PoE2 New Classes Will Not Be Focus of Future Updates

In a recent Q&A session, Path of Exile 2's Game Director, Jonathan Rogers, shed light on the future development plans for the game, particularly concerning new classes. Rogers announced that new classes will not be the primary focus of future updates, citing challenges encountered during the development cycle of the latest expansion, Dawn of the Hunt.

Path of Exile 2 New Characters Might Not Be Introduced Every Patch

Rogers expressed his initial desire to include a new class with every release but acknowledged that this approach led to development delays. He explained, 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. The development team faced the dilemma of balancing a fixed release date with the unpredictability of class development, which resulted in moving release dates and extended development times.

He further elaborated, 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 prefers a fixed release schedule over unpredictable delays, stating, 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 emphasized the importance of delivering updates in a timely manner, as players expect to see progress and updates within shorter intervals.

Despite the shift away from frequent new class introductions, Rogers assured players that new Ascendancies will be a regular feature in upcoming patches. He also expressed enthusiasm about potentially adding more classes post-Early Access, stating, 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.

Path of Exile 2 Dawn of the Hunt Brings More Changes to Endgame

Alongside the introduction of the Huntress, the Dawn of the Hunt expansion will bring over 100 new skills, support gems, and unique gear tailored for midgame and endgame. However, the core focus of these changes is to increase the difficulty of boss encounters. Rogers mentioned that the team aims to extend the time it takes for players to reach peak power levels, ensuring that the endgame remains challenging and rewarding.

He noted, There are certainly some things that are going to have to be nerfed because they’re completely trivializing certain mechanics. Rogers aims to prevent players from reaching overpowered states too early in their gameplay journey, stating, I think that you need to be able to get to the point of outrageousness at some point, but you don’t want it to be that you get to that point before you even finish your initial climb.

Rogers expressed disappointment over how quickly players defeated Pinnacle Bosses in previous iterations, envisioning a more challenging initial encounter. He hopes that the new progression and balance changes will lead to a more satisfying experience, explaining, 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.

He concluded that the primary focus of the balance changes is to slow down the climb to becoming overwhelmingly powerful, stating, 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.

Path of Exile 2 Game Director is Happy With Its Ruthless Difficulty

The difficulty of Path of Exile 2's campaign has sparked debates among players. Rogers expressed satisfaction with the campaign's difficulty level, noting that player feedback often stems from comparisons to previous games. He believes that as players become more familiar with the game, they will find it more manageable, stating, 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 also observed that players often perceive changes in game balance when, in reality, their own skills have improved, saying, People are often surprised. 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.