Two years after it opened its doors as a paid Early Access game in December 2024, Path of Exile 2 finally has its full release plan on the table. Grinding Gear Games used the ExileCon 2026 keynote in Auckland on Friday, November 6 (US time) to confirm that the game goes free-to-play on December 11 (PST) with the last two acts of the campaign, two returning classes, a new challenge league built around armies and castles, and one of the biggest balance passes the game has had.
We already knew the date. Back in September GGG put December 11 on the calendar and we covered it alongside the Steam Deck Verified update. What ExileCon added is the actual content. The official sources are GGG's Steam announcement for the Full Release, the ExileCon 2026 announcements thread on the official forum, and the live Supporter Pack shop. We also cross checked the longer press text GGG sent to outlets, which RPG Site published in full. Where those sources disagree or leave something out, this guide says so.
When does Path of Exile 2 1.0 come out?
The Full Release goes live on Friday, December 11, 2026, Pacific time, on PC through Steam, the Epic Games Store and the standalone client, plus PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The press text also says the game is now Steam Deck Verified and will launch on Mac at 1.0, supporting M2 series Macs and newer plus M1 Pro systems.
GGG has not announced the launch hour yet. For comparison, the Covens of Umbra expansion for PoE 1 starts at 11 AM PST on November 13, which is 1 PM Central, but do not plan around that for PoE 2 until GGG posts a countdown. The safe assumption is "sometime on December 11 Pacific," which for Central time players means the same calendar day.
At launch the game becomes free to play. The paid Early Access key goes away as a requirement, and the model shifts to the same optional cosmetics and stash tab setup that Path of Exile 1 has used for years.
What happens to Early Access characters?
This is the question every Early Access player is asking, and the ExileCon posts we read do not answer it directly. A new challenge league starts with 1.0, so fresh characters are the normal way in. Whether current Early Access characters and stashes move into a permanent Standard league, and what happens to the current league, is not spelled out in the Steam post or the forum thread. Keep an eye out for GGG's launch FAQ before you spend currency or plan around carrying anything over.
Acts 5 and 6: the campaign is finished
The Early Access campaign stopped at Act 4. At 1.0, Acts 5 and 6 complete it, for six acts total. GGG says the two acts together add:
- 24 distinct new areas
- 18 new bosses, which GGG describes as unique and multi phase
- Over 20 new Champion Rare encounters, each with its own mechanics
If you are coming back after a break, that matters for more than story. A full six act campaign changes how long a league start takes, where your first Ascendancy trials fall, and how quickly you can reach the Atlas. Build guides from the Early Access era assume a shorter path. Expect those timings to shift.
The Shadow: daggers, Traps and real Stealth
The Shadow is the first of the two returning Path of Exile 1 classes, reworked for the sequel's slower, more deliberate combat. GGG's Steam post calls Stealth "an entirely new mechanic in Path of Exile 2 unlike any stealth mechanic you've seen before." Here is what has been confirmed:
- Stealth. While you are in Stealth, monsters cannot see you until you get within a short distance. Being in the shadows also empowers dagger skills with extra bonuses.
- Kill resets. The press text says each successful kill resets the cooldown of Stealth, which lets you chain kills and vanish again.
- Traps as a weapon type. You prepare Traps while in Stealth, then trigger them automatically as you strike. Traps explode in the order you threw them, so the setup order is part of the combo.
- Trap variety. GGG's press text mentions eight different trap types and combinations of impale, poison, fire and ice.
- Shades. The Shadow can summon Shades, shadow copies that distract enemies and replicate your attacks.
- Darkness and Eclipse. A new resource called Darkness empowers strikes from Stealth. Eclipse temporarily pulls you into a shadow realm where every attack counts as a stealth strike and your Shades join in.
How the Shadow will probably play
We have not played it, and anyone telling you the Shadow is the best league starter before patch notes and hands on time is guessing. What the mechanics do say is that the Shadow is being built for a "set up, then burst" pattern rather than holding down one skill. Placing Traps from Stealth, then opening with a strike that sets them off in order, is a very different feel from a PoE 1 trap build that throws hundreds of traps a minute. Expect boss fights to reward planning a full sequence before the first hit.
The Duelist: swords and Stances
The Duelist returns as a swordsman built around speed, precision and timing. GGG's Steam post introduces Stances as a new Path of Exile 2 mechanic:
- Ready Stance empowers your sword skills, each in a different way.
- You can upgrade Ready Stance into Sand Stance or Blood Stance for stronger combinations.
- Third party coverage of the keynote describes Sand Stance as triggered by stunning enemies and Blood Stance as triggered by parrying, with bleed on every hit. That detail is not in GGG's Steam post, so treat it as reported rather than confirmed.
