Path of Exile 2 Update Makes Big Changes to Endgame Activities

Path of Exile 2 0.3.1 update is now available for download across all platforms, delivering a sweeping overhaul of the action RPG’s endgame systems. The changes fundamentally alter how players approach mapping, addressing one of the most criticized systems from the Path of Exile 2 early access period.

Path of Exile 2 0.3.1 update gameplay screenshot (1)

December 6 will mark the first anniversary of Path of Exile 2 launching in early access. Though there’s still no word on when the 1.0 version is coming out, Grinding Gear Games keeps delivering major updates on a consistent basis, refining the ARPG based on player feedback, telemetry data, and its own long-term plans.

Path of Exile 2 Towers Are No Longer Required

Continuing this trend, the New Zealand-based studio rolled out yet another patch with the advent of October, debuting it for both PC and consoles. Identified by version number 0.3.1, the update overhauls Path of Exile 2 endgame activities with over a dozen changes, including a rework of the mapping system making towers no longer required for using Precursor Tablets. Instead, players can now insert tablets directly into the map device to apply bonuses. Tablets have a fixed number of uses—denoted by their Implicit Modifier—and each map allows up to three tablet slots, dependent on how many modifiers it already has. To raise the limit to the max, players need to run a map with six modifiers enabled.

Once its use counter reaches zero, the Precursor Tablet is destroyed. To balance this behavior, Grinding Gear Games has boosted Tablet modifier values. The Towers themselves have not been removed entirely, but reworked to grant Atlas visibility and guarantee a Tablet drop upon completion. Overall, these novelties mark a significant revamp of the Path of Exile 2 mapping system.

To further streamline progression, every map now features a map boss whose defeat alone suffices to complete it, removing the requirement to hunt down every single rare pack and leaving players free to choose how much they want to explore before proceeding. Path of Exile 2 update 0.3.1 also changes some map generation mechanics, making every area spawn with between one and three pieces of extra random content, including Ritual, Shrines, Expedition, Strongboxes, and Summoning Circle, among others.

Early player reactions to the new build appear to lean cautiously optimistic. Some vocal fans see the removal of the tower dependency as a much-needed quality-of-life improvement, having said as much on social media. More broadly, the contents of the 0.3.1 release suggest Grinding Gear Games is continuing its efforts to decouple systemic changes from regular content drops. This approach may give the developer greater flexibility for the Path of Exile 2 0.4 update and beyond.

