Ascendancy Trials Feedback: Understanding Player Concerns

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dontstayrunaway#1023 wrote:

I agree on some points, but completely gutting the trial mechanics like removing honor from sekhema is not the answer. it just kills the mechanic completely for those who enjoy it.

I think just making all trial types available at the same time is the way, no?

Add another trial for 4 total like you say, perhaps a boss gauntlet, but when you can ascend, you gain access to all the trials available and pick one.

Dont just gut the mechanics and make them less engaging. Sekhema without honor is just like the rest of the game and the point of other mechanics, to me at least, is to take a break from normal gameplay and do something unique or different.

Thank you for sharing your perspective.

While I understand why you would like to preserve these mechanics, I have major concerns about keeping them tied to ascendancy progression.

The core issue, as mentioned in my original post, is that ascendancy is fundamental to character progression and class identity. By requiring players to engage with specialized gameplay mechanics that differ significantly from the core gameplay loop to access their ascendancy, there's still a barrier to progression that feels disconnected from the main game.

I agree that Sekhema and Chaos should stay in the game - the art direction is excellent, and some players genuinely enjoy these challenge modes. However, I believe these would work better as optional content again, rather than mandatory trials for accessing core character progression features.

Your point about wanting varied gameplay and breaks from the standard loop is entirely valid. However, ascendancy trials might not be the best place to do this, given how critical those are for character progression.

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Both Sekhema and Chaos have layers of randomness that make the difficulty range from "walk in the park" to "well, my build cannot handle this, better try again." That surely can't be the intended design for such an important mechanic. Having something as fundamental as your class ascendancy hidden behind multiple layers of randomness seems problematic. It's concerning to have players go through multiple rooms and floors only to face a choice between: attempting a room with a negative effect their build cannot handle, or abandoning the run, losing all time invested, and hoping the next run will be more favorable.

I loved every bit of your post and this quoted part perfectly encapsulates how if feel about this part of the game. There have been so many times i was lucky enough to make it to the final boss only to die because the sheer number of modifiers you are forced to place on yourself only to fight in a tiny arena is absurd. You basically are forced to come back with either over-leveled characters or god-tier gears just for a CHANCE to win.

Fully agree. Both most hated, the only two that been avoided by me in poe1, and now the force me and all of us to do that garbage sanctum and "strange" ultimatum. Please GGG look down on us and we beg for mercy!

Fully agree. The game has been amazing so far but both of the ascendancy activities are overturned, take forever, can get bricked by one spicy rare monster, and are both geared towards a specific type of build. It would be fine if they were standalone mechanics but you've locked the ascendancies behind them. I have a very decent build at lvl 77 and I can't get my 3rd ascendancy partially because my build isn't good at the trails and I've got unlucky on SINGLE rare monsters in the 3rd floor... Is this the intention?! I've liked the difficulty for the game as a whole but this just straight up feels bad.

Yup, i see where youre coming from and agree. It should just let you choose which trial to do off rip. Im just worried that in the outrage people are spewing that parts of the game i love will be gutted, same as you.

yeah 4 failed trials, im done with this acendency non sense, not fun at all

I'm probably not gonna bother with points 3/4 which is lame because it means I'm gimping myself, but Sanctum and Ultimatum are not fun. Both are painful, tedious, feel more based on RNG than player skill, and are both packed with modifiers and mechanics that are oppressive/tedious/BS and feel like garbage.

Especially on my slow-ass warrior trying either just feels like pain and suffering, especially Sanctum.

Completely agree with OP. Trials are just not fun. Personally I have more issues with Trials of Chaos than that other one, but that is mostly due to playing ranged dps class.

As a suggestion for the Honor mechanic changes - keep mechanic, but instead of making it a failure state, tie it to possible rewards. Essentially combine it into one with that Sacred Water currency or whatever it is called.

You still would lose it as you get hit, but instead of instantly losing trial then you hit 0 you would just not be able to receive trial exclusive rewards. You still would able to get ascendancy even if you hit 0.

This way the trial rewards skillful play with extra goodies while even most unskilled newbies could get their first ascendancy provided they survive through it with their build.

Doubt many players will read this post, too many words and all, but I'll do my part and bump this up. Hopefully GGG will notice the post.

Well written and thought out, fingers crossed they take the feedback seriously.

Very well said, OP.

I just got to Act 2 and realized that I'm not forced to play Sanctum. I never play Sanctum in POE1 because I'm usually playing tanky/leech/regen and am not set up for avoiding hits. I have a hand tremor that sometimes makes precise dodging impossible and I don't really need more twitch-style gaming in my POE. POE2 is punishing enough that replaying after getting hit one too many times in room 8 isn't challenging or fun, it's just boring.

I haven't made it to the Chaos trial yet, but if it's Ultimatum I will just ignore it completely. I have never liked Ultimatum at all.

I wonder if the primary goal was to make poelab-style tools ineffective with the randomization.

When I saw the POE2 sanctum trial I almost quit and went back to POE1 (or another game, actually). I know that most of my characters will not complete this trial format.

It's also another way that POE2 is newcomer-unfriendly, even compared to famously monastic POE1. I've been playing for many years but my friends who started more recently don't read the forums or haunt the wiki to come up to speed. I am certain they will all give up before completing the first trial and then pressure me to join them in games we can all enjoy.


[Also, I think I-IV-V-I would be a better example than I-IV-VI-V, but I understand that a simple "8 bars and a sad story" isn't everyone's choice :-) ]