Summary
Path of Exile 2developer Grinding Gear Games just revealed the Mercenary, a brand-new class coming to the franchise. From the early looks of it, the Mercenary is set to introduce an unexpected new way of playing the action RPG genre.
In development for a number of years now,Path of Exile 2is currently scheduled to begin its open beta phase this coming June. For its part, Grinding Gear Games has steadily provided fans with constant updates on what the game will look and play like, on top of glimpses of a new expansion coming to the first game, entitledAffliction.
Grinding Gear Games announced the Mercenary class in a recent Twitch livestream. The Mercenary is a purely ranged DPS class, solely using crossbows as their weapon. The crossbows allow players to straight up shoot enemies in a variety of different ways, as though they were wielding guns: there’s a burst shot that emulates shotguns, a steady-fire rapid shot that plays like automatic rifles, and a deadly long-range shot that’s just like a sniper rifle. It’s unlike anything ever seen in the ARPG genre, and this addition makesPath of Exile 2feel like a must-play gamefor hack-and-slash fans.
The Mercenary’s crossbows can be further enhanced with different elemental bolts that each suit a specific situation and type of enemy. Then there are attachments that add even more attack types, such as a grenade launcher that fires explosive shots, inflicting huge amounts of damage or combat-changing status effects. These dynamic and customizable weapon variations are essentially the class’s take on different skills, continuingPath of Exile’s tradition of improving classic genre systems.
The Mercenary’s playstyle essentially turnsPath of Exile 2’s traditional ARPG gameplay into something more like a shoot-‘em-up game. To support this, in the same livestream, Grinding Gear also revealed the introduction of WASD movement controls in the game, further enhancing its FPS feel. The developers stated in the reveal that they wanted to explore different design space that isn’t usually touched upon in this genre whileretainingPath of Exile’s beloved qualities, ultimately providing a refreshing experience.
The new changes were met with positive feedback fromPath of Exilefans. Some shared their excitement about the unconventional gameplay the Mercenary will be bringing, while more fans praised the decision to allow the WASD setup, saying that Grinding Gear made the additions they didn’t know they wanted. One thing’s for sure: it seems likePath of Exile 2is applying the best lessonsfrom the genre, improving what was already a winning formula.
