0.9.9 Patch Notes

There was one thing I was hoping to see, more than anything, that isn't present - changes to the fusing/crafting system. My biggest concern is currently the orb system. I like some randomization in items and gameplay, but the current system can drive me to hate myself, the game, and anyone who happens to be within a hundred yards of me. I've gone 70 levels and not seen a single orb above Chaos, then when I *finally* get a Regal orb and apply it... it adds a single stat to an item that's absolutely useless. I get a six-socket saint robe, blow 100 fusings on it, and end up with no 5-6L result. I blow *another* hundred fusings, get a 5L... and sit there unsatisfied because it's not a 6L, but I'm worried that I could invest another 200 fusings and end up worse than I was before.

I think that's really my biggest problem - the ability to invest truly staggering amounts of time and resources, and end up worse off than when you started. The amount of bitter dissatisfaction and disappointment this generates cannot be overstressed.

The orb system seems like it should be a way to lessen randomness and allow people more control over their items. Instead, it seems like it's the opposite - a massive resource sink of dissatisfaction for all but the top few massive farmers rolling in orbs. Others mileage may vary.

Now, a final comment - I love the game. The skill system, the passive tree, the complexity of builds available, the gem leveling - I really enjoy the game design in every aspect EXCEPT the regal/exalted/fusing system. I'll still play the game come open beta/release, even if nothing changes. But the massive randomness that has me spend dozens or hundreds of orbs and leaves me with something worse than I started - that's what keeps the game as merely good, and not truly great, from a personal standpoint.

I foresee a lot of cry and despair in the near future ^^...
now we'll have to really think and upgrade defensives passives and stuff, the resist reward from bandit quest will certainly become mandatory.

this will certainly reshape all the rushing mechanics too, and the general level progression will be slower because we'll certainly have to retreat sometimes and we'll have to out-level some of the zones in order to gain some safety...I think we'll have to be really cautious now.

"All damage values in the game have been rebalanced. Don't worry if high level weapons and skills do less damage than you're used to seeing."

: hope that this will remove some insane damages previously showed like 125k and such...

generaly speaking, I'm really looking forward for this patch as it seem that we have to manage an entirely new gameplay (and I hope so...).

thank you Chris.

and now they are flying with seagulls :

Awesome! :D

I can't wait to see what you've done with the sixth class. The preview of The Shadow from RPS makes it sound like it would fit my play-style perfectly.

You guys are putting so much effort into this beta and I can't thank you enough. I <3 developers like you.

Admittedly I haven't played much of Path Of Exile recently, but I'm hoping this patch will bring me back in for a while.

Great work guys, this patch truley looks amazing! I'm shocked at how much you've managed to cram in there.

One thing I didn't see mentioned though was anything about the item rebalance. I think you said somthing about a change in weapon damage progression in a previous post, what does that actually mean for the game?

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Chris wrote:

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Bulkathos wrote:

Removed Item Quantity and Item Rarity passives.

why remove them ?

I was hoping someone would ask. Looking at the philosophy of item-find mods, we realised that they are something that characters should be able to swap into when the want (so that they can make decisions about whether they're in playing gear or farming gear), rather than being a permanent part of your character's passive build.

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Cadenza wrote:

How soon can we expect this awesome patch? Dying to play.

As I explained in the initial post, it'll be up sometime during tomorrow's New Zealand workday. This is approximately 16-24 hours from now. We'll post more info when we know.

Oh, apologies lol must not have seen that in all the excitement. I should probably know by now though. Can't wait there seems like so much more to experience!

Awesome patch notes! can't wait to try it out.

"The Scavengers who live in camps on the Ledge now worship an angry god."

this got me more frightened than anything else!

Next up: A working trading system and add some spice to melee skills like Dual Strike, Sweep, Double strike etc.. they seem a bit ..."bland" atm..

Not bad, but still no fix for constant dc to login screen, lag spikes, desyncs/lots of players complaining about these/, stucking on loading screen. Still no trade system, no target fix for minions and players.

TL:DR to much good stuff

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Chris wrote:

We've added a corner map. You can turn it on in the UI Options.

Yeah!

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Chris wrote:

Environmental totems can use auras (such as Slow Player, Haste, Allies Cannot Die, Vitality, Monster Damage), or active skills.

Sounds funny. : )

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Chris wrote:

Bonuses to item rarity and quantity from bosses or from additional players in the game now stack multiplicatively with the player's bonuses (rather than additively). Diminishing returns only apply to the player's bonuses.

Does it mean - better drops from bosses?

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Chris wrote:

Added a set of Increased Item Rarity and Increased Item Quantity prefix mods.

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Chris wrote:

Removed Item Quantity and Item Rarity passives.

Very good!

I can't wait to try it out! All the notes sound awesome and indeed, from what I checked before, this patch is huge.

Thanks for being awesome devs!