Summary
Just a few days ago, Grinding Gear Games held a livestream with the aim of revealing all the new content and changes coming toPath of Exile 2when the Dawn of the Hunt update goes live next week. Not all fans are impressed with the patch, but it is arguably a very large one with a lot of quality-of-life changes, and many new additions are coming - from the Huntress class to five new Ascendancies, including over one hundred Unique Items and Support Gems. For those on the fence,Path of Exile 2is very much back on the menu, but the 0.2.0 update may prove to be a mixed bag when it comes to spear skills.
Even thoughPath of Exile 2’s Huntress is a great callback toDiablo 2’s Amazon, especially with the new Lightning spear skill that essentially turns the class into the so-called “Javazon,” spear skills may struggle when they come out. GGG hasn’t revealed all spear skills in the game just yet, and numbers, Support Gems, balance passes on the passive tree, and Unique Items may all change how they feel when used. However, GGG has explicitly stated that the goal was to make spear skills feel like they need combos to be fully appreciated.
Path of Exile 2 May Drop The Ball With Spear Skills
Path of Exile 2’s slow combat and boss fightsare refreshing compared to the game’s predecessor, but this philosophy has struggled to remain true to itself in the endgame so far. GGG intends to make changes to player power and monsters, too, so things may turn one way or the other in Dawn of the Hunt or further down the line. The point still stands, though, and it seems quite likely that players will still want to use one or two different skills at most to fight monster packs in the endgame.
If this is true, then over 20 skills designed to work in combination with one another more than they can accomplish on their own may feel comparatively bad. Currently, staff skills are arguably the most combo-inducing, and yet only a handful are truly used in the game. GGG stated that the spear was designed to be the most combo-centric weapon so far, which means thatPath of Exile 2’s endgame approacheither has to change dramatically for spear skills to feel better and more rewarding, or they may be dead on arrival. It’s still possible that spear skills will be great for the campaign, but the endgame is a different beast entirely.
Even if Path of Exile 2’s Spear Skills Are Poorly Received, a Fix Won’t Be Far Away
The reason the currentPath of Exile 2build metais in a state where only characters who can clear packs with a button press are rewarded is precisely that - monsters are very fast, aggressive, and deadly, so players can’t throw a chain of skills at them. This may very well change, at least to some degree, in Dawn of the Hunt. Yet, it’s wise to be cautiously optimistic about this new approach from GGG, as combos inPath of Exile 2haven’t been received positively across the board.
As such, needing to hop back and forth between packs of monsters to make the most of spear skills may feel disappointing. It’s possible that there will be breakout builds where players are able to use some of the best spear skills without the need to rotate between them frequently, so it’s not all doom and gloom. TheHuntress' Ritualist Ascendancy inPoE 2is getting amazing nodes for endgame builds, for example, so using spear skills with the right setup may prove effective anyway. And even if that doesn’t end up being the case, it’s quite likely that GGG will address fans' feedback in a relatively timely manner, possibly buffing spear skills if needed. Ultimately, fans will have to wait and see, but the combo logic hasn’t done any favors to other skill lines and builds so far.
Path of Exile II
WHERE TO PLAY
Path of Exile 2 is a next generation free-to-play Action RPG created by Grinding Gear Games. Journey across the deadly continent of Wraeclast, meeting multiple immersive cultures while facing off against evil in many forms. Path of Exile 2 features twelve character classes, 240 Skill Gems, hundreds of equipment base types, a six-act campaign, more than a hundred unique boss fights, a deep endgame system and so much more. Play with your friends without losing any progress with couch co-op, cross-play and cross-progression.
