Grinding Gear Games has long been known for its relentless pursuit of complexity, depth, and evolution in action RPG design. From its humble beginnings as an indie alternative to Diablo, Path of Exile has grown into a global phenomenon—one celebrated as much for its labyrinthine systems as for its unforgiving challenge. Now, as Path of Exile 2 draws closer to release, the final state of the game offers a compelling glimpse into its bold ambitions, measured refinements, and the evolving identity of the franchise.
While there’s still balancing to be done and content to polish, one thing is clear: POE 2 Divine Orbs is not merely a sequel. It’s a reinvention—one that redefines how the dark fantasy ARPG can feel, flow, and challenge players from the first act to the final boss.
Act Four: The Tightest, Most Refined Chapter Yet
Among all the major takeaways from the recent state of Path of Exile 2, Act Four stands out as a highlight—a true demonstration of how far the game has come in terms of pacing, visual design, and storytelling integration. Earlier previews of Act One set a high bar, praised for their crisp combat flow and dynamic environments. Yet, as the latest version of Act Four has shown, Grinding Gear Games has managed to surpass even that.
Act Four’s campaign structure centers on the concept of island hopping—progressing through a series of distinct, self-contained biomes that blend exploration, survival, and discovery. Each island feels desperate, almost doomed, with the ever-present tension of the Karui people’s struggle against both nature and spiritual corruption. It’s a setting that thrives on uncertainty and escalation.
From the mysterious Third Edict to Sin’s tragic deterioration in the interludes, Act Four’s narrative layers are surprisingly cohesive. The storytelling doesn’t overstay its welcome; instead, it flows naturally into the gameplay, allowing players to feel the weight of the unfolding tragedy without drowning them in exposition. The result is a rhythm of play that feels organic and immersive—something even the original Path of Exile struggled to achieve in its early acts.
The boss encounters, too, show tremendous promise. Tavakai, the act boss, embodies the scale and tension PoE 2 has been striving for—though some players feel his buildup could use more presence and anticipation. That said, Grinding Gear Games has hinted that future acts, particularly Act Five’s return to Oriath, may deliver that emotional payoff and contextual closure. If the pattern holds, Act Four may ultimately serve as the narrative and mechanical bridge between the wild unknown and the dark civilization that lies ahead.
The Promise of Interludes: A Future of Smarter Campaign Progression
One of the most interesting structural innovations in Path of Exile 2 is the addition of interludes—brief narrative segments that bridge acts, serving as both storytelling devices and gameplay transitions. While they currently serve a limited role, their smooth integration has sparked intriguing discussions among the player base.
These interludes, light on dialogue but heavy on atmosphere and encounter design, might hold the key to one of the community’s long-standing requests: a better campaign skip system.
Running the campaign multiple times has long been a pain point in Path of Exile. While veteran players appreciate the depth and variety, many simply want to reach the endgame faster on alternate characters. Interludes could offer an elegant solution—an accelerated experience composed of bite-sized challenges that retain the campaign’s flavor without the repetition of full questlines and dialogues.
Imagine a “compressed” version of the campaign made up of a dozen or so interludes—each capturing the essence of an act’s design and conflict. Players could relive the best parts of the story in fast-forward while still earning progression milestones. If implemented, such a system could revolutionize character leveling in PoE 2, striking a perfect balance between narrative immersion and mechanical efficiency.
Alternatively, these interludes may fade away once Acts Five and Six arrive, replaced by traditional narrative arcs. That would be a loss. The interludes not only showcase GGG’s growing confidence in pacing but also represent a vision for how Path of Exile 2 could embrace both new and veteran audiences simultaneously.
The Rise of the Abyssals: A League Mechanic Reborn
Every iteration of Path of Exile thrives on its league mechanics—the experimental systems that test balance, creativity, and endurance. In Path of Exile 2, one of the standout additions has been the revamped Abyss system, now introduced through the Rise of the Abyssals mechanic.
The concept is simple yet effective: reimagining an old system through the lens of the sequel’s more cohesive combat and visual language. Abyssal monsters, with their pulsating green energy and subterranean aggression, now feel dangerous in a satisfying way. Their emergence from below the earth—tearing through battlefields and overwhelming unprepared players—has that quintessential PoE chaos, but with a newfound polish.
That said, the mechanic isn’t without flaws. The visual density—what players are calling “green on green on green”—can make encounters hard to read in fast-paced fights. The abundance of ondeath explosions and overlapping modifiers also creates occasional chaos that feels more frustrating than thrilling. Still, these are tuning issues rather than fundamental design problems. The underlying structure—of high-stakes ambushes, rewarding combat loops, and satisfying loot drops—feels strong.
