Path of Exile 2 patch notes 0.1.0d: Block and dodge roll changes, Ultimatum updated, skills revamped, and more

Path of Exile 2 has received a new patch today (December 12, 2024), addressing several pertinent problems in the game, especially those concerning the swarming nature of mobs, underwhelming block and leech effects, buggy Ultimatum encounters, and more. As noted in the latest Path of Exile 2 Early Access feedback, this patch is likely the first of many updates designed to improve game balance and enhance the overall player experience.

While this patch has already delivered on the promise of introducing Dodge Roll changes, the updates to Checkpoints remain absent. Addressing this, the developers shared in a forum post:

"A lot of players have been reporting that it can be tedious to need to retread areas of maps in order to get back to objectives that they already found."

To make navigation in the campaign easier, Grinding Gear Games outlined a plan to make the intra-zone Checkpoints traversable via fast travel and reduce backtracking. This change is expected to be introduced in an upcoming update in Path of Exile 2, with further adjustments to Checkpoint positions as they continue to gather feedback.

Some key features of Path of Exile 2 patch 0.1.0d

No more whiffed Boneshatters (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

Possibly the most significant part of this patch is the changes to the Dodge Roll in Path of Exile 2. As of now, the player size has been set to zero units, which means we can now Dodge Roll through the gaps between enemies. This is not the same as the Phasing Mechanic of Path of Exile, and it is still possible to get stuck between enemies. However, it will alleviate some of the body-blocking issues that are frustrating, especially in the early game where clear speed is pretty abysmal.

The patch also addresses the buggy nature of Trial of Chaos Ultimatum encounters by introducing many fixes. Furthermore, block chance is now usable again, as the passive block chance will now work on every attack as opposed to attacks from the front only.

Also Read: Path of Exile 2 Passive Skill Tree guide: How to plan out your build

Trigger Gems have also been significantly rebalanced and are generally harder to proc in minute-to-minute combat. These Meta Skill Gems will now gain energy based on the rarity of the monster, where unique bosses will grant the most energy generation. Furthermore, Cast on Ignite, in particular, will now generate skills based on the source of the Ignite, rather than the unconditional Ignite application of before.

The full patch notes are noted below.

Complete patch notes for Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.1.0d

General improvements and changes

Passive Block chance now applies to blockable hits from all directions, as opposed to just hits from in front.
Player size is now set to Zero units while dodge rolling instead of One unit.
Some smaller monsters can now be pushed while dodge rolling. This includes monsters such as the Adorned Beetles in Keth.
Inscribed Ultimatums and Djinn Baryas now display whether you will obtain Ascendancy Skill Points upon completing the Trial of Chaos or Trial of the Sekhemas, respectively.
Removed World Map Pins for encounters that were not from specific locations in Areas i.e. from Monster drops.
Improved attack-in-place behavior.
Rain of Arrows and Firestorm now have a hit-rate limit to prevent cases of them absolutely obliterating very large bosses. This will have little to no impact outside of boss fights with very large hitboxes.
Leech has been buffed.
Boneshatter now more reliably hits your target.
The duration of Armour Break has been increased to 12 seconds (previously 6).
To improve performance, Incinerate now creates circular areas of ignited ground instead of segments.
Added CTRL+Click shortcut to open the Currency Exchange at the appropriate NPCs.
Added a button to travel to the Trial of Chaos on the world map.
Added art for Close Combat Support.
Added 2D art for the Defiance of Destiny Unique Amulet.
Added "Ascendancy Skill Points" as a keyword, which details how sets of Ascendancy Points are obtained.
Added search functionality for Gemcutting and vendor inventories when using a controller. Keybinds for searching Stash on a controller have also been updated.
Added Gemcutting restrictions option for Gamepad.
Added suggested Supports for Time of Need.
Updated the suggested Supports for Bonestorm.
Added an option for opening the Trade website to the main menu for consoles.
Runes now sell to vendors for more Gold.
Updated art for Reserved Life and Mana.
Updated the description on Runes to clarify that once socketed they cannot be replaced.
Auras and Curses that affect ally or enemy resistances now display values in the Skill popout panel.
Tweaked the audio of the Kiwi Pets, Chimera Pet, and Baby Crowbell Pet to reduce their impact in town areas.
Updated the wording on the Invoker's "...and Protect me from Harm" Ascendancy Passive Skill to clarify its functionality.
Updated the description on Hexblast to clarify that it only detonates a single Curse per Enemy in its radius.
Updated the description on Fiery Death Support to clarify that the Supported Skill does not need to kill the ignited enemy itself.
Reduced the defenses provided to monsters by the Magma Barrier modifier.
Walking Goliaths no longer use their suicide attack if they are Rare.

