The big update of Path of Exile 2 changes the endgame more than expected – Official patch notes

Official Patch Notes for Update 0.1.1

This patch contains new endgame tower maps, checkpoints for map areas, respawn attempts for the Arbiter of Ash, as well as many monster changes, unique changes, improvements, and bug fixes.

Endgame Changes

• 4 new tower maps have been added: Mountain Ridge, Cliff, Plateau, and Sinking Summit.
• The map “Lost Towers” has also been overhauled.
• As a solution to the problem of having only one attempt in the fight against the Arbiter of Ash, there are now six attempts for this fight. Revivals can only be triggered by the person who used the keys, and all group members are revived at the same time. If you leave the map, you lose the attempt, so you have to fight the boss with the build with which you entered the map. Higher difficulties of the boss reduce the number of revival attempts you receive. We will be adding more endgame content with revivals over time.
• The Arbiter of Ash can no longer be interrupted during his ability “Falling Flame Ball.” His ability “Flaming Storm” can no longer be blocked.
• The Arbiter of Ash is now longer invulnerable during his appearance and now takes significantly less damage while appearing.
• The Arbiter of Ash now targets creatures less frequently when using his sword, which could have prevented the use of some of their abilities.
• Checkpoints have been added to map areas.
• Map areas now contain at least 3 rare monsters.
• Citadels can now appear closer to the Ziggurat Refuge.
• The visibility of citadels on the endgame map has been improved.
• Maps now display their biomes when hovered over with the cursor in the Atlas UI.
• The Pathwatcher Flag has been added, a currency item that can be placed in completed towers to add allowed map bosses in radius. These flags are dropped by map bosses and can take exclusive modifiers that affect map bosses.

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• Areas have been adjusted to specialize better in the mechanics they contain. For example, one area can have more monsters, while another contains additional content like strongboxes, essences, or shrines. In general, the harder a map is or the smaller it is, the more content it will specialize in. Here is an overview of the changes we have made to improve maps:
• Some maps now contain up to twice as many chests and twice as many magic or rare chests.
• Some maps now contain up to twice as many monsters.
• Some maps now contain 50% more magic monsters.
• Some maps now contain 50% more rare monsters.
• Some maps now have a higher minimum number of rare monsters that can be encountered.
• Some maps now have a lower minimum number of rare monsters that can be encountered.
• Some maps now have a 50% higher chance to contain essences.
• Some maps now have a 50% higher chance to contain strongboxes.
• Some maps now have a 50% higher chance to contain shrines.
• Maps that are exclusively found in biomes containing citadels now have a 50% higher chance to contain essences, strongboxes, and shrines.
• In unselected hideouts, there are now significantly more magic monsters and fewer rare monsters.
• The monsters in the Untouched Paradise have increased. “Untouched Paradise” now contains 100% more monsters, of which 100% more (i.e., four times) will summon magic and rare monsters.
• The visibility/clickability of shrines has been improved.
• The scaling of monster damage in Simulacrum encounters with increased difficulty has been reduced.
• The likelihood that maps contain bosses has been adjusted. You should now encounter a boss in approximately 1 in 4 maps.
• The chance that map bosses drop a waypoint of the current level or higher has been reduced to align with the increased total number of map bosses.
• The significant Atlas passive “Shining Waypoints” now grants +15% chance that map bosses drop a waypoint of the current level or higher (previously 25%).
• The small passives for waypoints from map bosses now grant +6% chance that map bosses drop a waypoint of the current level or higher (previously 10%).
• The Atlas passive for Delirium “I am not afraid of you!” now grants “Delirium bosses in your maps drop 100% increased Simulacrum shards” (previously 50%).
• The number of monsters and small chests from breaches has been reduced by 15%.
• The number of Simulacrum shards found in maps has been increased by 20%.
• 2D graphics for waypoints have been added, which are equipped with layers of Delirium.
• Crisis shards, breach stones, Simulacra, and “An Audience with the King” now have a more appropriate gold value at merchants.
• The zoom level of the endgame map in keyboard and mouse input mode has been increased to match the zoom level in controller input mode.

On the next page, we continue with the skill changes and monster changes in the official patch notes of Path of Exile 2.