Surprise Path of Exile 2 update drops major endgame changes, and towers are over

A new Path of Exile 2 update brings big endgame changes to the ARPG. In a surprise move, developer Grinding Gear Games has made the decision to deploy some of the improvements it's been working on for the next season ahead of time. The Third Edict has largely been a step in the right direction towards building a worthy successor to one of the best games like Diablo, but there's still a long way to go. Fortunately, PoE 2 patch notes 0.3.1 deliver some long-awaited answers to several of the biggest community requests, ramping up map clear speed and axing the need to tackle towers altogether.

"It's no secret that we need to make some improvements to the endgame, and the plan has been to do some pretty major changes in 0.4.0," Path of Exile 2 game director Jonathan Rogers says in a new video. "But we realized that it might be nice to iterate on some of the more mechanical changes in 0.3.1 and just save the new content for 0.4.0. That way we can get a chance to test some of these things a bit earlier." With the shift to a more regular schedule, GGG wasn't able to roll out all the adjustments it had planned in time for The Third Edict's launch - but rather than waiting until December, it's dropping some of them now.

To start with, towers on the Atlas map are no longer needed to spread modifiers. This requirement has been one of the most common frustrations since launch, forcing you into busywork that rarely felt rewarding or fun. As a result, tablets now have a set number of 'charges' that are consumed as you apply them directly to waystones. Depending on the number of active modifiers present, up to three tablets can be used on a given map. Towers aren't going away completely, however; you can still run them for extra visibility across the Atlas, and you'll also earn a guaranteed tablet upon completing one.

Overly large and drawn-out maps have also been a pain point, and GGG agrees that "the time to complete a given map is a bit too long." The 15 largest zones have been reduced in size, and monster pack sizes in early tiers have been dropped by 30% to feel closer to the enemy density of the preceding interlude campaign act. This will scale back up as you progress, so by the time you reach tier 15 it'll be back to the same level as it has been so far this season. Like PoE 1, more open layouts will now have slightly lower group density to avoid situations where you get swarmed too much.

Another big change is that all endgame maps will now have boss fights. "Something we have never really been happy with was the base experience of how you complete a map," Rogers explains. Finding straggling rares turns into chasing minimap icons around, he says, and "we don't really feel that this is that enjoyable." As such, all maps will now have a map boss that must be defeated to complete it. "You no longer need to kill any rares and you can do as much or as little of the rest of the map as you please."

To balance this, don't worry that you'll have a super-tough fight on your hands every time. Instead, maps that previously were marked as having a boss will now contain an "extra challenging" and powerful variant that delivers the increased rewards and map tier upgrade you would have expected previously. Generating maps will also now "always guarantee at least one to three extra random features" such as Breach, Delirium, Ritual, Expedition, shrines, strongboxes, essences, wisps, rogue exiles, and summoning circles.

Naturally, you might be wondering how this interacts with modifiers that are present on the map itself or any tablets you're using. The answer is that these additional features are created last-minute, and will avoid those you already have. "If you have a mod that adds an Expedition, which can't have more than one in a map, we'll make sure to select something else instead." As such, the icons for these major features have been stripped off the Atlas overlay, as they're now generated upon map creation.

Alongside these changes, some other adjustments have been made. Citadel spawns have been increased by a whopping 66%, modifiers covering the ground in chill, shock, or ignite affect a much less dramatic percentage of the region, and Atlas Tree passive nodes have been slightly altered. Those that granted major rewards for areas with a map boss, such as Crystal Realm's bonus essence, now apply to zones that have a marked, powerful fight. Many other passives that impact your performance against map bosses will work against the lesser variants you'll encounter, however.

Last but not least, GGG is making a handy change to Alchemy Orbs. A staple favorite of crafters, they've become much less useful since The Third Edict's introduction of tiered currency options. To solve this, they can now be used on magic items as well as basic ones, which will most notably make them viable as a way to roll your map waystones. Note that when used on a magic item, it will replace any existing modifiers with four new, randomly selected ones as though applied to a base-rarity version.

Path of Exile 2 patch 0.3.1 is set to release the week beginning Monday September 29. You can read through the full details courtesy of Grinding Gear Games for a breakdown of all altered maps and additional modifiers. "There are still a lot of other new features and content that we want to add to the endgame, but we believe that these changes are a good step towards improving the base experience of mapping," Rogers concludes.

Check our latest ranking of the best Path of Exile 2 classes in The Third Edict and Rise of the Abyssal, and keep your clicking on point with our pick of the best gaming keyboard in 2025.

What do you think of these endgame adjustments? Are you happy to see towers go the way of the dodo? Let me know in the PCGamesN community Discord server, where you'll find plenty of ARPG enthusiasts.