Trigger Gems and energy gain

Trigger Gem energy gain was not in the right place and it was far too easy to use ailments to trigger spells. One problem with the previous system is that if we balanced it to make triggering happen in boss fights then the triggering would happen far too often during clearing.
To address this we are now making "Monster Power" part of the calculation for energy gain. This means that it's far easier to trigger skills from Unique Monsters than it is from normal monsters, but you also hit many more normal monsters when fighting.
Another issue was using low-level skills with unconditional ailment applications such as Flame Wall to ignite enemies for triggering. In order to make the source of the ignite matter we are making the energy gain dependent on the strength of the ignite. We have also rebalanced all energy gain across the board.

Ultimatum changes

Generally improved balance across the board with Ultimatum monsters, bosses, and modifiers. Mostly targeting outliers that were too difficult and bringing them in line.
The monster density of Ultimatum encounters has been made more consistent.
Stormcaller Runes, Blood Globules, Heart Tethers, and Impending Doom rings no longer spawn while a player is on a lift or near the altars in the Vaal Soul Core room.
Fixed a bug where Player Minions could get stuck at the top of the lift in the Trials of Chaos.

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug which caused enemies to be Primed for Stun or Electrocute earlier than intended while in a party.
Fixed a bug where Gemling Legionnaires with the Integrated Efficiency Ascendancy Passive Skill allocated could lose their three additional Skill Slots if they were empty when entering a new area.
Fixed a bug with party member reviving when using WASD input where you could revive party members from too far away.
Fixed a bug where "Waystones found have a chance to be a tier higher" on the Atlas Passive Tree wasn't working.
Fixed a bug where the Audio Mix setting was not being remembered when restarting the game.
Fixed a bug where one of the small Passive Skills in the Fleshcrafter cluster was not connected to the Notable Passive Skill. It is possible for your Passive Skill Tree to be reset if you had this cluster allocated, apologies!
Fixed a bug where you could not open a portal in The Riverbank in Cruel difficulty.
Fixed a bug where some of Zalmarath, the Colossus' skills could persist after their death.
Fixed a bug where opening a full-screen panel while disenchanting could prevent you from performing any actions until you relogged.
Fixed a bug where some fire spells, such as Volatile Dead and Incinerate, were not functioning correctly with Raging Spirits.
Fixed a bug where "Buffs on you expire Slower" from the Prolonged Assault Notable Passive Skill and other Chronomancer Ascendancy Passive Skills were applying to Debuffs and other effects as well as Buffs.
Fixed a bug where non-reviving Minions were spawning a Remnant from the Grim Feast Buff when dying in your presence.
Fixed a bug Infernalists with the Pyromantic Pact Ascendancy Passive Skill allocated were considered to be on Low Infernal Flame if they were at 50% of Maximum Infernal Flame or lower, instead of 35%.
Fixed a bug where the world map icon for Candlemass in Cruel was not updating correctly.
Fixed a bug where you could be unable to upgrade Gems despite satisfying the Attribute Requirement by having the Adaptive Capability Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy Passive Skill allocated.
Fixed a bug where Fiery Death Support was not dealing damage correctly.
Fixed Infusion Support Gems on Herald skills applying the gain damage as extra elemental damage to all attacks instead of just the damage from the Herald skill.
Fixed a bug where Expedition encounters could fail to generate in the Decay Map.
Fixed a bug where Quality on the Sacrifice Skill was causing Minions to Revive 0-5% more slowly, instead of more quickly.
Fixed a bug where the exit portal for the final boss in Trial of the Sekhemas did not visually display upon killing the boss.
Fixed a bug where socketed Skills you didn't meet the requirements for were missing their name in the Skills menu when using a controller.
Fixed a bug where the Elemental Storm skill granted by the Stormweaver's Tempest Caller Ascendancy Passive Skill could sometimes place the storm underneath you.
Fixed a snapshotting bug with the "Loads an Additional Bolt" Crossbow modifier.
Fixed a bug where the Contagion Skill was not spreading Poison.
Fixed a bug where Tempest Bell could become invisible.
Fixed a bug where NPCs were missing their name labels in Hideouts when using a controller.
Fixed a bug where signing into a guest account on PlayStation 5 could delete your friends list in-game.
Fixed a bug where you could sometimes be unable to enter your hideout on PlayStation 5.
Fixed eight instance crashes.
Fixed six client crashes.
Fixed a client crash that could occur on Xbox.
Fixed three client crashes that could occur on PlayStation 5.

The realm was brought down briefly during the deployment but is now online, with the patch currently live.

Check out our other Path of Exile 2 features and guides:

Path of Exile 2 gearing guide for beginners: When and how to modify gear
Path of Exile 2 Salvaging and Disenchantment guide
Path of Exile 2 Finding the Forge quest guide (Find Renly's tools)
Path of Exile 2: All Permanent stat bonuses you can get from the campaign
Path of Exile 2 Attributes guide: Should you take Strength, Dex, or Int?
A guide to Trading in Path of Exile 2: How to buy and sell items, and p2p trading etiquette