Copyright pcgamer
Skip to main content Close main menu THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES View Profile Search PC Gamer PC Gaming Show Movies & TV Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99Subscribe now PC Gaming Show Tokyo Essential Hardware Battlefield 6 Don't miss these Path of Exile 2's next major update lands next week, adding a new campaign act, a massive list of buffs, and—yes, finally—a way to trade while the other player is offline 'Let's fix every problem anyone has': Path of Exile 2 director says its massive next patch should pull the game out of its Dawn of the Hunt depression era Path of Exile 2's newest update has me thoroughly convinced it's about to have one of the best action RPG campaigns in a long time Everyone can try Path of Exile 2 for free when its gigantic new update drops later this week Path of Exile 2 players prepare for 'the coming war' between pets as the devs add an infamous singing goblin troupe and a bird made to kill them Just 2 weeks after its release, this Diablo-style roguelike has already reworked its entire campaign to please action RPG fans looking for a challenge Final Fantasy 14's latest patch makes surprise nerf to an arduous 9-year-old dungeon grind, and I hope there's more like it to come How to find and use the Well of Souls in Path of Exile 2 Final Fantasy Final Fantasy 14 is fast-tracking one of my most-anticipated fixes, releasing an entire month earlier than expected Diablo 4's next season acknowledges its greatest weakness as an action RPG and offers a solution on how to fix it Titan Quest 2 is a chill Greek holiday compared to the live service complexity of ARPGs like Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 Elden Ring Nightreign's latest patch has made it impossible for greedy teammates to farm extra runes after the second-day boss, which is music to my ears Today's Dune: Awakening patch takes another sidestep away from the PvP-heavy endgame Diablo 4 has finally given dungeons their teeth back and the loot hunt has never been more satisfying Capcom smashes second, larger pane of emergency glass—pulling a big endgame Monster Hunter Wilds update from September and getting it ready for next month instead Path of Exile 2 Path of Exile 2 is making a surprise Atlas overhaul next week to liberate its players from tower tyranny Russell Adderson 26 September 2025 Efficient mapping is getting more manageable. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Grinding Gear Games) Yesterday, Grinding Gear Games dropped a surprise update to announce mid-patch changes to Path of Exile 2, including a long overdue overhaul to how towers work in the endgame. In the videothat accompanied the post, game director Jonathan Rogers explained that GGG is pushing pushing those updates now to give them a little more time to breathe before the next content update, which should come sometime around the end of the year. Path of Exile 2's 0.3 update, The Third Edict, came out at the end of August to warm reception. Introducing Act 4 released us from the hell of running Acts 1-3 twice whenever we want to level a character, the Abyss mechanic is fun and rewarding, and in general the community has been happy with the direction of the game. One thorny issue that continues to plague PoE2, however, is the endgame. Currently, in order to juice our maps and for the best rewards, we have to navigate the Atlas of Worlds until we find a spot with multiple overlapping towers. The more towers, the more slots we have for tablets, the more loot we get. This leads to a problem where all the maps we run that don't have multiple towers near them feel like wasting time, something to slog through until we get to the good stuff. Related Articles Path of Exile 2's next major update lands next week, adding a new campaign act, a massive list of buffs, and—yes, finally—a way to trade while the other player is offline 'Let's fix every problem anyone has': Path of Exile 2 director says its massive next patch should pull the game out of its Dawn of the Hunt depression era Path of Exile 2's newest update has me thoroughly convinced it's about to have one of the best action RPG campaigns in a long time With 0.3.1, the tower tyranny is getting toppled. Precursor tablets won't be tied to towers anymore, and we'll be able to use them in any map we're running. To make up for the lack of overlap, GGG is buffing the tablets and adding additional content to each map you run in the form of shrines, rogue exiles, and the like. Towers will still exist, and clearing them will now reward a tablet on top of revealing a large portion of the Atlas. The other major endgame change addresses how long it takes to complete maps in the first place. A number of the largest maps (including Vaal City, the bane of my existence) are being reduced in size, and they're adding a boss to every map. Now, we'll be able to complete a map just by killing the boss, rather than needing to explore every nook and cranny for all the rare monsters. Existing bosses in maps will be replaced by Powerful bosses that drop extra loot. These changes should combine to make mapping a more satisfying experience, and I'm looking forward to checking them out next week. There are other changes as well, including a reduction of the size of areas of chilled ground, an increase to citadels, and a change to the way alchemy orbs work. You can check out the update here, and full patch notes should be available in a few days. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Russell Adderson Russ has been playing PC games since the top of the line graphics were in ASCII and has been obsessed with them just about as long. After a coordinated influence campaign to bamboozle his parents into getting a high speed internet connection to play EverQuest, his fate was well and truly sealed. When he's not writing about videogames, he's teaching karate, cooking an overly complicated dish, or attempting to raise his daughter with a well rounded classical education (Civilization, Doom, and Baldur's Gate, of course).He's probably mapping in Path of Exile right now. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Path of Exile 2's next major update lands next week, adding a new campaign act, a massive list of buffs, and—yes, finally—a way to trade while the other player is offline 'Let's fix every problem anyone has': Path of Exile 2 director says its massive next patch should pull the game out of its Dawn of the Hunt depression era Path of Exile 2's newest update has me thoroughly convinced it's about to have one of the best action RPG campaigns in a long time Everyone can try Path of Exile 2 for free when its gigantic new update drops later this week Path of Exile 2 players prepare for 'the coming war' between pets as the devs add an infamous singing goblin troupe and a bird made to kill them Just 2 weeks after its release, this Diablo-style roguelike has already reworked its entire campaign to please action RPG fans looking for a challenge Latest in RPG Diablo 4 is crossing the streams with Starcraft cosmetics, and honestly? A Terran marine makes a better Barbarian than I'd have expected A beginners guide to Final Fantasy 14 in 2025: Getting set up and making the most out of your time in Eorzea The surprise Witcher 3 patch adding cross-platform mod support is delayed until 2026 While Deus Ex's confounding remaster is $30, the entire series is on sale for less than $10 on Steam An obscure RPG's moral dilemma about the 'ethical' human meat alternative propping up a zombie society is one of the best side quests I've ever played, and Steam achievements show only 13% of its players have even seen it Code Vein 2's release date reveal means you'll be starting 2026 off by hunting down vampires (but don't call them vampires), which really should be a new year tradition Latest in News Path of Exile 2 is making a surprise Atlas overhaul next week to liberate its players from tower tyranny Worst people alive hack nursery chain and start posting pictures and personal info of literal toddlers on the dark web End of an era as Bowser (no not that one) retires from Nintendo Someone made the Metal Gear Solid 4 channel-surfing section into a game and it's absolutely perfect In Falsus is the exact kind of mega-anime rhythm game I've been desperate for on PC Turns out, Microsoft will offer Windows 10 security updates for free until 2026—but unfortunately not in the US or the UK HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've had my hands on the best laptops for gaming of this generation and these are the ones I recommend Best SSD for gaming in 2025: the fastest and the best value solid state drives to perk up your PC Best Hall effect keyboards in 2025: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Corsair Sabre V2 Pro Ultralight Wireless gaming mouse review Glorious Model O3 Wireless review Hades 2 review Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles review Baby Steps review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Accessibility Statement Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Please login or signup to comment Please wait...
