Path of Exile 2 ups the ante with its character class system, both in terms of story and gameplay. Case in point: the Guardian.
So far we’ve only had a look at the new classes (Mercenary; Druid; Monk; Witch; Hunter; Warrior), with fans only to wonder what developer Grinding Gear Games would do with the current ones. After speaking with the team directly and checking out the new Ranger footage, it’s clear that this is a pretty stark new direction they’re going in.
The Path of Exile 2 Ranger trailer gives us a look at a cinematic approach to come
The footage does a lot to immerse you the traditional Ranger fantasy (animal-loving defender of their homeland forester and all that). Cinematics like the one first shown below are nothing new to Path of Exile despite not being in the game itself, but it’s possible that will change. When we asked Game director Jonathan Rogers if they will be a bigger part of the sequel, he replied, “We can’t talk about cinematics yet, but story is important to us for Path of Exile 2.”
Rogers said similarly in other interviews leading up to the game’s launch, indicating that they wanted to try to solve the narrative presentation problems that plague ARPGs (who wants to read all the text when they could explode, am I right?). I don’t know about you, but I’m very curious to see how cinematics might play into that. Based on how the Executioner boss fight is set up here, it appears short in-engine kinematics is the plan, and it’s a damn good one.
Ranger is much more mobile in Path of Exile 2
In terms of gameplay, what struck me the most is how active Ranger now feels. Thanks in part to the very updated animation system, some clever gems like it Frost Escape will see you fulfill a back-launch attack this allows you to deal damage while escaping immediate danger.
It’s safe to assume that such abilities will do less damage than your main ability (although it might skills now given all the system changes being made), but will be worth it for their usefulness. (And said utility can be enhanced by combining with supporting gems like Frozen Nexuswho are leaving cooled earth around frozen enemies.)
Related: All Classes in Path of Exile 2
Knowing Grinding Gear Games and its freeform design philosophies, it wouldn’t surprise me to discover ways to convert these “treasury” abilities into high damage primary abilities, as seen now with movement abilities in Path of Exile. (Catch me in the beta throwing every which way as bullet hell skill gems beat my CPU into submission.)
Besides that, you can now shoot while moving (albeit at a movement penalty), which frees up a lot of options on the battlefield and makes gameplay more fluid. This, of course, ties in nicely with the recently implemented WASD movement, which is proving a hit among the Grinding Gear Games staff (latest ratings indicated that most developers used it).
Guardian will feature at least four new Poison abilities in Path of Exile 2, and combos galore
The next most striking thing is clearly that they are harder than ever on the poison subjects previously available to archers, thanks to new skill gems like Poison Arrow, Vine Arrow, Poison Flower Arrowand Gas Cloud Arrow, which can do everything from slow enemies, spread poison, or launch an AoE. Due to increased visual clarity and also encouraging players to use more skill gems (putting it somewhere between a traditional ARPG and an MMO), the themes are allowed to shine more.
Speaking of using more skill gems, combos are a major focus for Path of Exile 2; in this case, you can try things like producing plants with Poison Bloom Arrow, then dropping a Gas Cloud Arrow on the plants to make them grow using poison (producing faster and faster damage).
Plague bearer makes a return, too, and works the same as before (ie stack poison counters doing poison damage, then unleash a ton of it). I struggled a lot with this one in the first game because the icon indicating your poison counters is very small and out of the way (and blinking in this game will kill you, leaving little room to monitor it). Hopefully, the promised UI changes for Path of Exile 2 make this ability easier and more enjoyable to use.
Meanwhile, smart gems like Corrode Armor will enable another means of scaling offense (Rogers assures me that there will be many ways to do this, as is typical of Path of Exile), and the Goosebumps skill now provides a reliable source of single target damage. Managed by charging and releasing at the right time, doing so produces a guaranteed critical hit. This combines well with Sniper Markwhich now grants a Frenzy charge when you crit (thus providing various potential bonuses such as extended arrow duration).
In short, Guardians can expect a lot more utility, mobility and combos in Path of Exile 2, as well as some reworked abilities and new ways to scale damage. I can’t wait to get my hands on it when the beta finally launches.
Looking for more Path of Exile content? Check out Path of Exile Corrupted Gear, Explained, only on Pro Game Guides!
