Grinding Gear Games details full Path of Exile 2 release with new classes and finished campaign

Grinding Gear Games has announced that Path of Exile 2 will officially leave early access and launch as a free-to-play game on December 11, 2026, Pacific Time. The massive 1.0 update introduces the Shadow and Duelist classes, bringing the game's total to ten playable classes, and adds Acts 5 and 6 to complete the six-act campaign. The finished game will feature 26 Ascendancy specialisations, more than 320 skills, over 400 Unique Items, and upwards of 150 endgame maps, along with achieving Steam Deck Verified status. [1][2]

The release introduces daggers, stealth mechanics, and eight trap types with the Shadow, while the Duelist adds swords that support dual-wielding, two-handed, or sword-and-board fighting alongside stances like blood and sand. The storyline concludes with 24 new areas, 18 unique bosses, and bespoke rare encounters across Acts 5 and 6. Alongside the campaign, the Conquerors of Wraeclast league brings a base-building system where players recruit armies across more than 70 points of interest, hire commanders to run maps, and join the Karui, Ezomyte, or Marraketh factions to battle for castles on the Atlas. [1][2]

The endgame and progression systems will see substantial overhauls. The Atlas skill tree has been trimmed from over 300 nodes down to about 70, jewel sockets are moving into skill clusters on the passive tree, and various support gems have been rebalanced. Grinding Gear Games is also running a pre-registration campaign featuring cosmetic milestones, which existing early access owners must join separately to claim. [1][2]