Grinding Gear Games has confirmed that the full reveal for Path of Exile 2's 0.5.0 update will take place in late April. The announcement, posted on the official Path of Exile website on February 18, 2026, promises what the studio calls "a pretty huge update" that includes a long-awaited endgame rework and a brand-new league.
The news first surfaced through a video message from Game Director Jonathan Rogers on the Chinese platform Bilibili, where he addressed the PoE 2 community ahead of Chinese New Year.
"In late April, we'll be showing our new major expansion to the endgame, so there's still a lot to look forward to during early access," Rogers said in the video.
What GGG Has Confirmed
The official blog post lays out several key details. It's been over two months since the launch of Last of the Druids (0.4.0), and the studio says it's nearly time to talk about what comes next.
The late April window is specifically for the reveal, not the launch. GGG will be showing off the full plans for 0.5.0 at that time, covering all planned endgame changes alongside the new league mechanic. GGG doesn't throw around the phrase "pretty huge update" lightly, and their track record with major PoE 1 patches backs that up.
On the current league front, the Fate of the Vaal will keep running until right before 0.5.0 goes live. Once the update launches, all characters and items migrate to the Standard or Hardcore Early Access league with no wipes, so players can keep using their characters after migration wraps up.
When Does 0.5.0 Actually Launch?
The announcement only specifies a late April reveal, but GGG's established pattern gives us a solid framework. New leagues have consistently launched about one week after their showcase streams.
If the stream lands on April 23, a May 1 release is the likely target. If it falls on April 30, May 8 becomes more probable. Most community speculation has landed on the later date, since GGG's "late month" announcements have historically meant the final days of a given month.
Either way, this is later than most players expected. A large portion of the community assumed 0.5.0 would arrive in early April, roughly matching the Dawn of the Hunt (0.3.0) timing from last year, which landed in the first or second week of April. Instead, the 0.4.0 league cycle is stretching to around five months, with Last of the Druids having launched in early December 2025.
Five Months Between Leagues
That extended timeline has sparked plenty of discussion. GGG has been vocal about wanting to maintain a four-month cycle between PoE 2 leagues, with PoE 1 filling the alternating two-month gaps.
With 0.4.0 launching in December and 0.5.0 now expected in May at the earliest, the current cycle is running a full month longer than planned. Questions about how the rest of 2026's schedule will shake out have been a hot topic, particularly around balancing PoE 1 and PoE 2 content cycles.
PoE 1's next league (patch 3.28) launches March 6, giving those players a full two-month window before the PoE 2 update drops. Many players see this as a net positive. The shortened PoE 1 cycle that preceded 0.4.0 drew criticism, and the extra breathing room this time around is a welcome change.
There's also a reasonable argument that 0.4.0 shipped roughly two weeks ahead of schedule to hit the holiday window, which threw off the intended cadence from the start. A May release for 0.5.0 could simply be GGG correcting course to get back on the two-month alternating rhythm.
Why Extra Development Time Might Pay Off
Community sentiment on the delay hasn't been all negative. A recurring theme in player discussions is that 0.4.0 felt rushed at launch, and more development time for 0.5.0 could mean a significantly more polished product.
The endgame has been the single biggest criticism of Path of Exile 2 since early access began. Some players outright skipped 0.4.0 because it didn't include the endgame rework. Multiple community members have said this update will determine whether they stick with the game long-term.
Rushing out another patch that doesn't fix the core endgame issues would do more damage to player confidence than an extra month of waiting.
The Endgame Problem
To understand the weight behind this update, it helps to look at what players have found lacking. The criticisms have been consistent since day one and touch on several connected issues.
Character and item progression between levels 68 and 98 is the most common complaint. Players describe a wall where their characters stop scaling in a satisfying way once they hit the mapping endgame. PoE 2's core combat has been widely praised, and many consider it the best in the genre. But the progression systems surrounding that combat haven't kept up.
