Summary
- Minion & Companion Updates: Significant potential buffs for “Jinn” builds, including the integration of Puppet Master nodes and Feeding Frenzy, alongside new companion-focused nodes.
- Energy Shield Changes: Mixed changes with some defensive nodes receiving nerfs, while others appear to be gaining valuable resistance and mitigation bonuses.
- Armor & Melee Tweaks: General trend of nerfs to armor and melee-specific mechanics, including adjustments to rage generation and armor-to-elemental damage conversions.
- Wording vs. Functional Changes: Several nodes show adjusted descriptions, making it difficult to discern between intentional nerfs/buffs and simple text updates without in-game testing.
Minion and Companion Node Changes
- Puppet Master/Feeding Frenzy: Puppet Master nodes now offer substantial minion damage buffs. There is a strong likelihood that “Jinn” minions gain a new tag, allowing them to utilize Feeding Frenzy.
- Archon of Undead: New nodes providing damage and cooldown reduction that are expected to be highly beneficial for minion builds.
- Companion Skill Adjustments:
- Added nodes regarding the reservation of Companion Skills.
- Companions gain 12% increased damage as extra chaos damage.
- Companions gain a chance to Poison.
- Companions gain 15% move speed.
- Specific companions (e.g., Wildcat, Ape) received minor quality and utility adjustments, such as increased cold/lightning resistance and damage conversions.
Energy Shield (ES) and Defensive Updates
- ES Nodes: Many existing energy shield recharge nodes have been nerfed.
- New Defensive Clusters: New energy shield clusters have appeared that provide resistance, 50% reduced effect of curses, and 35% reduced effect of non-damaging ailments, which appear significantly stronger than some armor equivalents.
- Eldritch Battery: Observed a wording change noting that it converts 100% of Max ES to Mana, potentially doubling mana costs.
- Subterfuge Mask: Received a nerf to evasion, though it remains a viable node.
Armor and Melee Adjustments
- Armor Conversions: Several nodes that previously provided armor or elemental damage scaling have been “nuked” or reduced (e.g., specific armor-to-elemental damage wheels now provide only 8% penetration and 5% attack/cast speed).
- Rage and Glory:
- Rage-based minion attack speed bonuses have been nerfed.
- Glory skill nodes have been altered; the bonus now requires using a Glory skill within the last 20 seconds, which is viewed as a significant nerf for builds that rely on these mechanics.
- Debilitate and Armor: New nodes allow for applying “Debilitate” to enemies up to 30 meters away, essentially covering the entire screen.
- Iron Slippers: Reduced armor-to-ES conversion effectiveness, though added utility regarding slowing potency on debuffs.
Miscellaneous Observations
- Light Radius: Highlighted as an underrated stat in Path of Exile 2, as it significantly increases the visible area on the minimap.
- Recoup Effects: New nodes exist for increasing the speed of recoup effects, though caution is advised when using external tree tools as they may occasionally display incorrect or outdated information.
Key References