PoE 2 New League: The Last Of The Druid Overview

The new League in Path of Exile 2 is starting very soon. Players can expect new bosses, quests, a new weapon-upgrading system, and of course, an updated economy. The league begins on December 12, and if you’ve never played PoE 2 before, December 12–15 is a perfect opportunity. During these three days, the game will be completely free to try. You’ll have enough time to explore the core mechanics of PoE 2 as well as test the unique features of the new PoE 2 League.

Now let’s move on to the league itself and what awaits us there.

PoE 2 New League Mechanics

In the new Path of Exile 2 League called The Last of the Druid, players will encounter a brand new mechanic – Fate of the Vaal. This feature arrives with patch 0.4 and comes together with a full league reset. Throughout the league, players will have access to the Fate of the Vaal mechanic in nearly every area, and longtime fans of Path of Exile 1 will immediately recognize its similarities to the Incursion league.

The core idea behind this mechanic is the ability to build your own Vaal Temple. Rooms and pathways can be freely moved around, allowing you to customize the entire layout exactly the way you want before entering the temple to claim exclusive rewards.

In the league areas, you will encounter Temple Consoles, which can be empowered by sacrificing nearby monsters. Once activated, the console grants access to the temple, where you can place up to six rooms and pathways anywhere on the temple layout. After arranging the structure, you can immediately enter and clear the current version of the temple.

By connecting rooms, you can upgrade their tier and also create a path toward the Architect - a room that is visible from the beginning. If a room can be placed in a way that upgrades another room, it will be highlighted in green. Certain combinations can create more advanced versions of rooms, increasing their rewards but also significantly raising the overall difficulty. It’s especially important to keep in mind that higher-tier rooms and some modifiers can empower monsters or make navigating the entire temple more challenging.

Reaching the Architect is crucial because it opens a portal to the final boss - Atziri, the Red Queen, the last ruler of the Vaal whose civilization was destroyed by a cataclysm.

Within this mechanic, you essentially travel back in time to face her at the peak of her power. Defeating this new Pinnacle boss can bring great loot - or nothing at all, you know how PoE works.

New PoE 2 League - New Unique Rewards

As always, the new league brings exclusive rewards that cannot be obtained anywhere else. One of the most notable examples is the tier 3 Locus of Corruption room, where you can corrupt an already corrupted item once again in hopes of gaining an additional corruption modifier. However, the risk is high - double-corrupting an item can completely destroy it.

Locus of Corruption is just one of many rooms with unique mechanics. Another unusual example is the Vaal Flesh Surgeon, where players can apply special modifiers directly to their limbs. However, there is a catch: if your character dies with an active limb modifier, it will be removed, requiring another visit to the surgeon.

Some rooms from the Temple of Azoatl in the first Path of Exile are also returning. These include:

• a chamber for double-corrupting gems;
• a room containing the Altar of Sacrifice, now renamed Juatalotli's Triumph, where you can modify a Vaal unique item by replacing up to two of its properties with entirely new ones. This is somewhat reminiscent of the Foulborn mechanic from the Keepers of the Flame league.

Fate of the Vaal offers a wide variety of exclusive rewards, so when constructing your temple, you'll need to plan the layout carefully to get exactly the bonuses you’re aiming for. You can learn a bit more about the league in our blog, “ When Does New League Start In PoE 2.” There we cover all the information currently available.

PoE 2 New Pinnacle Boss: Atziri

If you manage to reach the final chamber of the temple, you’ll have the opportunity to face Atziri, the legendary Queen of the Vaal. Defeating the Red Queen can reward you with valuable loot, most notably Atziri’s Rule.

This unique item grants access to the skill Mirror of Refraction. When activated, it creates mirrors around your character, and firing projectiles into them unleashes a powerful explosive vortex of reflected projectiles.

PoE 2 New League: The Last Of The Druid – Community Opinion

A new league is always a good thing: new items, quests, and other fresh content. However, at the moment, The Last Of The Druid is receiving a lot of mixed reactions and criticism. Most players currently enjoying PoE 2 are those who came from the first Path of Exile. And after switching to a new game, many feel disappointed to see a league mechanic that strongly resembles content they already played in PoE 1, just presented under a different name.

Players also have concerns about the Fate of the Vaal mechanics. The process is not only long and resource-intensive, but rooms can also disappear, making the league feel even more demanding and tedious than expected.

Another major topic of discussion is the Druid. Based on what the developers have shown so far, the community’s opinion is almost unanimous: the class looks unplayable right now. The damage seems too low, survivability is unclear, and dealing damage while staying alive appears complicated. On top of that, the class will likely require an expensive build to function properly.

To be fair, the Shaman Ascendancy looks strong and genuinely improves the character. For a deeper look at the Druid, you can check out our full breakdown in the blog “ New PoE 2 Character Druid ” where we covered everything from his forms to his abilities.

And these negative impressions are not isolated cases - there are quite a few of them. However, our stance is that it's best to wait for the actual release of PoE 2’s new league: The Last Of The Druid. First, GGG may adjust things before launch based on community feedback after the livestream. Second, everyone’s preferences are different - some players might actually enjoy this league. Meanwhile, veterans of PoE 1 tend to be much more demanding toward the developers, which is understandable.

So let’s wait for the league release and avoid jumping to conclusions too early. As a reminder, the new PoE 2 League launches on December 12, and from December 12 to 15, the game will be open to everyone - giving every player a chance to try both the league and PoE 2 as a whole.