ExileCon 2026: every PoE 2 announcement – Full Release on December 11

Key facts at a glance

• At ExileCon 2026, Grinding Gear Games revealed the Path of Exile 2 1.0 Full Release: it launches on December 11, 2026 (PST) and becomes free to play.
• The campaign is complete with new Acts 5 and 6: 24 new areas in Oriath, 18 new bosses and over 20 new Champion Rare encounters.
• Two new classes with two Ascendancies each: the Shadow (daggers, traps, Stealth) with the Assassin and Infiltrator, and the Duelist (swords, Stances) with the Master-at-Arms and Knight.
• New Challenge League Conquerors of Wraeclast: raise an army, build a stronghold, let commanders run your Atlas and conquer over 100 castles with your faction.
• Over 40 new and more than 70 reworked Unique Items, new skills for the Warrior and Witch, a Support Gem rebalance, a Passive Skill Tree rework and reworks for the Mercenary, Infernalist, Blood Mage and Acolyte of Chayula.
• Five new Supporter Packs ($60 to $480), and Path of Exile 1 gets the Covens of Umbra expansion on November 13.

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The story is complete: Acts 5 and 6

The Full Release completes the campaign with Acts 5 and 6, for six Acts in total. You return to an Oriath ravaged by countless disasters to end the Twilight Order and the Beast once and for all. Together the two Acts have 24 distinct areas – from twisted slums and opulent estates to the Temple District and the Grand Arena – plus 18 new multi-phase bosses with deadly abilities and over 20 new Champion Rare encounters, each with its own mechanics and surprises.

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New class: the Shadow

The Shadow, a descendant of the Perandus lineage, once relied on his father's wealth to save his life – now he owes a debt to the dark god Prospero. He fights with daggers, traps and shades.

• Stealth: An entirely new mechanic. While in Stealth, monsters can't see you until you get within a short distance. The darkness also empowers your dagger skills, from triggering poison explosions to creating shadow clones that distract enemies.
• Traps as a new weapon type: Prepare traps while in Stealth and trigger them automatically as you strike; they explode in the order they were thrown. Each trap interacts with at least three others in unique ways.
• Ascendancies: At launch the Shadow has two Ascendancy Classes, the Assassin and the Infiltrator. The Assassin kills his targets before they ever see him, repaying his debt to Prospero in blood, one contract at a time. For the Infiltrator, Grinding Gear Games has only revealed the name so far.

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New class: the Duelist

Raised in the slums, the Duelist learned to wield a blade in the brutal arenas of Oriath, seeking vengeance and justice against fighters who abused their power. He relies on swords, speed, precision and well-timed strikes.

• Stances: Ready Stance empowers each sword skill in its own way – from intimidating cries and deadly slashes to giant drills – letting you flow from one ability to the next.
• Blood and Sand: Stun enemies to enter Sand Stance and unleash sand disks across the battlefield. Parry attacks to switch to Blood Stance and make enemies bleed with every hit.
• Ascendancies: In 1.0 the Duelist gets the Master-at-Arms and the Knight. The Master-at-Arms has dedicated his life to his craft and mastered a thousand forms of combat along with the weapons to match. For the Knight, only the name has been revealed so far.

Every current class and Ascendancy is listed under Classes & Ascendancies.

New league: Conquerors of Wraeclast

In the Challenge League you join Varek and his mercenaries to conquer Wraeclast. Rescue new allies, locate enemy fortifications, deploy your troops on the battlefield and lead your army to victory. The league launches alongside the Full Release on December 11.

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• Raise an army: Recruit skilled warriors; every unit has its own strengths and weaknesses. Once battle begins, support your troops by pushing into the enemy's back line and taking down their strongest fighters.
• During the campaign: Over 70 new points of interest offer chances to recruit troops and take on unique missions. In over 20 missions you defend villages, assault forts and break down enemy gates.
• Stronghold: In the endgame you build a stronghold with Varek for one of three factions, each with its own fortress style and unique troops. Each faction has over 20 buildings and upgrades – barracks, taverns, archery ranges and even housing for cultists.
• The Blood Lord's Promise: A new endgame storyline about the ancient Sanguar bloodline. Drive back those who seek to invoke the Blood Lord's pact, siege the Sanguar stronghold and prevent the awakening of a colossal evil.
• Automate your Atlas: A new real-time endgame system. Give commanders troops and Waystones and their army clears maps and collects the rewards. As your stronghold grows you can recruit up to three commanders to explore the Atlas, complete Towers or hunt specific rewards with Tablets.
• Conquer Wraeclast: Once you've completed the endgame storyline, team up with every player in your faction to fight over more than 100 castles across the league. Capturing another faction's castle grants benefits such as increased item rarity and access to special maps with rewarding modifiers, and any castle your faction holds serves as a launching point for the Atlas.
• New crafting: Castle treasury rooms hold gold, items and often a new crafting material that replaces unwanted modifiers with random fractured modifiers, which stay locked on the item even through other crafts.

Unique Items, gems and the Passive Skill Tree

The Full Release adds over 40 new Unique Items and revamps more than 70 existing ones with improved modifiers, skills and visuals. Classes that were missing skills get new ones – the Warrior and the Witch are named: charge your mace with power from the molten forge to unleash fiery slams, or extract the souls of your enemies to deal significantly more damage.

