Path of Exile 2 The Last of the Druids Update Overview

The Last of the Druids goes live on December 12th at 19:00 CET. The update launches together with the Fate of the Vaal League, so players get the new class, new gems, and a full league mechanic on the same day. This hub gives you a full overview of everything coming with patch 0.4.0, so you can prepare for the new, big update.

What Is Included in The Last of the Druids Update?

Patch 0.4.0 The Last of the Druids is a new, major patch for Path of Exile 2, which brings:

• New Class: Druid with four forms
  • New Ascendancies: Shaman and Oracle
• New League: Fate of the Vaal
  • Build your own Vaal Temple with room placement
  • New pinnacle fight against Atziri in her prime
  • New crafting rooms including Corruption Chamber level three
  • Time travel temple system with past room variants
• Over 30 new support gems and new lineage supports
• Big balance update for more than 90 skills
• More than 250 new passive nodes
• Eleven new unique items
• Abyss overhaul with endgame Tablets
• Major performance improvements and smoother framerate
• New supporter packs for both games

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New Class – Druid

The Druid is the first hybrid Strength and Intelligence class in Path of Exile 2. Lore-wise, the King of the Mists has wiped out the rest of the Druids. However, he survived, but the event twisted him into a beast. After wandering the forests for years, he has finally awakened and now tries to reclaim his humanity and find his lost wife.

All Four Shapeshift Forms

The Druid fights in four different forms. He can switch instantly, and most human-form spells last for a duration and keep working while you shift forms, which allows strong layered combos. To do so, the class uses Animal Talismans, which are a new type of weapon for the Druid that determines which animal form he shifts into.

Human Form:
Human Form uses staves and nature magic. Many spells persist after casting, which sets up the different animal forms.

• Volcano launches magma balls over time.
• Entangle traps enemies with roots.
• Thunderstorm creates lightning strikes and makes enemies wet, which boosts cold and shock setups.
• Spell Totem places a totem that casts any spell you choose. It costs endurance or power charges and works very well with Druid’s charge generation.

Wolf Form:
Fast and aggressive melee style with cold damage and wolf pack mechanics.

• Lunar Assault freezes enemies in an area.
• Rake slashes enemies and creates ice shards that can explode with Cross Slash.
• Pounce marks enemies and summons wolves when they die. You can also combine it with other mark skills.
• Luna’s Blessing transforms you into an arctic werewolf with faster attacks and more cold damage. Rage extends the duration.

Bear Form:
Heavy melee form that builds and spends Rage for big hits.

• Maul creates Rage and lets you build momentum.
• Furious Slam becomes much stronger when your Rage bar is glowing.
• Rampage pulses damage longer based on how much Rage you hold.
• Ferocious Roar boosts melee attacks and can use Warcries from other classes.
• Walking Calamity turns Bear Form into a living firestorm that keeps generating Rage.

Wyvern Form:
Hybrid lightning and fire form with melee claws and breath attacks.

• Rend strikes in melee and creates lightning explosions when powered up with charges.
• Wing Blast knocks back enemies and can stun.
• Devour eats corpses to generate Power Charges.
• Rolling Magma shoots fireballs and works well with Volcano setups.
• Oil Spit (named: Oil Barrage) coats enemies for Ignite builds.
• Lightning Barrage channels a strong lightning breath that scales with your Power Charges.
• Flame Breath makes you take flight and rain fire on enemies below.

Druid Ascendancies

The update also adds two new ascendancies for the Druid, with a third coming later.

Shaman:
A spell-focused hybrid that channels Rage into elemental power.
Druidic Champion increases spell power based on Rage.
Furious Wellspring gives steady Rage and boosts magic output.
Wisdom of the Magi adds special rune and idol mods.
Bringer of the Apocalypse triggers elemental explosions after heavy spell damage.

Oracle:
A timeline-based ascendancy that uses foresight and manipulation.
Fateful Vision lets you follow your future vision for bonus damage.
Moment of Vulnerability gives a strong burst window for double damage.
The Unseen Path opens more than 130 new passive nodes with options like death prevention or minion boosts.

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New Support Gems

Over 30 new support gems are also being added. A few examples:

• Accelerated Growth creates explosive plant growth.
• Tectonic Slam Support adds cascading slams.
• Fan the Flames sends fire between ignited enemies.
• Echoing Cry makes Warcries repeat.
• Grounding Shocks causes shocked enemies to pulse lightning arcs.
• These join a batch of new lineage supports and many reworks.

