Ascendancy Trials Feedback: Understanding Player Concerns

My 2 cents.

Sanctum and Ultimatum were some of the things I always avoided in PoE 1. The sequel only makes them worse. This will not entice me to level a character if each time I'm forced into content I was unwilling to do then. I think the mechanics should be optional instead of ascendancy based. All the old leagues were fun but keep them in the old leagues. Leave the past in the past. Introduce something new, still challenging but not as back breaking and build defined.

Keep plugging away on the game, we enjoy it, just gotta tweak the gears some more.

+1
Current system is garbage.

Well written & an excellent summary of player concerns with this. 100% agree.

Been a while since I raged at a game for absolutely bonkers unfun, frustrating, and gut punch bad mechanics that disrespect your time.

Chaos and sanctum are just terrible. Maybe if your a range class, but my word.

Have honor give bonus chests
Have players pick 1 debuff in chaos in act 3
Then two debuffs in act 6.

+1111 post.

I have never hated something more in my life. Ive never been more frustrated with anything more in my life. Ive never wanted to destroy anything more in my life. Trials and the sheer amount of xp loss on death is the worst thing EVER.

This otherwise is the best game Ive ever played, but I cannot play it anymore.

Im a 77 Merc, clearing T7s and I cannot even come fucking close to doing this bullshit. I dont enjoy any of it. I have no idea what this has to do with this type of game. It feels like some elitist side quest shit you would do for a super rare mount or something. The fact my char is fucked and all chars I might want to play in the future are fucked, because I refuse to do this shit ever again and its required for my main skills. There is simply no reason to play this game anymore.

This is the worst thing Ive ever experianced and ever felt in any game EVER. Had I known i would have never wasted my money or time on this game and if it was possible I would love a refund. Due to there descision to do this,that it was also apparently hated in poe1, and they have not responded to the overwhelming hate for this since the start now, I will never trust this company to make the right descisions for a game ever again.

Adding a bump. I'm enjoying most everything else about the game other than the Ascendency Trials. I feel the time and energy commitment for all of them is too much and I'm incapable of maintaining focus for the full 10 Chaos level duration and disheartened when I'm ejected back to the start on failure. I similarly feel discouraged over experimenting with other classes or builds knowing I'll have these trials hanging over my head with any concepts I want to try.

I'm regrettably uninstalling the game over it as it's a deal breaker for me. I'm hoping this system will be re-examined.

+1

Great feedback.

Double post.

Disclaimer: I'm running a Witch minion build through these, which is essentially easy mode, and haven't tried the 4th yet. I will be running a melee character through them next week.

Observation: many players are ignoring the point of the Trials and applying the wrong techniques to it. The chests are to be ignored; everything is to be ignored but getting to the end boss. Minimizing debuffs at all costs is the winning strategy.

Players entering Trials without +%run speed or some form of backup attack+gem combo other than their main ones / CC are not utlilising their entire tool set. That's on them. Likewise: Since you can re-run this Trial for free, it is perfectly possible to get 2-3 +% honor relics during even your 1st attempt: I got x2 %18 resist to Honor loss relics, which both fit in the starting recepticle. I strongly doubt many players here complaining actually use these.

Many players are ignoring these mechanics and just want to run through a mindless linear monster path. Which is fine, but I personally enjoy the extra challenge.

A suggestion to change the Honor system slightly is for flask charges to stop Honor loss while active. i.e. you can spam a flask charge and not get Honor loss (or have it mitigated by X%) for a few seconds. This would allow melee chars to first strike in and out. Please add a nice pink bubble around the player while this is in effect to show carebear mode has been engaged.

Another solution would be to keep Honor, but at zero Honor all damage is now permanent for the run and no chests can be opened. i.e. all Health & ES regen is removed. This will allow players to simply brute force the levels which is what they really want.

Many also seem to think that they should have eight Ascendancies by level 50, which isn't the design mechanic at all.


Trial 1: Fine, nothing wrong with it at all, barring the obviously unfairly weighted honor system. This can be mitigated by adding a hidden buff or two to melee chars. e.g. they get an inherent and unseen +50% regain to honor when it is given back to them.

Trial 2: Floor 2 is fine and even easier than 1 if you go in over-levelled and have decent runspeed. Most players skip 1>3 so do not have the benefits of the extra relic slots unlocked by this run. Given the slots that unlock here, it is easy to add a +maximum Honor +20% in here. Again, I feel most players in this thread have not bothered to do this. The boss mechanics are slightly too wide to avoid imo (flame wave) with the current Honor loss.

Trial 3: The hit boxes / timer on the poison gas is far too tight and non-responsive. I have rolled out of a room with the gas (2.9k honor remaining) and suffered an instant death while being obviously clear. Otherwise, much the same.

For all timed challenges, in all three level, boots with +15% RS were enough to do each first time and with plenty of time to spare. 15% RS is easily achievable by level 25.


Solutions: I would cut the number of potential debuffs by a third per floor, make certain ones less severe (i.e. instead of 0 ES, -50%) and fix gas traps.


Chaos: Up to 4.

Some of the environmental penalties are frankly broken. e.g. Beams & Floor AoE circle. Compared to Sentry Guns these feel like a personal "FU" and maliciously OTT. Far too large range and/or fast. Some of the monster spawning penalties appear to be broken or far above their stated numbers. e.g. +20% rare monsters will lead to five spawning at once...

Bosses: the bird has a ranged meat pillar attack that can 1-shot any build and is too difficult to dodge correctly. Chimera is just annoying due to the ice remaining for far too long and it keeping the flight timers of the original fight which is in a much much smaller area. Keep it on the ground more and reduce the floor spam persistence.

Solutions: if you want to make it an Arena style carnage match, then do so - but spawn powerups players can get just like in Doom / Quake. +HP / regen, +Damage etc. Temporary 5-10 second powerups that really boost the character.

~

Wall of text over.

Since I'm in a minority in this thread in that I think the idea of Trials is fine, and while I found some of the 1-shot deaths overly tuned, I enjoyed them, it'd be nice to keep them & the bonuses in the game. Have them give small (5-10%) permanent character bonuses like the side quest minibosses to the Ascension skills themselves. i.e. I do 3 Ascension Ascension Trials - I get 3 little stars I can put on the Ascension skills themselves to boost them. So now I have Altered Flesh* that gives 22.5% Cold damage taken as Fire Damage or I have Minion Life* that gives 13.5% extra minion HP instead of 12%.

Drop rates of coins is likewise... fine. I have got ~8 or so getting to level 76 of the correct level range (60+) and 15 or so in total (others were under 60). Perhaps slightly up this in certain maps. You can really tell people who levelled themselves and those who got carried by the complaints that they don't have enough coins, but I digress.

TL;DR


Trials are fine, actually, just need some tuning and made slightly less fierce.