Highlights
Path of Exile 2's closed beta will feature the full game, allowing players to test the entirety of the content, deviating from industry standards.
Path of Exile 2 will provide players with a wealth of fresh content, featuring six campaign acts, a whopping 600 monster varieties, and a thrilling array of 100 unique boss battles.
The closed beta phase of the game is specifically designed to meticulously polish every facet of the gaming experience. The development studio eagerly awaits valuable feedback from players in order to deliver an exceptional final product. However, the beta won't commence until June 7, 2024, so there is still some time before players can dive into the action.
Grinding Gear Games, the developer of Path of Exile and its sequel, has confirmed that the closed beta for Path of Exile 2 will feature the full game for testing and will run for the duration of a standard challenge league. Unlike other betas that offer limited content and last only a few days, Path of Exile 2's closed beta will provide a unique experience. However, players will have to wait a while before being able to participate.
Initially planned as an expansion for Path of Exile, Path of Exile 2 has evolved into a full-fledged sequel due to the enormity of new content. The game currently includes six campaign acts, boasting 100 unique environments, 600 types of monsters, and 100 challenging boss fights. Players will be able to utilize 240 distinct active skills and choose from over 700 equipment types for their crafting and gearing purposes. Notably, Path of Exile 2 will introduce a robust passive skill tree with 1500 nodes, similar to its predecessor. Furthermore, players will have the opportunity to play with six new classes on top of the existing ones, resulting in a total of 12 classes to choose from. Each class will also have three unique ascendancies, bringing the total number of ascendancies to 36.
The amount of content planned for launch in Path of Exile 2 is comparable to or even exceeds that of Path of Exile's current offerings. Director Jonathan Rogers stated in an interview with IGN that the studio aims to find the right balance for the game, taking into consideration players' resistance to major changes in gameplay and character power adjustments, as exemplified by Diablo 4's patch 1.1.0. Rogers emphasizes the importance of receiving constructive feedback from players in order to deliver a final product, which is why the studio has chosen to offer the entire game for closed beta testing, which will last for several months.
Grinding Gear Games acknowledges that this direction will be challenging but believes it will allow them to fine-tune every aspect of the game, including its 6-player co-op and highly extensive endgame. Path of Exile 2's endgame will feature mechanics that have been refined from the original game, while both Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2 will continue to receive seasonal support through expansions released at different times. Grinding Gear Games believes that the staggered development of the two games will provide players with distinct experiences within the same gameplay framework.
The studio has yet to provide information on whether the upcoming expansions for Path of Exile will be playable in the sequel. However, it has been confirmed that the microtransactions will be usable in both games. The closed beta for Path of Exile 2, which is eagerly awaited, is scheduled to launch on June 7, 2024. This highly anticipated game is currently being developed and is expected to be released in 2024 for Mac, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN