Game Features
- Completely free to download and play
- A persistent online world capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of players
- A dark and gritty game world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective
- Battle dozens of foes across a variety of unique areas
- Randomly generated levels and items for extreme replayability
- Online ranking and ladders for every game mode
- Visceral combat with dozens of combinable skills
- Battle in PVP tournaments for worldwide recognition
The floodgates have opened! Our beta servers will be available for public access for the next 55 hours. For information about the public weekend, read this. If you'd like to support development and receive access to the Closed Beta, do so here.
TotalBiscuit has posted an exclusive preview video of his playtime with the new Shadow class. Until Friday, this is the only way you can see a Shadow in action - check it out!
We're deploying the 0.9.9 patch tomorrow. It represents the last month of development effort and we feel that it is by far the best Path of Exile patch we've created yet. The patch notes are here!
The Path of Exile servers will be open for public access from 5pm Friday (May 11) to 11:59pm Sunday (May 13), Pacific Daylight Time for our second Public Stress Test Weekend. Our new character class, the Shadow will be available for everyone to play. We look forward to seeing you there!
Rockpapershotgun.com have posted an exclusive preview of the Shadow, our Dexterity/Intelligence character class! After years of development, we're very proud with this character class. It's so much fun to play, and we hope you enjoy reading their preview.
The character class will be permanently enabled in the Beta this coming weekend!
Today we sent out a press release announcing that we have sold over $200,000USD of supporter packs to over 13,000 fans. 13 people have bought the Diamond Pack so far.
We're amazed by the generosity of the community and are deeply thankful. This money will help fund a substantial amount of future development and will secure the future of the game.
Of course, we're nowhere near the break-even point yet, but sales so far exceeded our expectations. Please continue to spread the word about Path of Exile!
We now support the option to upgrade from one type of supporter pack to another, if you'd like to increase the size of your contribution. Please email support@grindinggear.com to discuss this.
We've opened up sales of microtransaction points packages. These all with come with Beta access and a variety of extra rewards depending on the tier purchased. Once you've got some microtransaction points, you can spend them on stash tabs and character slots with plenty more options coming soon as we implement them!.
After 54 hours of public access, Path of Exile is now back in its Closed Beta phase. The weekend was a huge success! 46,911 people tried out the game, and the servers successfully handled peak load of 7310 players. Three minor realm stability issues were found and will be fixed this week. We ran four race events and thousands of players enjoyed playing in them. The players provided a huge amount of feedback on the game including its recent 0.9.8 patch. Thanks very much for helping us test Path of Exile - we had a great time!
We have also announced that we will be allowing microtransaction pre-purchases within the next week. All such purchases will come with a Beta key. If you enjoyed the weekend and want to keep playing, stay tuned for news about this!
We've deployed 0.9.8 in the leadup to this weekend's public stress test event! Changes include five new support gems, the friends list and new weapon progressions. The full patch notes are here.
This weekend (March 30-April 1) the Path of Exile Beta servers will be available for public access! We've put up a page with answers to common questions about the event here.
The 0.9.7 Beta patch is now live! We've posted the full patch notes here.
This screenshot of the upcoming 0.9.7 patch features a Duelist using the new skill Puncture in a fight with the bandit leader Oak and his minions. Puncture causes the target to bleed over time and also lose additional life while moving. The duelist is also under the influence of a Haste aura, which increases his attack speed. Click here to see the screenshot.
We'll be deploying the 0.9.7 Beta Patch this week so we've taken a couple of screenshots of new skills. This screenshot shows a Ranger using the new Lightning Arrow skill in the Ship Graveyard. She's using the Discipline aura, which increases the Energy Shield of her and nearby allies. Her mana orb shows that some mana has been reserved while the aura is in place. Click here to see the screenshot.
Designing Unique items is one of the more challenging areas that we've had to tackle so far in the development of Path of Exile. In this development diary, our lead artist, Erik Olofsson, discusses various topics related to the design, lore and balance of these items. Click here to read the complete entry.
The 0.9.6 beta patch has been deployed. One of the new features added to this website in the patch is this Passive Skill Tree planner. Check out the full patch notes here.
One of the best new features in the 0.9.6 patch is the upgraded Quest/Waypoint screen. As Wraeclast is explored, areas appear on this map. A list of active and completed quests is shown, and the correct direction to travel is indicated for the next objective in each quest. This should make it very easy for players to track where they need to go to complete their objectives. The screen also doubles as a waypoint screen, allowing the user to select a travel destination in a much more visual manner than before. Click here to see the screenshot.
We've posted an early copy of the 0.9.6 Beta patch notes to the General Discussion forum. This patch will be deployed on Wednesday February 8, New Zealand time. There are many major changes such as a website-based passive skill tree planner, a massively improved quest screen, screen shake, new skills, keystone passives, monsters and areas.
We're preparing to deploy the 0.9.6 patch early next week and have prepared some screenshots to show off some of the new content. This image shows a Templar using the new skills Molten Shell and Lightning Strike to fight Brutus. Click here to see the screenshot.