Duelist Ascendancies: one clear, one muddy
GGG's Steam announcement says plainly: "In 1.0, we are introducing two Ascendancy Classes for Duelist: the Knight and the Master-at-Arms." The longer press text published by RPG Site, however, says "The Duelists' second ascendancy, Master of Arms, will arrive at a later date." Those two statements do not match. Until GGG clears it up, assume the Knight is definitely there on December 11 and the Master-at-Arms may or may not be playable on day one.
The Knight has the most detail of any new Ascendancy so far. According to the press text:
- You recruit a Squire who can be outfitted with weapons and armor and can use any melee Skill Gem.
- You wield War Banners themed after Wraeclast's old empires. The example given is a Vaal standard that covers the battlefield in blood and empowers attacks.
- A Mounted Charge sends you riding a chariot through enemy lines, scattering and stunning them.
Conquerors of Wraeclast: the 1.0 challenge league
The launch league is Conquerors of Wraeclast, and it is the most ambitious league mechanic GGG has shown for either game in a while. You join Varek and his mercenaries and fight your way across Wraeclast with an army. From the Steam post:
- Recruit troops. Build your ranks with skilled warriors to stand against enemy armies.
- Campaign content. Over 70 new points of interest during the campaign give you chances to recruit troops and run unique missions. The press text counts 23 campaign battles.
- Treasury rooms and Reforging. Conquered castles have treasury rooms with a new crafting material that lets you reforge gear. The press text describes Reforging as replacing unwanted modifiers with permanently fractured modifiers, including new blood infused effects.
- Strongholds. In the endgame you build a stronghold for your army and choose one of three factions, each with its own fortress style and unique troops.
- The Blood Lord's promise. A new endgame storyline about the ancient Sanguar bloodline, where you stop the awakening of the Blood Lord.
- Commanders on the Atlas. A new real time endgame system lets you delegate Atlas progression to your own commanders. The press text says you can recruit up to three, and they lead armies on Atlas missions and collect rewards over time.
- Faction conquest. You team up with every other player in your chosen faction across the league to capture castles from rival player factions. The press text puts it at 100 castles across the Atlas, with captured territory granting increased item rarity and access to special Hunting Grounds.
Why this league is a big deal for the economy
Two parts of Conquerors of Wraeclast are going to shape trade from day one.
The first is Reforging into fractured mods. Fractured modifiers stay locked on an item through further crafting, so a material that turns a good roll into a permanent one will become one of the most important crafting inputs of the league. Expect the price of that material to swing hard in the first week as people figure out which bases are worth it.
The second is faction wide castle control. A shared bonus to item rarity for whichever faction holds more territory is a very different kind of league mechanic. It means your choice of faction could affect your loot, and it means the community will argue for weeks about which faction is the right pick. We do not know yet how often control changes hands or how big the rarity bonus is. Those numbers will matter.
The commander system is the other thing to watch. Letting an army clear maps for you in real time is a big change to how the endgame feels. GGG has not said how much loot commanders bring back compared to running maps yourself.
Balance changes, Uniques and the passive tree
The Full Release is not just new content. GGG is also reshaping a lot of what is already in the game:
- Uniques. Over 40 new Unique Items and more than 70 reworked ones with new modifiers, skills and visuals. The press text also mentions over 200 new base item types.
- New skills. Classes that were missing skills get new ones. The Warrior and the Witch are named. The press text gives two examples: Molten Forge, which summons a blazing anvil and imbues maces with fire for slams, and Soul Extraction, which consumes accumulated Decay for a burst of Chaos damage.
- Support Gems. A large rebalance aimed at making Support Gems much more useful.
- Passive tree. A major overhaul with hundreds of new stats. All Jewel Sockets now sit inside clusters, so you only path to the sockets your build actually needs.
- Atlas passive tree. The press text says it has been reforged into 70 more impactful nodes, with Atlas points earned through objectives, bosses and special maps.
- Performance. The press text promises up to 25% additional CPU performance in the 1.0 update, lower memory use and smoother frame pacing.
Class and Ascendancy reworks
GGG named four existing archetypes getting important reworks:
- Mercenary. The fundamental way reloading works has changed. Coverage of the keynote describes ammo reloading in the background while you use other ammo types.
- Infernalist. A new demonic minion that can cast any spell you give it, up to three Infernal Hounds, and new Covenant skills.
- Blood Mage. New skills and curses, plus a rework of the Corrupted Blood mechanic.
- Acolyte of Chayula. Can summon a companion that uses any Quarterstaff skill, and can sacrifice their own life to move their soul into a clone.
