Path of Exile 2 1.0 goes free to play with Acts Five and Six

Path of Exile 2 will move out of paid early access when its 1.0 version launches and become free to play, Grinding Gear Games announced at the Exilecon 2026 showcase. Game directors Jonathan Rogers and Mark Roberts presented the details of the launch, according to PCGamesN.

The 1.0 update adds Acts Five and Six, which conclude the Path of Exile 2 campaign. The two acts contain 24 more areas and 18 new major bosses. Act Five returns to Oriath and tasks players with stopping the Twilight Order and The Beast.

Two new classes arrive at launch: the Duelist, which focuses on swords, and the dagger-wielding Shadow. The Shadow is proficient with daggers and traps and uses stealth mechanics based on enemy vision cones, and it has two Ascensions, the Assassin and the Infiltrator.

Conquerors of Wraeclast and other changes

The launch league is called Conquerors of Wraeclast and adds a strategy layer in which players recruit an army, build a castle and fight rival factions. The 1.0 version also brings new skills, passive tree reworks and an overhaul of uniques, along with a Death Summary screen that breaks down what killed the player.

Path of Exile 2 began its paid early access almost two years before the 1.0 launch. During that period Grinding Gear Games expanded the campaign and endgame and added several new classes, and a recent teaser previously hinted at the Shadow class.