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Recently, after the release of Path of Exile 2 0.4.0c patch, many players have started to exploit the bug caused by the developers’ excessive enhancement of Temple to farm Divine Orbs and high-value loot. Soon after, the developers themselves discovered the problem and made further adjustments in the latest hotfix 13.

Unsurprisingly, this change caused a tremendous uproar among players in the community. So far, these opinions have split into two main camps: high-level players feel that their channel for earning substantial rewards has been closed; while non-competitive players feel that this effectively curbs inflation in transactions.

Which type do you belong to? If you don’t yet have an obvious conclusion, you might as well draw your own judgment based on all the comments that EZG.com has dug up from the community and major social media. Furthermore, here will also explore some speculations about further improvements to the 0.4.0 patch in PoE 2.

Specific Changes

To fully understand why the comments are so polarized, it’s essential to first understand the details of the changes included in this hotfix.

The first change is that a Diminishing Returns to Modifier Values ​​applied by Rooms has been added, and this mechanism will only take effect if four or more rooms of the same type are placed.

However, this is not the focus of the changes. Instead, the developers fixed a bug that caused an unexpectedly high number of magical and rare monsters to be generated in Temples, especially in low-level Temples, which will prevent players from focusing all their efforts on a particular category and achieving explosive results.

On the surface, this hotfix aims to address the age-old problem of unbalanced drop rates by re-examining and restricting the way these affixes are stacked. However, in reality, it’s too late and insufficient; POE 2 currency inflation is a foregone conclusion, and this adjustment is simply a drop in the ocean.

Player Feedback

Next, let’s look at the specific opinions of the two camps regarding this change.

Power-gamers

When patch 0.4.0 significantly enhanced Temples, these players were incredibly excited, unanimously agreeing that this was the best time in the entire The Last of the Druids league to earn massive amounts of experience and POE 2 Divine Orbs, which were crucial for advancing the game and achieving the best experience.

Even advanced players who have played both games in Path of Exile series have stated that the rewards brought by this change are comparable to the rewards in Affliction league, Necropolis league, and Legacy of Fresia events in the original work, which has greatly satisfied them. After all, no one dislikes a massive influx of loot.

Therefore, the hotfix 13 of 0.4.0c patch significantly reduced the amount of rewards, which caused dissatisfaction among these players. They were furious at the developers for making changes that disrespected player feedback, while also lamenting that there would never be a better opportunity to farm high-value rewards again.

Non-Powergamers

For players who focus on leisure and killing time, this adjustment to Temples in this hotfix is definitely good news. Before this, they could only watch helplessly as the trade economy in the current PoE 2 league continued to expand, which led to them falling further and further behind the campaign progress of most players.

For example, a player can spend a maximum of 40 times a day farming Temples, which will yield over 4,000 Path of Exile 2 Divine Orbs, which are more than enough to craft items with better affixes or to trade for desired items directly on Suppliers/Auction Houses.

Of course, this is calculated from the perspective of casual players; advanced players will only get more rewards, which means that the gear you are eyeing may be acquired by these players at a high price because their currency reserves are always plentiful.

Typically, these items, whose value increases daily, are very rare and cannot be provided by Temples, for example, Lineage Support Gems, which can only be obtained from certain bosses. These are often important options that can differentiate the character build strength between these two types of players.

So, upon learning that the inflationary situation was expected to change in POE 2 0.4.0c hotfix 13, these casual players applauded, and some players who had quit the game due to this bug began to return to try out the revamped in-game trading economy.

Should Continue Playing or Wait for 0.5.0 Patch?

Based on the developers’ original league update frequency, the next major patch 0.5.0 is likely to be released in late April 2026, which raises a very important question: continue or wait?

The advice here is that if you’re just killing time and not really focused on the rewards, Path of Exile 2 is still playable for now; but if you’re aiming for the leaderboards or want to build up your inventory, forget it and wait for the developers’ major fixes in the next patch.

