PoE 2 0.3 Release Date & Next New Season League Updates (Class, Acts & More)

Path of Exile 2 is starting to show indicators of a turnaround after a difficult beginning and waves of community dissatisfaction. The Patch 0.2.0g (dubbed by some as "Patch G for Good") signaled a turning point with notably higher treasure drops, greater boss rewards, and a leveling XP that at last feels satisfying. Although the community is beginning to show cautious optimism, many gamers remain dubious or on the margins and are beginning to anticipate the 0.3.0 release. New acts, classes, and systems probably expected in Patch 0.3.0 might signal a turning point in the continuous PoE 2 development. Let us quickly review the Path of Exile 2 Next Season Update!

Path of Exile 0.3.0 Release Date: When is the Next Season 3 League Update Coming?

UPDATE! Path of Exile 2's 0.3.0 patch has an official launch date: August 29. This date was confirmed after much speculation about when Grinding Gear Games would schedule the update, especially in light of other major game releases. The decision to release on the 29th comes just eight days after Last Epoch's major update on August 21, meaning players who engage deeply with both games may need to split their time or make some tough choices.

For those who play Last Epoch more casually, the overlap shouldn't be an issue, as there’s enough time to enjoy both launches. However, players heavily invested in both games might find the timing challenging, especially since the new Path of Exile 2 league will be demanding. The 21st of August is also likely when Grinding Gear Games will host their major live stream, where they’ll reveal full details for the new league and its mechanics.

PoE 2 Next Updates: What to Expect in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0 Season 3?

Patch 0.3 is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated updates in Path of Exile 2's Early Access cycle. While GGG has not published a final list of features, community discussions, developer comments, and previous patch trends point to several key additions and changes expected in the next league. The following sections summarize all the most important points from the latest developer interview and community updates.

1. New Acts & Maps

The Third Edict introduces Act 4. set in the Kurui Archipelago, made up of eight nonlinear islands the player can tackle in any order. The act features over 100 new monster types, 16 new areas, and 12 new bosses. The campaign now flows directly into three new temporary interlude acts after Act 4. which will bridge the gap until endgame and replace the old cruel difficulty. Each interlude consists of six to seven areas and four to five bosses, offering fresh storylines and environments.

In total, the campaign now boasts 35 new areas and 24 new bosses. These interludes are temporary and will be replaced as more acts are added, but their bosses and areas will remain accessible in endgame maps.

For endgame, there are 25 new maps. These maps introduce new monsters, bosses, and unique objectives—such as summoning circles that spawn bosses—expanding the variety and replayability of the endgame experience.

2. Class Balance & Skills

While no new classes are being added this patch, every class receives updates, improvements, and buffs:

Ranger: Gains expanded cold skill options, improved skills like Escape Shot and new mechanics such as ice fragments and ice tip arrows. Survivability is increased with the new deflect mechanic, which can reduce damage from any source.

Mercenary: Crossbow skills have been streamlined; reloading no longer penalizes movement, and run-and-gun play style feels smoother. Banners and shock mechanics have also been enhanced.

Warrior: Fire builds and shield skills have been upgraded, with adjustments to shield charge (no cooldown) and new mechanics for totems and endurance charge generation. Warriors now hit reliably at close range without needing to stack accuracy.

Witch: Minions no longer require accuracy and have been numerically buffed. Skills like Ray Spectre and Unearth are improved for more impactful minion play.

Monk: Wind skills and hand-to-hand combat receive upgrades. The hollow palm technique now enables staff skills while unarmed, and new keystones support elemental builds and mana leech.

Sorceress: More support for multi-element builds, with curses and exposure mechanics generalized across elements. Elemental infusions allow combining different elements for powerful effects, and weapon swap is now instant.

Acolyte of Chiula: Gains buffs for chaos damage and new skills that allow chaos to inflict elemental ailments.

Defensive mechanics have been reworked across the board:

Deflect: Scales with evasion and can reach up to 100% chance, reducing hit damage by 40%.

Block and Parry: Nearly all attacks are now blockable, making parry much more reliable.

Armor: Can now mitigate a portion of elemental damage, with new mods on gear and passive tree nodes.

Energy Shield: Focus shifts to regeneration for recovery, with other instant-recovery tricks removed or toned down.

Additionally, over 100 new notable nodes have been added to the passive tree (about 20 per class), attribute requirements on gear have been lowered by 25%, and overall skill synergy and hybrid builds are more viable.

3. Sprinting

A new Sprint mechanic has been added to all classes. By holding down the dodge roll button after rolling, your character will sprint, greatly increasing movement speed. There’s no limit to sprint duration, but taking a hit while sprinting knocks the character down and inflicts a heavy stun. This feature helps speed up travel across large areas and provides a tactical way to escape overwhelming situations. Sprinting is designed mainly for out-of-combat movement or quick repositioning, and its addition has allowed for the removal of movement penalties and cooldowns from several skills.

