Path of Exile 2 reaches full release on 11 December with Acts 5 and 6, the Shadow and the Duelist

Grinding Gear Games has set the full release of Path of Exile 2 for 11 December, using Pacific time (PST) as its reference. That’s the 1.0 version, and the studio says it brings the complete six-Act campaign, two new classes, a new Challenge League and broad balance changes. The announcement says the game is free to play.

Acts 5 and 6

The campaign grows with two new Acts. Grinding Gear Games lists 24 new areas, 18 new unique bosses and more than 20 new Champion Rare encounters, each with its own mechanics.

Two new classes

The Shadow uses daggers, traps and shades, and introduces Stealth. While you’re stealthed, monsters can’t see you until you get within a short distance, and your dagger skills get extra bonuses. Traps are a new weapon type: set them while hidden, and they trigger automatically as you strike, exploding in the order they were thrown. The Shadow launches with two Ascendancy classes, the Assassin and the Infiltrator.

The Duelist is a swordsman built around Stances. Ready Stance empowers sword skills, and it can be upgraded to Sand or Blood Stances for stronger combinations. The Knight and the Master-at-Arms are the two Ascendancies at launch.

Conquerors of Wraeclast league

The new Challenge League has you join Varek and his mercenaries to stop the ancient Blood Lord from awakening. Here’s what the studio says is in it:

• Recruit troops and take on missions at more than 70 new points of interest.
• Conquer castles to find a new crafting material for reforging gear.
• Build an endgame stronghold, choosing from three factions with their own fortresses and troops.
• Hand Atlas progression to your commanders through a new real-time endgame system.
• Team up with your faction’s players to capture castles from other player factions.

Items, skills and the passive tree

There are over 40 new Unique Items, and more than 70 existing ones get updated modifiers, skills and visuals. Classes that lacked skills, such as the Warrior and the Witch, get new ones, and Support Gems have been heavily rebalanced.

The Passive Skill Tree gets hundreds of new stats, and all Jewel Sockets now sit inside clusters. Some existing classes are reworked too, including the Mercenary’s reloading, the Infernalist, the Blood Mage and the Acolyte of Chayula.