Path Of Exile 2: How To Use Crowd Control Effects Against Powerful Enemies?

Recently, Path of Exile 2 released patch 0.4.0 for The Last of the Druids league notes, which will be coming into the game on December 12th. These notes include a general overview of the new league mechanics, an introduction to the new Druid class, and details on several significant changes to existing content, which can give all players a new game experience.

Among these notes, what interested players the most was the inclusion of Druid class, because its tough gameplay style in the original game made players feel it would be very suitable for the higher difficulty challenges in the sequel. And the developers have promised that the favoritism shown during the initial launch of Huntress will not happen again, so players have very high expectations.

If your preferred playstyle involves relentlessly pushing forward with superior tankiness and damage output, then this ultimate guide to the new character is something you’ll definitely want to keep handy, which includes the shapeshifting mechanics, known skills, and Ascendancy Classes found in Druid class.

Druid Overview

According to the developers, Druid in POE 2 is a class that combines the characteristics of both Strength and Intelligence. It can harness the power of nature and transform into three different animal forms: Bear, Wolf, or Wyvern, as well as human. In these forms, not only does your character’s appearance change, but your skills and gameplay also change accordingly.

To ensure this mechanism works smoothly, Path of Exile 2 has added a new weapon type for this class, Talismans, which grant you the basic attack skills of your chosen animal simply by performing a basic attack. You don’t need to worry about getting hurt during the transformation process, as all transformations are instantaneous.

Next, the 4 forms of Druid will be introduced in turn.

Human Form

In this human form, Druid needs to combine the elemental effects available in your build to enhance his animal form. For example, Small Volcano will erupt in a limited area, spraying fragments that deal damage in a chaotic pattern, which can farm POE 2 currency fast.

Bear Form

In this form, you need to continuously cast skills to accumulate Rage in order to gain maximum damage and survival benefits, and then consume this resource to activate more powerful skills. According to the leaked information, this bear form possesses the following skills:

• Rampage: Allows you to charge forward with immense force, shattering the ground beneath your feet. At the same time, your physical damage will receive some buffs.
• Ferocious Roar: Grants you a buff that allows subsequent attacks to penetrate enemy armor. You can also use any Warcry by socketing the corresponding gem into this skill.
• Walking Calamity: This ultimate skill generates a firestorm around you, which increases your Rage generation rate. However, activating it requires a significant amount of Rage itself.

Although these skills are exclusive to the bear form, they all work perfectly in conjunction with the skills of other forms. Furthermore, some skills provide additional benefits even when you are not in that form, such as increasing your total damage or health.

Wolf Form

Compared to the heavy attacks in bear form, the wolf form grants you incredibly high attack speed and mobility. In this form, your basic attack will cause you to leap forward, performing a series of rapid strikes, and the corresponding skills are centered on cold damage and freezing mechanics.

• Lunar Assault: Allows your attacks to instantly freeze enemies.
• Pounce: Allows you to quickly leap to a selected target and apply a mark. Once the marked enemy dies, a small summoned wolf will appear to assist you in subsequent battles. You can have multiple summoned wolves at the same time.
• Cross-slash: This ultimate skill is perfect for boss encounters because it detonates all marks on the enemy, allowing you to summon a pack of wolves without having to kill the target.

Based on the skill options above, it can be inferred that when POE 2 The Last of the Druids league goes live, the most popular skill rotation will be to first freeze enemies with Lunar Assault, then use the following two skills to inflict more damage; or follow up with a basic attack to shatter the ice, the resulting ice shards damaging nearby enemies.

Wyvern Form

The last one is Wyvern Form, which provides you with a basic skill: a forward-thrusting melee attack. After defeating an enemy, you can consume their flesh to gain extra energy, which strengthens your wings, increasing your damage and adding extra lightning damage. The specific form-specific skills are as follows:

• Rolling Magma: It releases bouncing lava balls and triggers the Volcano skill in human form, dealing additional damage.
• Oil Barrage: Sprays fuel at enemies, making them more susceptible to ignition. When you consume Power Charges, it will cast a continuous channeled barrage.

In addition to these specific abilities mentioned above, Wyvern form also allows you to fly through the air and burn everything to ashes, although this will slightly reduce your movement speed. Given the increased difficulty of the new league challenges in Path of Exile 2, it’s speculated that this particular form is the weakest because it’s difficult to make it effective.

