PoE Sanity

[PoE 2] LOOT BUFFED? BIGGEST Winners & Losers in 0.5 - Path of Exile 2 Patch Notes RotA

By ronarrayWatch videoDuration: PT16M9S

Summary

  • Currency Rebalancing: Divine Orbs are more common, while basic crafting currencies like Transmutations and Augmentations are significantly rarer.
  • Defense Buffs & Shifts: Base Armor and Evasion values are increased, favoring Evasion hybrids, while Energy Shield (ES) recharge and specific ES-related passives like Adamant Recovery face notable nerfs.
  • Massive Leech Overhaul: Leech is now limited to a single instance per resource, and damage considered for leech is capped at 40,000, significantly impacting high-damage and Blood Mage builds.
  • Ascendancy Tweaks: Minor changes to Pathfinder and Witch Hunter, a potential melee pivot for Chronomancer, and a negligible buff for the Acolyte of Chayula.
  • Skill Winners & Losers: Earthquake and Tempest Bell received buffs, while Rolling Slam, Toxic Growth, and Poison Burst Arrow were hit with significant nerfs.

General Currency Changes

The economy will see a shift as Grinding Gear Games (GGG) increases the drop rate of Divine Orbs. While this may increase supply, it will likely lead to price rebalancing for high-tier items like Mirrors. Conversely, Greater and Perfect currencies are becoming rarer.

The most impactful change for early-game crafting is that Transmutations and Augmentations are now significantly harder to find. Expect to pay more in the player economy for these basic crafting components.

The Perfect Essence of Battle is receiving a major nerf. It now provides only +3 to the level of all attack skills on two-handed melee weapons or crossbows, down from +5. This affects a wide range of builds, including Druids, Monks, and Amazons, making high-end weapon crafting less accessible.

Changes to Defense

Defensive bases are receiving a baseline buff to improve survivability:

  • Armor: 33% more in general and 15% more on level 80+ bases.
  • Evasion: 15% more on level 80+ bases.
  • Energy Shield: Remains unchanged at higher levels.

This change favors Evasion/Armor hybrids over pure Energy Shield builds. Furthermore, Energy Shield utility is being nerfed through the passive tree:

  1. Convalescence: Energy Shield recharge start is now 20% (down from 40%).
  2. Bastion of the Forest: 10% faster recharge start (down from 15%).
  3. Adamant Recovery: This node has been completely replaced. Previously, it allowed armor reductions to apply to ES recharge. It now provides “Aegis,” granting 100% increased defenses from an equipped shield. This effectively kills Energy Shield-based melee Druid variants.
  4. General ES Nerfs: Core of the Guardian, Dependable, and Devoted Protector have all been nerfed, making high ES uptime harder to maintain.

Leech Overhaul

The mechanical changes to leech are among the most significant in patch 0.5:

  • Single Instance Limit: Only one leech instance per resource (Life, Mana, or Energy Shield) can apply at a time. If multiple hits land, only the highest leech value is active.
  • Damage Cap: There is now a 40,000 damage cap for leech calculations. Hits dealing more than 40,000 total damage are treated as dealing exactly 40,000 for the purpose of leech. This is a massive nerf for high-impact builds like Comet, making it much harder to sustain Life or Mana through leech alone.
  • Instant Leech Removal: The Unsevered Feast Timeless Jewel no longer grants 20% instant leech. It now grants 35% faster life leech.
  • Vitality Siphon: While the spell damage leeched as life is buffed from 10% to 20%, the 40,000 damage cap negates much of this benefit in the endgame where player damage reaches millions.

Classes and Ascendancies

Ascendancy changes are relatively sparse but targeted:

  • Pathfinder (Ranger): Overwhelming Toxicity now grants 50% less poison duration (was 35%). Running Assault now grants 30% less movement speed while moving (was 50%), slightly improving mobility.
  • Witch Hunter (Mercenary): Obsessive Rituals now gives 50% less armor and evasion (was 35%), making this node even less attractive.
  • Chronomancer (Witch): Sense of Time now grants 60% skill speed instead of cast speed, potentially opening the door for melee Chronomancer builds. A new passive in front of Footprints in the Sand allows players to mitigate damage and receive it later, aiding in melee survivability.
  • Acolyte of Chayula (Monk): Despite the general leech nerfs, this unpopular ascendancy received only a minor buff—Walking the Dream now grants 20% leech instead of 15%. This is unlikely to make the class competitive given the global mechanical nerfs to leech.

Skills: Winners and Losers

The meta for 0.5 will likely resemble 0.4, but several skills have been specifically adjusted:

  • Earthquake: Buffed to 666% of attack damage (up from 580%) at maximum gem level.
  • Tempest Bell: Now features three bells by default (up from one) and can be ancestrally boosted, though shockwave damage and trigger frequency were slightly reduced.
  • Ice Strike: Received an attack speed buff.
  • Bone Shatter: Received a minor attack speed buff.
  • Rolling Slam: Significantly nerfed, dealing 543% attack damage (down from 635%).
  • Toxic Growth: The petal limit is now 5 (down from 12), representing a massive nerf to the skill’s potential.
  • Poison Burst Arrow: Duration reduced to 3 seconds (was 5), and quality now gives 10% magnitude (was 20%).
  • Comet: Sustaining Comet will be much more difficult due to the leech cap, particularly for Blood Mage variants.
  • Lightning Arrow: Multiple beams can no longer chain into the same target, slightly lowering single-target potential.
  • Eternal Rage: Can no longer be exploited via weapon swapping.
  • Beta Vengeance (Ice Tags): Cold damage bonuses for freezing enemies have been halved but remain a viable free damage source for Druid and Monk builds.

Key References