Path of Exile 2 patch 0.2.0 - Dawn of The Hunt release date, Huntress class, Spears, and other features

Path of Exile 2 patch 0.2.0, now titled Dawn of The Hunt, is coming to all platforms on April 4, 2025. As confirmed by the title as well as a teaser revealing the release date, the Huntress class is now confirmed to be the centerpiece of this upcoming patch. Moreover, this will be the first time since Path of Exile 2's EA release where Grinding Gear Games will get to make a sweeping series of balance changes.

Here's everything we know about Path of Exile 2 patch 0.2.0, Dawn of The Hunt.

Path of Exile 2 Dawn of The Hunt (patch 0.2.0) release date and time

Path of Exile 2 Dawn of The Hunt update (patch 0.2.0) will go live on April 4 at 12 pm PT. This is a global release available on all platforms, so both PC and console players can start playing the new content immediately after downloading the patch at 12 pm PT/ 3 pm ET.

Originally, the update was supposed to release sometime in the latter half of March 2025. However, with Grinding Gear Games handling two live-service games at the same time, this deadline is unlikely. Hopefully, April 4, 2025, will be the finalized date and we won't have anymore delays, since the ongoing Path of Exile 2 race event will also end long before that day.

All known features of Path of Exile 2 patch 0.2.0 (Dawn of the Hunt)

Grinding Gear Games has drip-fed us some information on what's coming to Path of Exile 2 with patch 0.2.0. However, a great deal will be:

Economy and balance reset, new Challenge League

Technically, Grinding Gear Games started dishing out nerfs in Path of Exile 2 just days after release. However, these were only band-aid nerfs for some particularly overpowered interactions – patch 0.2.0 is where it will really lay out the balance carpet. There will be an economy reset with an overall balance pass in its first big update, as Game Director Jonathan Rogers had earlier mentioned.

If we are being optimistic, this won't be a nerf bingo in the same way mid-Season patches tend to be, but more of a readjustment to uplift underutilized Skills and Ascendancies.

Speaking of, there are no seasons (Leagues) in Path of Exile 2 yet – but the fact that it is titled Dawn of The Hunt potentially implies some new league mechanics are being added. Also, the new Challenge League to try it out also supports this implictation.

All changes and goodies will also be implemented on the current Standard League, so you can also continue to play your existing characters to enjoy the new League mechanics.

New class

The Huntress is now confirmed to be the headliner class (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

The Huntress class has now been confirmed to be coming with Path of Exile 2 patch 0.2.0, Dawn of The Hunt. With the developers previously mentioning that Druid and Huntress are the most feature-complete and ready for release, many predicted that it would be their turn.

We previously speculated that the Gladiator class might be coming with patch 0.2.0 (or the Duelist if we strictly follow the naming convention of the first game) — but that is not happening. The Dawn of The Hunt update will only have the one class, and no Druid either.

Five New Ascendancies

A new Mercenary Ascendancy will summon living human minions (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

The update is also bringing a pair of subclasses for the new Huntress class, as well as three more Ascendancies for existing classes:

Rituralist (Huntress)
Amazon (Huntress)
Smith of Kitava (Warrior)
Tactician (Mercenary)
Lich (Witch)

New weapon types: Spear and Buckler

The Spear has now been confirmed to be coming alongside the Huntress. As mentioned long ago in a Gamescom showcase, the Spear is a melee weapon that comes with some ranged shenanigans.

Currently, there are many unfulfilled weapon niches in the game, with players already finding some unusable weapons like Traps as a bug.

New weapon types is what will really open things up for Path of Exile 2, as this is the actual vessel of implementing class freedom in a modular manner. However, only the Spear is coming as the new weapon type with Dawn of The Hunt, which makes sense given the single new class.

Bucklers, a new off-hand item, is also making its way to the game. Even though it's technically a type of shield, it gets exclusive access to the

New Skill Gems and Support Gems

New weapon types automatically also mean new Skill Gems to define their identity and use cases. With the Spear, there will be 22 new Skill Gems, and we already know about the following Skill Gems (names subject to change in live client):

Whirling Slash: Casting whirls the Spear around you in a circle, damaging enemies in its wake. Casting again makes the circle bigger. Leaving the circle causes it to dissipate and deal damage after a brief period.
Spearfield: Rain down Spears in a conical AoE, damaging and greatly slowing enemies.
Rapid Assault: Repeatedly poke at a target with the Spear multiple times in rapid succession.
Puncture: Dash at an enemy to hit them with the Spear and build Bleed. The damage and magnitude of the Bleed depends on the distance travelled with the dash.
Elemental ranged Spear skills have also been teased previously in months-old Huntress gameplay showcases.

This list is, of course, only a taste of what is to come. Grinding Gear Games has also revealed seven new Support Gems previously, and now it's confirmed that over 100 new Support Gems are coming with the update.

Gameplay changes

A series of changes and adjustments are also coming to various elements of gameplay – from basic mechanics to endgame progression. So far, here's what has been revealed:

GGG is doubling down on Towers in Path of Exile 2 patch 0.2.0, now with bosses and league mechanics.
Path of Exile 2's upcoming patch will make Weapon Set-swapping far more viable.
New League mechanics, including Azmeri Wisps that can possess Rare mobs, and Rogue Exiles from the first game.
A number of new crafting currency items and crafting mechanics.

That's all we know so far about Path of Exile 2's Dawn of the Hunt update. Check out the patch notes for patch 0.2.0 for more comprehensive details.

Check out our other guides on the game:

Edited by Dinesh Renthlei