MMOEXP Path of Exile Guide: Hail Kingdom – Navigating the 0.5 Endgame Overhaul

Current prediction: Announcement likely the last week of April (Thursday, as usual), with patch release around May 8th.

1. When Will Patch 0.5 Arrive?

Current prediction: Announcement likely the last week of April (Thursday, as usual), with patch release around May 8th.

Why? Previous patches followed a ~4–5 month cycle. Dawn of the Hunt ran April through late August (~5 months). 0.5 should follow suit.

Some sources (POE1DB) speculate a delay to early June, but May remains the most realistic bet.

2. Swords, Dualist, and New Weapons – Not Coming (Yet)

Jonathan Rogers stated: Releasing a new weapon is harder than releasing a new class.

In PoE1, every class is tied to a weapon (Monk → Quarterstaff, Sorceress → elemental staves, etc.).

New weapons (swords, flails, axes, daggers) would require their corresponding unreleased classes (Dualist, Templar, Marauder, Shadow) at the same time.

Prediction: No new weapons or classes in 0.5. Save Dualist for 1.0 launch to maximize hype for POE Currency.

3. What We WILL Get: New Ascendancies for Everyone

Adding ascendancies is “super easy” per Jonathan.

Each class currently has 1–3 ascendancies; the third slot will likely be filled in 0.5.

Predicted New Ascendancies:

Huntress: Companion-based ascendancy (bottom-right tree has underutilized companion nodes).

Druid: Minion summoner – shapeshift into a tree that controls treant minions (mirroring Infernalist’s demon form).

Ranger: Arcane Archer / elemental damage scaling (lots of elemental nodes nearby, currently missing).

Monk: Physical/combo-based ascendancy – unarmed (Hollow Palm), stun buildup, blind, or improved combo mechanics.

Warrior: Already has rage/tank; may get a bleed or warcry-focused option.

4. Endgame Problems – And How 0.5 Must Fix Them

Current Issues:

T1–T16 progression feels meaningless – most players skip to buying gear in trade league.

Currency bloat – 90% of catalysts, emotions, and tablets are useless for most builds.

Boss rewards are unrewarding – low drop rates on chase items (e.g., Adorned jewels from Trials of Chaos).

Excessive friction – too many steps to juice a single waystone (currency, delirium, corruption, etc.).

Inventory management – identifying hundreds of trash items for one usable piece.

What Players Want (Your “Hail Kingdom” Fixes):

Token system for bosses – exchange tokens for guaranteed chase items instead of pure RNG.

Most items drop identified – only special items (e.g., Uniques) remain unidentified for excitement POE currency buy.