The Atlas passive tree has drawn particular criticism. Outside of juicing Tablets, most of the tree's nodes don't create meaningful decisions or a strong pull to keep pushing further. PoE 1's equivalent is a sprawling system that lets players reshape their entire endgame experience. PoE 2's version feels shallow by comparison.
Map layouts are another sore spot. A noticeable number of maps feature narrow corridors and awkward geometry that cause problems with mechanics like Abyss, Ritual, and Expeditions, which sometimes fail to spawn correctly in tight spaces. Slam-based and AoE-focused builds suffer the most, with certain layouts actively fighting against those playstyles.
Tier progression from T1 through the highest maps also lacks structure. PoE 1 features multiple required boss encounters (comparable to PoE 2's Arbiter of Ash) scattered throughout the tier climb, creating natural checkpoints that test builds and reward advancement. PoE 2 doesn't have that same sense of gated progression.
Then there's the question of scaling and replayability. PoE 1 offers systems like Scarabs that modify every league mechanic in granular ways, changing how mechanics work or boosting their rewards well beyond what PoE 2's Tablet system currently delivers. The vocal endgame-focused crowd sees strong foundations in PoE 2, but wants significantly more depth layered on top.
Some players have pushed back on the negativity, pointing out that PoE 2 is still in early access and already outpaces most competitors in the genre. PoE 1 took years to build its current endgame depth. Still, with GGG explicitly calling this a "huge update" centered on the endgame, the studio clearly understands what's riding on it.
Datamined Ascendancy Leaks
Outside the official announcement, datamined content from PoE2DB has added fuel to the speculation fire. Two new ascendancy classes have appeared under the 0.5.0 section of the database: Arcane Archer and Wildspeaker.
Arcane Archer (Ranger Ascendancy)
Arcane Archer appears to be a Ranger ascendancy based on the character's depiction wielding a bow. The community reads it as an archetype focused on channeling arcane energy through attacks and projectiles, a battle mage concept filtered through a ranged playstyle.
That said, PoE 2 ascendancies haven't been locked to specific weapon types so far. None of the existing ones force players into a single playstyle, and Arcane Archer is expected to follow that design philosophy. Rather than being bow-exclusive, it will likely offer ways to weave magical attack buffs across multiple weapon types, with projectile builds being just one viable path through its tree.
Community consensus puts Arcane Archer as the more predictable of the two leaked ascendancies. It's a solid, appealing power fantasy that layers arcane effects onto the Ranger's existing toolkit, but without the mechanical complexity that Wildspeaker seems to promise.
Wildspeaker (Huntress Ascendancy)
Wildspeaker has generated the bigger conversation. It appears to be a Huntress ascendancy based on the character's depiction with a spear, and its entire theme seems built around Wisps, the spirit creatures in PoE 2's world.
The game currently features several Wisps: the Stag, Bear, Owl, Serpent, Hare, and Fox. Datamined imagery for Wildspeaker reportedly shows three of them (Stag, Bear, and Owl), all classified as base Wisps. The Serpent, Hare, and Fox are absent. Community speculation suggests the Serpent might still appear as a base option that simply wasn't shown, while the Hare and Fox (which aren't base Wisps) could function as higher-tier unlocks or "ultimates" within the ascendancy's progression.
The leading theory on Wildspeaker's design is a hybrid ascendancy with a split skill tree. One branch would focus on companion mechanics, letting players summon Wisp companions as active combat partners. The other branch would channel Wisp abilities directly into the player character, similar to how the existing Rite of Passage mechanic works, but with stronger and more permanent effects since they'd be baked into the ascendancy itself.
That hybrid potential is what's generating the most excitement. Companion builds exist in PoE 2 right now through passive tree nodes, but they mostly function as self-buffs. Players use companions to pump their own stats and damage rather than leaning into a true summoner or pet-based playstyle. One of the top-performing minion builds in the current meta, companion Righteous Fire, is a perfect example of this dynamic. It uses companions as a vehicle for the player's own damage output, not as independent combat forces.