Path of Exile 2 Update 0.3.1 Patch Notes

PoE 2 Endgame Changes

You no longer need Towers to use Precursor Tablets, instead, Tablets can now be placed into the Map Device to add their bonuses directly to your Map.
Tablets now have a fixed number of uses, as described by its Implicit Modifier.
Each time you use a Tablet while running a Map, the number of remaining uses on the Tablet decreases. Once it reaches zero, the Tablet is destroyed.
You can use up to 3 Tablets with each Map, but the number of slots available is based on how many modifiers the Map has. Running a Map with 6 Modifiers will enable all 3 of the Tablets slots on the Map Device.
Tablets cannot be applied to areas that have already been attempted.
Towers can still be used to gain visibility on the Atlas, and they will also drop an extra Precursor Tablet as a reward for completing them.
Non-Unique Tablets now have 10 uses (previously 12 to 18), or in the case of the Overseer’s Tablet it now has 10 uses (previously 2 to 4).
As your tablets are now directly applied to your Maps, this means that you can now apply the content you desire to every single Map you run (assuming you have the tablet supply). However, the ceiling for the amount of content you can apply to a single Map has been lowered. Overall this results in a more streamlined and consistent experience, but in order to not have the ceiling come down too far, we’ve buffed the modifiers on Tablets:
- Bountiful: Now has a value of 15 to 40 (previously 10 to 15).
- Breeding: Now has a value of 4 to 10 (previously 3 to 7).
- Brimming: Now has a value of 15 to 40 (previously 10 to 15).
- Collector’s: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 7 to 10).
- Elevated: Now has a value of 5 to 20 (previously 5 to 10).
- Plundering: Now has a value of 4 to 10 (previously 3 to 70.
- Teeming: Now has a value of 25 to 70 (previously 15 to 25).
- Treasurer’s: Now has a value of 1 to 3 (previously 1).
- of Ancient Fiends: Now has a value of 15 to 40 (previously 10 to 15).
- of Compartments: Now has a value of 1 to 2 (previously 1).
- of Conquering: Now has a value of 20 to 80 (previously 20 to 40).
- of Crystals: Now has a value of 1 to 2 (previously 1).
- of Envy: Now has a value of 8 to 24 (previously 3 to 8).
- of Eternity: Now has a value of 6 to 12 (previously 3 to 6).
- of Fissuring: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Freeze Time: Now has a value of 2 to 5 (previously 2)).
- of Devotion: Now has a value of -30 to -20 (previously -15 to -10).
- of Hoards: Now has a value of 10 to 20 (previously 10 to 15).
- of Knowledge: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Omens: Now has a value of 25 to 70 (previously 15 to 25).
- of Madness: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Mirrors: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Pathways: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Persecution: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Phobia: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Prayers: Now has a value of 1 to 3 (previously 1).
- of Relics: Now has a value of 6 to 18 (previously 3 to 6).
- of Runes: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Rupturing: Now has a value of 4 to 10 (previously 2 to 4).
- of Sacrifice: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Spirits: Now has a value of 50 to 100 (previously 30 to 50).
- of Shrines: Now has a value of 50 to 100 (previously 30 to 50).
- of Strongboxes: Now has a value of 50 to 100 (previously 30 to 50).
- of Treasure: Now has a value of 20 to 60 (previously 15 to 20).
- of Undertaking: Now has a value of 1 to 2 (previously 1).
- of Verisium: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of Wisps: Now has a value of 1 to 2 (previously 1).
- of Worship: Now has a value of 1 to 2 (previously 1).
- of the Appeal: Now has a value of 15 to 40 (previously 10 to 15).
- of the Cartographer: Now has a value of 20 to 50 (previously 10 to 20).
- of the Commander: Now has a value of 1 to 2 (previously 1).
- of the Cult: Now has a value of 15 to 40 (previously 10 to 15).
- of the Demolition: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of the Detonator: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of the Dogma: Now has a value of -30 to -20 (previously -15 to -10).
- of the Domain: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of the Essence: Now has a value of 50 to 100 (previously 30 to 50).
- of the Exile: Now has a value of 25 to 50 (previously 15 to 25).
- of the Flash: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of the Foundling: Now has a value of 25 to 70 (previously 15 to 25).
- of the Hand: Now has a value of 1 to 3 (previously 1).
- of the Horde: Now has a value of 25 to 70 (previously 15 to 25).
- of the Invasion: Now has a value of 4 to 10 (previously 4 to 6).
- of the Occult: Now has a value of 300 to 600 (previously 100 to 300).
- of the Pursuit: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of the Simulacrum: Now has a value of 10 to 30 (previously 5 to 10).
- of the Writings: Now has a value of 1 to 2 (previously 1).
- of the Unending: Now has a value of -30 to -20 (previously -15 to -10).

