Anyone who has been following the Still Sane Podcast episode with Jonathan Rogers and TalkativeTri can probably feel the shift in tone around Path of Exile 2’s 0.4 update. The whole “Last of the Druids” patch sounds less like a random content drop and more like the devs finally reacting to real feedback, not just spreadsheets. Jonathan came across as a guy who actually plays the game, not a PR robot, and that matters when he talks about friction points, early leveling pain and how people will plan their builds or spend PoE 2 Currency during the first few days.
Druid That Actually Feels Wild
The Druid is clearly the headline, and it is not just a fancy summoner in a different coat. They are leaning into that Strength plus Intelligence mix, so you get this weird but cool overlap between chunky hits and spell-like tools. Internal buffs to werewolf form and the wolf pack are a big deal, because early footage made those skills look kind of flat. Now, if the numbers hold, you are looking at a form that can actually brawl and still clear packs without feeling like a worse version of other melee setups. The real spice, though, is the Wyvern form. That flame breath stacking multiple ignites per hit is the sort of thing that lets you cook bosses fast. Players are already theorycrafting ignite scaling, curse setups and whether you can push it into that “this probably gets nerfed later” territory.
Totems, Charges And Caster Expectations
Spell totems getting full support, but now using charges, is a subtle change that will hit harder once people are in maps. You can not just carpet the screen with totems while you kite off-screen anymore. You will have to think about when to drop them, how many charges you can sustain, and whether you want to lean into totem nodes or keep them as a backup tool. That kind of soft limit usually annoys people at first, but it does stop the worst spam setups from taking over every league. For players who like that old-school totem playstyle, it is going to feel different, but not dead. More like “bring a plan or do not bother.”
Endgame Changes And The Melee Debate
The rework to the Arbiter of Ash questlines sounds like one of those boring but necessary fixes that will age really well. Before, unlocking that stuff felt random and kind of killed any hope of deterministic progress. Now they are cleaning it up while keeping the rare tablets juicy, so you still get that rush when a good one drops, without staring at the atlas wondering what you missed. The monster pack size “nerf” drama also looks overblown. They are fixing an implementation issue, dialing back some of the on-screen chaos, and then adjusting rewards so you get roughly the same value without ten layers of overlapping AoE and particle spam. That should help performance and make dodging stuff less of a guessing game. On melee, they are holding firm on no attacking while moving. People will argue about that forever, but at least there is a clear vision: slower, weighty swings instead of everyone bunny-hopping while cycloning through the map.
Looking Toward 0.5 And Beyond
What comes after 0.4 sounds steady rather than flashy, which might be what the game needs. They are not promising a giant expansion right away, but they do want older leagues brought up to the same standard as the newer systems, so nothing feels like a dead side mechanic. If you are planning to roll Druid on day one, or you want to chain high-juice maps as soon as the servers behave, it is worth sorting your economy routes and maybe checking reliable ways to grab divine orbs for sale so you are not stuck farming white maps while the ladder races ahead.
