POE 2 My Feedback SSF only player

Start off with Leveling

Started Monk took me like 20 hours, longer then my first ever playthrough well also feeling weaker. 0.1 Was ok slowed experience was understandable and enjoyable well learning the game, 0.2 Left feeling like my character was weak and my experience couldn't help me. (I played Melee not the most optimal but what I wanted, same as 0.1)

Since then I leveled Deadeye which was ok, it took 9 hours overall early game movement nodes I think help a bit with the quickness of the campaign and also LS/volt being strong allowing you to always move forward

Next I leveled Witch was extremely slow by end of act 3 it had been around 7-8 hours, I was in the headspace of just giving up. I'm not a lover of range characters but usually I can enjoy any class until I level and gear it.

Campaign still needs a little work, but it can be fun I think that's an issue with time spent in the areas, Movement speed is needed in some way for leveling IMO 40 - 60 mins is enough per act some of the areas feel too much.

I won't judge Build diversity we are 7/12 classes in, POE1 I only really played Cyclone, LS, EQ(Boneshatter), Toxic rain, Frostbolt Icenova, RF and Eviscerate(my fav) POE2 I played like 5+ different builds and enjoyed them

End Game - Hated chasing the nexus to progress, no way of focusing a Waystone layout feels weird, Atlas passives feel pointless, Chasing Citadels and not knowing when you will see one or if it will be the right one just feels like a lame experience but a bit better then 0.1. (The Towers still need work Atlas/Maps in POE1 just work and feel better especially for progression)

Could feel better if each tower cleared you got closer to the boss or some other feeling of progression, I remember I started POE1 in Ritual league and learning how to get to Sirus and chasing the 4 Conquerors was great and made me fall in love with the game, finally realising how much time I was wasting on D3 at that time.. I never played D3 after that.

Having more chances at bosses ect was an improvement and a way to see/learn mechanics before bigger. (harder versions) (less waste of important materials as a SSF player)


Crafting - Seems weak I end up with ok gear in SSF but after my first bits of gear I think I went 3-5 days without actually seeing an upgrade.

Recombinator was weird I got a 2% ring that I basically tried to burn and it worked, My 35% movement speed boots got poofed like 10x back to back at over a 42% +chance.

Removal of Scouring Orb so I can't reset an item feels bad in SSF just refarming a base over and over
Changing the Chaos Orb to a new weaker Alteration Orb
Then letting me pick up 3 matching items to Bench that act like a Chaos Orb you removed in the first place (Chaos with extra steps)

I'm sure I remember someone saying "we want items from the ground to be more meaningful" there vendor trash or a 1 stat item we craft on, I didn't ever pick up a meaningful item even half finished, in rare cases maybe 2 stats. (Exalted gamble/ruin item).

An Alteration Orb would feel like the most powerful item in POE2 and remove the need for the Bench and Recombinator.. The shop could be used to remove Crafting/Salvaging bench since there just extra steps to something the shop did 3/1 and quality/socket currency

Lastly I struggle to understand Gems and Sockets. POE1 I get a 5-6 link in SSF I can play around with my character test different builds or copy someone who's made something work, If I use my sockets in POE2 I'm locked in till I get drops I feel bad for trying to make something work. (6Links 7x / 20Gem 1x / 20Spirit 1x in 0.2 -- 6Links 1x / 20Gem 0x / 20Spirit 0x in 0.1) So better this season, I guess no need for recolouring is a massive improvement.(also no way to downgrade a gem to lower stat requirements)

I got 1 level 20 gem dropped Day 2 used it on a skill that I no longer use and have not seen another since, There is no way to farm towards this and that feels like a loss of progression I had before. POE1 I had this with Enlighten, Empower or Enhance but they rounded out my build if I was lucky that season they didn't leave my build feeling unfinished and with no end in sight.

All in all there's a lot to change and improve on but I still do love the feel of POE2 and I know it will only get better and improve over time, just my thoughts on things as they stand i'll go back to playing.

Thanks for taking the time to read.