Ascendancy Classes

In Path of Exile 2’s latest league, The Last of the Druids, Druid class has two Ascendancy Classes: Shaman and Oracle, which offer completely different passive skill nodes and playstyles. According to the developers, they could significantly improve this character’s combat and survival abilities.

Shaman

In the background story’s setting, Shaman is an elemental spellcaster who increases their damage by accumulating Rage. Currently, it is known to have two key passive abilities: Druidic Champion and Furious Wellspring.

The former provides a buff that grants a 1% spell damage increase for every 2 points of Rage, while the latter allows you to continuously generate Rage. However, it’s worth noting that Rage rarely decays under this effect, and all buffs and debuffs to mana regeneration speed will also affect your Rage regeneration.

Furthermore, Wisdom of the Maji is another node worth paying attention to, as it grants all your Runes and Idols additional bonus effects; and Apocalypse, which allows you to summon a rain of elemental damage to you after dealing sufficient elemental damage.

Oracle

Path of Exile 2 seems to have a different naming convention compared to other RPGs; Shaman focuses on elemental abilities rather than minions, while Oracle focuses on minions rather than survival. In this new league, Oracle will possess the ability to summon minions and have incredibly powerful damage capabilities.

Fateful Vision is one of the passive skills provided by this Ascendancy. It occasionally displays a phantom of your character, which uses one of your equipped skills but deals no damage. However, if you use the same skill that the phantom used, your next attack will deal increased damage.

Additionally, Converging Paths will create a phantom clone of an enemy when they are affected by freezing, stunning, or electrocution effects. This clone will not pose a threat to you, but it will take damage alongside the real enemy, thus increasing your total damage output.

In summary, this Ascendancy Class is slightly weaker compared to the Shaman, which has a more straightforward combat style, because it has too many combat requirements and prerequisites, making it very unfavorable for exploration in the endgame.

Overall, Druid, with its skills and Ascendancy, is visually stunning in the dark fantasy setting, but it’s still underdeveloped. Even in the early stages, its low damage output is insufficient to handle even lower-level enemies.

Therefore, we are very much looking forward to the developers further refining the skill gems and passive skills of this class in future game updates, so that players can more easily complete all the main campaigns and endgame content. Enjoy the game!

Path of Exile 2 recently released its latest major patch, 0.4.0, which includes a new The Last of the Druids league and a wealth of new content and reworks of existing features. Frankly, the patch notes aren't as long as previous ones, but they demonstrate a greater level of developer commitment, as many of the changes were made in response to player feedback and community suggestions.

However, many people still have doubts about it, mainly because the sequel is still only an early access game, and the release date of the full version is still far off. Therefore, they believe that no matter how good the current content is, it will all disappear when the early access period ends, which will cause players to feel extremely disappointed and leave the game.

However, EZG.com believes that one shouldn't view the development of a game with such a negative attitude, but rather focus on the present. For example, following this guide to break down the significant game content in the latest POE 2 0.4.0 patch and The Last of the Druids League is crucial for getting a head start when it launches on December 12th.

New League Mechanism - Fate Of The Vaal League

In this league, the way Vaal Temple, also known as Vaal Ruins, operates has undergone significant changes. Firstly, you will encounter some Vaal Beacons during your regular exploration, it will apply corrupted effects to nearby enemies. 

After defeating these affected enemies, you can activate the beacons. After activating six of them, you can enter Vaal Temple. To put it simply, this Vaal Temple is very much like a giant modular dungeon, which you need to run through repeatedly to obtain the final rewards. 

Within it, there's a Temple Console that you can interact with to customize the layout of the temple, such as the arrangement of paths and rooms. Some explorable rooms, when adjacent to each other, will provide you with additional bonus effects, which you can utilize to gain more PoE 2 currency and loot.

Please note that, since Vaal Temple is depicted as the residence of Atziri, Queen of the Vaal, in the lore of Path of Exile 2, you need to ensure that when placing all the rooms, the boss's chamber is located on the far right of the entire map, and that one of the room's exits directly faces its entrance. Additionally, you can upgrade each room here simply by providing the corresponding materials.

After the update, each Locus of Corruption room will provide you with an altar that can be used to further modify the affixes and rarity of corrupted items. There is also a special room called Surgeon's Symphony, where you can interact with a Transcension Device to replace your limbs, each of which will provide you with different beneficial effects.

