Path of Exile 2's biggest campaign Act so far is finally getting smaller

One of the more frustrating parts of Path of Exile 2 was the size of some of the maps. In particular, Act 3 felt like it stretched on forever, with some of the maps being just ludicrous in size. Some of these were for an in-game reason, such as a boss needing to be at a specific spot on the map; thus, the design choice was made. However, the developers have heard players’ complaints and are set to make some changes.

In a post on the Path of Exile 2 forums, the developers revealed that several maps in Act 3 would be adjusted according to player feedback after their update post. Below, we’ll go over every map slated to be changed in a coming update.

GGG is finally reducing the size of these Path of Exile 2 areas in Act 3

While Path of Exile 2’s Dawn of the Hunt update hasn’t been met with critical acclaim from fans, the developers are looking to improve things by reaching out for player feedback. There are several things already coming to the game, but one of the things I’m personally most excited about is the updates to maps.

Not every map is getting smaller, though. Some are being adjusted to make items you hunt for on them easier to acquire, making the overall trek much shorter.

Most of the maps in Act 3 are going to see some important changes (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

There isn’t an exact date for this Path of Exile 2 series of map changes, but on April 7, 2025, the developers stated the below changes would be released “within the next few days”. They informed players about every map that would be changing in Act 3 and why this would be taking place:

The Drowned City: This area had a very large dead end that was intended to contain an entrance to an area temporarily cut to ship Early Access. Unfortunately, this means that in the live version, this leads to an inaccessible door with no checkpoint. We are removing that part of the level and the part that leads up to it, which will reduce the overall size of the area quite a lot, but more importantly, prevent the frustrating situation where you go the wrong way and have to backtrack
Utzaal: This area has exactly the same problem as the Drowned City, and we are doing exactly the same fix, but in addition, it has a second dead end where the entrance to the Treasure Vault is located in the Present version of this area. We have removed that dead end as well.
The Apex of Filth: This area is shaped like a large spiral, which was originally done because the boss arena had to be in the center to maintain continuity with the Past version. We are breaking that continuity to make the area smaller, which will make the area better overall.
The Azak Bog: This area is a large square that has an extremely high variance in how long it takes to find the boss because the location of that boss is highly variable. We have changed this area to be more rectangular with the boss at the other end from where you start which means that you can get to the boss more quickly without needing to explore the entire area as well as making it somewhat smaller.
Infested Barrens: This area primarily trips people up because it requires you to find a waypoint to the Waterways before you can continue to the Chimeral Wetlands if you want to be able to come back easily after finishing Jiquani's Sanctum. We are modifying the area to have a bottleneck requiring you to go past the entrance to the Waterways near the start, meaning that there are fewer things you need to try to find in this area and cutting down the size slightly.
Jungle Ruins: This area had a problem where it was often hard to identify the exit to the Infested Barrens from far enough away. We have made the entrance more clear and moved the checkpoint further so that you are more likely to see it. This area has also been made slightly smaller.
Chimeral Wetlands: This area has some random variations that put the entrance to the Temple of the Chaos very far away from the entrance to the Machinarium, requiring a lot of backtracking. We are moving these two entrances closer together.
Jiquani’s Machinarium: This area primarily takes extra time due to searching for Soul Cores. We have added an extra Soul Core to reduce the average amount of time it takes to find them.
Jiquani’s Sanctum: This area suffers from the same problem as Machinarium. We have added an extra Soul Core to this area as well to reduce the amount of time you need to search.

This could theoretically make some side quests a little bit easier in Path of Exile 2, such as finding the Mushrooms in the Apex of Filth. This side quest grants players a Life and Mana potion (Magic/Blue rarity). Simply finding the mushrooms is tedious, and then finding the Altar/Cauldron to take them to is equally frustrating.

It could also make some of the Path of Exile 2 Main Story Quests easier to wrap up, such as completing some of the objectives for Legacy of the Vaal. We’ll just have to see if this actually makes the game more enjoyable and clearing the main campaign maps just a bit less tedious.

Check out our other Path of Exile 2 guides and features

About the author

Jason is an Esports and Gaming journalist at Sportskeeda holding an amazing 11 years of experience under his belt. Having put out 4000-plus articles and amassing over 12 million reads for Sportskeeda, he is among the company’s most experienced writers. Jason holds a Bachelor's degree in English from UNC Pembroke and was inspired to become a gaming journalist very early on in life after reading Nintendo Power.

Jason is a jack of all trades when it comes to gaming journalism. He’s a key writer in Sportskeeda's MMO department, but he also likes to help out in other categories, like streamers, RPG, card games, and whatever else is needed. A solo gamer at heart, Jason's favorite titles include Earthbound and Dragon Warrior.

Jason places high value on accuracy and relevance in his write-ups. He achieves this with thorough research to sift facts from rumors. One of the biggest highlights of his career is his interview with Canadian pro wrestler Kenny Omega about his inclusion in the Like a Dragon game series. He is also good friends with journalist Kazumo Hashimoto, who he admires for the kind of stories he works on and his deep ethics.

A true cinephile, one of Jason’s primary hobbies involves enjoying cinematic experiences. He also loves reading, be it fiction or manga, when not working. Additionally, he streams on Twitch and posts his gaming insights on YouTube.

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Edited by Adarsh J Kumar