Here's another screenshot from the upcoming 0.9.6 patch. Here you can see a multiplayer fight between a pair of players and some of the new snake monsters in Act Two. The blue effect at the top of the screen is from the new skill Power Siphon. The magic snake that is targeted shows a new monster ability: granting frenzy charges to nearby allies when it dies. Click here to see the screenshot.
The guys at GameBanshee have been playing the Path of Exile Beta and have posted a preview with their thoughts. It's a great read, so if you're still waiting for beta access, please check it out.
We've deployed the 0.9.5 Beta patch today which overhauls the currency system in Path of Exile and allows players to sell items to vendors.
Today we deployed the 0.9.4 patch to the Path of Exile Closed Beta realm. This patch addresses many key balance concerns and fixes a variety of issues. We anticipate releasing many balance hotfixes over the next week or two in the leadup to 0.9.5.
The 0.9.4 patch will be deployed to Beta on December 5. We've posted the current patch notes here.
Today's deployment of the 0.9.3g patch added a European gateway to the Path of Exile Closed Beta realm. European players still play on the same realm as people on the American gateway, but are allocated to appropriate servers by default.
Hi, I am Carl de Visser, I started at Grinding Gear Games at the beginning of 0.9.3 development. I have been working with Chris on general game design and game balance. These are few notes, from my perspective, to expand on design features in the patch notes. Click here to read the complete entry.
With the deployment of 0.9.3 we've updated the Path of Exile website to have more accurate information about the game. Some notable changes are accurate information on Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence skills, Support Gems, Monster Auras, Item Prefix Mods, Item Suffix Mods, Currency items and the Beta Manifesto. More updates are on their way in the coming days.
Path of Exile has now entered the second phase of Closed Beta! The 0.9.3 patch has been deployed and is currently live on the servers. Final patch notes are here. We will be keeping an eye on server stability and will ramp up Beta invites as we push the server capacity.
The 0.9.3 patch will be deployed to Beta on November 14. We've posted the current patch notes here. They'll probably change somewhat over the next week. We're happy to answer questions about the patch notes in that thread!
This screenshot shows a Templar using a new unannounced skill in the Prison. If you kill a monster with this skill, it will convert the slain foe to fight on your side for a brief time. The monsters in this screenshot are enchanted by a physical damage reflection aura from a nearby rare monster. Click here to see the screenshot.
This next screenshot shows a Witch using the Firestorm skill in the Forest as seen on our 0.9.3 Alpha realm. Also visible are the new flask icons (they're different for each base flask type). Existing areas like this have been upgraded with new vegetation and environments. Click here to see the screenshot.
In the week (or so) leading up to the 0.9.3 patch, we're posting screenshots of new content and features. Today's screenshot shows a Ranger using the new skill "Rain of Arrows" in the newly revamped Terraces area. Click here to see the screenshot.
Feedback from the Closed Beta showed us that there were game balance issues that needed addressing alongside the addition of new features and content. While the features and content guys worked on hitting their own milestones, we assembled a strike team of three developers to perform a complete rebalance of Path of Exile for the upcoming 0.9.3 patch. In the process of doing this rebalance, it became clear that many fundamental game systems needed changing to take into account feedback. This article explains what we’ve changed so far and why. Click here to read the complete entry.
The 0.9.2 patch hit the Alpha realm today, and is due to be deployed to Beta pretty early next week. Among other changes, it includes several new skills (mostly curses). We uploaded a video that demonstrates two of the skills.
TotalBiscuit of the immensely popular YouTube channel CynicalBrit has posted a lengthy video about Path of Exile. We strongly recommend checking it out!
PAX Prime is an overwhelmingly awesome gaming expo held each year in Seattle. We attended in 2010 to promote Path of Exile (a few days after its announcement), but quickly learnt that it would have really helped to have a booth to attract journalists to. This year, we returned with a booth and a stack of 2400 Closed Beta DVDs to give to fans. Click here to read the complete entry.
Here is the B-roll footage we prepared for PAX Prime 2011. It features PvP and cooperative PvE combat in a variety of areas. The video has no sound because we didn't need sound for the video playing in the booth.
Mike Thompson from the Escapist tried Path of Exile and had a chat with Chris at our busy booth at PAX. Read the article here!
Grinding Gear Games will be attending the PAX Prime Expo in Seattle from August 26-28. We have a booth (#799) with many computers set up for you to play Path of Exile. In addition to the existing PvE content from the Beta, our experimental team PvP arenas will be enabled for you to try out. We will be distributing DVDs with copies of the Closed Beta (including a key) to people who come play the game. We look forward to seeing you there! Journalists: please contact media@grindinggear.com to arrange a preview!
Last week, Flux from The Diablo Podcast interviewed Path of Exile's Lead Designer Chris Wilson. The podcast episode has just been posted, check it out!
Today's screenshot shows a Witch using Raise Spectre to summon spectral versions of some zombies in the Mud Flats. Click here to see the screenshot.