Given the introduction of this league mechanic, Path of Exile 2 offers many more ways to craft items within Temple, leading to the emergence of new in-game currency types and providing more opportunities to upgrade or improve your gear. 

Finally, after completing the encounter with Queen Atziri, you can obtain a brand new staff, exclusive Vaal items, and high-level crafting materials as loot, laying a solid foundation for your further exploration.

This time, The Fate of the Vaal League still offers players Standard, Hardcore, and Solo Self-Found variations, all featuring the same core mechanics and items, but with differing levels of difficulty.

New Class - Druid

Responding to numerous player requests, the brand new Druid class has been introduced to the game with Path of Exile 2 patch 0.4.0. To accompany its arrival, the developers have added over 20 new skill gems primarily focused on Primal Skills, as well as over 35 support gems.

In addition, over 250 new passive skills and over 10 new unique items have been prepared for this new class. Also, 8 new Lineage Support gems and 4 new Augment items with new modifiers are available for Druids to use in endgame content. 

Furthermore, a new type of melee weapon has been added: Talismans, which can be wielded in both hands and used for shapeshifting attacks. After equipping this type of weapon, you will transform into the corresponding animal form and gain the basic attack abilities of that form.

Regarding Ascendancy Classes available to Druids, the developers revealed them to be Oracle and Shaman. The former can complete all challenges with its powerful damage and defensive capabilities, while the latter can utilize the accumulation of Fury to achieve ultimate damage potential.

Abyss Becomes Permanent Content

After hearing about the player community's positive feedback on Abyss mechanic in the previous league, the developers have incorporated it into the core content of PoE 2. This means that you will be able to encounter Abyss encounters in specific campaign areas starting from Act 2.  Furthermore, these encounters, along with Abyss Tablets and related modifiers, have also been added to the endgame.

Given this, the sequel adds an Atlas Passive Tree specifically for Rise of the Abyssal Content, allowing you to activate passive nodes on the tree to add or modify modifiers to your Abyss encounters, thereby increasing Path of Exile 2 currency and item rewards within them.

However, it’s important to note that while the basic mechanics have been retained, some changes have also been made: Preserved Vertebrae will no longer drop; and The Well of Souls quest has been updated to accommodate the new The Last of the Druids league.

QoL Improvements

Although every major patch update and minor bug fix brings some improvements to the user experience, 0.4.0 patch in PoE 2 is particularly noteworthy because it addresses many issues that players have been complaining about for a long time.

For example, CPU performance has improved by 25%, and frame rate fluctuations are significantly reduced when CPU performance is the limiting factor, which is especially noticeable in high-load gaming scenarios, which will allow you to perform key actions faster when using different gaming devices, and ensure that the game visuals and frame rate remain consistently stable.

However, if your GPU doesn’t meet the game’s requirements, these changes will be ineffective. It’s suggested that you lower the rendering resolution or use dynamic resolution to slightly improve performance, but this is only a temporary solution.

In addition to the changes to CPU performance, which is of most interest to players, the developers have also made some quality-of-life adjustments: compatibility of all equipped support gems on the gemcutting interface, a quick search function in Trade Market, and the display of Rage next to the mana orb, among others.

From the above analysis of the new content and changes in Path of Exile 2’s 0.4.0 patch, released on December 12th, it’s clear that the development team places great importance on this new season, and this time, when adding Druid class, they even avoided the favoritism shown when Huntress class was added previously.

However, it must be pointed out that if this controversial sequel continues to appease players’ demands for the full game by constantly releasing patchwork content, it will probably struggle to compete next year under the pressure of other RPGs or the new expansion of its long-standing rival, Diablo 4. In short, I hope you have fun playing in this league.

The latest patch and new league for Path of Exile 2 are finally here, much to the delight of players! According to the developers’ announcement, this major update is patch 0.4.0, and the new league’s theme is The Last of the Druids, clearly foreshadowing the introduction of a brand-new Druid class.

Although this new content is expected to go live on December 12, in accordance with the developers’ tradition, there will be a live stream that briefly explains the latest patch before the official release. This time is no exception, and it is scheduled to start at 11:00 AM Pacific Standard Time on December 4.

This livestream will still be held on Twitch, and you can now make a reservation. To generate buzz for the still-controversial sequel, the developers have prepared a Twitch Drops reward for all viewers of the livestream: Verdant Wilds Dodge Roll Effect, which gives you a unique trailing effect after casting a dodge.

