How To Co-Op In Path Of Exile 2

Slaying hordes of foul demons and grabbing a bunch of loot in Path of Exile 2 is fun solo, but it’s more fun with pals once you figure out how to play co-op.

Thankfully, Path of Exile 2 features multiple ways for you to co-op. There’s online multiplayer with full Cross Play enabled, as well as a local couch co-op. You can even combine both together, so none of your friends should be left out!

In this guide, we’ll tell you everything there is to know about co-op play in Path of Exile 2 and how to initiate it.

How To Co-Op | Path Of Exile 2

As we mentioned in the introduction, you can actually play co-op in two different ways in Path of Exile 2. You can either group up with up to 5 other players via online multiplayer or you can play couch co-op with another player. Couch co-op players can also join online multiplayer parties as well for a hybrid co-op experience.

Now, there are some things to note about how multiplayer works first:

• Loot is shared, not instanced. When loot drops, it’s protected for a few seconds so no one can grab it. After that, whoever grabs it first gets to keep it. You’ll have to talk with your allies to figure out who gets to grab what!
• You can trade with allies. Select a party member’s portrait and you should see “Trade” as an option. This lets you swap items around with each other freely!
• Enemies are buffed to compensate. Elites become more common and every enemy gets more HP, including bosses. You should still have an easier time than playing solo, though, provided you have a decent party.
• Progress is shared, but you can’t skip areas. You can progress together through the game with your allies and everyone keeps their progress once they leave the party. However, you can’t jump ahead to parts of the game you haven’t reached naturally yet. This mostly applies to online co-op and not couch co-op, though.
• You can revive downed players. Get near the golden aura covering them and hold the Revive prompt shown to bring them back on their feet!

Now, with those basics laid down, let’s go over how to activate co-op in Path of Exile 2!

Online Co-op

For online co-op, you need to open the Pause Menu in-game and then select the Social Menu. This feature becomes available once you complete the game’s tutorial.

You can also open the Social Menu by simply pressing the J key on PC.

In the Social Menu, click on “Add New Friend” and then type in the name of your friend’s character. Then, wait for them to accept your friend request.

Your friend’s character will appear on your list once they accept. Select their portrait and then select “Invite to Party”. Just like before, wait for your friend to accept the request.

Your friend will automatically appear near you once they accept. You’re now both free to go out and start hunting monsters and looting to your heart’s content!

If need be, you can also manage your party members under the Current Party part of the Pause Menu. This lets you warp to other players’ locations, initiate trades, set another player as a leader, and more.

Alternatively, you can click on the Party tab at the top of the Social Menu to find the Party Board. This lets you join or create public parties to play with random players outside of your friend group. It also lets you define what content you’re doing so that everyone’s on the same page.

Note that the game supports full Cross Play across all platforms, unlike Path of Exile 1. You can invite friends on PlayStation 5 even if you’re on PC, for example. Also, as we mentioned before, you can have a party of up to 6 players.

Lastly, inviting a player who is engaging in couch co-op will effectively invite both players together. This lets you set up hybrid co-op sessions, and you can even have 3 pairs of couch co-op players together. The only limitation is that you can only have up to 6 players at once!

Couch Co-op

You’ll need to have two controllers for couch co-op, even on PC. The game doesn’t seem to support mixed setups so both players need controllers, at least as of this writing. This mode is also limited to just 2 local players. Though, as we mentioned before, you can join online players to form parties of up to 6 total players.

To start, connect both controllers and then go to the Character Select screen on the Main Menu. You should now see a prompt for Player 2 to join in the top right corner of the screen. Press X (PlayStation) or A (Xbox) on the Player 2’s controller to join.

This can be done even when starting the campaign for the first time!

Player 2 will then be given the option to play using their own account or to play as a Guest. If they use their own account, they’ll get access to all of their own characters. As a Guest, they’ll create or use a character from Player 1’s account.

Do note that Player 2 will need an Early Access key if they want to use their own account during the Early Access period, though.

Once both players have selected their characters, just start the game as normal and you’re all set! Just keep in mind that both players share the screen as well as any Gold earned. It works more or less the same as online co-op besides that.

So, there you have it, that’s everything you need to know to be able to play co-op in Path of Exile 2. Slaying hordes of enemies and scavenging for loot is always more fun when you do it with your pals, right?

Since couch co-op forces you to use a controller, make sure you know how to open a portal to town on controller!