rework sekhemas, it's just the removed and most hated labyrinth trial.

i don't think it needs explaination really

while many ppl hated sanctum it was still one of the most popular and liked leagues, and sekhemas was sold to us as a "sanctum alternative" and yet it resembles lab in everything with a very few exceptions.

a few examples here !
first of all!

sanctum was about the choice, immediate reward, vs mid way reward, vs the greedy final rewards. you make decisions based on your character power!

sekhemas instead is just giving you keys, which is literally what labyrinte did anyway "silver keys, gold keys and boss keys"

a second very specific example just to show big differences
the pact, the pact now seems to not give any reward, the whole point of the pact in sanctum was hoping for a good upside/downside so we can take the loot from the pact and if it's 3rd / 4th floor we would gamble the pact and sometimes lose the whole run because of that greed, but when it has loot the we would be SO happy and hyped we gambled it.

example number 3 is the layout

sekhemas follows labyrinth layout logic, as in it is a big somewhat random layout "and yes nothing is 100% random" but sanctum does not have ANY randomness in it once you learn all the layout.

fourth
sekhemas also follows lab in that the monsters generally are a bigger more variant pool which is completely against the theme of the "rogue like" which is sanctum. to ppl who enjoy sanctum having those FEW specific unique monsters with an occasional rare "which were also very specific and few in type" it was all part of what made sanctum what it is. few unique monsters with specific patterns created specific patterns and responded depends on the unique monster combinations in the room.
skehemas monsters are too random, it feels more like a map than a sanctum "which can be the can be the case in lab too"


fifth EVEN the trap types are mostly laby trabs including the spikes and the arrows from the walls. this might be a minor point but it is still a point that shows sekhemas is sanctum in name only but it is actually just a reworked duplicate of a mechanic that most ppl hated it enough for it to be removed.

finally, the bosses in sekhemas are not similar to either lab or sanctum but they are still much closer to what lab boss fight was than sanctum except for the second boss.
sekhemas bosses are much more chaotic, sanctum bosses were a very clean and clear boss fights with very clear patterns and window of timing for burst and dps. ofc first boss is easy in either and no one cares about it but generally the idea still stands.

we don't need a repeat for laby history in poe2, why are we even doing it again it took us long years to realize lab should be gone in poe1...

You can easily do Lab on the first trial, in each difficulty. Sanctum is designed to be a long haul, with tons of failing and working your way by accumulating relics. Thus, it is a long, FORCED, and unwelcome detour from the game we want to play.

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xxn1927#3319 wrote:

You can easily do Lab on the first trial, in each difficulty. Sanctum is designed to be a long haul, with tons of failing and working your way by accumulating relics. Thus, it is a long, FORCED, and unwelcome detour from the game we want to play.

there was a point where lab was long to get to in poe1 standards, nevertheless no one who likes sanctum thinks of this as sanctum so in some sense they just brought the worse of both mechanics and combined them into a nightmare :p