Quick answer
Path of Exile 2 fully launches (version 1.0) on December 11, 2026 PDT. When it does, both current leagues — Forbidden Rites (0.5.5) and Runes of Aldur — end at the same time, and 1.0 starts with a brand-new economy and a fresh character league. Grinding Gear Games has confirmed the end date in the official Forbidden Rites FAQ but has not published exactly what happens to Forbidden Rites characters, currency, and gear at the transition — so treat any "everything migrates to Standard" promise you see elsewhere as unconfirmed until GGG says so.
The practical takeaway: your Forbidden Rites currency only has value while the league is live. A fresh economy always resets orb prices to near-zero. If you are sitting on a big Divine stack you do not plan to spend, the smart move is to convert it into permanent value — gear, carries, or account progress — before December 11, not hoard it into a wipe. This guide walks through exactly what is confirmed, what is not, and the highest-EV things to do with your stash in the ~10 weeks left.
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PoE2 - Divine & Exalted Orbs
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When exactly does PoE2 1.0 launch — and what ends?
Per GGG's official Forbidden Rites FAQ, three things are confirmed:
- 1.0 full release is December 11, 2026 PDT. This is when Path of Exile 2 leaves Early Access and goes free-to-play. The Duelist class also arrives with 1.0.
- Forbidden Rites runs until 1.0 and ends alongside Runes of Aldur. The FAQ states it plainly: "Forbidden Rites will run until the 1.0 full release and will end alongside Runes of Aldur." Both leagues close on the same day.
- Runes of Aldur mechanics were folded into the core game with 0.5.5, so that content is already accessible in Standard — but the league itself still ends at 1.0.
As of this writing there are roughly ten weeks left in the Forbidden Rites cycle. That is plenty of time to finish a build and a lot of time for the fresh economy to keep inflating — which matters for what your orbs are worth.
What actually happens to your currency and characters?
Here is the honest state of it, split into confirmed vs. unconfirmed.
Confirmed:
- The 1.0 economy starts fresh from zero. A new league always wipes the price of every orb back to its early-league baseline. Your Divines do not carry their exchange value into the new league — only the raw items could ever move.
- The current leagues close; you cannot keep playing Forbidden Rites after December 11.
Not yet confirmed by GGG:
- Whether Forbidden Rites characters, currency, and gear migrate to the Standard league when 1.0 drops. In Path of Exile's long history, most temporary leagues fold their characters and items into Standard when they end — so this is the likely outcome — but GGG has not explicitly said this for Forbidden Rites in the current FAQ. Do not plan around a carry-over promise nobody official has made.
Why the caution matters: even if your items do land in Standard, Standard is not where the value is. Standard is a permanent dumping ground with a deflated, decades-old economy. A Divine that trades for hundreds of Exalted in an active league is worth a fraction of that in Standard, and nobody is buying your league-specific chase items there at league prices. Value lives in the active league. When the league ends, the value evaporates whether or not the item technically survives.
How much has the Forbidden Rites economy already moved?
This is the part players underestimate. Currency is only "worth" something relative to a live, trading economy — and that number has already ballooned since launch.
| Currency | At league launch (Sep 4, 2026) | Live now (Sep 30, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Divine Orb | ≈ 65 Exalted | ≈ 730 Exalted |
| Chaos per Divine | ≈ 20 Chaos | ≈ 12 Chaos |
| Orb of Annulment | — | ≈ 349 Exalted |
| Mirror of Kalandra | — | ≈ 3.6M Exalted |
(Live values pulled from poe2scout, Forbidden Rites softcore, checked September 30, 2026. Launch baseline from our Divine/Exalted exchange rate guide.)
In under four weeks the Divine went from ~65 Exalted to ~730 Exalted — an ~11x rise in Exalted terms as Exalts flooded in and got spent. That is a mature-economy trajectory, and it will keep drifting until the league closes. Every Exalted and Divine you are holding is at its peak purchasing power right now and on a countdown to zero. Hoarding raw orbs through a wipe is the single most common way players torch value in an aRPG.
PoE2 - Items
Skip the grind — get Items
The highest-EV things to do with your stash before Dec 11
Ranked by return, assuming you want to get the most out of the currency you have:
- Finish your own build. The cleanest conversion of currency into value is your own character's power — clearing pinnacle bosses, completing your Atlas, and finishing the Trial of Chaos for all Ascendancy points. Those are experiences you keep regardless of the wipe.
- Buy the chase item you have been farming toward. If you have been saving for a mirror-tier piece or a key unique, spend now while your Divines have maximum buying power. Waiting saves nothing — the orbs only get closer to worthless.
- Complete the league challenges for the exclusive cosmetics. Forbidden Rites challenge rewards are cosmetic microtransactions, which are account-bound and permanent — they are one of the only things that genuinely survives the league. If you are close, finishing the challenge track is pure retained value.
- Convert to carries if you are time-poor. If you will not have the hours to finish endgame before December, a boss/pinnacle carry turns currency into completed content and challenge progress now, instead of a stack that resets.
- Do NOT "save it for next league." Orbs are not a savings account across a wipe. There is no confirmed mechanism that turns a Forbidden Rites Divine into 1.0 buying power.
What about the December 11 fresh start?
The flip side of the wipe is the best land-grab of the year: 1.0 is a free-to-play launch with a brand-new economy, which means the classic fresh-league gold rush where early Divines are worth enormous relative value and every drop matters. That is a separate plan — we cover exactly what to farm and buy first in the PoE2 1.0 League Start Currency Guide. The short version: wind your current stack down to zero useful value before the 11th, then treat 1.0 as day-one of a new race.
FAQ
Does PoE2 1.0 wipe my characters and currency? The current leagues (Forbidden Rites and Runes of Aldur) end on December 11, 2026, and 1.0 starts with a fresh economy. GGG has confirmed the leagues end but has not confirmed whether Forbidden Rites characters, currency, and gear migrate to Standard. Historically most temporary leagues fold into Standard, but that is not an official promise for this event — and even if items survive, their league value does not.
When exactly is the PoE2 1.0 release date? December 11, 2026 PDT, per GGG's official Forbidden Rites FAQ. That is also when the Duelist class launches and the game goes free-to-play out of Early Access.
Should I keep my Divine Orbs for 1.0? No. There is no confirmed way for Forbidden Rites currency value to carry into the 1.0 economy, and a fresh league resets every orb's price. Your Divines are at peak purchasing power now and decay to effectively zero at the wipe — spend them on gear, carries, or progress you keep.
What survives the league end for sure? Cosmetic microtransactions (including any challenge-reward cosmetics you earn), your account, and stash tabs you purchased. Those are account-bound and permanent. League-specific currency value is not.
Is Runes of Aldur content gone after 1.0? The Runes of Aldur mechanics were added to the core game with patch 0.5.5, so that content persists in the base game and Standard. The Runes of Aldur league still ends alongside Forbidden Rites at the 1.0 launch.
How much has the Forbidden Rites economy changed since launch? A Divine Orb went from roughly 65 Exalted at the September 4 launch to about 730 Exalted on September 30, 2026 (live poe2scout, softcore) — an ~11x move in Exalted terms as the economy matured. It will keep drifting until the league closes.