4. Support Gems

Support gems have undergone a comprehensive rework. The previous restriction of only being able to assign a given support gem to one skill has been lifted—now, you can use as many copies of a support gem as you like across multiple skills. Many support gems now have multiple tiers, with stronger versions becoming available as you progress, and some higher tiers offering altered or additional functionality.

A new category called Lineage Support Gems has been added. These unique, endgame-only gems drop from bosses and can be build-defining or provide powerful upgrades. Only one lineage support gem can be assigned to a skill, and some are exclusive to specific endgame encounters. In total, around 40 lineage supports are being added with this update.

5. Passive Tree

The passive tree is now denser, offering over 100 new notables and numerous new keystones for each class. Many nodes are now more thematic and synergistic with class identity. Attribute requirements on gear have been reduced, letting players invest more points into impactful passives rather than stat prerequisites.

6. Rise of the Abyssal League

The new seasonal content, Rise of the Abyssal League, introduces the Abyssal faction and a fresh league mechanic. As you traverse maps, you’ll encounter fissures tied to abyssal pits. Killing monsters near fissures closes them, after which a horde of abyssal monsters emerges from the pit. The types and modifiers of monsters you killed influence what emerges, making each encounter dynamic.

Special interactions include rogue exiles returning as powerful lichborn, bosses spawning giant larvae, and essence monsters providing unique abyssal essences. Completing enough abyssal encounters can yield ancient bone pieces, which are used in a new crafting system to imbue rare items with hidden modifiers. These modifiers are revealed and chosen via a ritual at a special location in Act 2.

Sometimes, closing a pit reveals a hidden passage to the abyssal depths, packed with enemies and bosses, offering unique rewards, support gems, and socketables. Four abyss bosses are available, each dropping unique items and powerful socketables, such as belts with unusual sockets or jewels that transform sections of your passive tree.

7. League Crafting

The league introduces a new item crafting system via abyssal modifiers. Using ancient bone pieces, you can add a hidden mod to a rare item. These mods range from standard to powerful new abyssal-specific effects. The crafting interface gives a choice of three mods for each item, letting you select your preferred bonus before finalizing.

Some crafting can also be performed on waystones for maps, and certain modifiers will alter the frequency or type of abyssal pits in maps, increasing both challenge and reward.

8. League Endgame

In the league’s endgame, new abyssal depths and chambers can be found, each containing rare monsters with abyssal modifiers and unique bosses. Defeating these bosses yields unique items and rare socketables, some of which can transform passive tree nodes or be equipped for powerful effects.

9. Atlas & Endgame Changes

Endgame progression has been streamlined with the addition of 25 new maps, bringing new monsters and bosses from the campaign into the endgame. Atlas mechanics have been updated:

New mechanics bridge the gap between starting maps and reaching pinnacle content, such as summoning circles that spawn bosses.

Waystones and map affixes have reverted to a system where affixes provide both challenge and reward, as in Path of Exile 1.

The first two Atlas passive tree points for each league mechanic are now much easier to unlock, making early endgame progression smoother.

Pinnacle boss access now uses splinters, with entry cost scaling to difficulty, making encounters more accessible at lower tiers.

The late-game leveling curve has been smoothed for easier progress into the mid-90s.

10. Crafting

Crafting sees substantial improvements:

Essences now function more like regals, adding specific mods with known values. There are more tiers of essences, encouraging use as you progress rather than hoarding.

Perfect Essences act like chaos orbs, replacing a mod on a rare item, often granting powerful new effects.

Tiered Crafting Orbs (transmutation, augmentation, regal, exalted, chaos) now have greater and perfect versions that guarantee higher-tier mods.

Exceptional Items: New crafting bases with higher quality or extra sockets, perfect for high-end crafting projects.

Hinora's Lock: A new currency that reveals the outcome of a craft before you commit, removing the risk of random crafting outcomes. These will be rare and valuable.

New Omens: Added for use in ritual content, including effects like guaranteed unique generation or sanctification of items, which locks their stats but prevents further crafting.

11. New Trade System

A long-requested feature, asynchronous trade (akin to an auction house), is finally here. Players can now list items for sale with a set currency price through a new NPC, An, in their hideout. Others can purchase these items even while the seller is offline; the seller collects payment from An the next time they log in. This system removes the hassle of waiting for buyers or sellers to be online and eliminates the need to use premium stash tabs for trading.

There is a gold cost (a tax) on trades, acting as a currency sink and discouraging botting and excessive flipping. Existing premium tabs can be converted into merchant tabs for use with the new system, and the old trade system remains available for those who prefer it.

12. Supporter Packs & Free To Play

Two new series of supporter packs are being released: Justice and Triathan Executioner, each featuring exclusive cosmetic microtransactions such as armor sets, pets, hideout decorations, portals, and effects. These are purely cosmetic and do not affect gameplay. Microtransactions from these packs are usable in both Path of Exile 2 and Path of Exile 1.

With the launch of the Third Edict, Path of Exile 2 will be free to play from August 29th to September 1st, allowing anyone to try the game without purchasing an early access package.

Check out the full list of the official Path of Exile 2 Update 0.3.0 Patch Notes.