We’ve also added 7 new Tablet modifiers:
- Azmeri’s: Area contains 1 additional Azmeri Spirit
- Crystallised: Area contains an additional Essence
- Exiled: Area is inhabited by 1 additional Rogue Exile
- Summoner’s: Area contains an additional Summoning Circle
- of the Antiquarian: Area contains an additional Strongbox
- of the Devoted: Area contains an additional Shrine
- of the Summoning: Area has 25 to 50% increased chance to contain a Summoning Circle
All Maps now contain Map Bosses (except for some Unique Maps and Hideouts). To complete a Map you are only required to kill the Boss, you no longer have to kill any Rares and you can do as much or as little of the rest of the Map as you please.
The existing icons that currently indicate there is a Map Boss now instead signify the area contains a Powerful Map Boss that is extra challenging and rewarding.
The following Map Boss Atlas Passive Skills now require a Powerful Boss to be present in the Map: Beyond Reality, Crystal Realm, Directed Worship, Drawn To Light, Old Pirate’s Trick, and Organised Forces.
Map Areas now generate with 1 to 3 extra random content, including Breach, Delirium, Ritual, Expedition, Shrines, Strongboxes, Essences, Wisps, Rogue Exiles, and Summoning Circles.
This content will be added in addition to the content added by your Tablets and Map Modifiers, and selected afterwards. If you have a Modifier that adds an Expedition Encounter, which cannot have more than 1 in an area, a different type of extra content is selected instead.
Content icons for Breach, Delirium, Ritual and Expedition have been removed from the Atlas.
The size of the following Map Areas has been reduced: Penitentiary, Vaal City, Channel, Bastille, Grimhaven, Epitaph, Oasis, Augury, Hidden Grotto, Wetlands, Savannah, Blooming Field, Rupture, Slick, and Fortress.
The number of Monster Packs in lower-Tier Maps has been reduced by roughly 30%. As you proceed through the tiers, the number of Monsters Packs will increase so that by Tier 15 it is the same as it was before.
Adjusted the composition of all naturally spawning Monster Packs in Maps. This results in more packs of a smaller number of Monsters, but roughly the same total amount of Monsters in a Map.
The Ground Effects for the “of Ice”, “of Lightning”, and “of Flames” Map Modifiers now cover 75% less of the Map on Tier 1 to 5 Waystones, 68% less on Tier 6 to 10 Waystones, and 62% less on Tier 11 or higher Waystones.
Increased the chance of Citadels spawning by 66%.
The Visions of Paradise Unique Precursor Tablet now adds Irradiated rather than removing it.
Atlas Maps connected to a Sealed Vault can now spawn a Vaal Beacon on map completion, which when clicked will drop an Idol of Estazunti. Previously, this item dropped from the final Rare monster or Map Boss.
Added visual effects to the Atlas around maps near to Vaults, Sandstorms, and Maelstroms to help guide players.
Updated the Precursor Towers Quest to end once you’ve spoken to Doryani after activating a Precursor Tower.
Updated various Doryani dialogue lines to reflect changes made to Precursor Towers and Tablets.
The walking sequence from the Sacred Reservoir Map has been removed.

Rise of the Abyssal Changes

The Well of Souls now shows a more detailed description for the type of Passive Skill nodes the revealed modifier options will affect.
The Well of Souls now applies the resistance penalty of your highest reached Act rather than strictly Act 2.
Icons for Abyss cracks no longer display on the edge of the minimap when out of range.
Enabled the Eruption of Souls Abyssal Rare Monster Modifier.
Added Abyss to the Atlas Map Legend.

PoE 2 Player Changes

When calculating chance to Hit vs Players or their Minions, we now use the following formula: Chance to Hit = 1 – (0.95 * defender_evasion) / (defender_evasion + 4 * attacker_accuracy)
The chance to hit formula vs Monsters is unchanged.
Players no longer receive Evasion Rating scaling with level. Player base Evasion Rating is now 7 (previously 27). This will result in all classes having a 5% chance to evade baseline at level 1 with no equipment.
Monster Accuracy Rating scaling has been adjusted slightly to account for the above changes.
The base pickup radius for all Remnants has been increased by approximately 50%.
The Stormweaver’s Remnant Range Ascendancy Passive Skills now have “Remnants can be collected from 20% further away” (previously 30%).
The Principal Infusion Notable Passive Skill now has “Remnants can be collected from 20% further away” (previously 15%).
Small Passive Skills that provide Remnant Pickup Range now have values of 15% (previously 10%).
Harmonic Remnants Support I and II now have “Remnants created by supported Skills can be collected from 35% further away” (previously 100%).
Siphon Elements now has Remnants created by Supported Skills can be collected from 14-38% further away at gem levels 8-20 (previously 17-47%).
You are now unable to have more than 10 Ancestral Warrior Totems currently active at once.
Made improvements to Parry’s behaviour to reduce the number of times it looks like a hit should be Parried but isn’t.
Reduced the Heavy Stun buildup a player gains when Parrying a hit by approximately 30%.
Reduced the amount of Heavy Stun buildup applied by monsters at very low levels.
The Void Illusion Skill now works with Hollow Palm’s Physical Damage modifier.
The plants from Vine Arrow can now only take poison damage from allies.
Persistent buff skills that must be active in all weapon sets now describe this requirement.
Whirling Assault now uses pathfinding to avoid obstacles.

