Path of Exile 2’s Game Director, Jonathan Rogers, states that Return of the Ancients will be the game's final major content update for Early Access and is aiming for a full release this year.
Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients is Designed to Be the Final Update Before the Full Release
Path of Exile 2’s 1.0 update is coming soon this year, and 0.5.0 will be its last major patch. As revealed in the Q&A session for Path of Exile 2’s Return of the Ancients media event, Grinding Gear Games is aiming to release 1.0 sometime after Exilecon 2026, which takes place on November 7-8, 2026 in Auckland, New Zealand. It was also shared that the upcoming patch aims to overhaul most of the existing endgame mechanics while adding even more content.
The End of the Beginning
While this patch drop was supposedly delayed from their initial plan of 4-month patch splits between both of their games, Game Director Jonathan Rogers revealed that, in hindsight, they probably could have worked on each league one by one, but it didn’t feel right or satisfactory.
"We could probably, in retrospective, have done only some of the leagues, but it sort of felt, at the time we were scoping this out, that it was all or nothing," he explains, when asked about why they decided to rework many of its endgame mechanics instead of doing it piecemeal. He clarifies the reasoning behind the decision, stating that they want to be confident in having a robust, enjoyable, and approachable endgame before the game’s full release.
"We weren’t really happy with how the endgame was in Path of Exile 2’s Early Access, and we already saw pretty obvious problems with it," Rogers declared. He further explained that the problem came down to two core flaws in their design: a lack of direction for new players upon reaching it and the in-game Atlas lacking a fixed layout.
Rogers summarizes, "0.5.0 is supposed to be the one that fixes the endgame," and adds that, while it’s ultimately up to the players’ satisfaction, they will have delivered all of the things that they wanted to polish and push out before its full release.
“If the players agree that the endgame is indeed way better, which I believe that they will, then that means that we’ve sort of checked off our entire list of what we need to achieve before we can move out of Early Access and then full release.”
Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients Changes the Game With a New League
Runes of Aldur Adds More Runes, Crafting, Currency, and Even a New Resource
Path of Exile 2 0.5.0 introduces the Runes of Aldur league, where players will partake in the ancient art of Ezomyte Runesmithing. After rescuing a blacksmith named Farrow, he shares that he has been curious about how it works, and even shows the player the process. He then discovers that this is no task for a mere blacksmith and asks for their cooperation in uncovering its secrets for mutual benefit and reward.
Each area in the new league will have a dormant Remnant, or inactive Runestones with special Symbols, where players will slot in specific Symbols to create certain items. Some of these Remnants will already have Symbols set in them, where players only need to fill them in to complete the procedure. Depending on the inserted Symbols, these combine into unique items that can either be currency, Gems, or even stronger Runes for gear.
As players progress through the campaign, they quickly find out that Runesmithing is of Kalguuran origin, where a special metal called Verisium was used to craft reality-altering runes. With Farrow’s help, more recipes can be discovered, making use of this special metal to augment gear using Runeforging and allow players to tap into a new resource: Runic Ward.
Runic Ward Gives You More Than a Second Chance
Runic Ward is a new resource that can be used defensively and offensively. On defense, it serves as a "second chance" or a second health bar when the player’s life hits 0, so players can recover and keep fighting upon taking supposedly lethal damage. Damage can still be lethal, however, as taking damage also depletes it.
On offense, however, it can also be used as a resource similar to Health and Mana to access new spells, skills, and even augment existing ones. An example of this would be the new Triskelion Cascade, which buffs the next Spell or Skill cast to create six additional areas in a Triskelion pattern around the player.
More Runes, More Skills, And Even More Currencies
Through the use of the new Runeforging mechanic from Fallow, players can augment their equipment to both strengthen the gear’s base stats and give them a base amount of Runic Ward upon forging. It’s also worth noting that these new Skills and Spells are “colorless” gems, meaning that players will not need to meet any attribute requirements to use them for their builds and are easy to slot in for any character.
Progressing more into the story, while in the new league, eventually gives players the ability to Runeforge Unique Weapons, making their low-level Uniques scale all the way to the game’s latter acts.
Additionally, the Runes of Alduur league will add 100 new Runes and crafting currencies, upgrading the base game’s offerings and even giving players the ability to craft specific runes to target specific augments. One of these is called Alloys, which allows them to imbue modifiers not available to certain gear pieces.
Explore the Ocean With the Expedition Rework
Upon reaching Act 4 in the new league, players will be introduced to one of the major reworks to the game’s endgame: Expedition. With Kingsmarch left in ruin after the Cataclysm, Rog asks for the Exile’s help to find his missing wife, Gwennen. This leads them to launch an expedition using her logbooks to find and locate her, while discovering new islands, bosses, and, of course, more loot.
Seek out unique events, hidden interactions, and fight powerful bosses, including Medved and Uhtred, whose defeat reveals an all-new Pinnacle boss within a Verisium meteor. Find ancient Kalguuran artifacts in this new choice-driven exploration system that will challenge and reward players in many ways.
Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients Overhauls the Endgame Entirely
Outside of the Runes of Aldur league, Return of the Ancients completely changes the way endgame works in Path of Exile 2. 0.5.0 introduces new storylines and questlines to create a more approachable endgame structure for new players to sink their teeth into.