If Wildspeaker delivers on the hybrid theory, it could open up an entirely new dimension of character building. Players would face a genuine choice between fighting alongside Wisp companions or absorbing their power directly. That kind of mechanical depth doesn't exist in the game right now, and it's exactly what the companion archetype needs to feel like a real build identity rather than a stat-boosting footnote.
How Reliable Are Datamines?
Datamined content hasn't always been a reliable predictor of release timing. Martial Artist files appeared in the game data as early as 0.2.0 or 0.3.0, and Druid content was datamined before 0.3.0 despite the class not launching until 0.4.0.
Arcane Archer and Wildspeaker showing up in 0.5.0 data files doesn't guarantee they'll ship with the update. The community considers it likely given the update's stated scope, but GGG hasn't confirmed either ascendancy.
Will 0.5.0 Include a New Class?
One of the bigger community questions is whether 0.5.0 brings a new playable class or focuses on ascendancies for existing ones. Most players lean toward the latter.
GGG has historically invested serious marketing effort into new class reveals, with dedicated hype campaigns and standalone showcases. The Druid reveal ahead of 0.4.0 is a good example. New weapon types have also always been tied to class releases, since each class needs its favored weapons and associated skills before launch. Releasing weapons without their class wouldn't make practical sense, and vice versa.
Shadow and Marauder are the most popular guesses among players hoping for a new class, but those remain pure speculation. Jonathan Rogers has said publicly that GGG would be willing to ship PoE 2 at version 1.0 without all classes if necessary, though a proper endgame and the complete campaign are non-negotiable requirements for a full launch.
The community has also picked up on a recurring pattern where content arrives one update later than initially expected. Features anticipated for 0.3.0 came in 0.4.0, and features expected at 0.4.0 are now slated for 0.5.0. Whether GGG breaks that cycle or accelerates the class release cadence as the game approaches 1.0 remains an open question.
Community Wishlist for 0.5.0
Based on forum and Reddit discussions, player expectations for 0.5.0 span a wide range.
At the bare minimum for a "huge update," players expect the endgame overhaul, a new league mechanic, and new ascendancies for existing classes. Beyond that, many are hoping for new weapon types (swords and daggers top the request list), new skills and passive nodes, Trial of the Ancestors returning from PoE 1, and fixes to problematic map layouts.
On the long-shot end, some players are holding out for a new class reveal, dynamic input swapping (first mentioned as coming in 0.2.0), keyboard and mouse support on consoles, and console performance fixes.
Anything beyond the first tier would be a bonus in the eyes of most players, but GGG's "huge" descriptor has raised expectations across the board.
What 0.5.0 Means for 2026
The 0.5.0 timeline has implications beyond the immediate update. ExileCon is confirmed for later in 2026, and some players have speculated about whether 0.5.0 could be the final early access league before a 1.0 announcement. Most consider that unlikely given the current pace.
A more common prediction puts a 0.6.0 update around September, potentially bringing additional classes and content, followed by a possible 1.0 launch around December timed to ExileCon. That's speculative, but it reflects where the community sees the road to full release heading.
GGG has been using "early access leagues" language since day one, and they've confirmed that once 1.0 launches, early access characters will be moved to a separate archival Standard league. A new, fresh Standard league will begin with the 1.0 release.
The Bottom Line
Path of Exile 2's 0.5.0 update is shaping up to be the most significant patch since early access launched. A confirmed endgame overhaul, a new league, and the strong possibility of new ascendancies make the late April reveal and subsequent May launch a pivotal moment for the game.
The extended wait has tested patience, but the scope of what GGG is promising, and their willingness to take extra time to deliver it, suggests the studio treats this as a critical milestone on the road to full release.
Fate of the Vaal continues in the meantime. PoE 1's 3.28 league launches March 6 for players looking to stay busy. The full 0.5.0 reveal arrives in late April.