Twitch Drops Details

Like most games that use developer livestreams to promote their new content, PoE 2’s giveaway of Twitch Drops is primarily aimed at attracting more players to watch and stay during December 4th patch livestream. Whether you’re a loyal player or a casual gamer, you probably won’t refuse this free reward.

As for why only a cosmetic item is given instead of actual PoE 2 currency or other in-game items, it’s quite understandable. In this RPG, which focuses on challenging exploration and tedious farming, anything that can be used for character build is extremely valuable.

No developer would willingly hand over such a treasure to players so easily, especially now that the new The Last of the Druids league is about to launch, so they opted for a trivial cosmetic.

As seen in the released trailers, this Verdant Wilds Dodge Roll Effect will appear after you cast a dodge roll and last for about 5 seconds. If your cooldown is less than this duration, you can see a small, bright green tail following your character as they run.

As for the movement trails left behind, this is irrelevant in this PvE-only game, since bosses won’t deal subsequent damage based on your movement trajectory.

How To Obtain?

After a brief introduction to Twitch Drops, EZG.com will now show you how to obtain this cosmetic item. First, you need to link your Twitch account with your Path of Exile 2 game account. You can complete this operation by following these steps.

• 1. Open your profile on Twitch. Generally, you only need to click your user avatar.
• 2. In the list of functions, find Drops & Rewards and click to enter.
• 3. Then, on this screen, click All Campaigns, and find Path of Exile 2. At the bottom, you’ll find a Connection (Required) button; click it.
• 4. You will then be taken to the official PoE 2 website, which will display your personal account. If you have multiple accounts, it will prioritize the one used on your current device.
• 5. The connection process is now complete. Return to Twitch; you’ll see a green Connected next to Connection (Required), which is the best proof of success.

Then you can wait for the livestream introducing patch 0.4.0 and The Last of the Druids league. You can receive the drop reward by watching the livestream directly on the developer’s official account, or you can get this specific cosmetic item on any channel in POE 2 category included in this Twitch Drops event.

Simply stay in the area for 45 minutes to earn Verdant Wilds Dodge Roll Effect, which will be placed in your in-game inventory after you claim it and can be used once the new content is released. Just a heads up, this Twitch Drops event only lasts one day, from 11:00 AM PST on December 4th to 11:00 AM PST on December 5th, so don’t miss it.

Was Any Information Leaked?

Currently, this is the most frequently mentioned phrase in PoE 2 player community, but unfortunately, apart from the league theme and the confirmed addition of Druid class, there is no other leaked information. There was no valuable information in the 12-second trailer for this test of this Verdant Wilds Dodge Roll Effect.

In this video, the scene is set on a pale desert landscape, similar to Khari Crossing area in the second cutscene after Act 4. The high-contrast scene in this area is indeed very suitable for the actual test of the appearance effect of the main color being emerald green.

But, this use of an existing setting has left many players eager for new and exciting gameplay disappointed, as it means that no new Acts will be added in patch 0.4.0. While it’s common for a game to not add new content in Early Access, it’s unusual for PoE 2, which has already released several leagues, to do so, as many players already consider it the full version.

Especially given the current uncertainty surrounding the official release and the lack of interest and innovation in the original game, players are more inclined to focus their attention and expectations on this sequel, which is highly valued by the developers.

The above details and current information regarding PoE 2 patch 0.4.0 Twitch Drops, released on December 4th. This sequel, which inherits many advantages from the original, has been the subject of much debate within the community. Whether this latest patch can redeem it remains to be seen; we’ll have to wait and see on December 4th!

Recently, the official social media accounts of Path of Exile 2 released a trailer for the next patch 0.4.0, revealing that the next league is called Fate of the Vaal, and is expected to be available to all players on December 12. In this brand-new league, players will explore the ancient civilization of Vaal and challenge themselves with various game content.

Based on the existing trailers, it can be inferred that POE 2 0.4.0 patch intends to introduce Atrizi, Queen of the Vaal as an important new character in the new league, but unfortunately there is no concrete information yet. We may have to wait for the developers’ live stream for a detailed explanation.

However, it’s certain that Druid will be included in this early access as a brand new class, which may bring a fresher exploration gameplay style. If you haven’t looked into it closely, you might want to follow this guide for a detailed analysis of the trailer to see what new surprises the latest patch will bring!