Of course, true to the developers’ tradition, this completely broken loot system won’t be fixed anytime soon, unless they directly restrict the mechanism of infinitely stacking monster rarity, or set a cap to protect the game’s economy from collapsing quickly and completely.

The above is a summary of player feedback regarding the changes to Temples in the latest hotfix for Path of Exile 2, and a simple speculation about the game’s future development. In summary, this sequel, which has been under scrutiny from many players since its early access release, can only be hoped for in the late 2026 release of the official version.

Mercenary, one of the main classes in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0, possesses both Strength and Dexterity attributes. While it may seem similar to Ranger, its diverse gear allows for a unique playstyle that is loved by many players.

If you're looking for the strongest Mercenary build to tackle the game's high-difficulty content, this guide is a must-read. I'll introduce you to the three strongest Mercenary builds in Path of Exile 2, ensuring you find the perfect one for you.

Galvanic Shards Witchhunter Build

First up is Galvanic Shards Witchhunter Build. Recent buffs to Galvanic Shards skills make this build top-notch in both mob clearing speed and overall usability. Here are the key components of this build:

• Primary Skill: Galvanic Shards;
• Skill Gems: Galvanic Shards, Lightning Rod;
• Support Gems: Lightning Attunement, Innervate, Ammo Conversation;
• Gear: Crossbows with high attack speed and lightning attributes;
• Defense: Sorcery Ward, Ghost Dance.

Thanks to the support gems and passive skill nodes for Crossbows added in patch 0.4.0, this build will be smoother, faster, and more lethal than ever before.

However, there is a minor point to note: PoE 2 nerfed Crossbows' reload mechanism; now it only loads one bolt per reload instead of the entire magazine. However, this is a minor issue, and you'll get used to it.

This build allows you to continuously attack enemies with arrows imbued with electric properties. Combined with various defensive mechanisms and support skills, it enables you to survive intense battles and quickly eliminate bosses on the map like a machine gun.

In the passive tree, we prioritize nodes that increase attack speed, accuracy, and agility. These nodes provide sufficient burst damage early in the game, allowing you to quickly stack and unleash Galvanic Shards abilities without delay.

Don't forget to activate nodes that increase Shock damage and mana regeneration, along with nodes that enhance energy shields. This allows you to deal high damage while maintaining sufficient defense and energy recharge, ensuring perfect sustainability for this Galvanic Shards Witchhunter build.

Explosive Shot Witchhunter Build

This build is an upgraded version of Grenade ability. Instead of shooting arrows from a stationary position, you throw grenades and detonate them instantly with arrows. The core gameplay combines Explosive Shot and Explosive Grenade, allowing you to quickly eliminate monsters and clear the screen.

Key components of this build:

• Core Skills: Explosive Shot + Explosive Grenade;
• Skill Gems: Herald of Thunder;
• Support Gems: Arjun's Medal, Nova Projectiles;
• Gear: Constricting Command Viper Cap, and other equipment that increases movement speed.

This build uses Explosive Shot as the primary map-clearing skill, firing projectiles that spread out in a wide circular area. Combined with Arjun's Medal, which automatically replenishes ammo without requiring reloading, it achieves continuous, wide-area damage.

However, this skill configuration is more suitable for farming and clearing mobs in PoE 2, but it's less effective against high-level single-target bosses.

Therefore, we can use a second skill configuration at this point. It still uses our Explosive Shot skill, but when paired with Nova Projectiles, it transforms your area-of-effect damage into a single-target attack.

Also, don't forget our Explosive Grenade skill, which provides massive burst damage, enough to instantly kill any high-level boss. The combo for this build is simple: first, use Explosive Grenade to throw a grenade, then immediately follow up with Explosive Shot. This instantly eliminates all enemies within range, triggering Herald of Thunder effect for additional explosions and secondary damage.

You can also equip Flash Grenade as your crowd control skill. It stuns and locks enemies in place, giving you enough time to unleash your combos without worrying about enemies dodging your attacks.

Explosive Shot Witchhunter Build's passive tree primarily revolves around Spray and Pray nodes and movement speed, turning your character into a fast-moving, explosive monster.