PoE 2 General Changes

You can now use Orbs of Alchemy on Magic items. When used on Magic items the original modifiers are not retained.
Enabled the Romira’s Requital and Kalisa’s Crescendo Lineage Support Gems, which were mistakenly not able to drop. They are now in the global drop pool.
Added 779 more foiled Unique Item options that the Twilight Reliquary can yield.
Elzarah, the Cobra Lord in Sel Khari Sanctuary now drops a one-time guaranteed Djinn Barya that can be used to obtain your third set of Ascendancy Points if you have not already acquired them. This will drop for new and existing characters, regardless of whether they have already killed Elzarah.
Updated the Treasures of Utzaal quest steps to be more clear for characters that were defeating the Forgemaster in The Molten Vault after having already completed the Treasures of Utzaal quest on another character in the same league.
Added Jacob, the Town Crier to Kingsmarch, who will update the town on your journey as you progress through Act 4.
Character Panel estimations for player Accuracy, Armour and Evasion now use a maximum Monster level of 82 for calculations (previously level 84).
The Stash and Merchant UI will now remember your previously entered search terms.
Omen of Whittling will now correctly highlight Desecrated modifiers if they can be rerolled.
Undying Hate now has a keyworded description for Unstable Desecration, clarifying that Preserved Cranium currency items have an increasing chance to destroy the item.
Updated the description of Zenith II Support to clarify that only mana costs are recouped.
Updated descriptions of Freeze, Electrocute and Pin buildup on monsters.
Adjusted the density and spacing of packs in The Khari Crossing and Qimah.
Added the Salvage and Reforge benches to The Khari Bazaar.
Added a second sprint animation for higher movement speeds.
Added more appropriate crossbow reload animations for very slow reloads.
Changed some suggested supports that were incorrect for Flash Grenade and Lightning Warp.
Reduced the damage and the projectile count of the Treant Foulspawn barrage skill.
The Bloodthief Queen Monster can no longer be Tamed or bound as a Spectre.
Enabled the existing Darkshard Armour Set, Hood, and Helmet Attachment microtransactions for use in Path of Exile 2.
Enabled the existing Ancient Dread Armor Set and Primordial Dread Helmet Attachment microtransactions for use in Path of Exile 2.
Enabled the existing Darkshard Cloak and Darkshard Wings microtransactions for use in Path of Exile 2.
Enabled the existing Solar Knight Armour Set microtransactions for use in Path of Exile 2.
Made adjustments to the audio system. This may help with audio performance, as well as some situations where audio could cut out.
Improved the performance of the overkill explosion effect from the Trampletoe Unique Boots.
Improved the performance of Abyss cracks and craters.
Improved the performance in the Scorched Farmlands.
Improved the performance in Kingsmarch.
Forge Hammer aftershocks are no longer silent.

