Path of Exile 2’s 0.5.0 Return of the Ancients update releases at the end of May, promising an absolute beast of a patch that significantly reworks PoE2’s endgame mechanics while giving crafters plenty to tinker with as part of its accompanying Runes of Aldur league.
Although PoE 2’s 0.5.0 update brings a plethora of systems and mechanics changes, it also comes with its fair share of fresh storylines that expand upon the lore of its world, alongside two new ascendancies, many new unique items, in-game build guide support, and much more.
Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients 0.5.0 Update Release Date
Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients 0.5.0 update and the Runes of Aldur league both locked in their release date to May 29, 2026.
Launching five months after its predecessor, it is “by far the biggest update [Grinding Gear Games has] ever made, to PoE1 or 2,” and one with lots of changes to core endgame systems, which explains the longer-than-usual wait.
Game Director Jonathan Rogers said that his team is also “doing significantly more testing than usual,” which is why full patch notes, normally shared immediately following the reveal of new updates, arrive instead on May 21.
Path of Exile 2’s 0.5.0 update is also the final early access content drop before the game’s 1.0 version goes live, “sometime after ExileCon.”
Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients 0.5.0 Update Endgame Rework
The most anticipated part of PoE2’s 0.5.0 update is its long-awaited endgame rework. Originally meant for its predecessor, it brings us a fully transformed Atlas whose main new addition is the massive fortress seen in its trailer, which rises from the ground after clearing the first tower map.
Framed by one of several new storylines, the path to its center – where a new pinnacle boss awaits – tasks us with completing special map types. We saw one that spawns an Azmeri Spirit that jumps between rare enemies, while another encases all rare enemies in essence crystals.
As of Path of Exile 2’s 0.5.0 update, dedicated questlines lead us to our first encounter with the various endgame bosses, leaving the hunt for randomly dropping keys to subsequent attempts.
Tackling any final endgame boss after the first encounter pits us against stronger versions that offer exclusive rewards and manipulate the Atlas. Defeating the fortress’ pinnacle boss, which is the toughest challenge in-game, allows us to activate a whole section of this new area, completing all the maps within and rewarding their associated Atlas points.
Each map in the fortress includes a Precursor node that appears after defeating its boss, giving us a point to spend on the reworked Atlas passive tree, which features considerably more potent options as well as multi-choice nodes that further enhance endgame maps.
One showcased during a recent press event makes Rogue Exiles retreat from battles, reappearing in an adjacent map as tougher versions. Another node allows Azmeri Spirits to possess Strongboxes for greater rewards. We can now unlock the entire Atlas Tree, leaving the multi-choice nodes as options that define our builds.
Adding to that, three Atlas Masters offer ascendancy-style abilities. Organized on rows and unlocked by completing missions for them, these grant further bonuses and can be freely reassigned.
Before each map, we can also swap masters to take advantage of different bonuses. They are “the main way” to create our Atlas build while enabling flexibility for running different map types.
Most of the other existing endgame mechanics see significant reworks in Path of Exile 2’s Return of the Ancients update. Now found in fixed locations on the sprawling Atlas, their refreshed mechanics and dedicated passive trees are deeper and more impactful, while fresh storylines lead us to their respective bosses.
The changes are numerous – to the point where the hour-long livestream only gave us a glance at the content involved –, but we’ll summarize the most important ones below.
