Important Note:

• In order to provide a smoother experience at the launch of December's 2.5.0 update, this 2.4.2 update contains many of the improvements intended for 2.5.0. Enjoy!

New Path of Exile Client:

• There are now two Path of Exile game clients. The original DirectX 9 version has been substantially improved. We have also introduced an experimental 64-bit DirectX 11 version which you can now use. This version will become the default for systems that support it at 2.5.0's release.
• To use the 64-bit DirectX 11 client: If you're using the Standalone game client, then run PathofExile_x64.exe. If you're using Steam, right click on Path of Exile in your library and click "Play 64-bit DX11 Version".
• Both the DirectX 9 and 11 clients are substantially faster than the previous version of Path of Exile in high-load situations when CPU-bound. In addition, the new DirectX 11 client has more scope for future improvement as we continue to optimise it over time.
• These improvements are CPU optimisations and thus don't improve performance if your graphics card is the bottleneck.
• We now use D3D9 Ex mode on Windows Vista and above which substantially improves memory usage and game window resize speed under DirectX 9. You can disable this with --nodx9ex if you encounter problems.
• There is a known issue where the 64 bit client will not work if the DirectX 11.1 runtime is not installed. If you have this problem, you will need to fully update your copy of Windows with Windows Update. We will address this issue in an upcoming patch.

Features:

• Added new Dexterity/Intelligence skill - Blade Flurry: Repeatedly strike at enemies in a circle in front of you while channelling, dealing damage to and around the struck enemy. The damage is continually boosted while channelling. You unleash an additional strike for each stage reached once the channelling ends. Requires a Dagger, Claw or One-Handed Sword.
• Added new Intelligence skill - Scorching Ray: Unleash a beam of fire that burns enemies it touches, and decreases their fire resistance. Remaining in the beam intensifies the burning, adding a portion of the beam's damage in stages. Enemies who leave the beam continue to burn for a duration. Increasing cast speed also increases the rate at which the beam can turn.
• Added new Intelligence skill - Blight: Apply a debuff to enemies in front of you which deals chaos damage over time. Enemies who aren't already debuffed by Blight are also hindered for a shorter secondary duration, slowing their movement. Continued channelling adds layers of damage to the debuff, each with their own duration.
• We've revamped the fog system in Path of Exile and changed the environments of many areas to use this new fog.
• Some cloth objects in Path of Exile now have a physics simulation. Over time, we'll be adding more things to interact with this system. Some banners in the Solaris and Lunaris temples can be experimented with for now.
• The chat user interface has been improved. You can now toggle the display of all types of messages and can see how many of each type have arrived while that mode was disabled. By default, users are now subscribed to chats that they cannot see, so toggling it on will show prior messages.
• Server announcements are now shown in a separate part of the chat UI.
• There's now an item filter bundled with Path of Exile that you can select in the User Interface options.
• The sender of a whisper message is now notified if the recipient doesn't receive it because they are changing areas.
• Added explanation text to some advanced terms on item hovers. You can press Alt to see them.
• Removed the Kaom's Path area and modified Kaom's Stronghold and Kaom's Dream to compensate for its removal.
• Navali now has a "Sell Items" option.
• You can now talk to Navali in other people's hideouts to Seek/Seal Prophecies and sell items to her.
• When you are about to apply a Sextant to a map it now previews the radius.
• When hovering over maps on the Atlas, the Sextant mod on that selected map will be displayed in a lighter shade of blue.
• When binding a skill to a button on the skill bar, the auras that are currently active are indicated.
• The Sextant Mod which added Creeping Agony to your maps can no longer be generated.
• The map bosses for the Castle Ruin and Strand maps now have a version of Blade Flurry which matches the player skill more closely.
• Necromancers now have new visual effects for their curses
• Amarissa and Ambrosia in the Caverns of Wrath and Anger now have new visual effects.
• Monsters that start inactive can't spawn certain Nemesis mods any more.
• The damage dealt by the Herald of the Obelisk variation which creates areas of Lightning Clouds can no longer stun.
• Improvements have been made to how Life, Mana and Energy Shield numbers are displayed above the life and mana orbs.
• Caustic Clouds created by monsters now more clearly indicates what area they affect.
• The pirate ghosts summoned during the Reef boss fight are now magic monsters.
• Reduced the size of the Chateau map and increased its monster density to bring it in line with other maps.
• The Orchard Map's signature monster packs are now larger.
• You can now rename your guild in-game.
• Some quests that previously awarded a rare item or a fully-linked item now award a fully-linked rare item.
• Warbands members now drop their signature items already identified.
• Continued to improve and fix issues with the Hall of Grandmasters.
• Added 3D art for the Cybil's Paw and Cloak of Flames unique items.
• The Voidwalker unique item now has the Celestial Footprints effect.
• Item hovers can now scale in width a small amount to dynamically adjust for long stat descriptions that would otherwise spill a few words onto a second line.
• Made improvements to the layout of the Armoury Map.
• Various improvements to preloading have been made.
• Continued to incrementally improve the sound, art, effects and environments.

