patch 1, some of the most criticized mechanics over the weekend are actually addressed.

  • Improved Dodge Rolls: Monsters block the path less often
  • New checkpoints: Among other things, at entrances and exits to new zones
  • Better-Loot: How exactly this will be implemented is not yet said
  • Drop rate of various currencies increased: Among other things, the Lesser Jewelers Orbs now drop 33% more often

Below we have listed the complete blog post with all the changes. As soon as the complete patch notes are live, you will receive the information from us.

Path of Exile 2 - test video for the early access version
Path of Exile 2 - Test video for the early access version


Start video


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Path of Exile 2 – test video for the early access version

All changes from Patch 1 for Path of Exile 2

Dodge roll changes

Many players have expressed frustration at being trapped by monsters. Although the intention is for monsters to be able to catch and kill you, we found the frequency was a bit too high.

  • Player size when dodging is now set to zero units instead of one unit
  • Some smaller monsters can now be pushed while dodging. These include monsters like the Adorned Beetles in Keth.

This should mean that you are less likely to get trapped.

Note that you can still be trapped. A size zero player still can't penetrate monsters, but he manages to overcome even the smallest gap between them.

Checkpoint changes

Many players have reported that it can be tedious to re-edit map areas to return to objectives they have already found.

  • Clicking on a checkpoint allows you to teleport to other checkpoints in the area, explored on your minimap
  • Checkpoints have been added to all zone entrances and exits to enable teleportation
  • A checkpoint has been added to the middle of the first Dreadnaught area

We will continue to make adjustments to checkpoint locations as we continue to gather feedback.

Item changes

One of the biggest problems players face is the feeling that the game is not rewarding enough. In this area we have to be very careful when adjusting because it is very difficult to reduce the drops if we increase them too much.

We have identified some key areas that we believe will significantly improve players' gaming experience.

Rare monster changes

We felt that rare monsters weren't rewarding enough. This didn't affect the campaign as much, as there are more unique bosses, increasing the total number of drops, but it is especially noticeable in the end game, where unique monsters are less common.

In particular, the reward received for increasing the difficulty of rare specimens was inconsistent.

  • The rarity bonus per rare mod has been doubled
  • +10% quantity bonus per rare mod
  • Increased the chance that rare monsters will naturally have more modifiers as the endgame progresses

These changes will cause the rewards for rare monsters to naturally scale as you reach higher levels, as the number of mods a monster can have increases over the course of the campaign and into the endgame. In addition, many other forms of map juicing indirectly cause rare monsters to have more mods, which also increases the rewards of these other mechanics. Also note the change below to ensure that each map has a minimum number of rare mods, which also increases the average number of rare mods, thus further increasing the number of drops.

Currency changes

We felt that players either weren't getting enough of certain currencies at the start of the game or weren't able to add enough mods to the maps.

  • Royal Orb drop rates increased by approximately 40%.
  • Disenchant six mod rares to get two royal shards instead of one.
  • Drop rates for smaller Jeweler Orbs increased by approximately 33%.
  • The drop rate of Chaos Orbs has been slightly reduced as they have a lower value and do not consume as much of the “rare currency” drop pool. This causes currencies like Exalted Orbs to increase slightly.
  • Gemcutter's Prism drop rates increased by 500%.
  • Gemcutter's Prisms now increase gem quality by 5% instead of 1%.

Map mod changes

As with the rares, we felt that players were not sufficiently rewarded for the level of difficulty added through map mods. We've significantly increased the value of all prefix map mods.

We have changed all map prefix mods, but some example changes we have implemented are:

  • Rarity mods increased by 2.5x
  • Quantity modifications have been expanded to include additional rarity (this is now included in a future patch)
  • We have removed the lowest level of some mods
  • You're much more likely to use modifiers that affect drops or pack size than less useful mods

Additionally, it has been discovered that some areas are not affected by the Increased Monster Packs mod as intended. We will fix these maps in a later patch to ensure they function properly.

“Unlucky” fall protection

One of the main problems we have identified is “unlucky” outliers. A single unique boss that turns out badly, especially early on, can significantly impact your character.

  • No more than 50% of a unique monster's drops can be gold
  • Act bosses and card bosses always drop at least 1 rare copy

The first of these changes is more significant than it initially seems, as players will not be able to tell the difference between “normal” and “rare” gold piles. You'll receive more equipment and currency items, allowing you to take greater advantage of unique monster rarity increases.

Click to move

There was an issue where the Move Only command caused a name lock. This would often result in your character confusingly attacking in an unexpected direction while holding down this action.

  • “Move Only” no longer disables name locks

Did GGG pack the most important things for you in the first patch and what changes do Early Access definitely have to bring so that you can enjoy PoE 2 even more?

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