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Path of Exile 2 finally has a 1.0 date, and swords are arriving with the rest of the campaign
Path of Exile 2 has spent almost two years letting players build around spears, crossbows, maces, bows and increasingly strange combinations of skills. Swords have been conspicuously absent. Grinding Gear Games is saving them for December 11, when the game reaches 1.0 and the Duelist joins the roster.
By Hugat Path of Exile 2 
The Duelist matters beyond one class slot
GGG describes the Duelist as Path of Exile 2's first sword-wielding class, built around fast and adaptable melee combat. The Gamescom trailer shows sword-and-shield play and a range of attacks designed to keep the character moving while controlling nearby enemies.
There is not enough information for a real 1.0 Duelist build yet. Grinding Gear Games has not published his Ascendancies, complete skill list or final numerical data.
The weapon is arguably the larger addition. Path of Exile 2 does not hard-lock most skills to the class that appears beside them in promotional material. Adding swords can therefore feed far more combinations than the Duelist alone.
How much of the passive tree, item pool and existing melee ecosystem changes around them is still unknown.
December 11 also finishes the campaign
The full release adds the final two Acts. Path of Exile 2 currently has four campaign Acts followed by interim material, while the completed game is designed around six.
GGG is promising a much larger batch of content and changes alongside those Acts. It has not yet provided a complete 1.0 feature list, so the confirmed Gamescom package remains narrower: the date, free-to-play transition, Duelist, swords and two remaining Acts.
The endgame already exists in Early Access. Players can enter the Atlas, develop specialized endgame passive trees and continue into systems built well beyond the story campaign.
The paid Early Access period is almost over
Path of Exile 2 entered Early Access on December 6, 2024. Access currently requires a supporter package, with Steam listing the entry pack at $29.99.
Grinding Gear Games said from the beginning that the eventual full game would return to the free-to-play structure of the original Path of Exile. December 11 is now the date attached to that transition.
The developer's stated reason for Early Access has been unusually appropriate for this particular RPG: builds, items and the player economy are difficult to balance without a large live population constantly finding combinations the designers did not anticipate.
1.0 removes the admission price, not the live-service model
The December launch does not mark the end of development. Grinding Gear Games plans to continue producing content for Path of Exile 2 while also maintaining the original Path of Exile.
Its store model remains based around optional purchases rather than selling the base game, and compatible purchases are shared between the two titles.
Players can also register for the 1.0 launch campaign until December 10 PST. Community milestones will unlock additional cosmetic rewards, including effects and a pet.
Path of Exile 2 reaches version 1.0 on December 11, 2026.