Summary
Path of Exile 2launched in early access just a little over one month ago, and it was arguably already in a great spot. Then, this week, GGG releasedPath of Exile 2’s first big 2025 patch, which addressed a plethora of issues and bugs, and it implemented or acted on player feedback in some key areas. For example, players can now overwrite Runes and other socketables like Cores in their items with a different socketable, which was a big issue with the Rune system so far. While the game is doing great and can only grow from here, it can capitalize on three changes to its current version of the endgame.
As it stands, there is a lot for players to do after they finish the campaign and the Cruel difficulty Acts.Path of Exile 2takes players to the Ziggurat Refuge, which acts like a base of operations for players to slowly make their way through higher tiers of Waystones, starting from Tier 1. The Atlas has a multitude of map nodes for players to choose from, with several icons that represent different League mechanics or other modifiers, such as bosses. All this can be quite exciting at first, but there are changes GGG can implement to improve the overall experience: a Waystone stash tab, better map/biome visibility on the Atlas, and a less frustrating approach to death.
Path of Exile 2 Needs a Waystone Stash Tab
Path of Exile 2’s endgamerequires players to constantly move through Waystones, as they are needed to advance through the Atlas and its fog of war and to complete objectives, like getting Atlas passives or reaching key parts of it, like the Burning Monolith and the three Citadels. As such, a great addition to the game would be a dedicated Waystone stash tab where players can easily store and access all their Waystones, filter by keywords, and group them by Tier.
Stash tabs are usuallypaid content in Path of Exile 2(and its predecessor), but a Waystone stash tab would be such a massive quality-of-life addition that it would arguably be fine even if it weren’t free.
How Path of Exile 2 Could Improve its Mapping Experience
While the recent 0.1.1Path of Exile 2patch did add new functionality to the Atlas where each map node states its biome, this could be taken to the next level. For example, each map node could have a brief video attached to it showcasing both a sample layout of the area and its mini-map. This would be a game-changer because some League mechanics, likePath of Exile 2’s Breachor Ritual, are area-based. If a Breach or Ritual spawns in a narrow corridor, with some map types having multiple of these, they can be dramatically less rewarding than they would otherwise.
Why Path of Exile 2 Should Reconsider its One-Portal Policy
Last but not least,Path of Exile 2’s approach to deathmight need some changes. It’s no secret that GGG wanted the game to be slower and more methodical in its combat, especially with boss fights being a prevalent part of the ARPG. However, the game can be very punishing in the endgame section, where dying in any Waystone means losing experience and access to the Waystone itself, including all loot that hadn’t been picked up before the event.
The reasoning from GGG seems to be that, this way, players can learn from the experience and improve their characters and builds accordingly. However, this is hardly the case for many reasons, like how it can be very hard to change gear pieces on the fly or how the game doesn’t really have a death recap screen where it clearly states what happened. On top of that, althoughPath of Exile 2can be paused, which it is also supposed to do automatically in case one is disconnected, it does happen that players may be disconnected and still die to it. What follows is that making death less punishing, alongside the other changes, would makePath of Exile 2the best version of itself.
Path of Exile II
WHERE TO PLAY
Path of Exile 2 is a next generation free-to-play Action RPG created by Grinding Gear Games. Journey across the deadly continent of Wraeclast, meeting multiple immersive cultures while facing off against evil in many forms. Path of Exile 2 features twelve character classes, 240 Skill Gems, hundreds of equipment base types, a six-act campaign, more than a hundred unique boss fights, a deep endgame system and so much more. Play with your friends without losing any progress with couch co-op, cross-play and cross-progression.
