PoE2 1.0 Pre-Launch Checklist

Path of Exile 2 leaves Early Access on December 11, 2026 (PST) — about nine weeks from the week this checklist was written. Version 1.0 is completely free-to-play, launches a fresh challenge-league economy, and adds the Duelist, Acts 5 and 6, and more content being held for ExileCon in November.

This page is not another explanation of what is changing. It is a week-by-week action list: the concrete things to do, in order, so you log in on launch day with a confirmed account, a starter build you can actually play, and zero admin overhead. If you want the full context behind any item, the linked guides cover the mechanics in depth. The essential facts are in our 1.0 full release guide, and the economy implications are in the reset guide.

How to Use This Checklist

• Work top to bottom, one week at a time. Nothing in the early weeks costs money or requires a maxed character.
• Each item is an action, not reading material. Links go to the guide that completes the action.
• Time zones outside the Americas will see unlock on December 12 local time unless GGG announces a specific hour. Plan around the official countdown.

Week 1 (Oct 13–19) — Lock In the Account

• Register for the free cosmetic rewards and confirm your email. Accounts registered before launch with a confirmed email receive up to five cosmetic rewards; codes are emailed after December 11. Do this now while it is trivial, not on launch day. The full walkthrough is in the release guide’s rewards section.
• Make sure you can log into the account you actually want to use on the official site, PC client, Steam or Epic — reward codes are redeemed on the account you choose.
• Invite the friends who waited for free-to-play. 1.0 costs nothing, and a confirmed-email account banks them the same cosmetics. Send them the release guide link, not a last-minute text on December 11.
• Decide your platform rough cut. PC standalone, Steam, Epic, PlayStation and Xbox all launch together; so choose the platform your friends will actually play on and redeem the code where you want the cosmetics.

Week 2 (Oct 20–26) — Shortlist Your League Starter

• Pick two to three candidate starters, not one. The Duelist and the 1.0 patch notes can reshuffle the meta after ExileCon; a shortlist survives that. Start with the 0.5.5 league starter builds — the criteria matter more than the exact names: cheap uniques, no rare drops required, strong campaign, simple ramp.
• Filter for how you play. If you do not want to manage resources, prefer totem, minion or Blood Magic style builds; if you hate Acts 1–2 melee, plan around a caster or bow start.
• Bookmark one written guide per candidate with a full gem-progression section. A build you have to research on launch night does not count as a plan.
• New to ARPGs entirely? Spend an hour with the complete beginner’s guide before evaluating builds.

Week 3 (Oct 27–Nov 2) — Learn the Starter End to End

• Read your top candidate’s leveling section twice and note its swap timings — when it changes skills, when it changes weapons, and which quests grant the gems it needs.
• Skim the fast leveling guide for the route itself: fast way to endgame covers campaign pacing, and the Act 1 through Act 4 walkthroughs cover every quest that pays out skill points, respec points or inventory upgrades.
• Refresh the gem system if you are rusty — meta gems, support sockets and which gems need manual levelling are all in the gem socketing guide.
• Learn your starter’s defences, not just its damage. The defensive layers guide and the resistance and defence guide explain the stats your gear plan must hit; capped resistances are non-negotiable on every build.

Week 4 (Nov 3–9) — ExileCon Week: Watch and Re-plan

ExileCon 2026 runs November 7–8 (New Zealand time). This is the single biggest information event before launch: GGG has said full 1.0 details, including the Duelist’s ascendancies, are being held for the keynote.

• Block the keynote times in your calendar now, converted from NZT to your local time, and decide whether you watch live or catch the VOD. GGG’s stream begins at 12PM and the keynote at 1PM on Friday, November 6 (PST) — that is November 7–8 across most of the rest of the world.
• Watch the Duelist reveal specifically — ascendancy nodes, sword skills and whether any starter archetype gets a new competitor. If the Duelist looks overtuned, expect a crowded league start around it.
• Check for the final launch-content confirmation: Acts 5 and 6, the new challenge league mechanic, and the new supporter pack.
• Watch or skim the race finals (or catch the qualifier VODs beforehand — those races already aired on October 1) for meta reads from top players; our ExileCon qualifier guide explains the format.
• Update your shortlist the day after the keynote. Cut anything nerfed or invalidated, promote the backup, and keep one non-Duelist option in case the new class has launch-day queues or kinks.

