Grinding Gear Games revealed Path of Exile 2's 1.0 content at ExileCon 2026: the game leaves Early Access and goes free-to-play on December 11 (PST) with Acts 5 and 6, the new Shadow class, the Duelist's Knight Ascendancy and the Conquerors of Wraeclast league.
Path of Exile 2 leaves Early Access and becomes fully free-to-play on December 11, 2026 (Pacific time). Grinding Gear Games had announced the date in August; at ExileCon 2026, on November 6 (PST), the studio showed what the 1.0 Full Release actually contains: the last two acts of the campaign, a new class, a new Duelist Ascendancy, a new challenge league and a large rebalance. Here is what is confirmed, and what is not yet.
"Path of Exile 2: A Return to Oriath | Act 5 & 6 Trailer", official Path of Exile YouTube channel, November 6, 2026.
Release date, time and platforms
Date: December 11, 2026, PST. GGG has not given an exact launch hour yet, so we cannot convert it to Paris time for now. Because Pacific time is 9 hours behind Paris, any launch during the US day on December 11 means the evening of December 11 or the night of December 11-12 in France.
Price: free-to-play ("Play Path of Exile 2 for free on December 11 PST", says GGG's Steam announcement). Early Access, which required a Supporter Pack, began on December 6, 2024.
Platforms, according to GGG's press release: PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The press release also says the game debuts on Mac with the Full Release (M2-series Macs and newer, and M1 Pro). Path of Exile 2 has been Steam Deck Verified since September 24, 2026.
Early Access Supporter Packs: GGG said on October 22 that they leave the store "in a few weeks", replaced by five new packs.
Acts 5 and 6: the campaign is complete
The six-act campaign is finished with Acts 5 and 6, which take players back to Oriath, a city ravaged by war and corruption.
GGG lists 24 new areas, 18 new unique bosses and more than 20 new Champion Rare encounters.
New class: the Shadow
The Shadow uses daggers, traps and Shades (shadowy copies that replicate his attacks), with a new Darkness resource.
Stealth is a new mechanic: monsters cannot see you until you get close; according to GGG's press release, each kill resets the Stealth cooldown.
Traps placed while in Stealth explode in the order they were thrown; the press release mentions eight trap types.
Ascendancies at launch: Assassin and Infiltrator.
The Duelist and the Knight
The Duelist, a sword fighter revealed in August, uses Stances: Ready Stance empowers sword skills and can be upgraded to Sand or Blood Stances.
The Knight Ascendancy recruits a Squire that can be equipped with weapons and armor and use melee skill gems, raises War Banners inspired by Wraeclast's empires, and can launch a Mounted Charge in a chariot that stuns enemies.
Second Ascendancy: GGG's Steam announcement says 1.0 introduces two Duelist Ascendancies, the Knight and the Master-at-Arms, while the press release says Master of Arms "will arrive at a later date". We will update this point once GGG clarifies.
Conquerors of Wraeclast league
The launch challenge league adds an army and conquest layer: recruit troops, find enemy fortifications, deploy your soldiers and lead them in battle, with over 70 new points of interest and, per the press release, 23 campaign battles.
In the endgame you build a stronghold, choose one of three factions, and can delegate Atlas progression to up to three commanders in real time.
Faction conquest: players of the same faction capture castles from rival player factions; the press release counts 100 castles on the Atlas, with bonuses such as increased item rarity and special Hunting Grounds.
Reforging: a new crafting material found in castle treasuries replaces unwanted modifiers with permanently fractured ones.
Story: a new endgame storyline, "the Blood Lord's promise", around the ancient Sanguar bloodline.
Uniques, passive tree and class reworks
More than 40 new Unique items and more than 70 revamped ones; the press release adds over 200 new base item types.
Passive Skill Tree overhaul with hundreds of new stats; all Jewel Sockets move into clusters. Support Gems are heavily rebalanced, and the Warrior and Witch get new skills.
Reworks: Mercenary reloading, Infernalist (a demonic minion that casts any spell given to it, up to three Infernal Hounds, new Covenant skills), Blood Mage (new skills and curses, Corrupted Blood rework) and Acolyte of Chayula (a companion using Quarterstaff skills, a soul-transfer clone).
Atlas Passive Tree reworked into 70 more impactful nodes; GGG also promises up to 25% CPU performance gains, lower memory use and smoother frame pacing.
Overall, the press release counts ten playable classes, 26 Ascendancy classes, over 320 skills, more than 400 Unique Items and over 150 endgame maps.
What is not confirmed yet
The exact launch hour on December 11, and the download size.
The content and price of the five new Supporter Packs, and the exact day the Early Access packs leave the store.
The timing of the Duelist's second Ascendancy (see above).
Sources: Grinding Gear Games, Steam announcement "Path of Exile 2 Full Release on December 11 PST", November 6, 2026: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2694490/view/1848664643347683 ; GGG press release (ExileCon 2026), November 6, 2026, as published by Worthplaying: https://www.worthplaying.com/article/2026/11/6/news/151383-path-of-exile-2-reveals-new-shadow-class-complete-campaign-and-conquerors-of-wraeclast-league-trailer/ ; official Path of Exile 2 announcements forum (Steam Deck Verified, Early Access Supporter Packs, ExileCon schedule): https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-forum/2211 ; Steam store page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2694490/
Conversation (0).
One account to join conversations across TricknFix.
Conversation (0).
One account to join conversations across TricknFix.
Log in to participate