Grinding Gear Games, developers of Path of Exile 2, have released critical updates to the action RPG following widespread criticism of the Dawn of the Hunt update, which led to a surge of 'mostly negative' Steam reviews.
The Dawn of the Hunt expansion, launched earlier this month, triggered significant backlash within the Path of Exile community. It introduced the Huntress class, a Spear and Buckler specialist excelling in hybrid melee and ranged combat, alongside five new ascension classes: Ritualist, Amazon, Smith of Kitava, Tactician, and Lich. The update also brought mechanical overhauls, over 100 new unique items, and expanded crafting options.
Despite high expectations, the update disappointed many players, who criticized Grinding Gear Games for slowing gameplay to a frustrating crawl, describing it as a "grueling slog."
A highly rated Steam review from the past 30 days highlights the game's current issues:
Boss battles drag on far too long, and most skills feel underpowered. The developers aimed to slow gameplay, but it’s become so unenjoyable that I doubt I’ll last a week in this league. Stability issues make it even harder to play.
Another critical review states, “If you enjoy punishing gameplay with minimal rewards, this is for you. Otherwise, you’ll likely find it frustrating.”
“The initial release (0.1) already had problems with oversized areas, sluggish movement, and mandatory combo gameplay, though some player-discovered builds offered flexibility.”
“In the Dawn of the Hunt update (0.2), the game slowed down even further, as many reviews have noted.”
“Loot, previously reasonable in 0.1, was drastically reduced. Killing rare monsters or bosses now rarely yields rare items or crafting materials.”
“The return of forced combo gameplay limits build creativity, contradicting the freedom expected in an ARPG. Players should craft builds to suit their playstyle, not the developers’ vision.”
“Despite ongoing complaints about map size and slow movement, the developers largely ignored feedback until the backlash became undeniable.”
“As a 5,000-hour Path of Exile 1 veteran, I love GGG, but I can’t recommend this game in its current state.”
“I hope future updates address these issues to restore the game’s appeal.”
In response, Grinding Gear Games outlined initial changes and has now announced additional fixes in patch 0.2.0e, set for release tomorrow, April 11.
The key question for Path of Exile 2 players is whether these updates will resolve enough issues to reverse the negative sentiment and restore the game’s standing. Despite its rocky patches, Path of Exile 2 was a massive success at launch, overwhelming servers with its player surge. However, this success has introduced challenges that have even affected Path of Exile 1’s development, which maintains a dedicated following.
Path of Exile 2 Update 0.2.0e Patch Notes:
Monster Speed Adjustments
Players reported feeling overwhelmed by monsters due to various factors, which we’re addressing individually. Below are act-specific changes, alongside broader adjustments.
Humanoid monsters, including Freythorn’s Cultists, Faridun, and Act Three’s Tribal Humans, no longer interrupt their melee attacks when players move out of range during multi-hit sequences, such as left-to-right swipes. These interruptions, especially on fast-attacking enemies, made combat relentless, leaving little room for player response.
The Haste Aura modifier no longer applies to inherently fast monsters.
Act 1
Werewolf Prowlers and Tendril Prowlers now walk after melee attacks instead of running, resuming their run only if players move far enough away. This behavior now applies to many fast-moving monsters.
Hungering Stalkers’ Life and Damage reduced by 12%, further balancing their high speed and attack rate. They’re meant to hit fast but die quickly.
Bloom Serpent numbers in The Red Vale reduced.
Venomous Crab counts in the Hunting Grounds halved.
Freythorn Cultists’ attack interruptions removed, as noted above.
Axe- and Mace-wielding Freythorn Cultists now walk after melee attacks, running only when players move beyond a set distance.
Blood Cretins’ death Blood Pools now last 4 seconds instead of 6, with their area of effect better aligned to visuals.
Challenging monster density in Ogham Manor reduced.
Act 2
Titan Valley’s Boulder Ants replaced with Risen Maraketh to reduce irritating movement patterns.
