Buying Handheld (ROG Ally, MSI Claw) for POE1&2?

Hello.

I'm in the final stages of planning a 3-4 week trip on a sailboat in the summer, if everything goes to plan. As I understand, internet access is 100% available, probably by Starlink.

I'm considering buying Steamdeck, ASUS ROG Ally, or MSI Claw A8 for this trip. I will be able to unwind, and the children will likely be less of a hassle. Actually, they will be delighted to have a new toy. (even though it's primarily for me for that month, I can spin in my head and my wallet that it's a distraction for them :)

I was looking around, and I found ROG Ally Z1 to be capable running POE1 at 60+FPS, even though I'm a little skeptical about endgame maps.

Currently, at computex, they revealed MSI Claw A8 (running AMD Z2 Extreme.) Previously, ASUS announced their Ally 2 running the same AMD Z2 Extreme hardware. I expect both to be in the same ballpark of 1.2K EUR.

The struggle I have is with Steamdeck and by then, last gen ROG Ally 1/X, which will probably be available for one half or even one third of a price.

I don't want to write a wall of text, so I will just skip to questions.

Anyone here playing POE1&2 on Steamdeck or Ally? How's the feeling when playing these kinds of games on handhelds? What's the performance? How long does the battery last? It will be my only source of gaming for that month, so I want the best. But, do you think new handhelds based on AMD Z2 Extreme will be worthy of spending ~3x?

I assume you can use it as a laptop replacement in emergency situations?

Any quirks, you as an owner, think a new user should know?

What is the thing that bothers you the most? What would you change? Are any accessories necessary or just nice to have?

Thank you all.

"

Matt_SI#1936 wrote:

I'm in the final stages of planning a 3-4 week trip on a sailboat in the summer, if everything goes to plan. As I understand, internet access is 100% available, probably by Starlink.

I'd encourage not basing the decision too heavily around the various paths of exile, as while on a boat you'll be somewhat exiled yourself from more regular internet connections. Server-side games such as Path of Exile - particularly by indie or formerly indie studios who chose to roll their own game engine & netcode, such as Path of Exile - tend not to handle anything "irregular" well.

People can find Path of Exile unplayable because they connect over WiFi from one room to their router in another room in a relatively small house or apartment from which point their connection is entirely run over cable all the way to GGG's server. By contrast, there could be a far more significant distance between your handheld and wherever their router is, only for the traffic to then go on something of a journey all the way up to a satellite and back with it covering vast distances without any of the shielding afforded to internet traffic by an Ethernet cable.

It's great that you, uh, I mean, it's great that your kids will be getting a new device for the trip, but my honest advice would be to load up on games that are either played entirely local - or, at least, only care about an internet connection for things like chat functionality.

There's probably going to be packet loss, there'll almost certainly be some "interesting" latency and I just can't imagine the majority of server-authoritative games having a good time of it.


tl;dr: Grab some variety of Steam Deck, download some classics like Grim Dawn and Slay the Spire, have a break from Path of Exile (the sailboat is all about having a break, eh?) and enjoy yourself. Path of Exile will still be around when you get back. The way things have been going... this very challenge league might still be here. GL HF, OP. Hope you & the kids enjoy it!


P.S.: Oh btw. Handhelds aren't always noted for having vast SSDs; some have ~ 64 GB drives. According to Steam, my PoE 1 install is 45 GB and my PoE 2 install clocks in at 90 GB (!). I'd suggest getting a pretty good microSD card for whatever device you get - and springing for any available storage upgrades as well as the card is probably a good shout.

Easier solution,

Nvidia GeForce now. 21$ USD a month you can play POE on your phone.

I use it with my laptop so my phone can also be used.