Forsaken Master Improvements:

• The longest of the Elreon missions is now shorter, with fewer waves of enemies.
• Vorici will now Smoke Mine to teleport to his target when his mission is complete.
• Vorici no longer gives you a mission to kill the target without killing any of the guards.
• On missions from Vorici where you have to avoid killing some enemies, the enemies will have significantly more life, have life regeneration, and are less likely to be attacked by minions.
• On missions from Vorici where you must keep the target on low life, the target will have more life. The length of the timer was reduced to 8 seconds from 10.
• Removed the automatic Ethereal Knives variation of Vorici guards.
• If there is a Den of monsters, Tora will Blink Arrow to the Den when anyone approaches the entrance, even if the mission has not been started.
• In Tora missions where there is no den of monsters, Tora will Blink Arrow to the last target monster killed when the mission has been completed.
• For missions variations that do not complete at Catarina's location, she will teleport via Convocation to the location of the last monster killed or consumed when the mission is completed.
• All of Catarina's monsters that are killed or consumed as part of the mission objective now grant experience and drop items.
• Undead on Catarina missions now move faster. Some Catarina missions with exploding minions no longer require as many exploding undead to be slain.
• For Vorici, Catarina, and Tora, if you complete a daily mission where they teleport, the return portal to your hideout will move to them after any player has received their reward.
• When you die in a Zana mission, you respawn at her map device.
• Removed the timer on Haku Missions where you spawn at the Spirit that required you to click the Spirit before 30 seconds. These instead now have a barrier that you cannot pass until you have picked up the spirit.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug where The Broken Prince, The Fallen Queen and The Hollow Lady in the Vaal Pyramid Map would still block collidability when dead.
• Fixed a bug where Raised Spectres could get stuck with an infinite duration Shield Charge effect if movement was interrupted via Convocation mid-charge.
• Fixed the "Elemental Hit has +x% chance to Freeze, Shock and Ignite" enchantment that claimed it was for Burning Arrow.
• Fixed a bug with the Avatar of Thunder where he could remain invisible if you travel far away and come back while he is disappearing.
• Fixed various problems with PvP preconstructed characters, such as their passive trees and items.
• Fixed a bug where the Vinktar Square map item had no sell value.
• Fixed a bug where Weapon and Armour Racks would still be collidable after they are opened.
• Fixed a bug where Summon Lightning Golem was not triggerable with Mjölner.
• Fixed a bug where the Stag, Boar and Bear heads clipped with the body armour when worn by a Scion.
• Fixed a bug where the Shaped Canyon Map was using the mod pool of mid-tier maps rather than high-tier maps.
• Fixed a bug where Tormented Spirits could possess a monster that was already possessed by a spirit of the same type.
• Fixed various terrain blocking issues with the Death and Taxes unique map.
• Fixed various unique maps that didn't have corresponding guild tag letters.
• Fixed issues that could allow daily mission portals in hideouts to spawn inside walls.
• Fixed a bug where items in the vendor window have an extraneous divider in their description.
• Fixed a bug where Raging Spirits could sometimes be targeted by monster melee attacks.
• Fixed a bug where the Essence Panicked Rubble monster could be targeted.
• Fixed a bug where the default close key would still close the Atlas even if you've mapped this function to another key.
• Fixed an issue where some Prophecies would give out old versions of maps.
• Fixed a bug where Daresso's voice acting didn't play when you defeated Barkhul.
• When you close a Prophecy dialogue window, it now fades out the audio correctly.
• Fixed a bug where The Scourge would look strange on certain characters.
• Null's Inclination now correctly indicates that it casts all socketed minion skills on kill, instead of just one.
• Fixed various cases of Master mission entrances spawning in inaccessible locations or blocking players.
• Fixed a bug where you could use an Orb of Chance on the Offering to the Goddess.
• Fixed several armour modifiers not affecting armour against projectile hits, or affecting it incorrectly. This included all armour granted by body armours.
• Fixed a bug where players and minions would block Masters from being able to open portals to their daily missions.
• Fixed a bug where Spectral Throw could travel further than intended if used when standing very close to a wall.
• Fixed a bug where you could not take quest rewards if you had any Panel open on the left side of your screen
• Fixed a bug where you could add Oba to your friends list in the Oba's Cursed Trove map.
• Fixed a bug where the Mutated Maw encounted during Tora missions was dealing far too little damage with its Caustic Ground Leap Slam skill in later difficulties.
• Fixed a bug where the damage dealt by the Herald of the Obelisk variation which created areas of Lightning Clouds had too much variance in how fast it could apply.
• Fixed a bug where Strongboxes that detonated nearby corpses would not deal any damage.
• "The Dream Trial" Prophecy can no longer trigger on maps that have the Sextant mod that forces Zana to be present.
• Fixed a bug where the enchantment for "Increased Critical Strike Chance if you haven't Crit Recently" wasn't working.
• Fixed a bug where killing a monster with Soul Conduit via a skill that would trigger a corpse-consuming skill would result in no item drops.
• Zana Atlas quests now work correctly on the Jungle Valley and Arachnid Nest maps.
• Zana quests in maps that relate to inactive monsters no longer grant them effects until they're active.
• Fixed a bug where the boss of the Vault map could get stuck on ledges. He now more effectively slams to get down.
• Fixed a bug where players could get stuck in the Plateau boss room.
• Fixed a bug where Spectral Summoned Skulls from the Essence Mod were unaffected by player auras.
• Fixed a bug where Flame Dash could take you to the other side of locked doors and walls.
• Fixed a bug where players were sometimes unable to move if they had no skills on their skill bar.