Faridun attack interruptions removed, as described above.
Act 3
Diretusk Boar and Antlion Chargers now push players sideways during charges rather than dragging them along.
Lost City monster packs adjusted to include fewer ranged enemies.
Azak Bog revamped with fewer interrupt events, plus reduced Ranged and Elite monster counts.
Fixed Slitherspitter’s poison spray in Venom Crypts, which incorrectly dealt Chaos Damage instead of Physical Damage.
We identified an issue causing uneven monster spawn density across rooms in some areas, creating unintended difficulty spikes. A fix is ready but will arrive in a later patch.
More monster adjustments are planned for future updates, including some requiring new animations.
Boss Adjustments
Viper Napuatzi, a notably tough boss, received the following tweak:
Reduced the frequency and size of Chaos Rains in the Viper Napuatzi fight, with faster cleanup of residual visuals to clarify subsequent attack locations.
Uxmal’s fight was refined to reduce frustration:
Uxmal now changes locations less frequently.
Uxmal can no longer recharge Energy Shield while airborne.
Uxmal’s Flame Breath usage reduced.
Xyclucian’s fight improved for clarity:
Xyclucian’s arena ground foliage removed to enhance effect visibility.
Player Minion Adjustments
Minion revive timers reworked: the first minion death sets a 7.5-second timer, but subsequent deaths increase it by smaller increments, still capped at 7.5 seconds, preventing prolonged minion downtime.
Disenchanting Bind Spectre or Tame Beast gems now unbinds them for reuse.
Tamed beasts can now navigate gaps as small as those the player can pass through.
Other Player Balance
Additional balance tweaks beyond yesterday’s changes include:
Rally support now works with any Melee Attack, not just Strikes or Slams.
Glory (used by Hammer of the Gods and Spear of Solaris) no longer depletes if the skill is interrupted.
Fixed a Ritualist ascendancy bug where Blood Boils didn’t spread on monster death explosions, such as with Herald of Blood.
Crafting Adjustments
All caster weapon rune mods completed: Desert, Glacial, Storm, Iron, Body, Mind, Rebirth, Inspiration, Stone, and Vision runes now support Wands and Staves with unique modifiers.
Renly’s shop in the Burning Village now offers a Blank rune, forgeable into any elemental rune, ensuring access if none are found early. As noted yesterday, 12 Artificer’s Orbs now drop at fixed campaign locations, alongside random and salvageable drops.
Performance Enhancements
Ground foliage in multiple areas optimized for better performance.
0.2.0E Deployment Schedule
Patch 0.2.0E deploys at approximately 10 AM NZT. Additional internal changes missed this patch’s deadline.
Post-weekend updates will include further changes, with the following confirmed:
Charm Adjustments
Charms, an underexplored system, will see significant improvements to enhance their utility and accessibility.
Charm Slot Changes
Belt charm slots now come from implicit mods based on the drop area’s level, with random slot counts capped by belt level. Divine Orbs can reroll slot numbers.
Belts have 1 slot up to level 32, up to 2 until level 64, and up to 3 from level 65 onward.
Unique Belts can have up to 3 slots.
Unique Belt charm slot increase mods remain capped at 3 for now, with plans to lift this later.
Charm Improvements
Fixed charms not protecting against the hit that triggers them.
Charm mods overhauled for greater power and rewards.
Stash Tab Affinities
New Stash Tab Affinities added for:
Socketables
Fragments (including Tablets and Trial Keys)
Breach
Expedition
Ritual
Charms can now be stored in Flask stash tabs or any tab with Flask affinity.
Atlas Bookmarks
Added Atlas bookmarking to easily revisit locations.
Right-click a node to create a bookmark with an icon and optional label.
Up to 16 bookmarks allowed, displayed as icons around the screen’s edge with directional scrolling or clickable instant navigation.
View and click bookmarks in the legend list for quick access.
