New Path of Exile 2 patch notes fix Season 3's most frustrating way to die

The new Path of Exile 2 patch notes include a fresh round of balance changes for Season 3, The Third Edict. There's lots to dig through, but the most significant update is a new 'grace period' on the recently introduced sprint feature that will save you from agonizing, accidental deaths. If you've fallen foul of it, you'll know exactly how frustrating it can be, so I'm glad to see it being quickly addressed. That's just the start, however, as the newest PoE 2 update features lots more tweaks to dig through.

I've been largely impressed by the latest Path of Exile 2 update. The fourth chapter of the campaign is great; in fact, I'd call it one of the best ARPG acts I've played in a while. The interludes are a fantastic replacement for the now-removed cruel difficulty, crafting is finally beginning to feel more player-led and valuable, and the endgame continues to grow. Grinding Gear Games has a way to go if the sequel is going to stand alongside its predecessor as one of the best games like Diablo, but it's absolutely moving in the right direction.

With so many additions, there have naturally been some bumps here and there, and that's where Path of Exile 2 patch 0.3.0c comes in. The biggest change is right at the top of the list: "There is now a short grace period at the start of a sprint where being hit will not heavy stun you. This is equal to the minimum sprint duration, so you can now never be stunned out of an accidental sprint. The minimum sprint duration has been increased slightly to support this change."

The sprint is one of the best additions in The Third Edict, but also one of its most dangerous. By holding the roll key, you go into a high-speed run that dramatically speeds up backtracking or gets you away from pursuing foes. If you do take a hit while sprinting, however, you fall to the ground and are extremely vulnerable for several seconds. If it happens around enemies, it's basically a death sentence, and it was very easy to accidentally fall foul of it if you held onto the space bar for a fraction too long when simply attempting to dodge. Now that problem should be gone for good.

Beyond this comes a heap of balance improvements, along with some upgrades to audio or visual telegraphs for certain attacks. If you're using Raise Specter to bind creatures to your will, you'll find it works on many more monsters in act four, but it's been temporarily disabled for Boulder Ants. Ancestral Warrior Totem should now correctly use the weapon set it's been assigned to, and skills that give you a chance to not consume crossbow ammo are now rolled for every bolt fired, rather than a single time per skill use.

On the character selection screen, there's now a button that replicates the ctrl-click function of logging you into the nearest town or hideout rather than your last area, which is useful if you're stuck or in an otherwise troublesome situation. The positions of the regular player stash and guild stash have been swapped in the Ziggurat, so keep that in mind when you're going to dump your loot.

Path of Exile 2 patch 0.3.0c is live now. You can check through the full list of changes courtesy of Grinding Gear Games to see all the additional adjustments and bug fixes, such as a solution to the problem preventing players from dodge rolling out of a sprint under certain conditions.

We've just updated our ranking of the best Path of Exile 2 classes, so take a look before you decide which Path of Exile 2 builds are next on your list.

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