Overview
This is a meta/patch-notes digest — not a single build guide. It walks through Moxsy’s read of the 0.5 “Return of the Ancients” patch notes, highlighting which archetypes the patch dragged down and which got promoted into league-starter relevance.
Note on the entry type: because this video covers the patch landscape rather than a single character, it is filed as a “Various” creator digest. Visitors browsing for specific build mechanics should follow the linked individual build pages once they exist; this entry exists so the wiki indexes Moxsy’s broader patch take alongside the build entries that came out of it.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Useful framing for picking a league starter — clear winners and losers based on actual patch math
- Names the specific notes that moved each archetype (Pathfinder ascendancy nodes, Toxic Growth pustule counts, Snipe Mirage interaction)
- Tightly focused on the build implications rather than reading every patch note verbatim
Cons
- Transcript-captured portion of the video is short — coverage of full content is limited
- Not a build guide in itself; consult linked or follow-up videos for executable gameplay
Key Notes
- Big losers — Poison Pathfinder. Overwhelming Toxicity drops from -35% to -50% poison duration; Running Assault movement penalty shrinks from -50% to -30%; Toxic Growth now fires 5 pustules max (down from 12), with each volley at 5 instead of 4. Combined, that’s roughly a halving of Toxic Growth’s effective damage and a significant gating of the archetype’s mobility/throughput.
- Big winners — Twisters / Huntress. Twisters retain (and arguably extend) their dominance, anchoring some of the fastest campaign clear times in PoE2 — community speedruns reportedly land around three hours from fresh-start to maps. Strong league-start candidate for anyone chasing campaign speed.
- Snipe + Mirage change. Mirage Dead Eye / Mirage Archer can now use channelled skills including Snipe and Plasma Blast — a notable indirect buff to Ranger Deadeye builds that depend on the Mirage damage layer.
Recommended Follow-ups
The build digest above is just the headline read. For executable league-starter plans drawn from these patch dynamics, look at the creator’s individual build videos (Ice Shot / Snipe Deadeye, martial-artist monk, and the previewed twister-leaning huntress) — those are where the per-skill gear, gem links, and tree paths live.
Credits & Source
Digest credited to Moxsy. See the source video for the full patch read + voice commentary: FULL PATH OF EXILE 2 0.5 PATCH BREAKDOWN.