Path of Exile 2 goes free-to-play December 11 with Acts 5–6, Shadow, Duelist, and Conquerors of Wraeclast

ExileCon put a date on 1.0. Grinding Gear Games announced on the official Path of Exile forums that Path of Exile 2 goes free-to-play on December 11 (PST). The post from Natalia_GGG (November 6) wraps the live ExileCon 2026 keynote: complete campaign with Acts 5 and 6, two new classes (Shadow and Duelist), a new endgame storyline, the Conquerors of Wraeclast challenge league, and a big balance pass. Steam’s ExileCon news post pointed players at the same reveal window.

What’s landing with PoE2 1.0

GGG’s forum post keeps the headline list tight. MMORPG.com’s write-up of the keynote fills in the scale GGG showed on stage: Acts 5 and 6 bring 24 new areas, 18 new bosses, and more than 70 rare encounters. The Shadow leans stealth, daggers, traps, and a Darkness resource, with Assassin and Saboteur ascendancies in that coverage. The Duelist dual-wields into Knight and Weapon Master, including a squire companion and banner support for the Knight side. Expect that detail to get fuller patch notes closer to launch; the official forum confirmation is the date, F2P status, the two classes by name, Acts 5–6, and the new league.

Conquerors of Wraeclast is the launch league. GGG describes sieging enemies as the hook. MMORPG’s report says it mixes base-building and real-time army play: recruit mercenaries, pick a faction (Ezomytes, Maraketh, or Karui), run campaign sieges, then fight over a shared endgame map where castles and hunting grounds matter. There are also broad system passes in that coverage — unique reworks, new skills and maps, passive-tree changes — but treat the forum post as the locked announcement and the keynote recap as the detail pass.

PoE1 isn’t sitting this one out

Same forum thread: Path of Exile: Covens of Umbra goes live November 13 (PST) for free across available platforms. It’s a witch-coven challenge league plus fundamental endgame changes, including Atlas work and improvements to existing systems, new uniques, and more. So PoE1 gets its next league a month before PoE2’s 1.0, which is classic GGG pacing — keep the original healthy while the sequel leaves early access.

PPR take: Almost two years of early access and GGG finally stamped a real 1.0 date. Free-to-play on day one is the right call for a game this deep, and finishing the campaign with Acts 5 and 6 plus two new classes is the actual “we’re done with the foundation” signal. Conquerors of Wraeclast sounds like the riskiest swing — army sieges and shared castles can either be the most memorable league in years or a balance headache — but that’s GGG being GGG. Pairing it with Covens of Umbra on November 13 means the original still gets a real patch week before the sequel’s launch window. December 11 just became a big ARPG night on the calendar.