Summary
As the community eagerly awaits the next major milestone for Path of Exile 2, Patch 0.5.5 (often referred to as "055") has become the center of attention. This guide consolidates all confirmed information from Grinding Gear Games (GGG), alongside educated speculation based on developer interviews, to help you prepare for what's coming—whether that means planning your league starter or deciding when to buy POE2 Currency for the new economy reset.
Part 1: Confirmed Features – What's Definitely Coming
The developers have officially confirmed the following elements for Patch 0.5.5 through the 0.5.4 patch preview video and the Tavern Talk interview with Jonathan and Mark.
1. A New One-Month Event League
New Economy: A fresh league with a complete economy reset will launch alongside the patch.
Duration: This is a one-month event league.
Character Separation: Your existing characters in the Runes of Aldur League will remain completely untouched. You can continue playing them in the standard league even while the event is active.
Exclusive Content: It is highly expected that this event league will feature exclusive content that will not be available in the Runes of Aldur League, making it worth your time to participate.
2. Major Balance Changes (The Core Focus)
According to the developers, balance changes will constitute approximately two-thirds (2/3) of the entire update. This is not a minor tuning pass—it's a comprehensive overhaul.
The specific areas being addressed include:
Skill Balance: A large volume of skill changes, with potential additions of entirely new skills to existing classes.
Unique Items: Rebalancing of existing uniques and the introduction of "a whole bunch of new uniques."
Passive Tree Reworks: Significant improvements and restructuring of the passive skill tree.
Underperforming Damage Types: Specific improvements to:
Chaos Damage (which will directly benefit the Acolyte ascendancy)
Ignite builds and Burn Damage over Time in general
3. Improvements to Character "Feel"
The update aims to address not just numerical power but the gameplay experience itself. This includes:
Animations
Sound effects and audio
The rewarding nature of executing skill combos
Overall responsiveness and "feel" of combat
Part 2: Speculated Features – What Might Be Coming
While the following items have been discussed by the developers, they are not officially confirmed for Patch 0.5.5. However, they have been explicitly stated as goals they want to achieve before the 1.0 release, making their inclusion in this patch a strong possibility.
1. Act 4 Changes
The developers acknowledged that Act 4 did not receive significant attention in previous patches.
They fully expect feedback to emerge after players replay it, and they are open to making adjustments.
Status: Likely, but not guaranteed for 0.5.5.
2. New Ascendancies (Ranger or Druid)
GGG has stated they want all existing classes to have all their ascendancies available before the full 1.0 launch.
Specifically mentioned is the desire to add either the third Ranger ascendancy or the third Druid ascendancy at the next economy reset.
Status: High priority; they want to do it "sooner" rather than later. Could land in 0.5.5.