Siege Cascade Tactician Build

This build revolves around Ballista Totems and Banners. Simply deploy your turrets and let them handle the primary attack, while you focus on positioning, dodging attacks, and controlling your War Banner.

• Core Build: Ballista Totems;
• Skill Gems: Siege Cascade, War Banner, Mortar Cannon;
• Support Gems: Ballista Totem, Pin;
• Gear: Gemini Crossbow, Morior Invictus.

This build might seem very tanky with incredibly high defense, but that's actually due to your mastery of the combat rhythm. Mortar Cannon's totem maintains almost 100% damage duration, and combined with Pin's effect, it effectively controls enemies. Add to that other additional buffs, and you can unleash extremely high damage output.

The most unique aspect of this build is its use of banners. Whether it's War Banner, Dread Banner, or Defiance Banner, the combined effect of different banners makes you seem invincible. Therefore, we need to make full use of every skill gem slot to ensure this build reaches its maximum potential.

For the passive tree, early on, we can unlock nodes like Remorseless and Devastation to boost our firepower. Later, we can branch towards Carved Earth and Overwhelm, both of which enhance stability and penetration.

As your character grows, gradually unlock Colossal Weapon and Volatile Grenades to significantly increase your totem damage. You can also unlock some defense-related nodes to ensure your safety in combat.

In summary, Path of Exile 2 patch 0.4.0 provides you with a variety of Mercenary build options. You can explore the build that best suits you step by step, or refer to these reliable build recommendations. Hopefully, this information will provide you with some good build ideas.

With Path of Exile 2: The Last of the Druids league in full swing, many players have already completed the main campaign and entered the endgame content. Because the exploration requirements for these two game modes differ, players in the current community who have reached higher difficulty levels are seeking more efficient builds guide.

Therefore, EZG.com, keeping up with the times, introduces several PoE 2 builds best suited for endgame play under the latest patch changes, along with their respective strengths. Without further ado, quickly choose the game style that best suits you from the following options and study it in detail!

1. Walking Calamity Shaman

The first build I’d like to introduce is Walking Calamity Shaman, which is well-deserved because its core abilities received a significant boost in the recent patch 0.4.0c, making its damage output even stronger. Also, the operation method built into the battle is also very simple; you only need to hold down the skill’s release button to obtain a high-intensity continuous damage effect.

There’s only one thing you need to pay attention to in this build: you need to maximize the abilities that can accumulate Rage to quickly charge Rage and reach the cap. This will allow the remaining Rage to count towards Glory, which is an important resource for continuously casting Walking Calamity.

In view of this, you should invest as much POE 2 currency as possible in items with affixes that increase the rank of specific skills and reduce cooldown time. For a suitable skill combination, we recommend Fury of the Mountain with Earthquake Totem support gem.

With its help, your character can more effectively utilize fissure eruptions to accumulate more Rage. After you complete the specific trial and select Shaman Ascendancy, remember to select Furious Wellspring passive skill to automatically accumulate Rage.

2. Poisonburst Arrow Pathfinder

In this endgame build, patch 0.4.0 no longer changes their skills, but rather Pathfinder Ascendancy class: the number of stacks of poison damage that can be cast is doubled, which will make it the best option for efficiently clearing monsters and farming loot in the current league.

Similarly, in the highly complex combat situations within skirmishes, the ease of use of this build will certainly be another major reason why you choose it. Combining Poison Burst Arrows with Vine Arrows allows you to slow the movement and attack speed of enemies when you strike them, then deal stackable poison damage more effectively.

Just one type of elemental damage? Absolutely not. Every spell cast deals massive area-of-effect damage, along with some unavoidable chaos damage, a level of damage that no medium-level magic or rare monster can withstand. If you want to further improve your monster-clearing efficiency, you can pair it with the Herald of Plague Spirit gem.

