Path of Exile 2's biggest update drops December 12th, and game director Jonathan Rogers isn't holding back about the sequel's rocky development. In recent interviews with PC Gamer and FRVR, Rogers called out features he regrets, defended controversial nerfs, and explained why the original game is too old to fix.
The Last of the Druids update brings the game's first new class since early access launched, along with major performance improvements and balance changes. But some requested features won't make it back.
The Rare Monster Controversy
Rogers revealed he deeply regrets putting rare monsters on the minimap in the first place. "That is a feature I highly regret ever having had," he said. "It sucked so much because it meant the game was just playing the mini-map, like you never even saw anything."
The game removed rare markers in the 0.31 update, sparking player backlash. But Rogers stands by the decision, saying it "really degraded the experience of exploration."
The problem tied directly to itemization. When rares stayed visible on the map, players would just jump from marker to marker without engaging with the rest of the loot pool. Rogers explained that the game needs balance between random drops and targetable rewards.
"You need to have a really good balance between random rewards that can come from any source, as in the core drop pool, and rewards that can come from specific content," he said. Randomization makes loot feel rewarding, which means "loot doesn't always come from rares."
Chasing the Perfect ARPG
Rogers describes his work on Path of Exile 2 as a "quest to make the perfect ARPG." He's blunt about the original game's limits. Path of Exile 1 had its moment, but now it mostly serves dedicated fans through regular updates.
The sequel aims to "fix the things that I perceived as problems we couldn't fix in PoE 1" and create something that doesn't look dated. Rogers says the original's strategy isn't attracting new players anymore. "There's a lot of people who won't play a game that looks that old," he explained.
Path of Exile 1 focuses on keeping players who return every three months for new leagues. "The days of that game growing are much less likely than PoE 2," Rogers said.
The Speed vs. Methodical Combat Problem
Path of Exile 2 plays completely different from its predecessor. The original game lets players rampage through thousands of monsters. The sequel offers fewer enemies that hit harder and demand more careful play.
Not everyone's on board with the change. Veterans want the godlike power fantasy and speed they're used to. Rogers wants deliberate, methodical combat. When classes start feeling too close to PoE 1's pace, patches typically nerf them.
"It's been incredibly tricky to split the difference, just incredibly tricky," Rogers admitted. He's had moments of doubt about whether both groups can be satisfied.
But he thinks it's possible. "I definitely believe that you can make an experience that has both good combat and delivers on the kind of feeling of like I feel powerful and good and can do these things as well."
The team believes they're getting close to the right balance between speed and thoughtful gameplay. Getting there hasn't been smooth. The Dawn of the Hunt update earlier in 2025 drew heavy criticism for its nerf-focused changes.
Borrowing From the Original
The current version of Path of Exile 2 includes features borrowed from the first game. Players can now have multiple lives in endgame maps instead of failing on a single death. The game still has its own identity, but these compromises address players who weren't interested in soulslike encounters.
Rogers says taking ideas from Path of Exile 1 is fine when they make the sequel better. The goal was never to be different for difference's sake. It was about fixing problems the original couldn't solve and making something modern.
What's Coming December 12th
The Last of the Druids introduces the Druid class on December 12, 2025. It's the first class addition since early access started and marks a classic RPG archetype that never made it to the original Path of Exile.
The 0.4 update also brings performance gains, new content, and various balance adjustments. But as Rogers made clear, not every fan request will ship with this release.
Path of Exile 2 remains in early access with a target of hitting version 1.0 sometime in 2026. Features continue to be added, removed, and reshaped as Grinding Gear Games works toward their vision. Each update brings more data and feedback to guide decisions on balancing two fundamentally different approaches to ARPG design.
