Path of Exile is a free-to-play action role-playing video game created and published by Grinding Gear Games. After an open beta testing period, the game was released for Microsoft Windows on October 23, 2013. A version for Xbox One was released in August 2017, and a version for PlayStation 4 was released in March 2019.

The game is set in a dark fantasy world where the government of the island nation of Oriath sends people to the continent of Wraeclast, a ruined land once ruled by ancient gods. Players take control of an exile and can choose to play as one of seven character classes: Marauder, Duelist, Ranger, Shadow, Witch, Templar, or Scion. The goal is to fight through Wraeclast, defeat ancient gods, and return to Oriath.

A sequel, Path of Exile 2, was released to early access on December 6, 2024. It was first announced in 2019 as a major update for the original game. In 2023, the developers decided to make it a separate game instead.

Gameplay

The player controls one character from an isometric view and explores large outdoor areas, caves, and dungeons. They fight monsters and complete tasks given by non-player characters (NPCs) to earn experience points and better equipment. The game is inspired by the Diablo series, especially Diablo II, and is considered its spiritual successor. Most areas, except for central camps, are created randomly to increase replayability. Players can interact freely with others in camps, but outside camps, each player or group has their own separate map to explore.

Players can choose from seven classes: Duelist, Marauder, Ranger, Scion, Shadow, Templar, and Witch. Each class is linked to one or two of three main attributes—Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence. The Scion class, once a special class released in 2013, is connected to all three attributes. While players can use skills not tied to their main attributes, they gain easier access to those that match their class’s focus. Equipment is randomly generated and comes in different rarities with unique properties and gem slots. Players spend much of the game finding balanced and useful gear. Skill gems can be placed in armor, weapons, or certain rings to add active abilities. As characters level up, their equipped skill gems also gain experience, improving the skills’ power.

Support gems can modify active skills. For example, they can increase attack speed, create more projectiles, or allow skills to chain together. Because there are limits on how many gem slots a player can use, they must choose which gems to prioritize. All classes share the same 1,325 passive skills, which players can select each time they level up or as rewards from quests. These passive skills improve attributes and add benefits like more health, mana, damage, or speed. Each character starts at a different point on the passive skill tree, which is organized into separate sections for each class based on their attributes. Players must choose the most efficient path through the tree to maximize their abilities. As of the 3.0 Fall of Oriath update, players can earn up to 123 passive skill points (99 from leveling and 24 from quests). Each class has three Ascendancy classes to choose from, except the Scion, which has one class that combines all others. Up to 8 Ascendancy skill points can be assigned from a total of 12 or 14.

Path of Exile is different from many action role-playing games because it has no in-game currency. Instead, players trade special items that have their own uses, such as upgrading gear or improving item quality. This helps prevent the game’s economy from becoming too inflated. Most of these items are used to enhance equipment, while others help identify items, create portals to town, or give skill refund points.

The game offers several alternate play modes through different leagues:

• Standard – The default mode. Players who die respawn in the last city they visited, losing some experience at higher levels.
• Hardcore (HC) – Players cannot be resurrected. If they die, they return to the Standard league. This is similar to permadeath in other games.
• Solo Self Found (SSF) – Players cannot join groups or trade with others. They must find or make their own gear.
• Ruthless – The game is harder, with fewer item drops, removed mechanics, and weaker passive skills.

There is also a Seasonal Challenge league, which includes special rules for a limited time. These rules often change with each season and may include new currencies or ways to craft items. Hardcore and Solo Self Found versions of this league are also available.

Other leagues are created for specific events and have unique rules, item availability, and outcomes. For example:
– Descent leagues feature new maps, monsters, and rewards, but characters cannot be played after the league ends.
– Turbo Solo Immolation leagues use standard maps but with tougher monsters, no grouping, fire damage instead of physical damage, and exploding monsters on death. Survivors return to the Hardcore league, while dead players go to Standard.
– Racing leagues last from 30 minutes to a week.
– Permanent leagues have counterpart ladder leagues with different rules that last three months.

Synopsis

The game takes place in a dark fantasy world. The player begins the story by waking up on the shores of Wraeclast, a continent that was once the heart of a powerful empire but is now a cursed land. It serves as a prison for criminals and others unwanted by the nearby Island of Oriath. No matter why they were sent, players must survive the harsh wilderness and dangerous creatures in the broken ruins of the Eternal Empire and the older Vaal civilization. They must work with other exiles to stay alive.

