CPU 100% usage - unplayable

Since the last patch, Path of Exile 2 has become nearly unplayable for me due to massive CPU spikes during combat.

Whenever I attack enemies, my CPU usage instantly jumps to 100%, and I experience severe stuttering, huge frame time spikes, and FPS drops – sometimes down to 1 FPS, even though my GPU load is normal.

My specs:
- Intel i7-10700
- RTX 3070
- 32 GB RAM
- Game is on an NVMe SSD
- Windows 11, drivers up to date

What I’ve tested:
- Tried DirectX 11, DirectX 12 and Vulkan – no difference
- Switched between DLSS, NIS, and native resolution
- Turned off dynamic resolution, VSync, and all overlays
- Set FPS cap to 60 / 90 / uncapped
- Texture quality lowered to medium, shadows to "shadows only"
- Multithreading on and off

Outside of combat, the game runs fine (60–90 FPS), but as soon as I use skills or trigger effects in fights, my CPU usage spikes to 100% and everything starts freezing or stuttering.

This issue only started after the latest patch – before that, the game was running smoothly.

Please fix this or let me know if a workaround exists – I’ve tried everything I could find so far.

I have this same problem have tried everything.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-Core Processor
32.0 GB
RTX 3080

I spike to 100% CPU usage in loading screens and it spikes in "town" as well.

Following

I even tested it on GeForce NOW (free tier), which runs on clean NVIDIA server hardware, and I encountered the exact same problem at the exact same point: FPS drops + CPU spikes whenever I attack enemies.

So it’s clearly not a hardware, driver, or antivirus issue – this is something internal in the game, possibly related to shader streaming or asset loading during combat.