Grinding Gear Games just recently held its first ExileCon since 2019, which was back when the company first unveiled Path of Exile 2 to the world, setting in motion a massive hype train that would unfortunately soon run into obstructions on its path through Covid. This year, GGG has doubled down on everything about the game, including the revelation that Path of Exile 2 will be a standalone game in contrast to what was stated back then, all while Path of Exile 2 and the original game continue to get new updates for players to enjoy. The fact that both the upcoming game from GGG and the Diablo series are action role-playing games (ARPGs) means that there are bound to be a lot of similarities between the two, and one of the most obvious of these similarities is found in the characters of the Huntress and the Amazon.
The fact that Path of Exile 2 features a total of 12 base classes, each of which comes with three Ascendancy classes, in comparison to the fact that Diablo 4 only features five, is one reason why one could say that Path of Exile 2 has a clear advantage over Diablo 4. There is a good chance that Diablo 4 will not be finished adding classes for quite some time, and there are even theories that suggest the most recent entry in the franchise could continue being a love letter to Diablo 2 by adding the Amazon. In either case, the gameplay of the Huntress class in Path of Exile 2 is a clear indicator that this class is genetically related to that class.
How the Huntress from Path of Exile 2 stacks up against the Amazon from Diablo 2
1. Although this wasn’t the only build available to Amazon players in Diablo 2, it was the most popular one
4. The javelin is arguably the most iconic weapon the class obtains access to, thanks to its incredible add-clearing abilities and endgame skills like Lightning Strike and Plague Javelin, which destroy monsters and demons
5. The Amazon is a fantastic class in Diablo 2, and appears that Path of Exile 2 is going to borrow some of its core elements from it
6. The Amazon comes equipped with a skill tree dedicated to bows and crossbows, one skill tree dedicated to spears and javelins, and one skill tree dedicated to passive and magic skills
Despite the fact that the closed beta for Path of Exile 2 has not yet begun, attendees of ExileCon had the opportunity to play the game and investigate the various classes that will be included. The first impressions were that Path of Exile 2 is generally much slower than the original, which was also seen in the live gameplay footage that was provided by Grinding Gear Games. However, this is not necessarily widespread to all classes, and POE currency appears to also hold particularly true for the ExileCon beta. In point of fact, the Huntress has a number of abilities that affect an area of effect, which lend it a very Amazonian vibe.
The Huntress, like the Amazon, relies primarily on a spear as her primary weapon, and the way in which she wields the spear is strikingly similar to how the Amazon grips the javelin. In addition to this, the Huntress has the ability to hurl its spear with skills such as Storm Spear. This skill involves hurling the spear at an adversary and then releasing bolts of lightning that are capable of striking multiple monsters. It is already apparent that the Huntress, who also has access to Spearfield and Whirling Slash, will be one of the best characters to select in Path of Exile 2 when it comes to destroying multiple foes at once. This is because she has access to all three of these abilities.
Furthermore, the Huntress is able to replicate the boss-killing effectiveness of Diablo 2’s Amazon by combining the area-of-effect continuous damage from Whirling Slash and the enormous damage per second (DPS) coming from Rapid Assault. This can prove to be disastrous even for Path of Exile 2’s difficult boss fights. Consequently, it is likely that individuals who enjoyed playing the Amazon in Diablo 2 will feel right at home when playing the Huntress in Path of Exile 2, and this isn’t even taking into consideration the possible directions the class could go in with Ascendancy and additional endgame combos.
Path of Exile 2 is going to be a completely separate sequel.
- Due to the ever-expanding nature of the game, Grinding Gear Games revealed during the official Path of Exile 2 demonstration at ExileCon 2023 that the upcoming Path of Exile 2 will be a completely separate sequel to the original Path of Exile
- During the course of the presentation, Director Jonathan Rogers explains that Path of Exile 2 now has over six distinct campaign acts, 100 bosses, 600 new monster types, 1500 passive skills, 240 active skills, 700 different types of equipment, and many other features that have not yet been announced
- The game has been updated to include six new classes, each with three ascendancies, in addition to the six classes that were already present in the initial release, bringing the total number of ascendancies up to 36
- As was mentioned earlier, the ability to change appearance has been incorporated into the Druid profession, as was shown in the demonstration
The first part of the gameplay demonstration took place in the ruins of the ancient Vaal civilization, which longtime players will recognize immediately due to its inclusion in the third act of the new campaign. The Monk was primarily highlighted as the playable character during this demonstration, with the Sorceress making a cameo toward the end of the presentation. Path of Exile 2’s playable classes are now heavily catered toward the primary attributes, as explained by Director Rogers. Each stat has two classes associated with it, and each class has two possible builds. The upcoming sequel to Path of Exile will include a dodging mechanism that will generate invulnerability frames. In addition, the bosses that were previously mentioned will offer permanent stat bonuses, which will further encourage players to explore all of the areas of the maps and zones.
Even though the newly discovered trove of information is very exciting, the developers are adamant that they deliver a product that has been polished rather than one that has been rushed. The closed beta test for Path of Exile 2 is scheduled to begin on June 7, 2024; however, attendees of the upcoming Gamescom and PAX West conventions will have the opportunity to test out the large demos.
