Path of Exile 2 full release: free on 11 December, with Acts 5 and 6, the Shadow and the Duelist

Grinding Gear Games revealed Path of Exile 2's full release on the main stage of ExileCon 2026 in Auckland.² Everything below comes from its own pages, checked on 7 November 2026, and the review figures from players who bought it during early access.

When does Path of Exile 2 fully release?

On 11 December 2026, Pacific time, when it becomes a free-to-play game.^1,2 Grinding Gear Games hasn't posted the launch hour yet. Early access began on 6 December 2024, so the game will have spent almost exactly two years in it.⁶

What's in Path of Exile 2 1.0?

What the full release adds

Part	What's new
Campaign	Acts 5 and 6 complete the story in Oriath, with 24 areas, 18 new bosses and over 20 new Champion Rare encounters
Two new classes	The Shadow, with daggers, traps and Stealth, and the Duelist, with swords and Stances
Challenge league	Conquerors of Wraeclast: raise an army, build a stronghold and siege castles
Endgame story	The Blood Lord's Promise, a new storyline about the ancient Sanguar bloodline
Unique items	Over 40 new ones, and more than 70 existing ones reworked
Skills	New skills for classes that lacked them, such as molten mace slams, and a big rebalance of Support Gems
Passive tree	Hundreds of new stats, with every Jewel Socket moved into the clusters
Class reworks	The Mercenary, for one, now reloads ammunition in the background while using other types

The Shadow

The Shadow is a descendant of the Perandus family who owes a debt to the dark god Prospero. He brings Stealth, a new mechanic. While stealthed, monsters can't see you until you're close, and your dagger skills gain bonuses, from poison explosions to shadow clones that distract enemies.¹

He also brings traps, a new weapon type. Lay them while stealthed and they go off as you strike, exploding in the order you threw them, and each trap interacts with at least three others. The Shadow has two Ascendancy classes at release, and the first revealed is the Assassin.¹

The Duelist

The Duelist learned the sword in Oriath's arenas. He fights with Stances, another new mechanic. Ready Stance empowers each sword skill in its own way, stunning enemies switches you to Sand Stance, which throws sand disks across the field, and parrying switches you to Blood Stance, which makes every hit bleed. He also has two Ascendancy classes, starting with the Master-at-Arms.¹

How does the Conquerors of Wraeclast league work?

You join Varek and his mercenaries to stop the ancient Blood Lord from waking, in five steps.¹

1. Raise an army in the campaign. Over 70 new points of interest let you recruit troops, and over 20 missions have you defend villages, assault forts and break down gates. Every unit has its own strengths and weaknesses.
2. Build a stronghold in the endgame. Pick one of three factions, each with its own fortress style and troops, then grow it from a hamlet into a fortress with over 20 buildings and upgrades.
3. Raid castle treasuries. Alongside gold, they hold a new crafting material that swaps unwanted modifiers for fractured ones that stay locked through later crafts.
4. Send commanders across the Atlas. Up to three of them take your troops and Waystones to clear maps, finish Towers or hunt specific rewards with Tablets.
5. Fight for your faction. Once you finish the endgame story, you join every player in your faction to take over 100 castles. Holding one raises item rarity, opens special maps and serves as a launching point into the Atlas.

Supporter packs and sign-up rewards

Five new Supporter Packs mark the release. Each has exclusive cosmetics and store points, and the top tiers add merchandise, a Path of Exile 2 figurine and a chance to have your hideout appear as an area on the Atlas.¹

Sign up at Grinding Gear Games' registration page before 11 December for free cosmetics. Everyone gets at least one, and the community had unlocked two by 19 October, with five in all if every milestone is reached. Codes go out by email after launch, one per account, for players on PC and consoles. Owning early access doesn't count, so existing players need to sign up too.^3,4

How have players rated Path of Exile 2 in early access?

Their verdict has swung hard. In its first month, 80% of reviews recommended it. In April 2025, the month the 0.2 update arrived, only 33% did, and it took until October 2025 to get back near its launch level.^5,7 Reviews peaked at 93% in November 2025 and have stayed between 73% and 81% every month since February 2026. Of all 169,075 reviews so far, 76% recommend it.^6,7

Share of each month's reviews that recommend Path of Exile 2

Recommend

1. December 2024Early access launch80%
2. January 202578%
3. February 202576%
4. March 202574%
5. April 2025Update 0.233%
6. May 202551%
7. June 202551%
8. July 202561%
9. August 202569%
10. September 202571%
11. October 202579%
12. November 202593%
13. December 202571%
14. January 202659%
15. February 202674%
16. March 202674%
17. April 202675%
18. May 202675%
19. June 202673%
20. July 202680%
21. August 202681%
22. September 202678%
23. October 202677%

Path of Exile 1's 3.30 expansion, Covens of Umbra, arrives first, on 13 November. Our Covens of Umbra guide covers it, and everything announced at ExileCon 2026 is in one place.