In addition to a significant boost in attack power, the defensive capabilities of Poisonburst Arrow Pathfinder have been enhanced by the newly added Running Assault Ascendancy passive, granting it the ability to severely stun enemies while sprinting, which allows you to run freely across the map without fear of being knocked down with every step.

3. Spark Bloodmage

Next, we’ll introduce Spark Bloodmage, which relies purely on spell damage. Although some of the popular support gems it requires have been nerfed, its ability to efficiently clear mobs in the early stages of a league is still highly praised by players, which is mainly because the passive nodes contained in Bloodmage Ascendancy can increase your base Critical Hit Chance by 15%.

With this buff, Choir of the Storm Jade Amulet can reach its maximum effectiveness. It will not only greatly increase your agility, but also provide you with extremely high lightning elemental damage and the ability to ignore monster lightning resistance. As a result, your Spark skills will be greatly enhanced.

Whether you use it alone or further enhance it with Infusions, it can unleash a super strong monster-clearing ability, which is absolutely beneficial for farming POE 2 currency and loot in the mid-to-late game of the league. However, this build has a very obvious flaw: it consumes health too quickly.

Therefore, you’ll need to equip some powerful skill gems with Life Leech support gems to gain more health regeneration; and Atziri’s Acuity Moulded Mitts to make the effect trigger immediately. With this set, even running high-difficulty maps won’t be a problem.

4. Plant Oracle

The last build I’d like to recommend for the endgame in PoE 2 The Last of the Druids league is Plant Oracle, a new build introduced in this league that combines strong tanking capabilities with increased damage output. Among these, Entangles can easily slow down the movement and attack speed of enemies, making it easier for you to use Thrashing Vines skill gem to inflict fatal vulnerability damage on them later.

While the passive abilities provided by Druid’s two Ascendancy classes greatly enhance these two abilities, Oracle’s The Unseen Path passive also grants you some additional physical damage, which is even more advantageous. At the same time, critical strike chance will also receive a significant boost with the help of Cast of Critical gem.

The above is a detailed introduction to some endgame builds suitable for use in the current Path of Exile 2, along with some recommended build options. Trust them; each one can help you successfully complete the extremely challenging endgame map and earn tons of rewards. Have fun in this league!

Just a few days ago, Path of Exile 2 released a patch note for 0.4.0c, which included several modifications to the original patch 0.4.0 that was released alongside The Last of the Druids league. These modifications included buffs to Temple, increased drop rates, and other bug fixes.

However, in fact, the most attention-grabbing part of the lengthy patch notes is the change to Bear Form Druid Build, which allows for rapid farming. This is a very important game optimization that will bring players a richer gaming experience. However, the official patch notes are so long that it’s impossible to know where to begin.

Therefore, to help all Druid players easily utilize the latest patch for the best speed-farming experience, this guide will provide a specific introduction to the positive and useful changes that patch 0.4.0c brings to this powerful class, their benefits, and how to modify your build accordingly.

Rampage Changed

First, let’s look at the most important positive change, which is the two fixes for Rampage skill gem: fixing the bug that it ignored movement speed changes after being activated; and fixing the bug that it would sometimes stop after a collision. Although it was only two short lines, the impact was enormous.

Under the influence of these two fixes, after casting Rampage skill, you will be unstoppable, with nothing able to hinder your rampage through enemy ranks, causing extremely severe damage. Theoretically, you can hold down Rampage to keep running indefinitely, even you enter Abyssal Pit.

This trap contains many strange collision detection boxes that should theoretically block you, but after Rampage effect is fixed, those walls will no longer affect you. In view of this, you can absolutely consider this skill as the most powerful combination of movement speed and damage skills in your current Druid build.

In subsequent battles, you no longer need to carefully tap the skill release button; instead, simply hold it down and charge straight at the enemy until you reach the target within attack range. Of course, every skill has a certain cooldown time, and you need a very short cooldown time to continuously cast this high-intensity skill.

Therefore, it is highly recommended that you buy POE 2 currency from EZG.com and invest it in boots, gloves, or other gear that can reduce cooldowns for the most effective results. By the way, we’re having a Christmas special here. From now until December 31st, use “XMAS” Code to enjoy 10% off, making it an even better value!

