PoE2 - 0.4: Moving Away From Its Original Vision

I have loved Path of Exile 1 since 2012 (my most played game ever), and when Path of Exile 2 was announced, I along with few others felt that GGG vision was leaning toward something closer to Diablo II.

In PoE2 patch 0.1, I truly felt that vision come to life and in an even better way than Diablo II. The experience was incredible. Boss fights were challenging and meaningful; I had to learn mechanics, dodge carefully, and sometimes die 40+ times before finally succeeding. When I eventually defeated a boss, I felt genuine joy and accomplishment. That feeling was special.

Yes, the loot was horrible from the bosses, but the overall direction felt right.

With each subsequent patch, I’ve seen many players complain about slower pacing, large maps, and other elements. I understand those concerns especially from players who deeply love PoE1. But PoE2 was never meant to be PoE1 ( thats why they are two saparated games (now)), at least not until (0.4).

Unfortunately, the experience has changed drastically for me. Boss fights no longer require learning mechanics or careful play. I now stand still, press buttons, and bosses die within seconds. To be clear, I am not playing meta builds I played the new Sorceress ascendancy, Varashtna.

The fun is gone (love PoE-1, but not expecting another one). It feels like I’m playing PoE1 with better graphics.

What made PoE2 special to me was the promise of meaningful boss encounters and a bit slower, more deliberate ARPG experience. That no longer seems to be the case, and it honestly makes me very sad. It hurts because PoE2 felt like it was becoming the ARPG I had been waiting for one where bosses mattered and weren’t easier than rare (yellow) mobs.

I felt compelled to leave this feedback because that original vision meant a lot to me. I truly hope something unexpected happens and the game shifts back toward the direction of patch 0.1. Even if many players might not prefer that approach, I genuinely believe it was something special and I’m still hoping it can return.

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invinsible1#7237 написал:

It feels like I’m playing PoE1 with better graphics.

It is and has been like that since EA release, at least for the endgame. Campaign is abit slower but only on act 1. The game still designed just like PoE 1, everything still designed like PoE 1.

For the most part, each league has attempted to nerf more than to buff.

0.1 had very broken builds, like much moreso than what we can now do. You could do very cheap POTCG screen clearers, Archmage Spark obilitared everything with modest investment, etc.

0.4 didn't nerf all that much, so pretty much all the builds that overperformed in 0.3 are still there, plus a couple of more with druid and poison.

I'm also a bit perplexed by what to me seems contradictory game design. The way how PoE2 was advertised and the way it promotes combo gameplay and slower pace is not contradicted only by the fact that it's not hard to make builds overperform, but also by other core game design decisions.

Many of the areas in the campaign are so big that playing the campaign through over and over without clearing every mob in a couple of hits would be an awful experience.

Currency and gear still drops slow enough that you are encouraged to speed clear or else you wont be upgrading your gear.

Etc.

Also, the bosses are dangerous enough that even now we are in a situation where lots of players spend hours working through a single harder boss, in the campaign. And there's HC players who haven't been able to clear the campaign in +200 hours of play. So you can't really make the bosses much harder than they are.

There is no putting this genie back into the bottle.

They've caved on almost everything, the only thing to fall soon is the xp + 1 portal penalties and we will have come full circle.

It's mind boggling to me watching them speedrun the implementation of the same zoomy clicker bullshit that took literal years in poe1.

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invinsible1#7237 написал:

I’ve seen many players complain about slower pacing, large maps, and other elements. I understand those concerns especially from players who deeply love PoE1. But PoE2 was never meant to be PoE1 ( thats why they are two saparated games (now)), at least not until (0.4).

Can we stop that shortcut which doesn't mean much anyway ?
I find the pace too slow, maps too large, roll boring, not compared to PoE1, X or Z, but because this how I perceive them.

I need smaller zones and/or faster speed, because, for example :
- the commitment to a map is too long. I don't know if I'll have enough time for next map before the kid comes in.
- I'm feeling more tensed and stressed after the map than before the map. That's not what I wanna feel in a game.
- My finger hurts after holding that sprint button for so long after a single map.

I don't like it because I don't like it. Not because you wanna put a sticker "PoE1", "tourist", "D4' or whatever on my face.

Generally speaking, people are not PoE1 or PoE2 players, they are just players.

I really hope they don't stray too far from the slower pace, bigger more grand maps, and tougher fights.

It's more fun honestly.

Though they seriously need to get some updates out for PoE2 already. We're missing out on a ton of classes and such yet. Feels like the development of it is moving at a snails pace while they spend time retooling things to please PoE1 players.. who already have a game they like. This new one doesn't need to be identical.