When Path of Exile 2 early access ends, Grinding Gear Games won't be murdering your beloved characters

GamesRPGPath of Exile 2When Path of Exile 2 early access ends, Grinding Gear Games won’t be murdering your beloved charactersWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

Path of Exile 2�s witch

Path of Exile 2 early accessfinally kicks off today, perfectly timed for a debauched weekend of murdering monsters in Wraeclast. Pals, I will not be moving from my chair. My dog’s gonna have to walk himself (don’t worry, I’m not really this terrible). Early access—whether it’s singleplayer, multiplayer or live service—usually means you shouldn’t get too attached to your characters or campaigns. Full launch often means a fresh start. This is true of Path of Exile 2, as well, but that doesn’t mean Grinding Gear Games is going to wipe everything.

If you’re a PoE veteran, you’ll likely be familiar with the league system. Leagues are essentially PoE’s take on seasons, introducing new mechanics, loot and twists. At the start of a new league, you make a fresh character, and when the league is over they’re moved over to the standard league—the one that never actually ends. You can consider early access its own league, but with one key difference: your characters will never be moved to the standard league.

When early access ends, then, there will be no wipes, but any characters you make, and all of their loot, will be stuck in the early access league forever. Technically, this means you will still be able to keep playing them. But it’s important to note that you won’t be able to play with anyone in the standard or future leagues, and balance changes might end up breaking the early access league.

I doubt I’ll have much compulsion to play my old early access characters, but it’ll be nice to know that they’re still kicking around. Early access is expected to take six months, and in that time I suspect I’ll make quite a few of them, so I don’t want all that work to be erased, even if I’ll not be getting any use out of them.

Needless to say, I am rather excited about finally mucking around in Wraeclast with you all. Some of us at PCG have already been playing, along with other journalists and content creators, so we already have quite a lot to share with you, including some build ideas to help get you started, lots of beginner tips, and our thoughts on how the early access build is shaping up. So keep an eye out for those today and over the coming weeks.

Path of Exile 2 multiplayer: How it worksHow to respec in PoE2: Reassess your skillsPath of Exile 2 Ascendancy: How to unlock itPath of Exile 2 Ancient Vows: Find a use for the relicsView Deal

Path of Exile 2 multiplayer: How it worksHow to respec in PoE2: Reassess your skillsPath of Exile 2 Ascendancy: How to unlock itPath of Exile 2 Ancient Vows: Find a use for the relics

Path of Exile 2 multiplayerHow to respec in PoE2Path of Exile 2 AscendancyPath of Exile 2 Ancient Vows

Path of Exile 2 multiplayer: How it worksHow to respec in PoE2: Reassess your skillsPath of Exile 2 Ascendancy: How to unlock itPath of Exile 2 Ancient Vows: Find a use for the relics

View Deal

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

More about rpgCD Projekt Red boss says ‘around 100’ Witcher 3 designers still work at the company, while the Witcher 4’s story director is ‘the same person since Witcher 1’Watching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delightLatestFive new Steam games you probably missed (January 13, 2025)See more latest►

More about rpg

CD Projekt Red boss says ‘around 100’ Witcher 3 designers still work at the company, while the Witcher 4’s story director is ‘the same person since Witcher 1’Watching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delight

The Witcher 4 - Ciri

CD Projekt Red boss says ‘around 100’ Witcher 3 designers still work at the company, while the Witcher 4’s story director is ‘the same person since Witcher 1’

null

Watching an all-romances speedrun of the legendarily janky Fallout: New Vegas is a delight

LatestFive new Steam games you probably missed (January 13, 2025)See more latest►

Latest

Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 13, 2025)

S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH screenshot

Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 13, 2025)

See more latest►

Most Popular

Civilization 7 has been Steam Deck Verified ahead of its launch next month

23-year-old D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new update thanks to the ‘unpaid software engineers’ of its unkillable community

My Summer Car, the absurdly detailed Finnish life sim about vehicle maintenance and drinking in your underpants, smashes into 1.0 after nearly a decade in Steam early access

Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes a run at improving parkour, as Ubisoft strives to make the system less ‘like a gas pedal’

Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11

The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April

Lords of the Fallen publisher embraces fear of the DEI boogeyman, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its games

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’

If you’re trying to convince me your ‘companionship’ robot is ‘lifelike’, maybe don’t rip her face off in the demo video

Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals