Summary
- Path of Exile 2 brings fresh gameplay with lightning and poison skills for the agile Ranger class.
- Necropolis League adds control over monster spawns and new crafting systems for unique rewards.
- Tier 17 Maps challenge endgame players with powerful bosses and revamped Unique Items.
Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile 2 is one of the most anticipated games at the moment, as it could be a great answer to Diablo 4 and continue the legacy of the original game, which was released in October 2013. While many eyes are peeled on Path of Exile 2's new classes and gameplay reveals, Path of Exile is in no shortage of new content, and it's releasing its Necropolis League as soon as next Friday, March 29. The Best War Games was given a preview of the Necropolis League for PoE alongside its many changes and also an early look at Path of Exile 2's Ranger class.
Path of Exile 2's Druid Can't Fall into the Same Trap as Diablo 4's
Diablo 4's Druid has endured criticism for its lackluster performance, and Path of Exile 2 needs to change Blizzard's formula to find success.
Path of Exile 2's Ranger Class Explained
Path of Exile 2's Ranger is about agility, using bow skills while moving with a movement penalty. The Ranger has access to many skills that function with lightning and poison damage, like Poisonburst Arrow and Lightning Arrow. This doesn't mean other elements are cut out of the equation, and the Ranger can use Frost Escape to get out of sticky situations and freeze some enemies on the way out - something that can be improved with Support Gems like Frozen Nexus and Deep Freeze, respectively making a chilled ground area on impact and making freeze last longer.
Skills like Snipe allow Path of Exile 2's Ranger to deal massive single-target damage at the cost of charging up the attack, but that drawback can be mitigated by using skills to slow enemies down. For example, the Ranger can rely on Electrocuting Rod to jump over a given enemy and shoot a rod into them, applying an Electrocute meter to them, which will lock them in place once it's filled. Focusing on lightning skills with Neural Overload as a Support Gem can be quite helpful, as it procs the effects of Electrocuting Rod immediately when the Electrocute meter is over 50%.
Other lightning skills that can cause some serious damage are Stormcaller Arrow and Lightning Rod, with the former creating a lightning burst at the target location after a short duration and the latter conjuring lightning rods that connect and cause explosions with arcs of lightning. These can be supported in various ways to make them more lethal or more effective at taking out packs of monsters, something that Path of Exile players will be familiar with when using gems like Multiple Projectiles and Less Duration.
As for poison damage, the Ranger has access to several tools. These skills include:
- Vine Arrow
- Poison Bloom Arrow
- Poisonburst Arrow
- Gas Cloud Arrow
- Plague Bearer
All these skills can help create a playstyle where gamers can chain poison abilities to deal massive damage over time, but what makes them all the more interesting are the potential combos between them and with Support Gems. Like with Path of Exile's Skill Gems and Support Gems, a lot of interactions can create additional effects or expand on existing ones, such as the Corrode Armour support, which can continuously decrease the damage resistance of enemies stuck in Gas Cloud Arrow's AoE. Another interesting one is how Explosive Arrow detonates the poisonous area from Gas Cloud Arrow, which then double-dips on the effects of Corrode Armour to deal more damage with the explosions.
Path of Exile 2's Mercenary class uses ranged skills while moving to great effect, and the Ranger looks no different. With tools like Sniper's Mark combined with Snipe to generate a Frenzy Charge and then Rain of Arrows to consume that charge and increase its duration, the Ranger can be a lethal adventurer in Wraeclast.
Path of Exile II
- Released
- December 6, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Path of Exile 2 takes place in the land of Wraeclast, a dark continent populated by unique cultures, ancient secrets, and monstrous dangers. A sinister threat, long thought destroyed, has begun creeping back on the edge of civilisation, driving people mad and sickening the land with Corruption.
Path of Exile 2 features a brand new campaign with six acts, 100 distinct environments, 600 monsters and 100 bosses.
Path of Exile 2 features twelve character classes, 240 Skill Gems, hundreds of equipment base types, a six-act campaign, more than a hundred unique boss fights, a deep endgame system and so much more.
Play with your friends without losing any progress with couch co-op, cross-play and cross-progression.
- Developer(s)
- Grinding Gear Games
- Publisher(s)
- Grinding Gear Games
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash, MMORPG
Path of Exile 2's Beta is Being Delayed
Another important detail about the standalone sequel to the original is that Path of Exile 2's Beta is being delayed from June 2024 to later this year, although no date has been confirmed so far. However, Game Director Jonathan Rogers stated that the game will have an Alpha in June of this year to compensate. For those who were looking forward to playing Path of Exile 2 early this may sting, but Rogers stated that it was a necessary move because Grinding Gear Games underestimated the time it would take to get the gameplay experience polished to a good enough standard before releasing the Beta.
What to Expect From Path of Exile's Necropolis League
Like with every other Path of Exile League, Necropolis introduces a new NPC designed to match the new content's themes and provide guidance to players. In this case, it's a man collecting the spirits of monsters of Wraeclast, called Undertaker Arimor. Players will be able to encounter Spirits in new areas, using the Lantern of Arimor to pick and choose which monsters are available and which modifiers they have to increase or reduce the difficulty of said areas by controlling what spawns and which abilities the enemies have.
This gameplay loop looks to be an interesting addition to Path of Exile's endgame content, especially, as players will be able to micromanage their encounters and possibly their rewards. With Allflame Embers, a new item type, players can replace existing monsters in an area and possibly even obtain currency items and more from past Leagues, such as Breach splinters or Tattoos from Trial of the Ancestors enemies.
There's more to Necropolis, however, as players can encounter monsters with Unresolved Anguish, which can then be taken back to Arimor's cemetery. Here, the Undertaker allows players to bury various monsters' corpses, each with crafting effects on them, which can then be exorcised to create new items with a unique crafting system. This system can yield some great rewards, and the sky is the limit considering that players can trade coffins with other gamers and combine all sorts of modifiers and corpses, even potentially obtaining new Path of Exile Unique Items exclusive to the Necropolis League.
Path of Exile is Getting Harder With Tier 17 Maps
On top of Necropolis content, Path of Exile is adding Tier 17 Maps to the mix, giving players access to Uber pinnacle content and adding new ways to test endgame characters and builds. Path of Exile builds are one of the reasons why the action RPG is so popular, as players can mix and match all sorts of items and skills to create unique combinations, and Tier 17 Maps can be the ultimate test of their viability. The confirmed ones include:
- Citadel Map, featuring Uber Unthred and possibly additional Expedition bosses
- Fortress Map, featuring Uber The Unbreakable from Heist
Tier 17 Maps also drop Unique Items that have been reworked to be more powerful and alluring, such as Wraithlord (which now has four Abyssal Sockets and allows for more Spectre summons) and Manastorm (which now grants more damage and mana stats). These should make T17 Maps even more rewarding for some particular builds, and some lucky players could get incredible rolls for the newly reworked items.
Path of Exile's Necropolis League Includes Massive Endgame Changes
Not only does Necropolis feature Tier 17 Maps, but it also comes with a plethora of changes to the core Path of Exile gameplay experience. These include:
- The removal of Sextants and Master Missions
- A massive rework of Scarabs, adding some of the lost functionalities of cut content and removing their Tiers
- The removal of some Atlas Passive Tree Keystones, and the addition of new ones
- The ability to have multiple copies of the Atlas Tree and select one upon opening new Maps
- New Transfigured Skill Gems
- New Support Gems
- Quality of life improvements
Path of Exile
- Released
- October 23, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
Path of Exile is an online Action RPG designed around a strong online item economy and deep character customisation. It is set in the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. Scarred by mysterious catastrophes of the past and inhabited by creatures of nightmare, the very environment challenges exiles who dare explore it. You play as the Duelist, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Marauder, Shadow or the Scion class. From forsaken shores through to the city of Oriath, explore Wraeclast and uncover the ancient secrets waiting for you.
You are an Exile, struggling to survive on the dark continent of Wraeclast, as you fight to earn power that will allow you to exact your revenge against those who wronged you. Created by hardcore gamers, Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in a dark fantasy world. With a focus on visceral action combat, powerful items and deep character customization, Path of Exile is completely free and will never be pay-to-win.
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Nudity, Language
- Developer(s)
- Grinding Gear Games
- Publisher(s)
- Grinding Gear Games
- Platform(s)
- PC, Xbox One, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 30 Hours