PAX West Interview: Path of Exile 2

Grinding Gear Games had a large presence at PAX this year with their demo of Path of Exile 2, a game that a large community has been excited for since the initial announcement in 2019. The demo featured five classes at different points in the game, each with a build out of abilities that showcased how the new systems worked together.

For the uninitiated, path of exile is a dungeon crawler in the vein of diablo, but with a higher level of complexity and build-crafting. While Path of Exile was well known for a strong late game and diversity of abilities and gameplay elements, the developers found places for improvements in the core combat and customizability. Now the game features ability cancels, moves that interact with each other (such as how stomping as a druid next to a volcano increases its activations), and a new gem system that isn’t tied to your gear.

It feels like every change made by Grinding Gear Games was done with the fan base in mind, attempting to grow the depth of the experience. For instance, one huge change is the ability to tie passive points on a skill tree to a weapon set. In Path of Exile, while you could have two weapon sets, there wasn’t always a huge benefit to it. Now, you can have different passives based on your weapon set and have your character automatically switch weapons when you use an ability tied to that set. As a base example, you could have one passive tree that maximizes fire damage and a second one that maximizes cold damage. Then, when you use a fire skill, you would automatically switch to the increased fire damage tree. This opens the door to huge diversity in builds as you can now figure out synergies between different passive trees and prepare for different situations.

One thing I love about Grinding Gear Games is how they never feel like they are taking advantage of their player base. You cannot pay for power and you’re never tricked into spending money. To that end, all cosmetics purchased in Path of Exile will be available to players in Path of Exile 2. It’s rare to see a company essentially give away what they could sell you because they believe you deserve to keep it.

We had a great interview with one of the developers of Grinding Gear Games where we discussed these changes, design philosophies, and end game content for PoE 2. Check it out below!