Path Of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt

There are lots of updates planned for the Early Access title, Path of Exile 2, including the massive expansion titled Dawn of the Hunt. This content drop includes many of the requested features for endgame content, as well as the introduction of a powerful new class that blends melee and range attacks. Though there is no announced date for when the game will launch in its full state, there are many updates to come throughout 2025. Not all of them will offer new classes, as Dawn of the Hunt does, but each will build upon the foundation already provided.

Dawn of the Hunt is the first major content update following Path of Exile 2‘s Early Access release in December 2024, and the developers are not starting small. With over 100 new Unique items, 20 new Runes, and 100 new Support Gems, the game adds all-new ways to customize a character to create diverse builds. Responding to player feedback, Dawn of the Hunt also includes dozens of new endgame encounters, new maps, and changes to how Towers work. For so much content, it is all coming much sooner than one would think.

When Path Of Exile 2: Dawn Of The Hunt Releases

Dawn Of The Hunt Will Be Available On April 4, 2025

Dawn of the Hunt is the first major update to Path of Exile 2 and will become available for players on April 4, 2025, at 12:00 pm PDT. This expansion will launch simultaneously across PC, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation, and Xbox.

Due to the amount of changes being brought to the game, developers do recommend that players start with a fresh character. While this is an optional choice and not required, the amount of balance changes to skills, new Ascendancy classes, and even structural changes to the economy and more could make it easier to have a clean start rather than trying to rebuild a current character.

The Huntress Joins The Game As Path Of Exile 2’s Newest Class

Hybrid Of Melee And Ranged Attacks

The Huntress is a powerful warrior who differs from the current Monk Class by expertly blending close combat and ranged attack abilities using spears and bucklers. After she was banished from her homeland, she finds herself always in motion. Any foe who is reckless enough to face her will find she is not to be underestimated, and is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

Her elemental spear attacks can create some of the longest combo chains experienced in Path of Exile 2 so far, and her Parry ability can provide smooth ways to counterattack in a fight.

The Huntress introduces spears as a new base item type for Path of Exile 2, which she uses as either a thrown weapon or in melee range. Also added to the game for the Huntress are bucklers, which she uses to stun monsters while parrying them. This provides her with the perfect window to use one of her several counterattacks.

New Ascendancy Classes For Three Classes As Well As Huntress

Warrior, Witch, And Mercenary Each Receive A New Ascendancy

The Huntress has two Ascendancy Classes available, and Dawn of the Hunt adds new Ascendancy Classes for the Witch, Warrior, and Mercenary as well. These Ascend possibilities allow players to expand their builds to form characters to fit how they wish to play the game, while utilizing impressive powers to take down the enemy.

Using an Ascendancy is one of the best ways to customize a character and strengthen them for the least higher-level content in Path of Exile 2. These Ascendancy classes become available in the second act of the game and help to form some of the most powerfully focused builds that are needed to survive into endgame content.

More Endgame Content And Improvements Added

Including Eight New Maps And Over 100 New Unique Items

While the title, Dawn of the Hunt, certainly puts the focus on the new Huntress character class, there is so much more content that is being added or tweaked in Path of Exile 2 with this content update. Developers have received a considerable amount of feedback from players about the lack of endgame content, and this is starting to be addressed now.

Eight new maps offer fresh challenges, such as The Fractured Lake which puts players into a shifting, warped reality where Rare monsters are mirrored into two. Many balance changes are tweaked in the game as well, particularly when it comes to Towers. The amount of Towers has been significantly lowered, but each remaining one is considerably more powerful.

Tablets can affect twice as many areas, or even more, and each Tower can consume up to three Tablets at a time. These changes should make this aspect of endgame feel less like busy work and create more satisfying gameplay.

Over 100 new Uniques have been added, particularly focusing on Mid and Endgame, allowing for higher-level characters to still feel that thrill when collecting loot. These can be used to craft new builds, alongside the over 100 new Support Gems and 20 Runes which modify skills and gear to further personalize the gameplay of a character for each person.

Future content updates are said to have more specialized socketable mods, with the first wave coming in the content update following Dawn of the Hunt. While this expansion is a large one, with a plethora of changes to explore and discover, it is only the beginning of new content that players will be seeing in Path of Exile 2 throughout the year.

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