Sequel adds WASD controls and movement while attacking.

And that it’s possible for you to now move slightly while attacking.

you’ve got the option to carry two kinds of crossbow at the same time.

A close-up shot of the Mercenary class in Path of Exile 2, shooting some explosive ammunition from their crossbow at a hulking, bulging matron boss.

What your crossbow does also depends heavily on the kind of ammo you’re using.

Meanwhile, your sniper crossbow with incendiary ammo will behave more like a rocket launcher, exploding on impact.

Oh, and there’s a grenade-launcher attachment too, because why not?

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And again, there are varying types of grenade you’ve got the option to fire.

She spawns children as you fight while shouting things like, “Chillldren!”

  • she’s full of character.

A diagonal-down screenshot showing the Mercenary character fighting in Path of Exile 2. They use a crossbow that functions a bit like guns in shooter games. Here, they fight amidst a dark, cobbled, crumbling town.

She’s also super-aggressive, wielding dual shears with real murderous intent.

The Mercenary is the sixth of 12 classes that will be in the game at launch.

The ones we know so far are the Druid, Monk, Sorceress, Warrior and Huntress.

A diagonal-down screenshot showing the Mercenary character fighting in Path of Exile 2. They use a crossbow that functions a bit like guns in shooter games. Here, they fight amidst a dark, cobbled, crumbling town.

And Grinding Gear Games recommitted to this date when I asked them about it during the press demo.

And I’m a sucker for a Monk.

The plan is apparently to showcase each of the game’s dozen characters in a similar way.

A diagonal-down screenshot showing the Mercenary character fighting in Path of Exile 2. They use a crossbow that functions a bit like guns in shooter games. Here, they fight amidst a dark, cobbled, crumbling town.

The ability that made zombies fall from the sky like meteors was my favourite.

I hope you don’t mind!

Jonathan Rogers:So all of your purchases carry over.

A text box from Path of Exile 1 showing the ability “Raise Zombie of Falling”, which essentially creates a zombie in the sky that then crashes down into the earth and damages anyone it hits. Like a meteor. A fleshy zombie meteor.

But ultimately, the games are separate.

That’s why it’s very important to us to maintain that across both games.

One shop, then, will serve both games.

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Rogers:Yes exactly.

So there’ll be one shop.

But basically anything you would expect to work will work.

But it absolutely is something that we want to verify we’re taking seriously and doing well.

How will that work with a shared shop across console platforms, I ask.

Rogers:Um that is a complicated question!

[laughs] What we’re trying to achieve is to make it as seamless as possible.

The microtransactions will still absolutely come across between POE1 and POE2 on console as well.

But obviously platform holders have their various random restrictions and working on those can be quite annoying.

We are trying as much as we can to make that not a problem.

Rogers:I absolutely would love to do that.

It’s something that would be very cool to do.

We don’t have it yet.