Arbitrary
Tranny Chaser
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Path of Exile 2
- Thread starter Kiroy
- Start date
Fyff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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PoE1 is just 400 random systems in a trench coat. If you try playing it and missed a bunch of seasons it's literally unplayable because of the number of random systems you need to keep track of or ignore.
Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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I'm not opposed. Anybody who played fucking Loop Hero and went..."You know what PoE 2 needs....".
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Vorph
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Eh, considering how easy ignoring stuff in PoE that you don't feel like doing is, I definitely wouldn't agree with that. This league and Affliction are the only two I've played since Ritual and getting back into it was easy. The only thing I had to do with any sort of learning curve to it was Sanctum (especially being used to PoE2 Sanctum, which might be shit content but at least it's easy shit content there), and I would've just skipped that entirely except that I needed the Lycia bloodline. Same with Kingsmarch. The "passive" income is nice but you're really not losing out on much if you just pretend it doesn't exist at all.
Hell, looking at the list of 12-ish leagues that I skipped I couldn't even tell you what most of them changed in the core game. There's the obvious ones like Ultimatum and Expedition, but the rest are either ones that didn't go core at all or whatever did go core had barely any impact on the game.
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Arbitrary
Tranny Chaser
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1. Druid combat appears slow and buttonsy
2. Synthesis and Lake of Kalandra had a baby and it was raised by Alva
3. We reduced pack size!
They might all be great but as presented of course the reaction was negative. Shit's gotta look cool and if it doesn't look cool you gotta really sell us on it being cool. Combined with the poor marketing the endgame revamp isn't here. The nerfs in the patch notes are more memorable than the buffs. My own hangup is the already absurd passive tree is getting hundreds of additional nodes with an ascendancy that packs on hundreds more. It's all so much bloat when people wanted shit like life on the tree and notables without downsides.
2. Synthesis and Lake of Kalandra had a baby and it was raised by Alva
3. We reduced pack size!
They might all be great but as presented of course the reaction was negative. Shit's gotta look cool and if it doesn't look cool you gotta really sell us on it being cool. Combined with the poor marketing the endgame revamp isn't here. The nerfs in the patch notes are more memorable than the buffs. My own hangup is the already absurd passive tree is getting hundreds of additional nodes with an ascendancy that packs on hundreds more. It's all so much bloat when people wanted shit like life on the tree and notables without downsides.
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Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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They didn't think about that at all. Jonathan played Loop Hero, decided it was some kind of revelation, and then hacked together a PoE version of it over a weekend (he literally said as much in an interview). The whole thing reeks of "we need something out the door before we go offline for a month." This league feels just as cobbled together as Keepers was.
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Does anyone want to make a bet that the best way to level a druid is still just going to be essence drain contagion? That's my plan.
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Burnem Wizfyre
Log Wizard
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Unless it’s a second character you twink, everyone should include contagion on a league starter.
Penance
Avatar of War Slayer
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It's obviously going to be molten balls (but stationary) with slow clunky activators!
Arbitrary
Tranny Chaser
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It was stated in the beginning part of the livestream more than once that druid spells lasted for a while so you could turn in to a thing and continue pressing buttons for extra effects. Slam on a volcano as a bear and more balls come out, that kind of thing. Long-lasting primal spells might just be good on their on from that plus druid getting a little extra balance mojo being new and all.
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They only showed the lowbie shit from Druid. To get people excited they should have shown some end game shots of Druid destroying packs and shit. The way they presented it, and I know it had a purpose behind it, it just left people feeling like this shit is weak as hell.
The cool thin about the druid stuff though, is any class can use those druid weapons, which you know people will come up with some crazy combos with that stuff.
The cool thin about the druid stuff though, is any class can use those druid weapons, which you know people will come up with some crazy combos with that stuff.
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Penance
Avatar of War Slayer
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Yea that kind of gameplay lends itself towards bossing, which when you think about it makes good campaigner as the campaign is kind of a boss rush. But for mapping? Kms
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Khane
Got something right about marriage
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Crazy combos for PoE2. Which is like Great Grandpa waxing poetic about the first time he saw a computer
Its very literally impossible for that showcased style of gameplay to ever be good. Lay down a volcano that doesn't move and then jerk off at that volcano to make it do something that actually matters!! Nope.
Its very literally impossible for that showcased style of gameplay to ever be good. Lay down a volcano that doesn't move and then jerk off at that volcano to make it do something that actually matters!! Nope.
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Khane
Got something right about marriage
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I think youre misunderstanding what I'm saying. Lightning Rod, which I'm pretty sure they hate, works because it procs even on itself and extra rods chain to each other. Its basically one of like 3 successful 2 button builds they managed to create, but this volcano garbage does not proc on itself and the druid shit they showed had cooldowns.
They have a formula that could work and they actively refuse to lean into it.
I know that youre not a shill, and I'm pretty sure you know I've actually played this game and this genre enough to make educated observations
Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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You don't plan on playing a "wet" build, bro?! Who doesn't want to water some foliage!!!
Exactly. Drawing inspiration from other games or tossing in "cool ideas" isn't inherently bad, but there's a time and place for that. Experimentation works when a game has already cemented its identity, or when it's winding down and players are open to wild, disruptive additions. PoE1 was perfect for Jonathan's Loop Hero bullshit side-project.
But PoE2 isn't in that position. It's not even fully released, and the core experience still isn't clearly defined. Before layering on random mechanics inspired by whatever someone played last weekend, they need to establish what PoE2 is. What's the primary gameplay loop? What systems are foundational? What defines combat, progression, and pacing? Early Access is supposed to refine and tune those pillars, not bury them under a pile of disconnected ideas.
Right now, PoE2 feels less like a cohesive vision and more like a playground for impulse features. Until the game has a solid identity, all this scattershot design just muddies the waters.
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