A new Path of Exile 2 update today is rolling out the major loot improvements promised by developer Grinding Gear Games – but not without a slight hiccup. The latest Path of Exile 2 patch notes are already here, and the overhaul was supposed to land with them, but a slip up that caused some skill gems to disappear has forced GGG to roll back the update. It will be making its return within 24 hours, however, so here's a good look at what's changing as the highly anticipated ARPG sequel and Diablo rival aims to fix its dire, dire drops.
"One of the things that we have had a lot of about is item drops feeling unrewarding in various situations," GGG writes. best games like Diablo thrive on their loot, after all, and PoE 2 is a tough enough game even if you're routinely finding decent upgrades to suit your build.
The loot dropped by Path of Exile 2 monsters is controlled by two primary stats, GGG explains: Monster Item Quantity and Monster Item Rarity. To avoid the floods of gear that could sometimes happen in its predecessor, the developer says it is relying more on Item Rarity in PoE 2. "This means the effect that Monster Item Rarity has on your items needs to be powerful and noticeable," it says. "Currently, we believe that this stat is not affecting drops enough."
To start with, the rarity value at which the basic tier of 'normal' items stop appearing has been changed. As a clear example, this means you'll never see normal-rarity items drop from Path of Exile 2 bosses "except for a select few early in the game." The amount of gold drops at the rare tier has been halved (with the quantity of each pile doubled to compensate), meaning you'll find more rare items in its place. Monsters with high Item Rarity will now drop about 20-30% more high-value currency in place of lower-tier items.
Tier-two rare items will now drop four times more often, while tiers three to five will appear 30% more frequently than before. They'll also be "better on average than before" as GGG cuts back the number of low-level mods that could appear on them. Tier-two and higher-magic items (the blue ones) will now drop around five times more, and should similarly benefit from dramatically improved mods as you climb the tiers, making them "a much better starting point for crafting or recombination."
All of the above changes apply across the whole game, but GGG is also making adjustments across many other areas. Unique bosses will now have drop protection, meaning that you'll always get a guaranteed rare item the first time you defeat a boss in the campaign. In endgame maps, you will always get at least one rare item from a boss kill. This benefit is also applied to rare monsters that have been possessed by an Azmerian Wisp, although these will also benefit from the general Item Rarity adjustments.
Both chests and strongboxes will now gain a 50% bonus to Item Rarity in Cruel difficulty, rising to 100% in the endgame. You'll be certain to see at least one magic item from magic chests, while rare chest and strongboxes now ensure a rare drop. Similar bonuses have been made to the chests earned in the Trial of the Sekhemas and those found in Expedition. The Trial of Chaos, meanwhile, now gradually replaces corrupted rares with stacks of rare currency in its rewards as you ramp up the difficulty level. Rounding out the changes are a significant boost to Item Rarity from progressing deeper into Delirium encounters.
That's all for the loot buffs, although it's a pretty large 'all.' Expect to find a tremendous amount more worthwhile loot going forward. Alongside this, the chance of gaining access to the three pinnacle fights has been dramatically increased (by between 50% and 80% depending on the encounter), and you'll now earn five skill points for your Atlas ive tree with each Corrupted Nexus clear, helping you progress through endgame tiers much faster.
Path of Exile 2 patch 0.2.0g is being deployed on Thursday May 1. The initial rollout was reversed after an issue "caused some existing skill gems to be missing from builds." GGG says the problem has been identified and the full update will be redeployed later in the day.
If you're finally ready to get back into the action, our best Path of Exile 2 Twitch drops to see if you can snag any additional fashion items.
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