The Abyssals themselves are fascinating lore additions, serving as a bridge between Wraeclast’s physical corruption and its spiritual decay. Their inclusion also reinforces PoE 2’s recurring theme of cyclical collapse—an endless battle between humanity, divinity, and the abyssal unknown. In many ways, their return symbolizes what Path of Exile 2 is striving to be: a game that honors its past while daring to reshape it.
From Mechanical Chaos to Combat Clarity
Combat in Path of Exile 2 has always been one of its boldest redesigns. The sequel’s shift toward weightier animations, more deliberate pacing, and fluid skill chaining marks a clear departure from the hyper-speed “screen-clearing” style of late-game PoE 1. In Act Four, these design philosophies reach full maturity.
Each encounter encourages tactical positioning and skill rotation over spammed abilities. Players can no longer rely on pure mobility or raw DPS to win; instead, they must commit to their attacks, react to enemy telegraphs, and manage their cooldowns. This lends every boss fight a sense of grounded intensity.
Even smaller encounters—such as skirmishes against Abyssal hordes or Karui warbands—feel cinematic, with enemy AI using terrain and cover in ways unseen in earlier builds. These improvements make PoE 2 not just harder, but more rewarding, forcing players to engage mentally as well as mechanically.
Storytelling Evolution: Subtlety Over Spectacle
While Path of Exile 1 often buried its best lore beneath layers of text and item descriptions, PoE 2 takes a more cinematic yet restrained approach. Sin’s descent into illness, for instance, isn’t explained through dialogue—it’s felt. The tone, music, and visual cues tell the story more effectively than exposition ever could. Similarly, the hints about Oriath and the Twilight Order—the ominous group led by Oriana—build anticipation for Act Five without spoiling the mystery.
This marks a tonal shift for the series. The world still feels dense and tragic, but PoE 2 communicates that weight through experience rather than narration. It’s storytelling through motion, decay, and consequence—more akin to Dark Souls than Diablo. The result is a campaign that resonates emotionally while still leaving room for player interpretation.
Balancing the Wins and Losses
Of course, no pre-launch build is perfect. Alongside the numerous victories in art direction, world-building, and combat depth, there remain challenges that Grinding Gear Games must address before release.
The most common criticisms center on balance and visibility—particularly around rare modifiers and excessive visual clutter. Some enemies hit disproportionately hard, while others melt too quickly, creating uneven difficulty spikes across zones buy POE 2 Divine Orbs. Boss telegraphs, though improved, still blend into chaotic particle effects during group play.
There are also pacing issues in certain zones, where traversal feels slightly slower than intended due to environmental layout or backtracking requirements. These are not deal-breakers, but they do hint at areas where further polish could elevate PoE 2 from “impressive sequel” to “genre masterpiece.”
Looking Forward: Oriath, the Twilight Order, and Beyond
If Act Four represents the culmination of the wild, primal chapters of Path of Exile 2, then Act Five promises a return to civilization—corrupt, crumbling, and full of intrigue. Oriath, once the shining heart of the empire, now stands on the brink of moral and spiritual collapse. Early hints suggest we’ll finally encounter Oriana and the Twilight Order, a faction that has been teased since the first trailers.
This shift toward political and religious drama, layered atop the game’s already apocalyptic tone, could propel PoE 2’s story into new thematic territory. Where the early acts dealt with survival and discovery, the later ones may explore control, faith, and the human desire to shape destiny even in a dying world.
It’s this ambition—to make Path of Exile 2 not just bigger but smarter—that continues to set Grinding Gear Games apart from its peers.
Conclusion: The Future of the Exile
As we stand on the threshold of Path of Exile 2’s release, the “final state” shows a game that has matured far beyond expectations. Act Four’s brilliance, the potential of the interludes, and the successful revival of old mechanics like the Abyss all point toward a studio at the peak of its creative power.
Yet, more than any single feature or system, it’s the tone of Path of Exile 2 that stands out. The game exudes confidence—a rare thing in sequels of this scale. It’s darker, sharper, and more deliberate. It understands its identity and isn’t afraid to challenge its players emotionally and mechanically alike.
If Path of Exile 1 was a sprawling labyrinth of chaos and customization, Path of Exile 2 feels like a cathedral—vast, intricate, and carefully constructed to inspire awe. And when the gates to Oriath finally open, players will not just return to exile. They’ll step into a world reborn.
