"PoE2: Future Updates to Shift Focus from New Classes"

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Path of Exile 2's game director, Jonathan Rogers, revealed that new classes will not be the central focus in future major patches. Discover the reasoning behind this strategic shift and what players can expect moving forward.

Path of Exile 2: New Classes Won't Be a Regular Feature

In a recent Q&A session, Rogers clarified that while the team would love to introduce a new class with every patch, it’s no longer a priority due to development unpredictability.

When asked about expectations for regular class additions, Rogers explained that focusing on a new class during development led to scheduling instability. He stated, I would like it if every release would have a class, but I would say that we actually learned something during the production of this cycle, which is that it was a mistake to have a class as a wedge for the development of your expansion.

He elaborated that committing to including the Huntress delayed the release date multiple times. We have to have the Huntress in the next patch, so therefore, the date had to float, and that meant that this expansion ended up taking a lot longer than what we had hoped.

Rogers emphasized the importance of fixed release dates and the challenges of aligning class development with scheduled updates. While I’m very keen to have a class in the next expansion, I’m not going to promise that because that would mean we can’t fix the date anymore, he added.

Due to these lessons learned from Dawn of the Hunt, Rogers noted that players shouldn’t expect new classes to be part of every upcoming patch. The unpredictable nature of class development conflicts with the goal of delivering consistent and timely updates.

However, there’s still good news. Rogers confirmed that Ascendancy classes will continue to be released regularly in each patch. He also expressed interest in adding more core classes post-Early Access. As I said, Ascendancies, we can definitely do; maybe even after release, we continue to add even more classes as I’m certainly keen to add more, Rogers stated.

Dawn of the Hunt: Endgame Overhaul

The Dawn of the Hunt update brings a wealth of new content, including over 100 new skills, support gems, and unique gear tailored for midgame and endgame progression. However, one of the main focuses is increasing the challenge of endgame encounters.

Rogers explained that GGG aims to extend the journey toward peak character power, ensuring that players don’t trivialize boss fights too early. There are certainly some things that are going to have to be nerfed because they’re completely trivializing certain mechanics, he said. People are getting [to] the point of complete outrageousness a little bit too early.

He hopes the updated balance and progression system will make initial Pinnacle Boss fights feel meaningful again. The first time you fight a Pinnacle Boss, it’s going to be a hard fight and crazy. But as you fight the boss more times and you get more items and you get to optimize your build and stuff, you can get to the point where you kill the boss in fourteen seconds. It’s just that it’s not your first experience, Rogers explained.

He concluded by stating that many builds currently allow players to become overpowered far too quickly, which detracts from the intended difficulty curve. You should always be able to feel powerful and certainly should have that fantasy there, just not right off the bat. So that’s where a lot of our balance changes are focused.

Campaign Difficulty: A Ruthless Challenge

Player reactions to the campaign difficulty have been mixed, with some calling it too easy and others labeling it excessively difficult. Rogers, however, is confident in the current balance.

He believes much of the criticism comes from players who are comparing their experiences across both titles without fully engaging with the sequel. I don’t think we’re gonna get nearly as many complaints about it this time, and that’s because once you know how to play, you’re going to find the experience a lot easier.

Rogers noted that many players mistakenly assume balance changes when replaying the game, only to realize later that their own skill growth made the difference. A lot of the times what happens is that the second time people play through the game, they will talk about how they (GGG) must have changed the balance, but the actual reality is that they just got better at the game, he surmised.

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