Can this game be played casually?

I am not just talking about finishing the campaign, I am talking about beating all pinnacle maybe even uber versions. Let's say a an hr or 2 a day.

Yes. It will take you a month and meta build but yes.

Once you have the knowledge and skill, yes sure. But with 2 hrs per day and POEs high learning curve it might take you a while to get there.

A few years ago I spent like 5 hours a week playing you can still have fun playing casually but I wouldn't recommend having the goal of doing end game bosses. It's also not a bad idea to play standard if you only have a few hours to play as you wont be forced to start a new character every new league. I didn't really want to play standard at that time but if I had the goal of end game I probably would have needed to.

I'll also add this the game is as fun as any other game when played casual pretty much every other game you can think of that's online has disadvantages for not playing a lot like learning curves ect so it's not like poe is awful when casual just adjust goals accordingly I'd say.

Im casual af and im doing pretty guud

I would consider myself a casual. Some evenings I get to play 4 hours but I am generally only home 3 out of 5 weekdays and maybe one saturday or sunday every 2 or 3 weeks. If I play the entire cycle from beginning to end I can maybe scrape over 200 hours a league. During covid I managed 300 once.

I never interacted with the buy level 5-way bs so highest level I ever hit was 98. I never owned a T0 until this league where I bought my first HH ( honestly people complain that the economy is in tatters but as a casual I might get my first and only mageblood ever and that is pretty exciting, even though I realize that a HH should not be this easy to get, it is broken.. ).

I have only ever played off meta stuff. Never the same thing twice. Currently playing a self built elementalist with the new tornado alt which is actually pretty good and can do T17, singular, I only dropped one so far. It has approx 4M pinnacle DPS which is enough, though not great. I play off meta mainly because I enjoy it but secondly because in my time frame it is hard to farm together a finished meta build as the gear is more expensive and what is the point of an ARPG if it isn't to finish your build?

Most importantly though I would say my playstyle is casual ( I SSF my progression, no buying maps or fragments, no buying scarabs. Just gear ). I enjoy clearing maps to under 50 mobs left. So the time I spend in game is hardly efficient but I enjoy it over the alternative.

I have beaten most uber pinnacle bosses at some point and in the leagues I enjoyed most I have gotten the highest MTX unlock a few times ( previously 36 challenges, now 38 ). Some builds do better than others obviously but in theory it is doable. I am not sure if it is doable now with the t17 changes to be very honest but I will try.

So to answer your question. Yes, you can play this game casually and get to the endgame but do not expect to get there quickly. Do not expect to get T0 uniques unless you get insanely lucky. Do not expect to make double digit divines per hour.

People tend to overexagerate what you can achieve in a certain time frame as a casual because of what they can achieve in that same time frame. No lifing the game and getting so good at it that you could do these things with 2 hours a day doesn't mean that any casual player can do that. The learning curve is steep and it will take a casual months if not years to get to that level of efficiency. I didn't kill regular Sirus until my third league.

TL:DR. From experience, yes you can but expect to play almost the entire league. I think that 150 hours is realistic with an actual casual playstyle given you have at least a few 100 hours of prior experience. Is playing a game for 150 hours over 3 months casual? Is a few 100 hours to get far enough along the learning curve casual? That is up for debate.

how to play casually when after 3 weeks nerf the loot so much they bit only the casually players and make the streamers rich

I'm pretty casual. Sure I have played since late 2013, but I only play once every second or third league. When I do play i play for about 1-2/h a day, depending on the family :P. I have so far beaten Maven, ELder and Shaper. Going for Sirius next and hopefully Uber Elder.

I'm lvl 94 right now (never been higher than 95), the campaign takes about 1 week to finsh and than 1 week more to complete the atlas.

I always play the same build, a spectral Throw build, used to play ele buzz but know I play dex stack build. This is the build I know and Love. Far from Meta.

I don't know shiiiit about crafting and there is only a few map atlas mechanic I understand:
- Harvest, Expedition and Syndicate, these are the ones i know and can make currency from.

- The rest of the game I pretty much just skips. to much work to learn....

Well, you have all the time in the world if you play standard, and at least 3 months in the league.
I'm not sure what being casual has to do with this though. There's so much more to challenge yourself than those bosses.

"

datnatanboi wrote:

I am not just talking about finishing the campaign, I am talking about beating all pinnacle maybe even uber versions. Let's say a an hr or 2 a day.

The last league I'm lazy cuz I so much hate her.. but normally the casual can success in standard and league if they follow guide.
I always was a casual and I have good build (send in standard now since the time) with mageblood and much good item crafted for CoC and minions build with all uber boss killed (no uber maven yet.. I SO MUCH HATE HER but I don't want paid someone for carry me).
So yes casual can have fun in standard and league (maybe not the last league..) and I'm speaking of real casual who don't RMT and prefer learn of video and others players who has more knowledge.