Details about Path of Exile 2’s Third Edict update just dropped, and it’s massive. We’re talking Act 4, three new mini-acts replacing Cruel difficulty, and the sequel’s first exclusive league mechanic. Plus, Grinding Gear Games has finally added asynchronous trading – yes, you can buy items when sellers are offline now. No more neverending spam of ignored whispers trying to get the item you need.
Let’s break down what matters and how it changes your experience from level 1 to endgame.
The New Act 4: Choose Your Own Island Adventure
Act 4 takes you to Ngamakanui, an archipelago of eight islands where you’re hunting for pieces of the Third Edict; basically a weapon powerful enough to kill the Beast. What’s unique about this act is that you can tackle these islands in any order you want. No more linear progression through zones.
You start at Kingsmarch and sail to places like Whakapanu Island (think haunted beaches with voices of drowned souls) or the Isle of Kin (volcanic hellscape). With 16 new areas, 12 new bosses, and over 100 monster types, there’s plenty of fresh content to chew through. The non-linear approach means you can skip areas that give you trouble and come back later, which is a refreshing take on the leveling progression.
Goodbye Cruel Difficulty, Hello Interludes
Remember grinding through the campaign twice just to reach endgame? That’s gone. Instead of Cruel difficulty, we now have three Interlude acts resulting in shorter, focused storylines that bridge campaign and endgame.
Interlude I sends you back to Ogham to help rebuild and clear corruption. Interlude II has you crossing the desert with Asala on some sacred mission. Interlude III takes you up a mountain to find lost Vaal descendants in ice caves. Combined, these add 19 areas and 9 bosses without the repetitive slog (haha) of replaying the main campaign.
This change addresses one of the biggest complaints from the last major update – the tedious campaign repetition that burned out new players before they even reached maps. Now you get varied content that actually progresses the story while leveling to endgame. A welcome change for sure.
Rise of the Abyssal: Your First PoE2 League
The familiar (but different) Abyssal league brings fissures that spawn monster hordes. Kill them fast enough and an Abyssal Trove pops up with loot. Standard league mechanic if you’re familiar with PoE, but here’s where it gets interesting – you can dive into Abyssal Depths for harder encounters, including three new bosses and a pinnacle boss.
What sets this apart from recent leagues is the new crafting system tied to it. While they haven’t detailed everything, league-specific crafting usually means powerful gear options that can define your entire build, and while PoE has plenty of options, PoE2 has been a bit lacking in the crafting department. Given how the last update’s crafting felt limited, this could be the shot in the arm the itemization needed.
Support Gems Get a Complete Overhaul
This might be the biggest game-changer for build diversity. You can now use multiple copies of the same support gem. Want to stack three damage multipliers on your main skill? Go for it. Support gems also level up now, growing stronger as you progress through the campaign instead of being static bonuses.
Then there are also the addition of Lineage Supports – rare, powerful versions that drop from specific bosses. With 40 of these to find, builds that felt stuck in the last update suddenly have new optimization paths. The removal of the one-gem restriction alone opens up experimentation that wasn’t possible before.
Sprint and Quality of Life Updates
You can now hold dodge roll to sprint. Simple addition, huge impact. Backtracking through cleared zones won’t feel like torture anymore. But here’s the catch: take a hit while sprinting and you faceplant. It adds a risk-reward element to rushing through areas, especially while trying to level.
Asynchronous trading finally arrives after years of requests. No more whispering ten people to find one online seller. List your items, log off, come back to currency. This removes a major friction point that pushed casual players away from trading entirely.
Crafting Gets Serious
Greater Orbs are for sure the biggest addition here: upgraded versions of basic currency that guarantee minimum modifier levels. A Greater Orb of Transmutation won’t just turn your white item blue; it ensures the mods are actually worth having.
Combined with the new Karui-themed base types from Act 4 and Abyss-exclusive uniques, gear progression should feel smoother. The last update’s crafting felt too RNG-heavy for most players. These changes suggest a middle ground where you still gamble but with better odds.
Endgame Shakeup with 25 New Maps
Act 4 and Interlude bosses get uber versions in the endgame. Each drops specific Lineage Support Gems, creating clear farming targets for build optimization. The 25 new maps include varied mechanics – Rockpools has you fighting sirens and a Goblin King, Maelstrom requires clearing beacons to reveal the boss, and Vaal Vault needs key collection.
This targeted farming approach fixes a problem from the last update where endgame felt aimless. Now you know exactly where to farm for specific upgrades.
The Evolution of Path of Exile 2
For new players, the removal of Cruel difficulty and addition of Interludes means a smoother progression curve. You won’t hit that wall where you’re forced to replay content just to level. Sprint makes exploration less painful, and the new support gem system lets you experiment without breaking your build.
Returning players get the most value here. If you bounced off the last update’s repetitive campaign structure or limited build options, Third Edict addresses both issues directly. The support gem changes alone revitalize builds that felt solved. Add in targeted endgame farming and actual trading accessibility, and there’s reason to come back.
The free weekend from August 29 to September 1 gives you a chance to test everything without commitment. Given how different the leveling experience is now with Interludes replacing Cruel, it’s worth checking out even if you’ve tried PoE2 before.
In essnce, Path of Exile 2 The Third Edict fixes many pain points from previous updates while adding enough new content to keep you busy for months. The support gem overhaul and sprint feature alone change how the game plays moment-to-moment. Whether you’re new or returning, this update makes Path of Exile 2 more accessible without dumbing it down.
