Last of the Druids: New Class, Ascendancies, League, endgame

The forests of Ogham stir. The last of the Druids, stripped of his humanity, driven by vengeance and longing, emerges from years of wandering as a beast to reclaim his past and shape the very forces of nature.

Path of Exile 2 players will have the opportunity to master the Druid’s three deadly animal forms and construct their own customized dungeons. This content is made possible as ancient Vaal technology grants access to plunder forgotten temples and rewrite the history of a doomed empire.

SEE ALSO: When is Path of Exile 2’s Free Weekend? All start and end dates

You’ll be able to control over the environment and construct and customize your own labyrinthine dungeons. Beyond personal construction, this technological revival provides the chance to delve deeper into forgotten temples, where you can plunder immense riches and unearth exciting secrets.

Path of Exile 2: The Last of the Druids release date and platforms

Path of Exile 2: The Last of the Druids launches on December 12, 2025 on PC, Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Epic Games Store.

New players may join at any time via an Early Access Supporter Pack, which includes access to the expansion and exclusive cosmetics. Path of Exile 2 early access is free from December 12 to 15, 2025 (PT). We’ve provided times in GMT+8 and CET as well.

Everything you need to know about Path of Exile 2’s new class, The Druid

Path of Exile 2 Druid's bear form — Credit: Grinding Gear Games

The Druid is Path of Exile 2’s first hybrid Strength/Intelligence class, blending shapeshifting combat with elemental spellcasting.

After his kin were destroyed by the King in the Mists, the Druid lost his humanity and wandered as a beast. Now awakened, he seeks to reclaim his past and find his lost wife.

The Druid’s power flows through a new weapon type: Animal Talismans. Equip one to instantly shapeshift into a chosen form each with a distinct combat identity.

POE 2 DRUID FORM	PLAYSTYLE	KEY ABILITY
Wolf	Agile, Ice based attacks and summons minions	Lunar Assault: Freezes enemies, shatters ice for explosions
Bear	Accumulates rage for stronger attacks	Furious Slam: Consumes Rage to unleash earth-shattering blows
Wyvern	Aerial ranged fire breath attacks and melee lightning attacks	Rolling Magma: Spits bouncing fireballs that trigger volcanoes Flame Breath: Aerial continuous stream of fire
Human	Spell casting, setting the stage for the animal forms	Spell Totems: structures that automatically cast any socketed spell

The Druid’s combat kit is uniquely modular. Core abilities like Ferocious Roar and Pounce are Meta Gems, skill gems that can socket other class abilities inside them. This opens hybrid playstyles if you enjoy using other skills outside your class.

Path of Exile 2 new Ascendancy

The Druid features two new Ascendancy paths at launch, with a third coming later.

Shaman

The Shaman does not merely cast spells. He becomes the storm. This path unifies Rage and spellcasting, turning fury into raw, catastrophic magic.

Druidic Champion: Your anger fuels your magic. Gain increased Spell Damage based on your current Rage.
Furious Wellspring: Generate Rage continuously and spend it to empower your spells with overwhelming force.
Wisdom of the Magi: Tap into ancient Azmerian knowledge. All Runes and Idols gain exclusive Shaman-only modifiers, unlocking advanced build-crafting possibilities.
Bringer of the Apocalypse: The ultimate evolution. After dealing sufficient elemental damage, you become a walking cataclysm, with storms of fire, ice, and lightning raining down around you to obliterate all challengers.

Oracle

Where the Shaman unleashes, the Oracle predicts. This ascendancy perfects the power of Foresight, manipulating time and probability to gain an insurmountable advantage in combat.

Fateful Vision: Glimpse moments from your future. You will see visions of your future self using specific skills. If you choose to follow this path and use that skill, it deals significantly more damage.
Converging Paths: At critical moments when an enemy is vulnerable, use Moment of Vulnerability to see a vision of their future and merge it with the present, damaging both timelines simultaneously.
The Unseen Path: Upon ascending, over 130 new passives appear in your skill tree. By investing here, you use foresight to learn from alternate futures, gaining abilities otherwise inaccessible to any class.
- Example: Self-Sacrificing reduces Minion Spirit Cost to summon more, but increases your Reservation costs.
- Example: Corruption Endures grants a small chance to Avoid Death.

Path of Exile 2 new League: Fate of the Vaal

Path of Exile 2 The Last of the Druids new league Fate of the Vaal — Credit: Grinding Gear Games

Return to the height of Vaal civilization, where Queen Atziri’s desperate pursuit of eternal youth threatens to sacrifice an empire. To prevent history from repeating, you must subdue her loyal followers

Across Wraeclast, malignant Vaal Beacons surge from the earth. Defeat the twisted energy within them and redirect their essence to power a gateway to the heart of the empire: Lira Vaal, an ancient temple long lost to time.

Build your own dungeon

Each beacon you cleanse grants a Temple Room. Choose six to assemble your own custom dungeon layout, where placement matters.

Synergistic placement: Link rooms to upgrade them. Place a Commander next to a Garrison of Troops to level it up, creating harder but more rewarding encounters.
Evolving layout: After each run, some rooms destabilize and vanish, forcing you to rebuild. Add six new rooms each time, growing your temple larger and more complex with every expedition.
Strategic tools: Discover Medallions to manipulate room behavior, guarantee rare rewards, or artificially boost rooms without meeting normal requirements.

More than a dozen room types exist, each with unique enemies, mechanics, and reward pools.

New Vaal crafting mechanisms

Path of Exile 2 The Last of the Druids key art — Credit: Grinding Gear Games

VAAL CRAFTING MECHANISM	FUNCTION	RISK/REWARD
Juatalotli’s Triumph	Alters a corrupted Vaal Unique, replacing one random mod with a new Vaal-specific modifier	Transform a downside into a strength, or ruin a perfect item
Precursor Machine	Corrupts Endgame Tablets using ancient Vaal energy	Unlocks powerful, unpredictable mods for your mapping device
Jiquani’s Triumph	Distorts Soul Cores, modifying unique jewel-like items with new properties	Customize powerful unique modifiers for your build
Kishara’s Acquisition	Attempts to salvage socketables (gems, jewels) from an item, destroying it in the process	Reclaim valuable gems from outdated gear
Double Corruption Chamber	Corrupts an already corrupted item a second time, adding another enchantment	50% chance to destroy the item
Flesh Surgeon	Replace a limb with a mechanical augment for permanent buffs	Lost on death or return for a new (and potentially better) augmentation

Path of Exile 2 new bosses and rewards

Royal Architect Xipocado

Devoted utterly to Queen Atziri, Xipocado guards the temple’s inner sanctum. Overcoming this loyalist is a dual victory: it grants the ability to place the Royal Access Chamber and unlocks advanced Vaal crafting consoles that allow placement of rooms with powerful rewards.

Once connected to your temple, you’ll be able to finally meet The Queen of the Vaal herself.

The Pinnacle Boss – Atziri, Queen of the Vaal

Face history at its breaking point. Atziri, the infamous queen whose pursuit of eternal beauty led her empire to ruin, now stands as a new Pinnacle Boss in her fully corrupted form. Your mission is not just to defeat her, but to rewrite history and prevent the cataclysm that destroyed the Vaal civilization.

Atziri’s Rule

After defeating Atziri, you may obtain the league’s most powerful item: Atziri’s Rule.

ATZIRI’S RULE ATTRIBUTE	EFFECT
Staff bonus	Gives additional level of all Corrupted Skill Gems
Unique mechanic	Sacrifice Life to gain increased Damage
Battlefield effect	Periodically summons Mirrors of Refraction Projectiles fired into mirrors split into a nova and can chain between mirrors