If you ever gave up on Path of Exile because of how slow and cumbersome the early-game melee combat is, you might want to give it a second chance now that the Legion update has arrived. It has not only rebalanced a whole host of melee skills, but it has also greatly improved how they function, how powerful they feel, and perhaps most importantly of all, how much set-up they need before they're truly fun to mess around with.

The Legion update has also enhanced the AI some of the early-game creatures and bosses in order to make them easier to predict and a bit more interesting to fight. While a minor improvement to early-game content, it is worth mentioning that these monsters make a frequent appereance in the end-game map system as well, which is where these fairness-focused changes will see the biggest impact.

As is tradition, the update has also brought in two new leagues that offer everyone a chance to start fresh, be they a veteran or a complete beginner. However, unlike some of the previous leagues, the newly introduced Legion mechanics aren't very complex or too difficult to master. They're mostly just about fighting a whole bunch of powerful monsters you find while roaming the world, which I suppose is a pretty good way of highlight what the new melee combat system has to offer.

There's also a whole bunch of new items to play around with, balance changes to ponder over, as well as tweaks to how some of the previous league mechanics function. It's a bit too much to easily summarize, so if you're interested in all of the details, you'll find the full patch notes over at the official website.

And finally, allow me to leave you with the trailer and developer commentary for the Legion update. Enjoy!