Druid and Fate of the Vaal: What Patch 0.4.0 Added to PoE 2

What patch 0.4.0 brought and why it still matters

Patch 0.4.0, The Last of the Druids, launched on December 12, 2025 and was a major early access update for Path of Exile 2. It added the Druid class, Talisman weapons, the temporary Fate of the Vaal league, dozens of new support gems and reworked endgame systems. A free weekend ran at launch, so anyone could try the game until December 15.

Today, October 17, 2026, the current build is 0.5.5 Forbidden Rites (September 4, 2026). Version 1.0 with the Duelist class and a free-to-play model is announced for December 11, 2026, and the game is still in early access. This article is therefore a look back: what 0.4.0 added, what was changed afterward and what is still useful when you pick a build now. Data is current as of October 17, 2026.

The short version: the Druid introduced a new playstyle built on shapeshifting, Fate of the Vaal showed how a hand-built temple works, and the sheer number of new supports and passives widened build options considerably.

The Druid and Talismans: how forms work

The Druid is a new class that, according to descriptions, scales from Strength and Intelligence. It alternates between a human form (staves, nature spells) and animal forms: Bear, Wolf and Wyvern. Bear and Wolf were available first and the Wyvern arrived later, so players did not get the full set of forms at launch.

Shapeshifting is tied to Talismans, a new weapon class. As described, the talisman you hold sets the base skill of the animal form, and casting spells returns you to human form. That is what makes the Druid a melee-caster hybrid: you do not pick one side, you build a rhythm of switches.

The class launched with two ascendancies: Shaman and Oracle.

A practical note: the form system takes time to learn, and mistakes in talisman choice and skill order cost time and currency. If you would rather skip the trial and error, a custom build gets you playing with a ready plan.

New supports, skills and unique items

According to the official 0.4.0 notes, the update delivered these amounts of new content:

• over 35 new support gems;

• over 8 special Lineage Supports;

• over 20 new skills, mostly Primal;

• over 10 new unique items;

• over 250 new passive skills.

Among the new skills is Spell Totem, which makes a totem cast spells fueled by charges.

Individual support descriptions were adjusted during the 0.4.0 hotfixes and again in patch 0.5: some effects were rebalanced and certain gems were temporarily disabled. Before you invest in materials for a specific build, check the gem text in game. For experimenting with new supports, Uncut Support Gems come in handy.

Fate of the Vaal: the Temple of Atziri step by step

The league is built around Vaal Beacons, stone structures scattered across the open world. Kill enemies near a beacon to charge it, and once the beacons are charged you get access to the Temple of Atziri, also known as Lira Vaal.

Inside there is a console where you assemble the temple layout: rooms go into a six-cell grid, and each run gives you six rooms. Placement order matters, so it pays to plan the layout in advance. At the start of the league players described room types such as Corruption Chambers, Sacrificial Chambers, Alchemy Labs and Commander rooms, each with its own rewards and mechanics.

The riskiest was reported to be Corruption Chamber III: according to player reports at launch, a second corruption on an item had a 50% chance to destroy it. If you work with corruption at all, keep a stock of Vaal Orbs and never gamble an item you cannot replace.

Launch details changed later. Patches roughly doubled room modifiers, and 0.5.0 added Tier 4 room rewards, so numbers from the first weeks are historical. Fate of the Vaal itself was a fresh-economy league and ended long ago. For a start in similar leagues, League Starter Builds are a good base.

Atziri, the Royal Architect and league rewards

The league ends with the pinnacle boss Atziri. The road to her runs through the Royal Architect, also called Xipocado, a boss you must defeat to progress through the temple.

Patch 0.4.0b fixed a bug with Royal Architect and Xipocado skills. Later the developers halved the number of destabilized rooms after the Architect is defeated and let the Architect connect to any adjacent room. That means route guides from the first days of the league are now outdated.

The reward for beating Atziri was reported to be the unique staff Atziri's Rule. For its exact effects, rely on the current item description rather than launch-era retellings.

While you work through the league, the main game still needs attention: Campaign Boss kills can be handed to a specialist to save time.

Endgame: Abyss, maps and unique items

In 0.4.0 the Abyss mechanic became part of the core game, with encounters in specific campaign areas starting in Act 2. You can now get to know it long before the final maps.

In the endgame, Precursor Tablets add mechanics. They expand the set of effects on Maps, and how many tablets you can use depends on the waystone affixes.

Unique items got their own layer of changes: more than ten new ones joined improvements to underused items. Among those that draw player interest is Atziri's Acuity, whose name echoes the league theme. A long-time player target is Headhunter, a heavy belt that steals the modifiers of rare monsters. It remains very expensive.

Precursor and Kalguuran supporter packs

For the 0.4.0 launch the developers released two lines of supporter packs. The base pack in each line cost $30 USD, and upgrading to a pricier pack in the series credited what you already owned. The packs were sold only until update 0.5.0 launched and can no longer be bought.

• Precursor - a gravity and marble theme: the Gravity Well portal effect, the Marble Statue, and in the top packs cosmetics for the Relic of the Precursors map device.

• Kalguuran - a maritime and astronomical theme: the Astronomer's Level-Up effect and the Hartlin's Wrath finisher.

Within each line the packs came in steps of 300, 600 and 900 points for the in-game store, with contents growing from pack to pack. In gameplay terms this was pure cosmetics: the packs did not affect character power.

From 0.4.0 to the 1.0 release: what matters now

Below are the main milestones connecting patch 0.4.0 to today.

What this means for players: the ideas of 0.4.0, which are shapeshifting, supports and a hand-built temple, stayed in the game, but the exact numbers were tuned many times. Before investing in a build, read the current patch notes and gem descriptions. If in doubt, order a Build Check and have a specialist assess your plan before you spend currency.

And if you want to reach the endgame sooner with a new character, Power Leveling saves time on the campaign so you can start trying the Druid and fresh supports earlier.