The world Atlas has been drastically changed into a fully explorable world, with fixed objectives in every direction, offering players a clearer path to follow. Towers remain essential to the game’s exploration, where the first attempt to awaken one in the new patch will trigger the awakening of a colossal fortress as well, and it’s up to the player to disarm its weapons to prevent them from falling to corruption.
Atlas Tree Revamp and Atlas Masters Storyline
One of the biggest endgame changes is the Atlas passive tree, which has been completely revamped. It now allows players to unlock every node in the skill tree by completing maps throughout the Fortress. While every node can eventually be unlocked, certain capstone nodes offer multi-choice upgrades, which give players the agency to tailor their experience to their liking.
Additionally, a new system called the Masters of the Atlas effectively gives the passive skill tree its own Ascendancy-style progression, offering asymmetric bonuses that can be swapped between maps at will, enabling players to build specialized builds.
Massive Endgame League Reworks
Similar to the aforementioned Expedition rework, the rest of the existing leagues (Delirium, Breach, and Ritual) also feature new storylines, dedicated crafting systems, expanded mechanics, and quality-of-life improvements. These leagues are now made even more accessible since they each have their own respective locations on the Atlas as well as their own questlines.
Stay Sane and Fight Your Fears in the Delirium Rework
The Delirium rework features a new confrontation with Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster, in which players must brave their deepest fears manifested in the foggy mirror world. The rework revamps the fog mechanic on the Atlas, and gives a visible timer and progress bar to show the time allotted, as well as how deep the player is in the mirror world.
Additionally, it also introduces new mirror shard encounters, new Distilled Emotions to let players craft mods directly into Jewels, and a new Pinnacle boss encounter after proving themselves fearless in Tangmazu’s eyes.
Stop the Invasion of the Hivelords in the Breach Rework
Ailith and the Keepers of the Flame are back, and they need the Exile’s help in fighting back against the Hiveborn in the new Breach rework. It now has a visible timer to show how much time is left to keep the portal open, as well as a new "enraged" phase when players keep a Breach open long enough, which leads to tougher enemy spawns and even more rewards.
Eventually, platters will gain access to the Hiveborn’s domain with the use of a special item and encounter new bosses and even Xesht itself. As in PoE1, the rework adds the Genesis Tree, allowing them to craft accessories using Wombgifts and Hiveblood as needed.
Take the Rite of the Namelss in the Ritual Rework
A lost spirit named Aoife beckons the Exile to explore the Wildwoods after completing their first endgame Ritual. There, players discover that she is held prisoner by the King in the Mists, and she asks for their help to gain her freedom. Players must earn an audience with the King by completing Ritual encounters and trading in Tribute, which are now exclusively Uniques or Omens.
Afterward, players discover that a darker evil is behind everything. The Bodach, a dark entity from which the King in the Mists draws its power, is sealed in an ancient prison underneath the Wildwood. Take the Rite of the Nameless, and take multi-map rituals to eventually defeat the new Pinnacle boss.
2 New Ascendancy Classes and More Quality of Life Additions
To round out all of the endgame changes, Return of the Ancients will also include 2 new ascendancy classes: Spirit Walker and Martial Artist, as well as new quality of life additions that all players should look forward to.
Spirit Walker
The Spirit Walker is a new ascendancy for the Huntress, where she channels the primal power of three Azmerian spirits, namely the Stag, Owl, and Bear. Depending on her attunement, she gains access to different devastating abilities, like the ability to summon a ferocious bear companion or even call in a devastating stampede.
Moreover, the Ascendancy also allows them to either specialize in one spirit or use all three to enhance their abilities using the Sacred Wisps. She can also use Idolatry, using Idol socketables in her equipment to grant her massive bonuses and greater power. Lastly, one of her unique abilities even allows her to tame beast bosses into loyal allies, which can give her that colossal advantage over her opponents.
Martial Artist
On the other hand, the Martial Artist is a new ascendancy for the Monk, where he utilizes illusions to echo his attacks, create even more spectral bells to shatter enemies, and use resonance to enhance his critical strikes. Utilize socket runes and gain effects as runic tattoos, granting him stat bonuses depending on the slotted runes. Use Way of the Stonefist to transform his gloves into weapons of mass destruction, to create even more destructive builds.
Challenges, In-Game Build Guide System, and More to Come
On top of new Uniques, Runes, Skill Gems, and more, Return of the Ancients introduces more quality-of-life improvements like Challenges. Similar to the previous game, these work like achievements, with rewards including pieces of an exclusive cosmetic armor set and a dedicated hideout statue for those who successfully complete all 8.
One of the most important quality-of-life improvements is the in-game Build Guide, which allows creators to publish their builds and streamlines following them in-game. These highlight passive skills that were specified by the creator, gem selections, item recommendations, and even specific notes directly within the client.
Last but certainly not least, Shift-Alt-clicking any item now performs an instant price check to help with the asynchronous trade system implemented earlier. This allows players to easily sell their gear and quickly and conveniently check the value of different items.
Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients releases on May 29, 2026 for PC (Steam, Epic Games), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