Support Gems are massively rebalanced, with better recommendations, damage types that adapt better to the skills they support and buffs for a wide range of underperforming gems. The Passive Skill Tree gets a major makeover with hundreds of new stats, and all Jewel Sockets now sit inside the clusters, so you only take the clusters your build actually needs.

Reworked classes and Ascendancies

Several existing classes and Ascendancies get major reworks. Grinding Gear Games named these examples:

• Mercenary: Reloading works fundamentally differently. Ammunition now reloads in the background while you use other ammo types, making switching much faster and easier.
• Infernalist: A new demonic minion casts any spell you give it, plus up to three Infernal Hounds and new Covenant skills.
• Blood Mage: New skills and curses alongside a rework of the Corrupted Blood mechanic.
• Acolyte of Chayula: Summons a companion that can use any Quarterstaff skill, and can sacrifice their own life to transfer their soul into a clone.

Free from December 11 and new Supporter Packs

Path of Exile 2 becomes a free-to-play game with the Full Release. Five new Supporter Packs celebrate the launch, each with exclusive microtransactions and store points:

• Archon of Rebirth – $60, 600 points
• Archon of Ash – $100, 1,000 points
• Archon of Destruction – $160, 1,600 points, plus a T-shirt
• Archon of Divinity – $240, 2,400 points, plus a T-shirt and hoodie
• Archon of Corruption – $480, 4,800 points, plus a 26 cm light-up statue of The Hooded One

The packs include armour sets, back attachments, weapon skins, Rhoa pets and throne hideout decorations. The top pack also includes a hideout decoration that lets you submit your own hideout and its contents as an area on the Atlas for other players to find, with a map modifier and a reward of your choice. From the third pack up you can take points instead of physical items. Packs in the same series can be upgraded; shipping is extra.

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Registering for the Full Release in advance earns free effects – see our story on full release registration.

Path of Exile 1: Covens of Umbra on November 13

Path of Exile 1 also got its next expansion at ExileCon: Covens of Umbra (3.30) launches for free on November 13 at 11 AM PST on PC and consoles.

• Covens league: Covenites perform rites to summon their Queen. Disrupt them to choose a Fate for the area's boss, raising both rewards and difficulty. Empowered bosses drop Viscera for your own Wickerman – every boss in the campaign and on the Atlas has a unique one. Grim Fates empower the hardest Atlas bosses, and the Coven Queen herself awaits.
• Endgame overhaul: Scarabs are removed and replaced by Threads of Creation, which apply a chosen league mechanic directly from the Map Device. The Atlas passive tree is completely refreshed and almost every endgame league mechanic is changed. Mirages return and can cover the entire map, and Saresh returns as a much harder fight.
• Loot: Unidentified Magic and Rare items can drop with a tier in the endgame, and rarity on maps and monsters now improves all types of drops. Plus new Unique Items and five new Core Supporter Packs.

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What else happened at ExileCon

After the keynote, Game Directors Jonathan Rogers and Mark Roberts answered Path of Exile 2 questions live, followed by hands-on play of Act 5 and the new content. The Path of Exile 1 race final was won by imexile ahead of allexpleblord, MOSTPOSITIVEMAN and Ben_. Until November 7 (11:59 PM PST), watching earned the Nightfowl Twitch Drops – see our story on the ExileCon Twitch Drops.

Day two brought a Covens of Umbra Q&A with Mark Roberts, a talk on how Path of Exile bosses get made, a panel on the engine, a Path of Exile 2 podcast and a talk from the Audio & Narrative team. To close the event, GuyThatDies won the Path of Exile 2 race final ahead of Luxian, Jigglypuff and JiLuo. That concludes ExileCon 2026; Grinding Gear Games says more details on Path of Exile 1 and 2 will follow.

FAQ

When does the Path of Exile 2 Full Release launch?

On December 11, 2026 (PST). Path of Exile 2 then becomes free to play.

What are the new classes and Ascendancies in Path of Exile 2 1.0?

The Shadow with the Assassin and Infiltrator Ascendancies, and the Duelist with the Master-at-Arms and Knight.

What is Conquerors of Wraeclast?

The new Challenge League for the Full Release: raise an army, build a stronghold, let up to three commanders run your Atlas and conquer over 100 castles with your faction.

Which existing classes are being reworked?

The Mercenary (background reloading), the Infernalist, the Blood Mage and the Acolyte of Chayula were named. The Warrior and Witch get new skills.

How many Acts does the campaign have now?

Six. The new Acts 5 and 6 add 24 areas and 18 new bosses.

How much are the new Supporter Packs?

The five packs cost $60, $100, $160, $240 and $480, plus shipping for packs with physical items.

When does Covens of Umbra launch for Path of Exile 1?

On November 13, 2026 at 11 AM PST on PC and consoles.

Sources: Path of Exile 2: Full Release (official announcement), Steam announcement for the Full Release, Supporter Packs, Path of Exile: Covens of Umbra, @pathofexile on the Shadow, on Conquerors of Wraeclast, on Covens of Umbra, on the Q&A, on the PoE 1 race, on the PoE 2 race, on the end of ExileCon. As of November 8, 2026.