Path of Exile 2 Gets December 11 Full Release Date, New Classes, and Siege League

At the opening of ExileCon 2026 in Auckland, Grinding Gear Games game director Jonathan Rogers spent two hours outlining the full release of Path of Exile 2. Version 1.0 is scheduled for December 11 and will switch the game to a free-to-play model. It will also complete the campaign, introduce the Shadow and Duelist classes, and launch the strategy-flavored Conquerors of Wraeclast league.Act 5 brings players back to Oriath, a city ravaged by war and corruption, taking them through slums, abandoned noble estates, and a corrupted temple district. Act 6 concludes the conflict involving the Twilight Order and the Beast. The release package promises 18 new unique bosses, complete with multi-phase encounters and deadly abilities.The biggest surprise is the Shadow, a descendant of the Perandus family indebted to the dark god Prospero. This class brings fully developed stealth gameplay to the series for the first time. The character shrouds himself in darkness, lunges from invisibility to deliver a lethal strike, and disappears before enemies can retaliate. His daggers also gain bonuses while he remains hidden in the shadows.Conquerors of Wraeclast is the most ambitious new addition to the endgame: castle sieges with siege engines, battles over 100 Atlas strongholds, and armies led by hired commanders. Even war elephants and two-headed chimeras can join the fighting. The launch will also overhaul the passive skill tree with hundreds of new nodes, move jewels into clusters, add more than 40 new and 70 reworked Unique items, and introduce around 200 additional weapon and armor base types.