What the full game looks like in numbers
The press text gives a summary of the whole 1.0 package: ten playable classes, 26 Ascendancy classes, over 320 skills, more than 400 Unique Items and over 150 endgame maps. Those totals come from GGG's press material rather than the Steam post. If the Master-at-Arms is not available on day one, that Ascendancy count may describe the plan rather than the December 11 build.
Supporter Packs and spending
GGG has put five new Archon Supporter Packs on its official shop. Each tier includes the cosmetics from the tiers below it, and packs in the same series can be upgraded later. Here is what the shop listed when we checked on November 7:
The packs include armor sets, back attachments, weapon skins, Rhoa pets and throne hideout decorations, and each one includes a Path of Exile 2 key. There is also a smaller 300 point option at $30. GGG notes that Supporter Pack sales fund almost all development for both games.
You do not need any of this to play. On December 11 the game is free, and everything in these packs is cosmetic. If you are a returning player who just wants a stash tab or two, wait until launch and buy what you need.
Path of Exile 1 is not going anywhere
GGG used the same keynote to show Covens of Umbra, the 3.30 expansion for the original game. It launches free on November 13 at 11 AM PST (1 PM CT) on all platforms. The forum post describes a new challenge league about disrupting the witchcraft of the Coven Queen, "fundamental changes to the endgame," improvements to existing endgame systems and new Unique items. GGG has said both games will keep running side by side. We will cover Covens of Umbra separately closer to launch.
Key dates for the next five weeks
If you are watching the ExileCon streams, the Nightfowl Twitch Drops pay out at 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours of watch time, according to GGG's Steam post, and they unlock in both games. The window closes at 11:59 PM PST on November 7, which is 1:59 AM CT on Sunday, November 8.
What is still unconfirmed
To be clear about the gaps:
- The launch hour on December 11.
- Whether Master-at-Arms is playable on day one (Steam post says yes, press text says later).
- What happens to Early Access characters and stashes at 1.0.
- The size of the faction rarity bonus, how often castles change hands, and how commander loot compares to manual mapping.
- Full patch notes for the balance changes. GGG has only shared examples so far.
- System requirements for the Mac and updated PC builds.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Path of Exile 2 1.0 release?
Path of Exile 2 reaches Full Release on December 11, 2026 (PST) on PC through Steam, Epic and the standalone client, plus PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. GGG has not announced the exact launch hour yet.
Is Path of Exile 2 free to play at 1.0?
Yes. From December 11 Path of Exile 2 becomes free to play. Optional purchases are cosmetics, stash tabs and Supporter Packs, the same model Path of Exile 1 uses.
What are the new classes in Path of Exile 2 1.0?
The Shadow and the Duelist. The Shadow uses daggers, Traps and a new Stealth mechanic, with the Assassin and Infiltrator Ascendancies. The Duelist uses swords and a new Stances system, with the Knight and Master-at-Arms Ascendancies. GGG's press text says Master-at-Arms may arrive later than launch, so check before planning a day one build around it.
What is the Conquerors of Wraeclast league?
It is the Path of Exile 2 1.0 challenge league. You recruit troops with Varek's mercenaries, fight battles during the campaign, build a stronghold for one of three factions in the endgame, send up to three commanders to run Atlas content for you, and work with your whole faction to capture castles from rival player factions. Castle treasury rooms drop a new crafting material for Reforging gear with fractured modifiers.
How many acts does Path of Exile 2 have at full release?
Six. Acts 5 and 6 are new at 1.0 and add 24 areas set in Oriath, 18 new bosses and more than 20 new Champion Rare encounters.
Is Path of Exile 2 coming to Mac and Steam Deck?
GGG says Path of Exile 2 is Steam Deck Verified and will launch on Mac with the Full Release, supporting M2 series Macs and newer, plus M1 Pro systems.
How much are the Path of Exile 2 1.0 Supporter Packs?
The five Archon packs cost $60, $100, $160, $240 and $480 on the official shop, with shipping added for the three tiers that include physical goods. All the in game items are cosmetic, and packs in the same series can be upgraded later.
Will my Early Access characters carry over to Path of Exile 2 1.0?
GGG has not spelled that out in the ExileCon announcements. The 1.0 launch comes with a fresh challenge league, so new characters are the expected way in. Wait for GGG's official launch FAQ before assuming anything about Standard league or existing stashes.
When does Path of Exile 1 Covens of Umbra launch?
Path of Exile 1's 3.30 expansion, Covens of Umbra, launches for free on November 13, 2026 at 11 AM PST, which is 1 PM Central, on PC and consoles.
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