Valuing Path of Exile 2 drops is now faster and simpler than ever, and so is planning your endgame

The Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients update introduces instant quick search for trade, and one of the most useful stash tabs ever.

Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients is almost here, and while the focus is very much on overhauling the endgame, Grinding Gear Games has put a lot of work into making its action RPG flow more smoothly than ever across all aspects of play. Among the quality-of-life changes you can expect with PoE 2 patch 0.5 and the new Runes of Aldur league are a powerful search tool to help you plot your course across the Atlas map, an easy way to confirm the value of item drops in seconds, and one of the most generously sized stash tabs ever made.

I've already talked about how the in-game build guides integration breaks down a decade-long barrier to entry. It's just as useful for veteran Path of Exile 2 buildcrafters, however, who can import their carefully constructed plans in order to streamline the process of following them. GGG hasn't stopped there, however. With the massive endgame rework complete transforming the Atlas, a new live-search filter makes quickly finding the maps you want to run next much simpler.

Just type in whatever you're looking for and it'll darken the screen, clearly highlighting the maps that match your chosen phrase. This can be as simple as the specific map name, or it could be other features like biome types, the presence of powerful bosses, or nodes with particular modifiers applied. Combine that with the new quest system, which can be accessed from the right-hand side of the screen and will walk you through each individual mechanic from the beginning all the way to its pinnacle boss fight, and you should always have a clear direction to go next in the endgame.

One of the most-requested additions is a quick search feature for the trade market, letting you immediately check whether a drop is worth trying to sell. Simply hold down Shift and Alt when you left-click on an item in your inventory for a price check. This will apply all the appropriate filters to compare against what's already there. Thanks to the updated search tool, you can now also disable individual modifiers to account for slight variations on the base, or to figure out how much particular affixes affect the overall value.

The Fragment tab has finally made its way across to Path of Exile 2, and it's one of the most impressively spacious storage solutions ever. It starts out with a page that features slots for all the various boss fragments you'll be gathering in the endgame, but that's only the beginning. Next is tablet storage, covering every different league mechanic type - you get six pages for each of these, adding to a total of 54. Last but not least comes space for Djinn Baryas and Inscribed Ultimatums, used to run ascendancy trials (again, six of each).

The Fragment tab is a premium offering, meaning you'll need to buy it with GGG's in-game microtransaction points, although it'll carry over from the first Path of Exile if you already own it there. The good news is that if you've bought PoE 2, you'll have been given some premium points with your early access purchase. I've already run down what I consider to be the most essential stash tab pickups for new players, but this new addition is looking set to join the ranks of the must-haves, especially with how much space it includes.

The previously existing Socketables stash tab gets an upgrade as well. Given how many new additions are coming with the Runes of Aldur league, you'll be craving extra space to hold all of the various crafting tools. There are now individual pages for standard Runes, Kalguuran Runes, Soul Cores, Idols, and Ancient Augments.

With all these additions, PoE 2 0.5 is set to feel smoother than ever. You'll want to check in with the patch notes before you start, because GGG has made a few last-minute tweaks that will affect some builds. There's an adjustment to the Ancestral Bond keystone passive skill for Totems, and a bug fix that will effectively buff minion damage.

Path of Exile 2 Return of the Ancients launches Friday May 29, and you can play for free from the start of the new league until Monday June 1. Progress made during the free trial will be saved, and you can carry it over if you decide to purchase the game, or when PoE 2 becomes a free-to-play game with update 1.0.

Game Director Jonathan Rogers has indicated that GGG is planning for the 0.5 update to be the last early access league, and suggests that Path of Exile 2's 1.0 launch is scheduled to arrive at the end of 2026, following the ExileCon festival on 7-8 November.