PoE 2 Devs Respond to Backlash Over Controversial Update

Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt, the game’s first major update since entering early access, has sparked major backlash from players. Released last Friday, the update quickly drew criticism for drastically increasing the game's difficulty. Enemies that were previously easy to dispatch now took an absurd amount of time to kill, and the newly introduced Huntress class felt underwhelming. Frustrated players flooded Reddit with complaints like “This game feels like a massive waste of time” and “Game feels miserable,” while some prominent streamers rage-quit live on air.

In response to the uproar, developer Grinding Gear Games (GGG) pushed out several emergency patches aimed at easing the difficulty. These tweaks included reducing monster health and buffing underperforming skills, such as skeletal minions. While these changes provided some relief, the core issues — especially the game's slow pacing and punishing progression — continue to frustrate much of the player base.

Addressing the controversy, GGG recently released a post outlining their plans to address the larger systemic problems. A major focus is on rebalancing the campaign’s pace, which players are currently required to replay with each new season. Despite the initial fixes, many players still find it difficult to slog through the campaign to reach the more engaging endgame content.

Game director Jonathan Rogers spoke openly during an interview with streamer Zizaran, saying, “Our goal was to nerf things that made the endgame too easy before players even had their gear. But some mistakes were made.”

Mark Roberts, another lead developer, echoed the sentiment. “There were some blatant mess-ups,” he admitted, referring to the weak skill options that were quickly patched. “We’re firing from the hip here. Sometimes we just want to get changes out, see what the community thinks, and reverse them if needed.”

Rogers also emphasized the challenges in balancing PoE 2, noting that the sequel has a much narrower margin for error than PoE 1. “We want combat to be more engaging and deliberate — more like a Soulslike — which means balance has to be spot-on. That’s tough to get right,” he said.

He further explained the philosophical shift from PoE 1, which often favors players with thousands of hours of knowledge, toward a system that's less reliant on deep familiarity. Still, striking the right balance between challenge and reward has proven difficult.

Both directors stressed that more adjustments are coming, but they are being cautious not to overcorrect. “If a skilled player can breeze through without any challenge, then the game loses its long-term appeal,” Rogers said.

For now, PoE 2 remains in a turbulent state, as Grinding Gear Games continues to iterate on its vision while trying to regain player trust and enthusiasm.