Path of Exile 2 The Last of the Druids Launches December 12 with Major Class Expansion

Grinding Gear Games has confirmed that Path of Exile 2 The Last of the Druids will release on December 12, marking the third major update since the game’s early access debut following Dawn of the Hunt and The Third Edict. This free expansion introduces the game’s first hybrid Strength and Intelligence class, a large scale overhaul of league and endgame systems, extensive skill and support gem additions, a new pinnacle boss path, and a notable performance improvement targeting smoother gameplay across PC and consoles. The update coincides with a free weekend from December 12 to 15 across all platforms.

The patch’s headline feature is the addition of the Druid, a hybrid class capable of weaving between human form spellcasting and three distinct animal forms: bear, wolf, and wyvern. This class expansion introduces 21 new Druid skills, over 30 new support gems, 11 unique items, and more than 250 new passive skills. According to the developers the Druid’s design is rooted in narrative as well as mechanics. Lore places the character as a survivor of the King in the Mists who has lost his humanity and searches for his missing wife while navigating the ancient forests of Ogham. Mechanically the class centers on Animal Talismans, a new weapon type that determines which form the Druid can assume and grants its basic attack, while spellcasting instantly reverts him to human form. Form swapping underpins his core combat identity.

Bear form embodies raw physical destruction. Through the Rage mechanic players generate power via Maul and convert it into massive slam attacks Rampage style offensives and Walking Calamity, the Druid’s ultimate. Rage can also be transformed into Endurance Charges which synergize with Ferocious Roar a warcry Meta Gem supporting additional warcries such as Infernal Cry or Seismic Cry. Wolf form emphasizes cold damage fluid mobility and utility, with attacks like Lunar Assault Rake Pounce and Cross Slash enabling freeze setups exploding ice fragments and sustained pack combat alongside summonable wolves. Pounce functions as a Meta Gem for mark skills while Lunar Blessing transforms the player into an Arctic Werewolf for accelerated and heavier hitting engagements. Wyvern form blends melee and ranged elemental damage, leveraging Power Charges and corpse consumption through Devour. With skills like Rend Wing Blast Rolling Magma and a variety of breath and barrage attacks the Wyvern enables hybrid elemental rotations supported further by signature human form spells including Entangling Vines and Thunderstorm which synergizes with shock and wet status conditions.

At launch the Druid introduces two ascendancies, Shaman and Oracle, with a third class planned for future updates. The Shaman revolves around spellcasting that consumes Rage for heightened elemental power integrating passives such as Druidic Champion Furious Wellspring Wisdom of the Maji and Bringer of the Apocalypse. The Oracle uses foresight and timeline manipulation with mechanisms like Fateful Vision Converging Paths and The Unseen Path enabling alternate future casts layered damage windows and defensive manipulation. Oracle access unlocks more than 130 new passives including high risk options like Self Sacrificing and Corruption Endures. The Druid expansion is further strengthened by new Meta Gems such as Spell Totems, which consume charges to automate spellcasting, and by more than 30 new support gems that reshape elemental propagation battlefield coverage warcry cadence and status effects. Grinding Gear Games has also reworked twenty one existing Lineage Supports and tuned roughly ninety active skills across all classes.

On the league side Fate of the Vaal transports players to the height of the ancient Vaal empire where they confront the Royal Architect and ultimately Atziri, reimagined here as a new pinnacle boss. Players must overcome Xipocado to access deeper temple systems and unlock powerful crafting tools within Lira Vaal, a fully customizable dungeon assembled from six room tiles per run. Defeating Atziri can yield Atziri’s Rule, a new pinnacle staff that elevates corrupted gems, trades life for increased damage, and spawns Mirrors of Refraction which generate chained projectile novas for extraordinary offensive scaling.

The update also folds the prior league Rise of the Abyssal into the core game. Abysses will now appear selectively in endgame maps and can be targeted using new Abyss Tablets, which offer upgraded modifiers, custom interactions with league mechanics, and their own atlas passive tree. Abyss crafting and Waystone Instilling are being removed to streamline complexity and reduce clutter, with Tablet corruption replacing prior crafting loops and offering a variety of randomized outcomes.

Grinding Gear Games is addressing endgame density complaints by adjusting monster life, loot, and experience scaling instead of increasing raw density. High tier maps will feature enemies with roughly 40 percent more life, 40 percent more loot, and 40 percent more experience while reducing extreme speed modifiers and improving visibility particularly in fog heavy Delirium encounters.

The development team also emphasized breakthrough performance gains. According to Grinding Gear Games, Path of Exile 2 The Last of the Druids introduces CPU and multithreading optimizations expected to improve frame rates by at least 25 percent in many scenarios while noticeably reducing frame time spikes, especially on console hardware. Additional technical optimizations are already in progress and will be deployed throughout early 2026.

Are you planning to try the Druid class or dive into the Fate of the Vaal league when the update lands? Share your build ideas and expectations.