A massive content update is coming toPath of Exile 2soon, asDawn of the Huntadds a new class, new maps, dozens of endgame encounters, and over one hundred new unique items. With new crafting tools, including over 20 runes, the additions that this patch will be adding should offer lots of new ways to customize your experience with more thrilling gameplay. Of course, the new Huntress class could certainly prove to be the star ofDawn of the Hunt, with her hybrid of melee and ranged mechanics.
Path of Exile 2is currently in its Early Access period, havingreleased as such in December 2024, and thedevelopers for the game have a lot of things they still hope to addbefore it’s fully launched. While the story itself is there, and overall feels more like a complete game than most Early Access titles do, the game has been lacking endgame content. This is one of the items being addressed withPath of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt,which will go live on August 09, 2025.
Path of Exile 2’s Game Director, Jonathan Rogers of Grinding Gear Games, sat down withScreenRantand other press outlets to talk about everythingDawn of the Huntwill bring to the game.
The Huntress Joins As A New Character Class For Path Of Exile 2
Hybrid Of Melee And Ranged Attacks
As the title,Dawn of the Hunt, suggests, spearheading the content drop is the dexterous and multi-talented Huntress. Wielding a spear, she can brutally strike in melee range or throw spears for ranged hits. The Huntress is also able to Parry attacks from opponents, thereby stunning them before using a counterattack of her own. Due to her adeptness with spears and bucklers, these are the newest weapon types to be added inPath of Exile 2. However, when asked about other weapon types,Game Director Jonathan Rogers added that swords will be coming in the future, when they add a class that wields swords.
If You Aren’t Playing Path Of Exile 2 Right Now, You’re Your Own Worst Enemy
Despite being early access, Path of Exile 2 is a brilliant evolution of the ARPG genre that deserves a play now, and will no doubt deserve many more.
Additionally, she features the ability to tame beasts to fight by her side. There will be a strategic element to what beast a player may choose to focus on, because, as Rogers stated:“You can only have one companion at a time, so you have to choose what beast you want.”
One of the new creatures being added to the game is the Rhoa. This bird will have the ability to either fight by your side or players can use it as a mount to move full speed while attacking, although they can get knocked off the Rhoa if too much damage is taken. Rather than a traditional beast in the wild, the Rhoa is tied to a gem. Rogers explained that this is becausemounts are not something they want every player to use all the time, so it is limited to certain classes at certain timesas part of a skillset.
Other Classes Are Getting Some Love Too With Fresh Ascendancy Classes
Warrior, Mercenary, And Witch Can Ascend To New Heights
The Huntress isn’t the only class getting some special attention withDawn of the Hunt, however.Five ascendancy classes are added with this update, with only two of those going to the Huntress. The Warrior, Mercenary, and thefan-favorite Witch Classare each getting a new ascendancy class.
Witch
Lich Ascendancy Class
Tears their own soul apart to become a master of undeath and chaos.
Forges weapons of destruction in fire and suffering.
Mercenary
Tactician Ascendancy Class
Brings military-grade brutality to the battlefield as a former trained Blackguard Elite.
Huntress
Amazon Ascendancy Class
The ultimate hunter who uses elemental fury and precision to her advantage.
How To Ascend In Path Of Exile 2
Unlocking and choosing an Ascendancy is an important part of developing your build in the mid-to-late game of Path of Exile 2. Here’s how to do it.
Because of the extent of these changes and additions,Rogers does recommend players start over with a new character, although this is optional. The balance changes in the characters as well as structural changes to the skill tree,economy and currency exchanges, and more could make it easier to simply start a fresh character. This will not necessarily have to happen with each content update, and even now is not required. As Rogers explained: “Every release up to the full release of the game will have new Ascensions for classes, but not necessarily new classes.”
He went on to clarify that due to the rate they plan on putting out new updates and content,it’s simply not feasible to be able to offer a new class each time, but more new classes are coming to the game in the future,although Rogers would not give hints yet as to what those would be.
Devs Hear The Players - New Endgame Encounters, Maps, And More
Along With Several Mechanical Overhauls
The lack of endgame content forPath of Exile 2has been one of the biggest issues players have come up against with this Early Access build. Developers have listened and, withDawn of the Hunt, they areadding eight new maps with fresh challenges and rewards, as well as what Rogers says is “more than 40 new types of encounters.“Among these maps is The Phaaryl Megaliths, where rune-carved stones surge with energy as the storm-fueled gauntlet throws waves of deadly bosses at players.
To rebalance some of the endgame content,the number of Towers has been significantly reducedas well. This doesn’t necessarily mean it will be suddenly easy, however, as the remaining Towers have been made much more powerful. Tablets can affect twice as many areas and each Tower will be able to use up to three tablets at once.
Over One Hundred New Unique Items, Focusing On Mid And Endgame
As Well As 100 New Support Gems To Modify Existing Skills
Another frequent bit of feedback that developers have been seeing is the lack of mid and endgame Unique items for players to find. With this content update, there areover 100 of these Unique items for high-level characters to chase, as well as over 20 new runes to modify gear. Further power customizations for player characters can be found in the more than 100 support gems being introduced, which will give a more diverse range of build possibilities.
TheDawn of the Huntcontent update will go live inPath of Exile 2on August 20, 2025, at 12:00 pm PDT for all platforms. This update will also be made available in existing EA leagues for anyone wishing to continue playing their current existing characters, although it is recommended to start fresh to get the full experience forDawn of the Huntleagues.
ScreenRantattended a hands-off preview event for the purposes of this article.
