Path of Exile 2 Dawn of the Hunt Patch notes – Full Breakdown of All Changes and Updates
- poebuildsmoderacao
- Apr 3
- 4 min read
Path of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt – Patch Notes Explained
Path of Exile 2’s first major update is finally here! Dawn of the Hunt over hauls everything from core mechanics to Ascendancies, support gems, skills, and unique
items. If you’re into crafting the perfect build, now is the time to reset everything you know. Here’s a full breakdown of the patch with clear explanations for each change.
PLAYER CHANGES
• Level-based progression:
You now need to be level 25 to access Cruel areas and level 50 to reach the Endgame.
This prevents players from skipping too far ahead too early.
• Unarmed attack speed buffed:
Increased from 1.2 to 1.4. Skills like Killing Palm were nerfed to balance it out. Unarmed builds are more viable, with adjusted tradeoffs.
• Freeze buildup slowed:
Freezing now builds up 48% slower.
Nerf for freeze heavy builds that relied on constant CC.
• Ailment Threshold changed:
It’s now 50% of your max life (was 100%).
Easier application of status effects like Ignite and Shock.
• Presence radius reduced:
Down from 6 meters to 4.
Reduces the effective area of buffs and auras.
• Monster modifier theft rebalanced:
Effects stolen from rares (e.g. with Behead Support) were toned down.
Prevents broken combos with stolen monster mods.
• Candlemass essence nerfed:
Cruel version now gives 5% life (was 8%).
• Stun and block system overhaul
Blocking or parrying can prevent Heavy Stun.
You can’t be Light Stunned with your shield up.
Heavy Stun now lasts 3 seconds (was 1) and disables block/dodge.
Heavy Stun no longer fades until after the animation ends.
Why it matters: Makes the stun system more punishing and consistent.
• Curses now use Magnitude
Curse effect has been replaced by curse magnitude, which stacks multiplicatively.
Improves synergy with debuffs like Temporal Chains.
• Revived minions start on cooldown
Prevents immediate spam after raising them.
• Quality of life upgrades
Ascendancy minions summon automatically when allocated.
ASCENDANCY CHANGES
Titan
• More damage vs Heavy Stunned enemies.
• Higher Aftershock chance on Slam skills.
Warbringer
• Warcries now explode corpses.
• Encase in Jade reworked to scale Guard with life.
• Major buffs to ancestral spirits: stun, damage, accuracy, auras.
Gemling Legionnaire
Passives now scale based on support gem color:
Red = increased damage
Green = increased speed
Blue = increased crit
• Many passives repositioned and rebalanced.
• 20% Lesse Attributes
Witchhunter
• More damage based on enemy’s missing Concentration.
• Smaller defense penalty.
Deadeye
• 100% chance of consumed Frenzy Charges to count as double.
Pathfinder
• New nodes for immunity to Shock, Ignite, and Freeze.
• Streamlined utility passives.
Acolyte of Chayula
• More max Darkness per level.
• Mana leech now works with non-physical damage.
• Honor loss in Sekhemas trials updated.
Invoker
• Spirit scaling rebalanced based on gear.
• More efficient elemental skill support.
Blood Mage
• Bleeds now aggravated on cursed enemies.
• New node: Critical Hits ignore armor.
Infernalist
Demon Form reworked:
• Now drains flat life.
• Dodge roll reduced.
• Maximum of 10 Demonflame
• Loyal Hellhound no longer takes 20% of your damage.
Chronomancer
• Cast speed improvements.
• New node: Flood of Echoes grants Unleash.
Stormweaver
• Arcane Surge and Exposure effects reworked.
• Mana scaling improved.
PASSIVE TREE UPDATES
• New clusters added for: Bleed, Parry, Companions, Banners, Presence, Quivers, and more.
• Especially expanded in the Ranger/Huntress area.
New keystones:
• Crimson Assault: Bleeds become aggravated and shorter.
• Trusted Kinship: Allows two different companions at once, but reduces your defenses by 30%.
• Old Notables like Lasting Concoctions and No Escape removed.
• Multiple nerfs to mana, attribute, and aura-related passives.
SKILL CHANGES
• Nearly every skill was adjusted.
• Arc, Spark, Flameblast, Hexblast, Artillery Ballista, Heralds, Raging Spirits and many more were reworked.
Highlights:
• Spark has now half of previous projectiles.
• Flameblast has a cooldown and lower per-stage scaling.
• Grim Feast was removed from the game.
• Herald Skills can no longer trigger from kills caused by Herald skills.
• New mechanic: Glory, a resource generated by Heavy Stuns used for powerful skills like Hammer of the Gods.
Minion changes:
• Lower damage and life scaling in endgame.
• Helps balance strong minion builds.
Concoctions now require unarmed setup
• No longer scale from unarmed base damage.
• Consume 5 flask charges instead of 3.
SUPPORT GEM CHANGES
• Most supports now offer reduced bonuses or higher cost multipliers.
Examples:
Brutality offers less bonus physical damage.
Feeding Frenzy and Meat Shield don’t affect immortal minions anymore.
Scattershot now causes skills to deal 35% Less Damage.
• Many gem descriptions updated to better explain effects.
UNIQUE ITEM UPDATES
Reworks and nerfs to many iconic items:
Astramentis has lower stat rolls.
Eye of Chayula now only prevents Light Stun.
Dream Fragments has reduced mana bonus.
Everlasting Gaze offers 4% of Mana as Extra Energy Shield instead of 30%.
HOWA and Pillar of the Caged God were heavily nerfed.
Ingenuity was reworked, granting less and different bonus for individual rings.
• Some new effects added like “Cannot be Light Stunned”.
• Morior Invictus now rolls 3 random modifiers.
• Time-Lost Jewels had their bonuses reduced.
ITEM & RUNE SYSTEM CHANGES
Runes now have three tiers: Lesser, Normal, and Greater.
Drop rates doubled.
You can no longer combine three to get a random one.
• Jeweller’s Orbs now set a fixed number of sockets.
• Crossbows got a base damage buff.
• Rarity and mana modifiers were nerfed.
• Breach Rings are rarer and weaker.
• Aura effect modifiers removed from jewels.
• Mana scaling on gear adjusted based on item slot.
Conclusion:
Dawn of the Hunt isn't just a patch, it's a full transformation of Path of Exile 2. With sweeping changes to passive trees, ascendancies, skill mechanics, and core gameplay systems, this update challenges every player to rethink their builds from the ground up.
Whether you're a returning veteran or diving into Wraeclast for the first time, there's never been a better moment to explore new synergies, test crazy combos, and create something truly powerful.
And the best part? You don’t have to figure it all out alone. Follow PoE Builds right here and on poebuilds.net for guides, tier lists, and all the help you’ll need to master this league.
To check the full patch notes, click here:
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