Path of Exile 2 Devs Rush to Fix Game Amid 'Mostly Negative' Steam Reviews

Grinding Gear Games (GGG), the developers behind Path of Exile 2, have announced further emergency changes to the action role-playing game in response to a strong backlash against the Dawn of the Hunt update. This update, which launched earlier this month, introduced the new Huntress class, five new ascension classes (Ritualist, Amazon, Smith of Kitava, Tactician, and Lich), over one hundred unique items, and expanded crafting options. However, the community's reaction has been overwhelmingly negative, with recent Steam user reviews dropping to 'mostly negative' due to significant gameplay slowdowns that players described as a "total slog."

The most highlighted review on Steam over the last 30 days emphasizes the frustration felt by the player base, pointing out extended boss fights, ineffective skills, and overall sluggish gameplay. The reviewer also noted stability issues, suggesting that the game's performance is a significant concern. Other reviews echo these sentiments, criticizing the game for feeling punishing and unrewarding, and highlighting issues with large map sizes, slow movement, and forced combo gameplay that contradicts the freedom typically enjoyed in action RPGs.

In response to the community's feedback, GGG has already outlined a series of changes and has now released additional details about the upcoming 0.2.0e update, set for release on April 11. The patch notes focus on monster speed adjustments, boss mechanics, player minion behavior, crafting enhancements, and performance improvements. Key changes include reducing the speed and aggression of certain monsters, modifying boss fights to be less chaotic and more manageable, and improving the minion revive system to prevent long downtimes.

The update also introduces new crafting options and performance optimizations, aiming to address the core issues raised by the community. The developers are hopeful that these changes will help restore player satisfaction and bring the game back to a more positive state. Despite the current backlash, Path of Exile 2 has seen significant success at launch, though this has also presented challenges that have affected the development of the original Path of Exile.

Looking ahead, GGG plans to implement further changes post-weekend, including enhancements to the charm system, new stash tab affinities, and the introduction of atlas bookmarks to improve navigation within the game. These updates reflect GGG's commitment to addressing player feedback and improving the overall gaming experience.

Path of Exile 2 Update 0.2.0e Patch Notes:

Monster Speed Changes

Players reported feeling overwhelmed by monsters due to various factors. GGG has addressed these on a case-by-case basis, with specific changes outlined act by act. General changes include:

• Removal of interrupt events for many human monsters, such as Cultists in Freythorn, Faridun, and Tribal Humans in Act Three, to prevent relentless attacks.
• Removal of the Haste Aura modifier from already fast monsters.

Act 1

• Werewolf Prowlers and Tendril Prowlers now enter a walking stance after melee actions, only running if the player moves a certain distance away.
• Hungering Stalkers have 12% less Life and Damage to balance their high movement and attack speed.
• Reduced numbers of Bloom Serpents in The Red Vale and Venomous Crabs in the Hunting Grounds.
• Cultists in Freythorn no longer have interrupt events on their attacks and now walk after melee actions.
• Blood Cretins' Blood Pools now last 4 seconds instead of 6, with improved visual alignment.
• Reduced density of challenging monsters in Ogham Manor.

Act 2

• Boulder Ants in Titan Valley replaced by Risen Maraketh to reduce irritating movement.
• Faridun modified to remove interrupt events on their attacks.

Act 3

• Diretusk Boar and Antlion Charger's charge now more likely to push players to the side.
• Adjusted Lost City monster pack composition to reduce ranged monsters.
• Major adjustments to Azak Bog, including changes to interrupt events and monster composition.
• Fixed Slitherspitter's poison spray in Venom Crypts to deal Physical Damage instead of Chaos Damage.
• Identified and planned fix for inconsistent monster spawn density in some areas.

Boss Changes

• Viper Napuatzi's Chaos Rains reduced in number and size, with improved visual cleanup.
• Uxmal's fight mechanics adjusted, including fewer location changes, no Energy Shield recharge in the air, and less frequent Flame Breath.
• Xyclucian's arena cleared of ground foliage to improve visibility of effects.

Player Minion Changes

• Revive timer for minions now increases less with each successive minion death, capped at 7.5 seconds.
• Disenchanting Bind Spectre or Tame Beast gems now unbinds them for reuse.
• Tamed beasts can now fit through gaps the player can.

Other Player Balance

• Rally support now works with any Melee Attack.
• Glory no longer consumed if interrupted while using the skill.
• Fixed a bug with Blood Boils from the Ritualist ascendancy not propagating upon monster death.

Crafting Changes

• Added all mods to runes for caster weapons, including Desert, Glacial, Storm, Iron, Body, Mind, Rebirth, Inspiration, Stone, and Vision runes.
• Renly's shop in the Burning Village now offers a Blank rune, forgeable into any elemental rune.
• 12 Artificers Orbs now drop at fixed locations throughout the campaign.

Performance Improvements

• Optimized ground foliage in many areas to improve performance.

0.2.0E Deployment Timeline

• The patch will be deployed at around 10AM NZT, with additional internal changes planned for a later patch.

Charm Changes

• Charm slots on belts now granted by implicit mods, with the number of slots random up to a cap based on belt level.
• Unique Belts can have up to 3 charm slots, with plans to remove the cap in future updates.
• Fixed charms not protecting from the hit that activated them, and enhanced charm mods for more power and rewards.

Stash Tab Affinities

• Added affinities for Socketables, Fragments, Breach, Expedition, and Ritual items.
• Charms can now be stored in the Flask stash tab or any tab with Flask affinity.

Atlas Bookmarks

• Added the ability to bookmark locations on the atlas for easy navigation, with up to 16 bookmarks possible.