The 1.0 Release: December 11, 2026
Path of Exile 2's full 1.0 release on December 11, 2026 — what the launch brings, the Duelist as headline addition, the 0.5.5 event league before it, and how to be ready on day one.
December 11, 2026 is the date everything on this wiki points at: Path of Exile 2's full 1.0 release, announced at Gamescom 2026 with the Duelist class as its revealed headline. This page covers what the launch is, what it brings, and how to arrive ready.
What 1.0 Means
The 1.0 release is Path of Exile 2's transition to full version — the complete game, free to play, with the Duelist arriving as the marquee class addition. Grinding Gear Games announced the date on the Gamescom stage alongside the class reveal itself, tying the game's coming-of-age moment to its new swordsman. For players who have followed the early access era, 1.0 is the consolidation: the campaign, systems and content matured into their final launch form, with the new class and the new weapon specializations as the visible proof of what the full game adds. The game also officially launched in South Korea in August 2026, rounding out the release picture ahead of the global 1.0 date.
The Duelist as the Headline
A full release needs a face, and the PoE2 Duelist is 1.0's: the armored swordsman of the reveal trailer, the class journalists played at Gamescom and praised as exactly what the game needed, the sword specialization's flagship. Everything class-specific on this wiki — the guide, the skills analysis, the build outlook — is countdown coverage for this arrival. The strategic note for launch planners: new classes at full releases draw population surges, and the Duelist will be the most-rolled new character of December 11. The economic and grouping implications of that surge are covered on the sword specialization page's market section.
The 0.5.5 Event League and the Pre-Launch Window
Between the reveal and the release sits the pre-launch window, and the official deep dive paired the Duelist coverage with the 0.5.5 event league — the closing chapter of the early access era. The event league is the warm-up lap: a live-game context for the reveal's information, and a place for the community to gather before the 1.0 migration. Players using the window well are doing exactly what this wiki's preparation pages recommend — internalizing the sequel's combat rhythm, stocking launch currency plans, and following the reveal tracker for each new disclosure.
Arrival Day, Practicalized
The December 11 checklist, compressed: register in advance so the announced rewards attach to your account. Pre-download if the platform offers it, because launch-day queues are a genre tradition. Have your build framework chosen — paired blades or shield wall, per the outlook page — so the character screen is a confirmation rather than a debate. And keep this wiki open in a second tab, because the moment the servers go live, the theorycrafting pages you have been reading convert from frameworks to real builds, and the launch-week meta begins writing itself. The 1.0 release is the payoff of every page before it; December 11 is when the PoE2 Duelist stops being a trailer and starts being a character.