Grinding Gear Games has released Patch 0.4.0d for Path of Exile 2, delivering a hefty round of Fate of the Vaal league improvements alongside boss damage tuning and a long list of bug fixes. The update targets player frustrations with temple navigation while also addressing crashes and visual issues across all platforms.
Temple Rework
The Fate of the Vaal league content received the bulk of attention in this patch, with temple mechanics getting several quality-of-life upgrades.
Players who die during the Architect or Atziri boss fights can now respawn in a stripped-down instance of the Temple. This new instance removes most other content and functions similarly to endgame map respawns, cutting down on the frustration of repeated failed attempts.
The Temple now requires at least one room placement before opening. Grinding Gear Games designed this change to prevent accidental starts and help newer players understand the system. Keyboard users can bypass this by holding Ctrl while clicking Run Temple, while gamepad players get a confirmation prompt instead.
Atziri's Chambers now properly connects to adjacent rooms. The Temple map screen also received UI updates, including feedback on room completion status and reachability. Hovering over rooms now displays possible upgrades, and new description text clarifies how to unlock Atziri's Chambers.
The Holten league mechanic saw placement variance improvements, and Energized Crystals have been re-enabled.
Trial of Chaos Boss Adjustments
Several bosses in the Trial of Chaos got their damage values tweaked. Bahlak, The Sky Seer deals less damage overall, while Uxmal, the Beastlord hits harder.
Vornas, the Fell Flame and Morvak, the Infernal both received damage reductions. All Quadrilla monster variants now deal more damage (the patch notes claim they've "been working out").
Skill Changes
Phantasmal Arrow no longer targets the ground, fixing range bugs that occurred with additional projectiles and Barrage support.
Spectral Fire now uses player stats for area of effect and damage calculations. The skill's keyword description was also updated to clarify that damage modifiers don't scale the explosion further. GGG notes this is purely a text fix, not a mechanical change. A separate visual bug that showed the explosion at half size has also been fixed.
Fury of the Mountain can no longer be used without Mana. Skills that cancel other skills no longer attempt to walk into range when using click-to-move, which also fixes an issue where Dodge Roll could chain-cancel itself.
Character Sheet and UI Updates
The character sheet now displays item-based armour, evasion, and energy shield values. Spirit-reserving skills show their final modified reservation cost in the skill popout.
Passive Skill Tree Notable Anointments no longer require picking up a Distilled Emotion first. Players can view these by holding ALT while hovering over notables on any character.
Socketed augments now display distinct art instead of generic rune images. An info popup on the Logbook run button clarifies that players must select a destination area first. The Smith of Kitava's Temper Weapon skill now explicitly states it can't be used with Talismans. The Slow keyword was updated to note that monsters can't be slowed below 25% of base speed.
Buff names now appear in hover information on enemies.
Texture Streaming and Platform Fixes
Texture streaming received further improvements to prevent active textures from unloading mid-gameplay.
Xbox Series X no longer displays blurred textures. The Phoenix Dodge Roll effect is now visible on PS5. A common Xbox client crash has been fixed.
Three crash fixes target specific interactions: Firestorm, unsocketing Garukhan's Resolve from a Crossbow ammo skill, and using Hollow Palm Technique.
League-Specific Bug Fixes
Temple monsters now receive their intended Monster Effectiveness values. Transcendent limbs can no longer be kept after dying.
Non-Temple owners can no longer see dropped Temple Medallions they can't interact with. Unique reliquary displays in the Temple work properly in couch co-op now. The medallion cap for couch co-op prevents pickup when the Temple owner is maxed out.
Fate of the Vaal encounters in Spires of Deshar, Matlan Waterways, and Solitary Confinement now guarantee rewards. Bosses from these encounters no longer break Holten Estate or Derelict Mansion boss functionality.
General Bug Fixes
The Immured Fury now spawns correctly. Players can no longer travel to child instances via waypoints.
Amanamu's Gaze and Queen of the Forest were blocking sprint movement speed unless players had both equipped. That's fixed. Abyssal Eyes now count toward socketed item totals on Morior Invictus.
Atlas passive nodes for spawning Amanamu and Ulaman loyal monsters were boosting the wrong factions. Abyss Atlas passives for Depths Chance now apply to Boss Depths Chance as intended.
Devour can consume minions while Sacrifice is active again. Getting stuck on objects when using Rend and Devour has been addressed. Raging Spirits can now be targeted by Skeletal Arsonist's Explosive Demise.
The Unique Jewel Prism of Belief can roll modifiers for Living Bomb. Uhtred supports no longer count Meta gems as Support Gems. Kulemak's Desecration mod works around all monsters when stolen by players.
Headhunter no longer shares visual effects with The Flesh Poppet. Orbs of Chance work on Life and Mana Flasks with non-boss drop Unique Flask base types. The Trial of the Sekhemas Map Pin highlights correctly during the Ascent to Power quest.
Walking Calamity's meteors and Rampage no longer incorrectly display attack speed scaling in skill popouts. Several Druid conversation topics with empty dialogue have been filled in.
Cosmetic Fixes
Cosmetic shapeshift effects now display properly, including Walking Calamity's fiery bear paws. The Abyssal Tornado Effect Microtransaction no longer stays visible forever after absorbing shocked ground. The Lunar Blessing howl moon beam no longer spawns twice.
What This Means for Players
Patch 0.4.0d shows GGG actively responding to player feedback on the Fate of the Vaal league, particularly around temple usability. The boss rebalancing and extensive bug fixes continue the studio's pattern of frequent, granular updates throughout the early access period.
More patches will follow as GGG refines the Path of Exile 2 experience ahead of full release.