PoE2 Return of the Ancients 0.5.0 Delirium Rework
- Questline involving Elder Madox unlocked upon completing your first Delirium encounter
- Bar at the bottom shows how deep in Delirium you are as well as the time left to complete the encounter
- Purple mirror shards make enemies more powerful
- Red Mirror shards send you “into the depths of your mind,” rewarding an amulet instilled with two notables if you escape
- Delirium currency can now also craft mods onto jewels and grant notables not available on the passive tree
- New final Delirium boss: Tangmazu, the Raven Trickster
PoE2 Return of the Ancients 0.5.0 Breach Rework
- Questline involves Ailith and the Keepers of the Flame fighting against the Hiveborn
- Breaches have a visible timer and show how much kills extend it
- They stabilize if kept open for long enough, spawning tougher foes and rewarding Hiveblood used at the Genesis Tree
- Hiveborn drop Wombgifts that can also be fed into the Genesis Tree
- Genesis Tree acts as a crafting system that offers more control over which items we target, down to the base types and modifiers spawning on them
- Breachlord duo as new final boss
PoE2 Return of the Ancients 0.5.0 Ritual Rework
- Questline involves freeing Aoife from The Nameless King
- Ritual encounters now only reward Omens and Unique Items
- Tribute can be sacrificed to the Nameless King for an audience
- Defeating him enables you to start the ritual to fight the Ritual end boss: the Bodach
- Doing so involves a multi-map ritual, with adjacent maps offering different rewards
- Monsters from different maps appear in subsequent ones, including the bosses
- Five maps must be completed, leading to a challenging final encounter against five bosses
PoE2 Return of the Ancients 0.5.0 Expedition Rework
- Questline revolves around tracking down Gwynnen
- Logbooks grant access to entire sections of the ocean
- Each map there has Expedition encounters
- Integrates Remnants added in the Runes of Aldur league, explained below
- Their modifiers apply to monsters further down the explosive line, adding both challenge and potential rewards
- New encounter types and bosses
Abyss hasn’t seen a proper rework, since it was already improved when it was introduced to the sequel, but its fissures now stretch across areas of the Atlas itself.
The wilderness between the fixed zones dedicated to specific mechanics can also house new encounters, like maps that make their regular monsters magic, or feature Rogue Exiles hunting beasts.
Path of Exile 2 0.5.0 Update Challenges, Ascendancies, Build Guide Support
Challenges also make their way to Path of Exile 2 in the Return of the Ancients update, rewarding those who complete them with an armor set.
From there, Path of Exile 2’s 0.5.0 update adds two new ascendancies to existing classes. The Huntress can harness the power of The Spirit Walker, communing with wisps to have up three spirit companions aiding her in battle. Specializing is possible, but tapping into all three also has its distinct benefits. In addition, The Spirit Walker can also tame beast bosses, having them fight by her side.
The Monk can follow the path of The Martial Artist, summoning illusions that echo his attacks, bells that damage foes when shattered, or using the Way of the Stonefist passive to completely transform his gloves into new base types with considerably more potent modifiers.
As far as quality of life improvements go, the Atlas has a search bar that updates in real-time, letting us quickly find map layouts. New uniques further open up build possibilities, while in-game build guide support lets players who opt to follow guides see suggested paths without tabbing out.
Path of Exile 2 Runes of Aldur League Goes All-In on Crafting
The Runes of Aldur league accompanies Path of Exile 2’s 0.5.0 update, introducing us to Farrow, a new character who seeks to understand the secrets of Ezomyte Runesmithing. After rescuing him early on in the campaign, each area will house a Remnant that we can interact with.
They already have certain runic symbols applied, allowing us to fill in the rest. Different rune combinations, which are neatly tracked on the UI, yield different rewards that range “from basic currency items to socketable runes with specific properties.”
Activating Remnants wakes up undead enemies while also empowering them based on the symbols used. Fire runes grant foes fire-based abilities, moon-aligned runes cause lunar beams to strike in the area, and overcoming these obstacles is mandatory for claiming the sought-after rewards.
Remnants become more complex as our characters gain strength, allowing more symbols to be crafted into them, yielding better rewards, and spawning more challenging encounters, such as one that turns an enemy into an invincible boss that can only be defeated by eliminating its peers.
Another key addition coming in PoE2’s Runes of Aldur League is Verisium, a resource that we collect to craft items. This enables us to use Runic Ward, a new resource that can act both as an extra life pool and as fuel for powerful new skills that aren’t limited by stats or weapon type.
Alloys are another type of resource that can add “new modifiers not normally available” to items.
The Runes of Aldur League also includes new monsters and encounters, both as part of the reworked Expedition mechanic and outside of it, “100+ new crafting runes, including meta-crafting options like elemental conversion runes, tier-upgrading Masterwork Runes, or runes that can temporarily expand an item’s modifier pool,” so crafting enthusiasts definitely have plenty to look forward to.
Path of Exile 2’s Runes of Aldur league sounds like a rich playground for crafters, while its gargantuan 0.5.0 Return of the Ancients update massively shakes up the endgame experience, one of the areas which, in the eyes of the community, needed improvements.
Although the developer will still deploy updates that address issues with the newly-added content once it releases at the end of May, the team’s focus will shift to PoE2’s 1.0 update.
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