1. Vaal Gems

First up are Vaal Gems, originally special corrupted Skill Gems from the original game, which possess additional skill effects. Besides the usual requirement of selecting them using Uncut Skill Gems, these skill gems also require you to defeat a specified number of enemies in combat before they can be used.

This skill gem itself isn’t particularly outstanding, but given that the league theme in this sequel is Vaal, it’s highly likely it will appear in the 0.4.0 patch notes. Furthermore, considering the addition of Atziri, it’s very possible this skill gem will become part of players’ frequently used skill rotations.

However, the possibility of appearing Vaal Uncut Spirit Gems is not very high, because in PoE 1, Vaal Gems could be obtained through the corruption of regular gems, so this overly direct acquisition method might not align with the developers’ intention to create a challenging experience for this sequel.

To be fair, this high level of challenge is a dilemma set by the developers themselves, but many players don’t seem to care because without sufficient exploration depth and incredibly generous rewards, even the most difficult battles or encounters lack appeal.

2. Endgame

When discussing the game’s depth, it’s worth mentioning that the developers have once again promised a major overhaul of the endgame content: in version 0.3.0, the focus is on simplifying the campaign flow, so that players in the endgame map are no longer simply farming and grinding. 

While this received positive feedback, it still lacked depth. Although the trailer didn’t reveal what changes the latest patch would make to Endgame, based on some leaked information, the developers are likely to revamp the way PoE 2 Currency is acquired and used in the game, abandoning the previous approach of simply stacking item rarity affixes.

In addition, the interface state of Delirium Fog will be adjusted to disrupt its linear movement trajectory. Most importantly, more endgame mechanics will be added. These might make players react more positively, but the actual impact will only be felt after all the content is released.

POE 2’s severe lack of in-depth and well-developed endgame content is nothing new. Although it’s still in Early Access, the developers have already launched several leagues, making it virtually indistinguishable from the full version. Therefore, it’s understandable that players have higher expectations.

3. New Ascendancy

The addition of Abyssal Lich to Rise of the Abyssal League was met with great positive feedback, and the developers tasted success. Although there’s still no clear patch announcement indicating new Ascendancy classes in version 0.4.0, it’s safe to assume they won’t pass up this opportunity to turn things around.

Huntress and Witch are likely the top choices for classes that will receive a completely new Ascendancy. Not only because Huntress itself has a dark theme related to Ritual, but also because it was significantly nerfed in the last patch due to player resistance, so it is very likely that an Ascendancy will be created for it as compensation.

Although Witch’s Blood Mage and Vaal thaumaturgy have a very close relationship, given the developers’ tradition, it’s not impossible that they could release another game with similar elements. I think all players should be looking forward to the fourth Ascendancy class, since this kind of new feature that enriches in-game character creation is something we all love to see.

4. New Weapon Type

Although the newly added class is Druid, which theoretically shouldn’t require additional weapons, it’s said that the developers are still planning to add a greatsword suitable for melee combat in patch 0.4.0, as it fits the background story of this league very well.

Given the long-standing tradition of sequels inheriting items from the original work and the theme of this Fate of the Vaal league, the added sword is likely to be from either Story of the Vaal or Fate of the Vaal, and both can be obtained as rewards from Vaal Incursion.

The above outlines some of the new game content for Path of Exile 2 that will be included in the new league released alongside patch 0.4.0. While leaks are rampant, more concrete and authoritative information will be available during the developers’ livestream regarding the latest patch. There may be even more surprises waiting for you then. Enjoy the game!

Path of Exile 2 patch 0.4.0 will be released on December 12th, with the league theme The Last of the Druids. You may have already seen the latest trailer; the moonlit Druid has generated immense anticipation.

The new Druid class will be released in patch 0.4.0. You'll then be able to experience fresher and more fun gameplay.

Before the official release, you can familiarize yourself with Druid's basic skills, skill gems, and passive skill tree node selection. By the time patch 0.4.0 is released, you'll be the most powerful Druid player!

Druid Basic Information

Based on the in-game demo provided by the official PoE 2 team, you can see basic information about Druid, such as Shapeshifting and Skill Gems.

Shapeshifting

Druids can freely switch between beast and human forms, with different attack and movement patterns. In Druid demo for this PoE sequel, you can see it using other forms, such as a bear and a werewolf.