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The Fate of the Vaal League

League Story

The ruins of Queen Atziri’s palace still hold ancient Vaal engines deep below the surface. These machines power a living temple that shifts with sacrifice. As you progress, you unlock a way to travel into the past where the Vaal Empire is still alive. Each visit lets you rebuild and reshape the temple, placing rooms, unlocking new functions, and discovering hidden chambers that lead deeper into Vaal history.

The deeper you explore, the more the Vaal demand sacrifice. Powerful loot and rare crafting options wait behind the toughest chambers. At the center of it all lies Atziri in her prime. Her servant’s voice echoes throughout the halls, warning you that the Beast can never give her what she wants. What she seeks and what she expects from you are questions you answer through the league’s final temple path.

League Mechanics

The Temple of Atziri: Travel to Lira Vaal, the ancient temple of Atziri.

You uncover Vaal remnants in the world. Activating one powers up nearby monsters, which must be sacrificed to open the temple layers. Every run gives you six rooms you can place on the temple grid. Placement matters because certain rooms require specific neighbors to function or upgrade.

Room Types:
There are more than a dozen room types including Corruption Chambers, Sacrificial Chambers, Alchemy Labs, Flesh Surgeon rooms, Commanders, and many more.

Key Mechanics:
Corruption Chamber level three allows a second corruption on an already corrupted item with a fifty percent chance to destroy it.
Flesh Surgeon replaces your limbs to grant combat bonuses until you die.
Royal Architect unlocks special rooms including the path to Atziri.
The Temporal Gateway sends you into the Vaal’s past so you can build with pre-Cataclysm rooms for even stronger rewards.

Pinnacle Boss:
The final encounter is Atziri in her peak form. Reaching her chamber requires smart placement and careful temple routing. Rewards include powerful uniques such as a new staff that works with corrupted gems and splits projectiles into nova style patterns.

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Endgame and Core Updates

Abyss content moves into the endgame and works through Abyss Tablets. Tablets can be specialized through Atlas passives and can also be corrupted for random outcomes.

Monster scaling in endgame has been adjusted. There are fewer enemies in higher tiers, but they drop more loot and experience. In short: Fewer mobs, but 40% more XP, loot, and HP in high-tier content.

General performance is improved with better CPU usage and smoother frame pacing.

The patch also adds eleven new uniques, rebalances more than ninety skills, updates twenty-one lineage supports, enhances many ascendancies, and introduces more than two hundred new passives.

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Supporter Packs

Two supporter pack series arrive with this update. Furthermore, keep in mind that any purchase of an Early Access Supporter Pack naturally also gives access to PoE2.

Precursor Packs have a gravity and ancient technology theme with cosmetics like a Marble Statue Effect, Gravity Well Portal, Forge Master pet, and Relic Map Device.

Calguran Packs focus on astronomy and nautical raiders with cosmetics like the Astronomer Level Up Timer, Kraken’s Cove Hideout, Peg Leg Armor, Kraken Stash, and themed weapon skins.

All cosmetics work in both Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2.

FAQ

Will I need to create a new character for this update?

Yes. The Fate of the Vaal League requires a new league character. Your existing characters stay in the permanent realm as usual.

Is the Druid available for everyone at launch?

Yes. The class is unlocked for all players when patch 0.4.0 goes live.

Do I “need” to shapeshift to play the Druid?

You can stay in Human Form and play a caster, but the class is designed around switching forms. Most of the fun and power comes from mixing spells with transformations.

How do I access the Fate of the Vaal temple?

You find Vaal remnants in the world. Activating one powers nearby monsters. Sacrifice them to open the temple entrance. Each temple run gives you six rooms to place.

Can the Corruption Chamber destroy my items?

Yes. Level three Corruption Chambers allow a second corruption with a fifty percent chance to break the item. This is the intended risk-reward loop of the room.

How do time travel rooms work?

As you progress through the league, you unlock a Temporal Gateway. This sends you into the Vaal Empire before the Cataclysm. Rooms from the past have stronger rewards and special functions.

Where do I fight Atziri?

Atziri appears as the league’s pinnacle boss. You must build your temple layout in a way that connects to her chamber. Her arena is accessed through the Royal Axis Chamber during your temple layout.

What happened to Abyss?

Abyss is removed from the campaign and now only appears through Abyss Tablets in endgame maps. Tablets can be customized through Atlas passives and corrupted for random extra effects.

Is performance better in this patch?

Yes. The developers confirmed improved CPU usage, reduced stuttering, and smoother framerate during large combat scenes.

Can I use the new cosmetic packs in PoE1?

Yes. All cosmetics in the Precursor and Calguran packs work in both Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2.

For even more details, you can also check the official patch notes.