Path of Exile 2 gameplay overview shows Blizzard how it’s done

Path of Exile 2 is the upcoming, fully-fledged sequel to the nearly eight-year-old Action RPG. Grinding Gear Games, our neighbouring developers in New Zealand, have finally shown off more of the deadly monsters and even deadlier characters with a new trailer and 20-minute gameplay overview.

The original game is free-to-play and Path of Exile 2 will be the same. It serves as a sort of standalone expansion or successor to the first, with a new seven-act storyline that is playable alongside the Path of Exile 1 game. Both adventures lead to the same endgame called Atlas, and the sequel will keep all the additional content that has released from the original game.

Path of Exile 2 allows players to bring across their existing characters and embed them into the new changes. These updates will drastically mix up how the game is played, including a reworked skill gem system, new ascendancies, more characters, and an improved engine and graphics.

The short trailer presents the new visuals in beautiful glory. They are sleeker and more detailed, with better lighting and shadows clearly on display. The video cycles through a few of the new environments players will be able to explore when the game is released. It also features a narration about the story, prefacing the corruption and evil that continues to grow in the world of Path of Exile.

The accompanying gameplay overview really gives fans what they want to see. A crossbow and spear-wielding player travels through the second act of Path of Exile 2, through a parched desert on a quest to unlock an ancient gate for a nearby caravan and continue forward. The weapon classes demonstrate new ways to play, engaging enemies with even more variability than before.

The spear class can use mobility skills like “Disengage”, allowing a tactical dodge while firing projectiles, or a “Whirling Slash” which creates a whirlwind that eventually explodes. The crossbow focuses on purely long-ranged combat, with skill gems used to modify the type of bolts it fires. The gameplay lets us see armour piercing, ice, and incendiary bolts in action. The trick is to combine them for significant effects, such as freezing enemies in place with ice bolts and then doing additional damage with incendiary.

There’s a huge boss battle with a skeletal, mammoth-like creature and a whole lot more teased in the gameplay reveal. Unfortunately, it will still be a long while until Path of Exile 2 releases to the public. However, an upcoming expansion Path of Exile: Ultimatum will drop 16 April 2021 to help alleviate the wait.