Furthermore, according to the demo video, you might be able to use bear form to roll around in towns in the future, which is truly exciting.

Skill Gems

Druid's skill mechanics are quite comprehensive, encompassing both melee and spell attacks. Currently known are the ability to unleash Volcano and Lightning Storm, dealing area-of-effect damage, which is likely one of Druids' primary damage-dealing methods.

Other skill gems are related to Druids' shapeshifting forms, such as Bear Maul and Slam in bear form, and Summoned Wolves in werewolf form.

Therefore, it can be inferred that Druid's damage output strategy will probably involve first using human form to unleash Volcano and Lightning Storm. Then switch to Beast Form to unleash Bear Maul or use Summoned Wolves for a group attack, combining it with spell abilities to deal wide-area damage.

Ascendancy Classes

PoE 2 hasn't officially announced Druids' Ascendancy Classes yet, but we can make reasonable inferences based on Skill Gems.

The first Ascendancy Class should be related to spell attacks, increasing the damage of Volcano and Lightning Storm.

The second is related to melee skill damage in Druid Bear Form, potentially adding shields or aura damage to Bear Form. This would allow it to fearlessly roll into enemy groups and deal high damage.

The third might be related to summoning, such as increasing the damage of minions summoned by Summoned Wolves. This would be a very interesting playstyle.

Passive Skill Tree

Currently, PoE 2 hasn't released new Passive Skill Tree nodes suitable for Druid, but you can find some good nodes in the existing Skill Tree. You can make specific adjustments after the new Skill Tree is released in the future.

Based on known Druid Skill Gems and possible Ascendancy Classes, when choosing Passive Skill Tree nodes, you can mainly focus on three aspects: increasing critical strike chance, improving survivability, and increasing summon damage.

Increase Critical Strike Chance

The top choice is Relentless Vindicator, which provides a decent critical strike chance bonus and increases Druid skill damage. You can also consider unlocking the two smaller nodes below this node, allowing Volcano and Lightning Storm to deal damage over a wider area.

Secondly, Cruel Fate significantly increases the intensity of Non-Damaging Ailments caused by critical strikes, and also provides some critical strike chance and critical strike damage bonus. It's a perfect fit for Druid.

Improve Survivability

In PoE 2, Druid is also a class that requires melee combat, especially in Beast Form, where you must charge into the enemy ranks to attack. Therefore, it's also necessary to unlock some nodes in Skill Tree that improve survivability.

Based on the second Ascendancy Classes mentioned above, you can choose some nodes that enhance shield strength.

First is Defensive Stance, which primarily increases the chance of your shield blocking damage, making your shield more effective. However, increasing block chance reduces the shield's growth value, thus slowing down Energy Shield's recharge rate.

Therefore, you need to unlock Ancient Aegis node to compensate for this deficiency, as it significantly boosts Armour and Energy Shield.

These two nodes work together, combined with smaller nodes in Skill Tree path that increase Armour and Block chance, making Druid's shield virtually indestructible. Once unlocked, you can confidently switch to Beast Form and charge into monster hordes to reap the rewards.

Increasing Minion Damage

This primarily addresses the third Ascendancy Classes mentioned above. Don't underestimate Minions summoned by Druids; they can play a significant role in your farming PoE 2 Currency.

So, if you want to turn your Minions into a powerful farming army, there are a few Skill Tree nodes you must pay attention to.

The first is Empowering Remains. This node increases Druids' spell damage after Minions die, synergizing well with Volcano and Lightning Storm cast by Druids. Even if Minions die, it won't reduce Druids' overall damage.

The second is Expendable Army, which increases the number of temporary Minions summoned by Druid Temporary Minion Skills and extends their duration. This allows you to have a larger army of Minions.

The third is Deadly Swarm, which increases Minion damage and critical hit chance, comprehensively enhancing their combat power.

With these, you can now have a large and highly damaging army of Minions. Those who enjoy summoner-based gameplay should definitely consider this.

To reiterate, the nodes recommended above are all from the existing Passive Skill Tree. With the addition of Druids, Passive Skill Tree may add some nodes specifically designed for Druids. However, the direction of new node selection shouldn't change significantly.

Overall, Path of Exile 2 0.4.0 is a highly anticipated league. The addition of Druid will undoubtedly enrich the gameplay. Now, let's wait for the livestream on December 4th regarding patch 0.4.0; we look forward to more exciting content being revealed!

