Feedback on Shayula's Acolyte and PoE2

After playing 180 hours of Path of Exile 2 focused on Shayula's Acolyte, I would like to share some observations and suggestions that might be helpful for future updates and improvements.

Positive Points:

Game Accessibility and Complexity: As someone who never played PoE1 and started directly with PoE2, the initial experience was amazing. The game is engaging, accessible, and presents fascinating complexity.

Acolyte Class: The class itself is very well designed, with unique and interesting skills, such as the one that grants chaos damage when killing enemies. This skill was particularly useful during leveling, making progression enjoyable.

Improvement Points for Shayula's Acolyte:

1. Difficulty Developing Chaos Damage Builds for Monk:

While chaos damage is a central mechanic of the Acolyte, I found it challenging to create an effective build focused on this theme, especially along the Monk path.

There are no clear options for damage conversion or viable gear to support this approach, especially using staves, which would ideally complement the Monk fantasy.

The lack of synergy between chaos-focused abilities and the Monk’s identity restricts options for players seeking to explore this playstyle.

2. Inefficiency of Embrace the Darkness:

The concept of trading spirit for darkness and extra chaos damage is fascinating, but its execution feels limited. Without the ability to use buffs due to the loss of spirit, it becomes challenging to maximize the skill’s potential.

I tried various approaches to optimize this mechanic (including converting elemental damage to chaos), but all resulted in significant DPS losses, making the skill less effective against bosses.

3. Overemphasis on Poison and Arc Flash:

Most available chaos builds for the Acolyte seem to revolve around poison damage or Arc Flash, leaving little room to explore other pure chaos mechanics.

It would be interesting to add new skills or supports that allow more diverse builds, especially for players who prefer different playstyles, like a tanky Monk with chaos damage.

4. Lack of Thematic Equipment:

The absence of specific equipment, like staves that support chaos damage or related skills, limits creative build possibilities.

Introducing unique items or additional passives that enable clearer synergies between chaos and the Monk's identity would be exciting.

Final Thoughts:

Path of Exile 2 is an exceptional game, and my experience has been extremely positive. Shayula's Acolyte has a very interesting concept, but I believe some improvements and adjustments could make the class even more engaging and fun, especially for players looking to explore different chaos damage approaches beyond poison and Arc Flash.

Thank you for all the effort put into developing the game. I hope this feedback is helpful in further refining the experience!

I used to date a girl named Shayula.