High Templar Dominus sends the player, called "Exile," to Wraeclast as punishment for a crime related to their chosen character class. Exiles are forced to fight monsters and people in Wraeclast who harm others. It is later revealed that Dominus secretly worked with his assistant, Piety, to study forbidden magic called thaumaturgy, which caused much of the chaos in Wraeclast. The Exile finds and defeats both of them. During this journey, the Exile meets Dialla, a survivor from the Eternal Empire. She explains that a device called the "Rapture Device," created by a man named Malachai, is being used to awaken "The Beast," a creature responsible for a past disaster that destroyed Wraeclast centuries ago. The Exile travels to Highgate, enters the Beast, and kills Malachai.

After saving Wraeclast, the Exile returns to Oriath. High Templar Avarius, who now leads the temple, has misused his divine powers. He and other corrupt templars have enslaved a group of people called the Karui. The Exile helps the Karui during their rebellion against the templars, defeating Avarius and the temple's god, "Innocence." After this, Sin, Innocence's brother, tells the Exile that killing the Beast accidentally caused ancient gods to return. The Karui, now powerful because of their god, Kitava, are causing destruction in Oriath. Sin takes the Exile to fight Kitava, but they fail. Sin explains that the Beast's essence is needed to defeat Kitava and reveals that he created the Beast. A plan is made to return to Wraeclast to retrieve the Beast's essence and use it to stop Kitava.

The Exile travels back to Wraeclast, defeats the awakened gods, and returns to Oriath. They find that Innocence has returned and is trying to make amends for his past actions. With Sin and Innocence's help, the Exile fights Kitava in his lair and destroys him.

Development

Path of Exile started when a small group of people who liked action role-playing games wanted to create their own game because there weren’t many new games in that genre. The game was developed secretly for three years before being announced publicly on September 1, 2010. Since then, Grinding Gear Games has shared updates on their website, including pictures of new characters, monsters, and skills, as well as information about gameplay and technical details.

At the time, the game’s lead designer was Chris Wilson. He said the team got ideas from earlier games, such as the Diablo series (especially Diablo II), Titan Quest, Dungeon Siege, the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, the online game Guild Wars, and the Final Fantasy series (specifically the Materia system from Final Fantasy VII and the Sphere Grid system from Final Fantasy X).

The Alpha version of the game began in June 2010 and ended in August 2011 with the release of version 0.9.0. After a closed beta phase where players could pay to join, an open beta (version 0.10.0) started on January 23, 2013. This version was free to play, but players could buy items with microtransactions. The game was officially released on October 23, 2013, as version 1.0.0. It was also made available on Steam. The game continues to receive updates and fixes about once a month.

The developers said one of their main goals was to make a truly free-to-play game supported only by "ethical microtransactions." Players can create multiple accounts and log in with more than one at the same time. The game mainly offers cosmetic items for purchase, but some features, like public trading inventories or extra character slots, require payment. Players can also pay to create private leagues that are separate from other players. On January 18, 2017, Grinding Gear Games announced plans to bring the game to consoles.

During the closed beta phase, by January 21, 2013, the game had received $2.2 million in financial support from players.

At Exilecon in November 2019, Grinding Gear Games announced that a mobile version of the game was being developed. The team discussed how mobile games often use pay-to-win microtransactions, time limits, and ads, but said the mobile version would avoid these methods and keep the full gameplay from the desktop version. However, the mobile version was described as "experimental," and its future depends on player feedback.

The game originally used DirectX for graphics, which works with many video cards. During the Delirium league in February 2020, Grinding Gear Games released a beta version of Vulkan graphics to improve gameplay consistency and gather player feedback. This update made the game run more smoothly, reducing drops in frame rates during intense action. However, performance issues later appeared during the Harvest league. A major update in late 2020 included changes to both DirectX and Vulkan support, but more feedback is still needed.

From September 2020 through patch 3.11.2, Grinding Gear Games made major improvements to the game’s code. This update required players to download the full game again. It included better patching for stand-alone and Steam versions, faster loading times on hard drives, sharper textures, improved audio, better graphics, a macOS version, and an Epic Game Store version.

Reception

Path of Exile received "generally favorable reviews" according to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews. Critics highlighted new ideas in action role-playing games compared to earlier titles like the Diablo series. Destructoid's Patrick Hancock praised the game's world design, saying it has a dirty and uncomfortable atmosphere that makes players feel uneasy. Kyle Hillard of Game Informer criticized the game for giving players too much information without clear guidance, making it hard for new players to enjoy. Eurogamer noted that the game's graphics and presentation lacked the style of Torchlight 2 and the polish of Diablo 3.

Path of Exile was named 2013 PC Game of the Year by GameSpot and best PC role-playing game of 2013 by IGN. By February 2014, the game had five million registered players. IGN's Leif Johnson observed that the game explored darker themes than other action role-playing games at the time. In 2020, it won the "Best Evolving Game" award at the 16th British Academy Games Awards.

Legacy

A follow-up game, Path of Exile 2, became available through early access for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S on December 6, 2024.