Walking Calamity Changed

In this PoE 2 patch 0.4.0c, the developers also made some changes to Walking Calamity Gem. One particularly noteworthy change is that the large meteors cast by this skill will prioritize attacking bosses. This will make subsequent boss encounters faster and more efficient, something many solo exploration players have been hoping for.

Additionally, it reduces the number of meteors that fall when there are few enemies nearby, while increasing the number of meteors that fall for each nearby enemy by 50%. This will significantly reduce the waste of meteors in combat and increase Gain Fire damage and Rage regeneration you can use from meteor drops.

At the same time, this gem will no longer provide the skill effect of generating a large meteor for every two meteors that fall. This seems like a debuff, but in fact, it has been offset by the two meteor-related changes mentioned above. The frequency of large meteorites will decrease, but large meteorites are more likely to hit the leader, and more meteorites will not be wasted. Overall, it has been improved.

Moreover, Walking Calamity skill has now gained a buff effect: 10% of the damage received is converted into fire damage, doubling the skill’s combat effectiveness! Some players in the community are even exclaiming that they will switch from Rampage Druid builds to Walking Calamity Druid builds because the ability to reflect damage back to enemies is simply too powerful.

How To Modify Your Druid Build?

So, how should you change your Druid build for the mid-to-late game in Path of Exile 2: The Last of the Druids, taking into account these two significant changes to skill gems? Just keep the following points in mind.

Regardless of which of these two significantly reworked abilities you build around, equipping Idol of Eeshta on your helmet is never a bad idea, as it increases the duration of your meta-ability by 12%. With its help, Rampage allows you to keep charging forward, and Walking Calamity allows you to keep dealing damage with meteors.

At that time, you will no longer need to rely on Tzamoto’s Soul Core of Ferocity, which can also be placed on the helmet, to accumulate your maximum Rage. You can directly rely on Meteor or other passive skills to quickly accumulate it, which will greatly help improve your gaming experience.

Speaking of passive skills, Price of Freedom is one you really need to pay attention to. In fact, many players feel that it’s not worth unlocking specifically because, aside from increasing attack costs and converting mana consumption into health consumption, it doesn’t seem like a useful node at all.

However, it’s important to correct something here: when choosing a Notable to activate, you shouldn’t just look at its own effect, but also the effectiveness of the smaller nodes around it. For example, the one to the left of Price of Freedom can increase your health regeneration rate by 10%, which is very useful in some magic or rare boss encounters.

Of course, there’s also Reverberating Impact passive node, which can reduce enemy armor by 25%, making them more vulnerable; and it increases attack range by 12%, making it more effective when dealing with groups of enemies.

If you want to further improve your character’s movement and attack speed, consider adding Lunar Assault skill gem to your build. This will give the seemingly clumsy bear form of Druid more agility and significantly increase farming efficiency.

In summary, POE 2 0.4.0c patch is a significant enhancement to Bear Form Druid build, providing a more seamless experience whether for speed runs or challenging high-difficulty encounters. We hope you enjoy exploring the current league!

After completing Ascent to Power quest in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0, you'll receive Ascendancy Classes as a character progression reward. As transformative subclasses, they grant your character unique abilities.

If you're a Druid player, you'll need to choose between Shaman and Oracle. This choice will significantly impact your character's playstyle and strategy in the late game, so careful consideration is essential.

Below, I'll provide detailed information about these two classes and their compatibility. After reading this, you should be able to make the most suitable choice.

Shaman

Key Features

Shamans channel the power of nature, using Rage to enhance spells, and can transform into meteors, lightning, and ice to deal massive damage.

