A brand new Path of Exile 2 update has landed, completely transforming the endgame experience. This patch is so significant, it feels like an entirely new season! Grinding Gear Games achieved considerable success with their previous Third Edict update, which many, including myself, felt was a crucial step towards making PoE 2 one of the top Action RPGs, much like its acclaimed predecessor. But they didn’t stop there. Game director Jonathan Rogers revealed that many planned mechanical changes for the next league were already polished and ready, so they decided to integrate them into the current game with patch 0.3.1.
This latest Path of Exile 2 update focuses almost entirely on the endgame and the Atlas map, directly addressing many common player complaints. Most notably, the tower system has been completely overhauled and is no longer necessary for spreading modifiers to your maps via precursor tablets. Now, your tablets have a fixed number of uses. You can spend these when inserting a fresh waystone to apply up to three modifiers to your chosen level.
Once you lock in your choices, the zone will then generate an additional one to three pieces of random content from other available mechanics. The system is smart, taking into account modifiers you’ve already applied, so you won’t encounter duplicates of systems like Expedition that have limited appearances per map. While these changes result in slightly fewer overall affixes, their individual values have been increased, ensuring you can still maximize the potential of every waystone.
Even with these changes, you can still utilize towers for additional visibility across your Atlas. Completing a tower now guarantees a tablet drop. Furthermore, Citadels have become 66% more likely to appear, meaning you’ll encounter them far more frequently. A major quality-of-life improvement is that every map now features a boss, serving as the sole condition to finish the map. This eliminates the frustrating search for a stray rare monster pack. While the previous ‘boss maps’ will still exist, they now present a much more formidable challenge, requiring better gear and strategy.
To ensure a smoother transition into the endgame, the density of monster packs in lower-tier maps has been reduced by about a third. This density gradually increases back to its previous level as you progress towards rank 15 maps. Enemies are now distributed in more frequent but smaller groups, and open-ended zones feature slightly lower spawn density. This change aims to reduce instances of being swarmed and overwhelmed, unless, of course, you’re intentionally pushing the limits.
One of the most annoying map modifier types has also been significantly toned down. Affixes that cover the ground in chill, shock, or ignite now affect 75% less of the map in early tiers, scaling to 62% less at higher ranks. Grinding Gear Games has also condensed the 15 largest map types to minimize unnecessary backtracking and downtime. Overall, this update strikes a great balance, addressing common player feedback without making the endgame feel too similar to Path of Exile 1, which is vital for both games to thrive independently.
Beyond these major changes, the patch also introduces several other balance and quality-of-life improvements. Orbs of Alchemy can now be used on magic items, effectively ignoring existing modifiers and rerolling them as if they were basic rarity. This greatly enhances their utility in PoE 2’s new crafting landscape, especially for optimizing your waystones. The stash and merchant menus will now conveniently remember your last search terms, and many skill and item descriptions have been clarified for better understanding. Additionally, town crier Jacob is now in Kingsmarch, ready to share updates on your campaign exploits through act four.
Path of Exile 2 patch 0.3.1 is available now. Detailed information on bug fixes, performance improvements in Kingsmarch, and adjustments to Abyss mechanics can be found in the official patch notes. If you’re starting a new character, remember to check out updated rankings of the best Path of Exile 2 classes in The Third Edict, and keep an eye out for news regarding the final Path of Exile 2 release date.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on these significant changes!