Anyone who has not checked in on Path of Exile 2 for a while might be surprised by how different it feels after Patch 0.4.0, and a lot of players are already stocking up on PoE 2 Currency before they dive back in. The update is called “Last of the Druids”, and it is not just a balance pass or a few routine tweaks. It shifts how you plan characters, how often you see side content, and even how you think about the late‑game grind. You still recognize the core game, but once you start playing around with the new systems, it is hard to go back to the old rhythm.
Druid Feels Like A Real Main Class
The Druid is the big headline, and it actually earns that spot. You are not just flipping into bear form for a short damage buff; the class pushes you to live in those forms and build around them. There are over 250 new passive nodes tied to shapeshifting alone, so you quickly notice that you are making real choices, not just picking generic life and damage. Add in 20 new active skills and more than 35 support gems, with the new Lineage Supports sitting in the middle of it all, and you can see why build planners are already overwhelmed. You can lean into tanky bear setups, fast wolf‑style melee, or hybrid caster forms, and it all feels like it has been designed to support that fantasy rather than forcing you into the same old meta templates.
Abyss As A Core Part Of Levelling
Abyss being fully integrated into the campaign is a quiet change that ends up mattering a lot. Those cracks in the ground do not feel like a rare treat any more; they just show up while you level, breaking up that “same zones, same routes” boredom. The removal of Preserved Vertebrae drops cuts out one of those annoying loot clutter moments that nobody really missed, and the reworked Well of Souls quest makes the whole chain flow better. The real twist comes later with the new Endgame Abyss Tablets. Instead of praying for the right map and the right spawn, you set up Abyss encounters when you are ready for them. That control makes the mechanic way easier to weave into a routine, especially if you like planning your farming sessions around specific payoffs.
Fate Of The Vaal Adds Strategy, Not Just Loot
The “Fate of the Vaal” league mechanic leans into planning rather than pure chaos. You place up to six temple rooms, things like Corruption Chambers, Flesh Surgeon rooms, or those awkward Temporal Gateways that can either save a run or ruin it. The order and layout are not just flavour; they define how rough the fights get and what kind of rewards are on the line. It has a bit of that old Incursion feel, but it is cleaner, less random noise, more “you made this choice, now live with it”. People who like mapping out their routes and squeezing value from each run are going to spend a lot of time working out their favourite layouts.
Performance, Polish And What Comes Next
Underneath all of that, the game just runs better. Performance tweaks are not flashy in patch notes, but you notice when the big fights feel smoother and your screen is not turning into a slideshow under heavy effects. New item types like Talismans slot into that broader polish pass too, giving you more ways to fine‑tune a build without feeling like you are drowning in pointless clutter. Between the Druid’s crazy passive web, the revamped Abyss tools, the new Atlas Passive Tree options and the Vaal temple planning, there is a lot for theorycrafters and casual players alike to chew on, and it would not be surprising to see people grabbing some u4gm PoE 2 Currency while they test what might become the next big meta setup.