• Turning of the Seasons: Reveals nearby enemies and deals an additional 10% random elemental damage;
• Bringer of the Apocalypse: Gains Apocalypse Skill, summoning a powerful storm after dealing sufficient elemental damage;
• Druidic Champion: Increases spell damage by 1% for every 2 Rage;
• Reactive Growth: Reduces elemental damage by 10% and adapts to the highest elemental damage type received each time. For each match of this adaptation (up to 3 times), each elemental damage type also receives an additional 10% damage reduction;
• Avatar of Evolution: Converts physical damage received into frost, fire, or lightning damage;
• Furious Wellspring: Prevents Rage loss, regenerating maximum Rage per second in different forms. Rage regeneration rate is affected by mana regeneration status;
• Sacred Flow: Grants +40 Spirit for each free Charm slot;
• Wisdom of the Magi: Gains Bonded modifier bonus on Runes and Idols.

If you want to comprehensively improve Druid's elemental damage output, prioritizing any of Shaman's Ascendancy nodes is a good choice, regardless of element type.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages:

• Focuses on a combination of spellcasting and aggressive melee combat. Powerful spells can be cast in human form, creating conditions for Rage in beast form.

Disadvantages:

• More suited to bear form due to Rage resources;
• Combines aggressive gameplay with precise spellcasting, requiring a high level of understanding and effective synergy of all skills;
• Requires ample gear or gems to generate good Rage, which can be a burden for players without sufficient POE 2 currency in the early game.

Passive Tree

In PoE 2, Shaman's passive skill tree focuses more on damage output and damage reduction, allowing for effective control of elemental damage in combat while reducing the likelihood of fatal damage.

Node Activation Focus:

• Provides elemental damage resistance and increases Flask efficiency;
• Increases Rage output and elemental damage;
• Helps players obtain better Runes bonuses from gear.

It doesn't matter which ability nodes you unlock first; unlock them according to your personal playstyle. Almost all your skills are passively triggered, except for one node - Apocalypse, which is one of the most powerful nodes in Patch 0.4.0.

Overall, if your Druids focus more on elemental damage output as their primary combat method, and you prefer a straightforward playstyle, Shaman will be your top choice for Ascendancy.

Oracle

Key Features

Oracles can perfect the power of Foresight, gaining a significant advantage in combat by anticipating monster movements and even allocating passive skills from parallel timelines.

• Entwined Realities: Allows players to allocate Keystone Passives without connecting them to the current passive skill tree;
• The Unseen Path: Unlocks Paths not Taken, revealing additional passive nodes accessible only to Oracle;
• Harmony Within: Damage taken is absorbed by Mana Pool if current mana is higher than current life;
• Converging Paths: Gains Moment of Vulnerability ability, allowing multiple instances of damage to a target's current and future states;
• Fateful Vision: Gains Align Fate ability, increasing skill damage output when your used skill matches one foretold by Oracle;
• Unnamed Heartwood: Increases the maximum number of Totems that can be summoned;
• The Lesser Harm: Turns enemy critical hit chance and damage against you into Unlucky;
• Forced Outcome: Gains Inevitable Critical Hits ability, allowing skills to trigger critical hits when the player meets specific conditions shown in Oracle's prediction.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages:

• Can use skills to peek into nearly 130 passive nodes exclusive to Oracles;
• In human form, Oracles can foresee the future and control their environment to increase damage.

Disadvantages:

• Requires equipment or gems that provide reasonable mana regeneration;
• Characters have low health and are relatively fragile.

Passive Tree

The biggest advantage of Oracle Druids in Path of Exile 2 is the ability to unlock Paths Not Taken passive nodes, which are only available if you choose the Oracle class.

Other nodes can be unlocked around the attributes that increase Chaos spells and physical attack. These nodes are distributed across various branches of the passive tree, including the branch at the end exclusive to animal form.

Oracle Druids unlock many additional perks and fun, such as the two new spells Moment of Vulnerability and Align Fate, which are not available to Shaman Druids.

Therefore, Oracles are more suitable for players skilled at managing different spells, especially Wyvern Druid builds which always maximize Oracle class's advantages. However, the other three beast forms are also good choices.

The above covers the two Ascendancy Classes added for Druid in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0. Hopefully, this information will help you make the most suitable choice and enhance your character's strength in the endgame.