Is Poison Pathfinder Dead? PoE 2 0.5 Patch Notes Recap
Summary
- League Mechanic Synergy: The new “Runes of Valdor” mechanic integrates directly with Expedition; defeating Olroth provides the key to the new league pinnacle boss.
- Build Winners and Losers: Slam Titan and Disciple of Varashta (Skeleton Disco) remain strong or unchanged, while Poison Pathfinder and Bow builds received heavy nerfs.
- Defensive Shifts: Energy Shield passives and Ghost Dance were nerfed across the board, while Armor and Evasion received significant numerical buffs.
- Campaign Quality of Life: Act 3 was rearranged, several tedious areas were shortened, and levers in the Waterways were replaced with pressure pads for faster progression.
- Combat Mechanics: Bleed is no longer more dangerous while moving, but Leech was nerfed to allow only one recovery instance per resource.
League Mechanic and Game Changes
The Runes of Valdor league mechanic involves attaching runes (scaling from two to ten) to a central “big rock” to modify surrounding monsters and guarantee specific item drops. Uniquely, this mechanic pairs with Expedition. Defeating Olroth now grants a key to the new league pinnacle boss.
- Delirium: Map bosses are now always 100% delirious, but the generic damage and life bonuses for Delirium monsters have been reduced to make the mechanic more accessible during the early league.
- Simulacrum: The encounter has been shortened to a seven-wave format.
- Breach: The mechanic now mirrors its Path of Exile 1 version. It serves as a primary source for unique caster and minion modifiers on rings and amulets.
- Fall of Val (The Temple): Now part of the core game. The “snake strategy” has been removed. High-end rewards were nerfed, but the lower-end floor was buffed. Tedious mechanics like farming energized crystal stacks and medallions have been removed.
- Expedition: The Omen of Recombination and all related Recombinator mechanics have been removed. The unique “Forgotten-by-Time” precursor tablet is also disabled for the league.
Systemic and Campaign Updates
- Tablets: Stacking multiple tablets of the same type now increases the intensity of that mechanic (e.g., more monsters in Ritual). Leaving tablet slots empty allows for random spawns or the ability to block specific mechanics by filling slots with alternatives.
- Map Modifiers: Pack size modifiers now have a chance to grant an extra rare monster in rare packs. “Monster Rarity” has been consolidated into a single stat replacing separate magic and rare monster modifiers.
- Campaign Replayability:
- The Dreadnought Vanguard area was removed.
- The Act 2 boss, Jamanrod, was moved to the first Dreadnought zone.
- Act 3 area order was rearranged for speed.
- Waterways levers were replaced with pressure pads.
- Monster density in the second half of the campaign was reduced to facilitate faster “zooming.”
Combat and Defensive Balance
- Bleed: Players no longer take increased damage from bleeding while moving.
- Leech: Players can now only recover from one single leech instance per resource (Life/Mana/Energy Shield) at a time. This heavily impacts builds utilizing many small, fast hits.
- Defenses:
- Energy Shield (ES) passives including recharge start, maximum ES, and recharge rate were nerfed.
- Ghost Dance was redesigned and is now significantly weaker.
- Armor and Evasion bases were buffed by approximately 33% at the end of the campaign, tapering to 15% in the mid-endgame.
- Divine Orbs: These will drop more frequently than in previous patches.
Ascendancy Changes
- Pathfinder: “Overwhelming Toxicity” now grants 50% less poison duration (previously 35%). “Running Assault” movement speed penalty reduction was nerfed from 50% to 35%.
- Gemling: Received a new system where every skill gem in the game provides an additional unique bonus.
- Chronomancer: Gained defensive utility including 30% less damage taken while in Phased Form and the ability to eliminate burst damage hits using Temporal Rift.
Build and Skill Specifics
- Bow Skills: Heavy nerfs across the board.
- Poison Burst Arrow: Now has a fixed three-second duration and reduced poison magnitude from quality.
- Toxic Growth: Pustule limit reduced from 14 to 6.
- Slam Skills: Earthquake received a 15% damage buff. Rolling Slam is faster but deals slightly less damage per hit, maintaining similar DPS.
- Minions: Disciple of Varashta remains largely untouched, making it a premier league start candidate.
- Items:
- Mace range increased by 0.2 meters.
- Skill gem levels on weapons were capped lower (Two-handers capped at +5, One-handers at +4).
- Quivers can now only roll +1 projectile skill (down from +2).
- Hyrri’s Ire and Plaguefinger were nerfed; Plaguefinger no longer allows elemental ailments while poisoning.