PoE 2 Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug preventing Fracturing Mirrors from spawning in Delirium.
Fixed a bug where additional Monster Modifiers on Unique Monsters were not applying some stats correctly, such as Maximum Life or Item Rarity.
Fixed an issue where some Map Bosses were not benefiting from increased difficulty modifiers.
Fixed an issue where some Map Bosses that changed form during the fight would not benefit from increased difficulty modifiers.
Fixed a bug where Zolin, Blood Priest could re-animate and become invulnerable if you killed them and then returned to the area.
Fixed a bug where Ashar the Sand Mother and similar Bosses could leap out of their arenas.
Fixed a bug where Karash, The Dune Dweller could escape the arena in The Silent Cave Unique Map.
Fixed a bug where the Aurelian, the Grand Adjudicator Boss fight was not affected by Map Difficulty.
Fixed a bug where Avelyne, the Withered Rose could sometimes ignore you and continue to dance around not fighting you in the Derelict Mansion Map.
Fixed a bug where The Black Crow Map Boss could fail to transition to the second phase of the fight.
Fixed some cases where Diamora, Song of Death could fail return to her arena after diving into the water.
Fixed a bug where you could not re-enter the second arena of the final Act 4 boss fight after the fight begins.
Fixed a bug where the grace period during the phase change of the final Act 2 boss was removed too early.
Fixed an issue that would prevent Unique enemies from receiving the appropriate Heavy Stun Buildup from some hits.
Fixed a bug with Ancestral Warrior Totem that allowed other Totems to bypass their Limit.
Fixed a bug where Damage over Time would reserve all Darkness immediately.
Fixed a bug where Skeletal Reaver’s Enrage would stop dealing damage to themselves if they survived long enough.
Fixed a bug where Forge Hammers could persist indefinitely if the Skill Gem was modified while deployed.
Fixed a bug that prevented Deliberation Support from being able to support Freezing Salvo.
Fixed a bug where Firestorm was still unable to inflict ignite despite no longer consuming ignite.
Fixed a bug where you could receive Heavy Stun build up from enemy hits indefinitely after being interrupted while Parrying.
Fixed an issue where you could spectre the Expedition Vaal Zealots, they now are replaced by their non-expedition versions.
Fixed an issue where some Act 4 Monsters that were spawned by Strongboxes did not function correctly when bound as a Spectre.
Fixed a bug where Triggered Living Lightning did not having the Cooldown type, which prevented supportability for Cooldown Recovery Support.
Fixed a bug where Forge Hammer’s impact was not creating Aftershocks.
Fixed a bug where Forge Hammer’s impact was not visually displaying when it was Ancestrally Boosted.
Fixed a bug where certain Passive Skills that granted Maximum Fire Resistance were not applying to the Smith of Kitava’s Forged in Flame Ascendancy Passive Skill.
Fixed a bug where network latency could be reported incorrectly when idle, particularly at high latencies.
Fixed a bug where Strongboxes did not spawn monsters in the following Maps: Caldera, Cliffside, Flotsam, Rupture, Sinkhole, Stronghold, or Wayward Isle.
Fixed a bug where the barrels created by the Rotting Demolitionist Monster could block players.
Fixed an issue where some movement skills were not able to be used in the Boss arena of the Sacred Reservoir Map.
Fixed a bug where Dodge Roll was not avoiding Curses granted by Rogue Exile’s Hand of Chayula.
Fixed a bug that prevented Rogue Exiles from dodge rolling.
Fixed a bug where the Map Device UI didn’t display the +1 to Monster Level from Irradiated Atlas Icons sometimes.
Fixed a bug where the modifiers applied to Maps by the Liquid Paranoia and Diluted Liquid Ire did not display in the Map Area modifiers list.
Fixed a bug where the Heavy Stun meter was not correctly showing how far through the stun animation a monster was.
Fixed a bug where the Target Cursor Aiming Mode Option would not function correctly with some channelled skills.
Fixed a bug where Ignites applied to players were purple if they had the Black Covenant Keystone allocated.
Fixed a bug where the checkpoints in Howling Cave were not functioning correctly.
Fixed a bug where the Specialisation Book obtained for the Clearing the Way Quest incorrectly completed the world map icon for The Abominable Yeti in the Howling Caves.
Fixed a bug where the Morior Invictus Unique Body Armour was not working correctly with socketed Talismans.
Fixed a bug where some music, most notably Una’s, was not playing.
Fixed a bug where using some Skills while mounted on a Rhoa when using a Controller would target the ground if you were not targeting an enemy.
Fixed a bug where you could be unable to revive another player when using a Controller if you had a Skill bound to the Revive button. We’ve also added an Option that can be enabled to prioritise reviving over using Skills, this can be found under Controller in the Game Options tab.
Fixed a bug where the interact button on Controller could stop working after interacting with a Strongbox.
Fixed an issue where Spirit calculation could be incorrectly taking invalid Skills into account when using a Controller.
Fixed a bug where the league migration option was hidden when using a Controller.
Fixed an issue where players on PlayStation could experience crackling audio or had the audio cut out.
Fixed a bug where Microtransactions applied to Weapons were not carrying over when the item was used from another weapon set.
Fixed a bug where the Light of Divinity Sceptre Skin microtransaction was replacing the 2D art of your equipped Sceptre.
Fixed a visual bug with the Overgrown Gargoyle Portal Effect microtransaction.
Fixed an issue that could cause the client freeze when entering a new area after respawning in party play.
Fixed some situations where the DirectX 12 renderer could crash.
Fixed a client crash that could occur on PlayStation.
Fixed 4 client crashes.
Fixed 2 instance crashes.

Released: December 6, 2024
ESRB: Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Nudity, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Language, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)