Since the launch of Path of Exile: Keepers of the Flame League, based on player feedback from the game community, the developers have made numerous adjustments to the game through a series of patches. Patch 3.27.0d, officially released on November 19th, brings players a number of long-awaited optimizations and improvements to the game experience.

While this patch update isn't large in scale, it focuses on addressing several aspects of player concern, including Hive Fortress, boss combat mechanics, and the ease of use in daily operations, ensuring players have a fulfilling experience in the remaining time of this League. Below, I will introduce the series of changes made in this patch.

Main Optimizations

Patch 3.27.0d optimizes several core game aspects, aiming to improve the smoothness of combat and the convenience of controls.

Hive Fortress

When Keepers of the Flame League was first launched, the lack of walls on the map made players vulnerable to monster attacks. The developers added walls with openings in subsequent updates, but this introduced a new problem - the map's efficiency was low. Therefore, the developers have further updated this in 3.27.0d Patch update.

Now, at the start of an encounter in Hive Fortress, a skill that instantly destroys all walls around Ailith will be available. This change aims to help players clear the battlefield more quickly, avoiding being hindered by terrain in the early stages of combat, and thus more effectively dealing with enemy swarms.

It's important to note that this wall-destroying skill is only available during the first four waves of enemies in the encounter. For players, this change strikes a good balance, preventing them from being surrounded by monsters without cover in the early stages, while also allowing for a rapid increase in map clearing efficiency once the situation stabilizes.

Sirus Adjustments

The update to Path of Exile: Keepers of the Flame removed Chayula and Atziri and added Sirus and Incarnation of Dread. This update brings two key changes to Sirus's behavior:

• 1. He now uses a wider range of abilities, making his behavior closer to regular combat.
• 2. The life threshold mechanic has been removed, giving players the opportunity to one-shot him with extremely high damage output. This is good news for players with top-tier DPS, as they can end the fight much faster.

Incarnation Optimizations

Incarnation boss fight is one of the most challenging in the game, and its Uber version was introduced in POE 3.27 Keepers of the Flame. However, players playing in Ruthless mode were not getting boss unique item drops, so 3.27.0d patch fixed this issue.

Also, Ice Nova and Ice Comets abilities in Incarnation of Neglect have been nerfed because their damage was higher than expected. In addition, Incarnation of Dread in Valdo's Maps now correctly generates Chilled Ground at random locations.

Merchant Tab Changes

In PoE 3.27.0d Patch, Merchant Tab has received a very useful optimization: players can now use Ctrl+F to search Sales History when Sales History tab is open.

Furthermore, the developers have fixed a bug where players couldn't type 'h' in Sales History and have grayed out items in Merchant Tab that are untradeable and can only be traded at the currency exchange.

Orb Of Scouring

Now, when using Orb of Alchemy or Orb of Chance, players can quickly switch to Orb of Scouring. Simply press Alt key to switch the currently used Orb, slightly speeding up crafting, which undoubtedly greatly enhances the player experience.

Additionally, this feature prevents players from using the wrong currency on their equipment, avoiding damage to useful items or wasting valuable POE Currency.

Other Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the "Visually disable equipped Grafts" option wouldn't save after switching regions, satisfying players who like to customize their character's appearance.
• Fixed an issue where players couldn't use Portals while fighting The Feared in Valdo Map.
• Fixed a bug where the fights against Tul and Esh in Breach might not be completed.

Controller

• Added a "Leave Hideout" option to the pause menu when using a controller in another player's hideout.
• Fixed a bug where players using controller couldn't switch scout report correlation on the currency store page.
• The issue where controller players couldn't apply Corruption Altar in Vaal Ruins area to Gem items has been fixed.
• Added the same currency switching functionality as PC players for Controller users; players can switch by pressing Y button or the triangle button.

If you're still battling it out in the current League, these optimizations will definitely make your map-farming journey smoother. Of course, becoming the strongest player in the game is every player's dream, so on top of these optimizations, you can also buy Path of Exile Currency from EZG.com to acquire powerful items to help you achieve your dream.

Overall, while POE 3.27.0d Patch doesn't feature any earth-shattering changes, each optimization is perfectly placed. It's clear the developers have diligently collected player feedback and continuously refined the details. These changes make the current Keepers of the Flame experience more complete and fill us with anticipation for future updates.