Week 5 (Nov 10–16) — Patch Notes and Final Starter Decision

• Watch for the official 1.0 patch notes (traditionally GGG publishes them in the final stretch before launch). Read the sections for your shortlisted builds yourself: nerfs are often narrower than the community reaction suggests, but support-gem and ailment changes can quietly kill a build.
• Lock your primary starter and one backup. The backup is for failed mechanics or surprise balance changes, not for flipping on a whim in December.
• Write out your starter’s gem progression on paper or a note: which gem at which level, in what order, for both weapon setups. This is the document you alt-tab to during the campaign.
• Verify your account email one more time if you have not received any GGG marketing since registering — reward codes go to that inbox after December 11.

Week 6 (Nov 17–23) — Dry Run the Campaign

• If you are new or out of practice, run one character through the campaign now in the current event. Speed does not matter; recognition does. A player who has seen every boss room once gets through launch week far faster.
• Practice the two things that kill first-time runs: boss mechanics in the act bosses guide, and gearing discipline — life, resistances, and weapon upgrades on schedule.
• Refresh crafting basics so you can fix a bad resist piece without the trade market: the complete crafting guide and Essence crafting cover the deterministic tools that matter in a fresh economy.
• Plan your flask and charm setup for the first character — flask guide — including freeze and shock immunity charms if your build path reaches them.
• Skim the trading guide for day-one mechanics: how the marketplace and currency exchange work in a fresh economy.

Week 7 (Nov 24–30) — Endgame Plan and League Wind-Down

• Write your endgame progression plan past the campaign: Waystones and map progression first, then the endgame roadmap, so momentum does not die the moment the story ends.
• Decide your week-one money strategy. In a fresh economy, currency knowledge beats gear knowledge — the currency and economy guide explains what retains value and why.
• Close out your Forbidden Rites goals. The event runs until 1.0, after which characters and items migrate back as remove-only stash tabs. Finish challenges, achievements or unfinished builds now; nothing in the event economy transfers as spendable wealth.
• Stash tab note: GGG typically runs stash-tab promotions around major launches. If one is live, this is the week to buy account tabs you actually need — purchased tabs are available in the new league empty, layouts and labels carry over.
• Check your Spirit and resource plan for the starter so sustain is not a surprise: Spirit and mana management.

Week 8 (Dec 1–7) — Logistics and Final Checks

• Confirm your launch-day schedule. Exact unlock hour is still to be announced; December 11 is PST, which is December 12 in Europe, Asia and Oceania. Block the window, and plan sleep around it rather than pulling an all-nighter you regret by hour three.
• Update the client and preload if GGG makes preloading available. Do this mid-week, not ten minutes before unlock.
• Verify login on every device you might use, and make sure your authenticator/email access works — account lockouts are the most common launch-day disaster and the most avoidable.
• Re-read the final patch notes diff for your locked starter one last time, including any hotfix announcements.
• Set your rewards expectation: codes are emailed after December 11 to the confirmed address — watch the inbox, including spam, but there is nothing to redeem before then.

Week 9 (Dec 8–11) — Launch Week

• Tuesday/Wednesday: final client update; confirm the download is complete.
• Thursday/Friday: skim the launch-day community info — server status, known issues, queue guidance — from official channels only.
• Before clicking play, re-read your gem-progression note one more time.
• Create your character in the new challenge league, not Standard and not the frozen Early Access realm. Early Access characters are never deleted, but they live on in a separate frozen realm and do not enter the 1.0 economy — this is the single easiest launch-day mistake to make.
• Claim your cosmetic codes from the email after December 11 and redeem them on your chosen platform/account.
• Pace the first weekend. Eat, sleep, take breaks. The economy and the ladder both last far longer than opening night; a clear head makes fewer build mistakes than caffeine does.

The 60-Second Version

If nine weeks feels like too much calendar, these are the items that actually matter:

1. Register and confirm your email now for up to five free cosmetics.
2. Lock one cheap starter and one backup by mid-November.
3. Watch the ExileCon keynote (Nov 7–8 NZT) and read the 1.0 patch notes.
4. Know your gem progression and your resistances before launch night.
5. Create the character in the new challenge league on December 11/12.
6. Redeem the reward codes from your email after launch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to start on day one for the rewards? No. Register before launch with a confirmed email; the codes are sent after December 11 regardless of when you first log in.

Will my Forbidden Rites or Early Access character carry into 1.0? Nothing is deleted, but 1.0 starts a fresh challenge-league economy. Event characters and items migrate back as remove-only stash tabs when the event ends, and EA characters remain in their separate frozen realm. Full details are in the release guide and the reset guide.

Should I plan to start the Duelist blind? You can, but keep a non-Duelist starter on standby until the ascendancy details land at ExileCon and the patch notes confirm its numbers.

When exactly do servers unlock? December 11, 2026, Pacific Time (December 12 in most other regions), with the exact hour to be confirmed by GGG. Treat the official countdown as authoritative.