Path of Exile 2 Dev Reveals Urgent Updates Amid 'Mostly Negative' Steam Reviews

Path of Exile 2 developer Grinding Gear Games (GGG) has rolled out a series of emergency updates in response to the community backlash against the Dawn of the Hunt expansion. The update, which was released earlier this month, introduced significant changes that many players felt slowed the game down excessively, leading to a drop in Steam user reviews to 'mostly negative.'

The Dawn of the Hunt update added the new Huntress class, designed for hybrid melee and ranged combat with Spear and Buckler, along with five new ascension classes: the Ritualist, Amazon, Smith of Kitava, Tactician, and Lich. Additionally, it brought over one hundred new unique items and expanded crafting options. However, the community's reaction was overwhelmingly negative, with players describing the gameplay as a "total slog" due to the slowed pace and other changes.

One of the most upvoted reviews on Steam in the past month highlighted issues such as elongated boss fights, low skill damage, and overall instability of the game. Another negative review suggested that the game now caters to players who enjoy being "punished for little to no reward." Players expressed frustration over larger map sizes, slower movement, and forced combo gameplay, which they felt restricted their freedom to build characters according to their preferred playstyle.

In response to the feedback, GGG has introduced a new patch, version 0.2.0e, set to be released on April 11. This update focuses on several key areas:

Monster Speed Changes:

• Adjustments to various monsters to prevent overwhelming player encounters, including changes to interrupt events during melee attacks and the removal of the Haste Aura from fast monsters.
• Specific changes to monsters in Acts 1, 2, and 3, aimed at reducing their speed and aggression, thus giving players more breathing room during combat.

Boss Changes:

• Modifications to challenging bosses like Viper Napuatzi and Uxmal to make their fights less frustrating and more manageable.

Player Minion Changes:

• Adjustments to minion revive timers to prevent long waiting periods and improvements to minion usability and movement.

Other Player Balance:

• Additional tweaks to player skills and mechanics, including the Rally support and fixes for specific ascendancy abilities.

Crafting Changes:

• Completion of caster weapon mods and the introduction of a new system for obtaining elemental runes.

Performance Improvements:

• Optimizations to ground foliage to enhance game performance.

The patch also outlines future changes to be implemented after the weekend, such as enhancements to the charm system and the introduction of new stash tab affinities and atlas bookmarks for better item and map management.

The question remains whether these changes will be sufficient to address the community's concerns and restore the game's standing. Path of Exile 2 has seen significant success at launch, but this has also brought challenges that have impacted the development of Path of Exile 1, which continues to have a dedicated player base.