Feedback – Trials of Sekhema

Dear GGG Team,

I really appreciate what you're building with Path of Exile 2. It’s clear how much love and thought has gone into this game, and your approach to monetization and community feedback is genuinely one of the best in the industry.
However, I feel like the Trials of Sekhema really missed this mark. This is not meant as a rage post, just a factual and experience-based statement.

1. Access Gated Behind Random Drops

Access to this trial, especially the third Ascendancy, relies on a random token drop. These tokens seem to have a very low drop chance, making progression inconsistent and RNG — particularly in SSF, but even in trade leagues if you don't want to rely on market fluctuations.

If you're unlucky, you either:
- Wait until a much higher level to even get a shot (which actually screws you up, as even good players tend to overlevel the trial for known reasons), or
- are forced to trade just to progress your build.

This RNG gate doesn’t feel like a rewarding challenge – it just delays character development for no good reason.

2. RNG-Based Afflictions Can Kill a Run Instantly

The affliction system inside the trial is another persistent major issue. You go into a trial and randomly get a set of afflictions — some of which are simply run-ending depending on your build.

Examples:
- “Lose 50% of your energy shield” – if you’re on an ES build, you’re basically done.
- “Can’t see the next room’s effect” – makes planning impossible.
- “Take X% damage on hit” – feels like pure punishment, especially when stacked.

You’re often left choosing between pest and cholera, and in some cases… it's just cholera.

I actually assume that for many ppl in the community it feels wrong to put time and effort into grinding the token, preparing the build, only to have your attempt ruined by a couple of bad rolls you couldn't possibly plan for.

3. Punishing Without Being Rewarding

The trial system currently punishes players heavily (and often unfairly), but the rewards do not justify the effort.

You might get:
- Hoarder chest with a bit of gold ?
- Farm the trials for relics but don’t get a single relic chest at completion?
- Farm the trial for gear and only get armor and boots, meanwhile you need helm and gloves and even if you are lucky you get the bronze version?

This is made worse by the fact that you can’t save unused keys. This makes farming trials a risky investment of time and effort, with very little return.

4. A Missed Opportunity for Fun and Progression

What baffles me is that the system has potential to be fun and rewarding — but instead, it leans into frustration and punishment. Imagine if it worked like this:
- You start underpowered.
- You earn boons as you go.
- Enemies scale with you.
- You make real decisions and adapt your build.
- You’re tested, but fairly.

Right now, the system often just feels punishing from the first floor onward — especially for players who already had to grind for the key. It’s not about skill; it’s about dodging bad RNG.

5. Conclusion

GGG – I say this with respect: The trials feel like a part of the game where your usual design brilliance just isn’t shining.

You’ve built something incredible with POE2, and you’ve earned the community’s trust by always striving to improve. That’s why I’m hopeful that feedback like this will lead to meaningful changes.

Because in its current form, the trial system is: Gated by RNG, killed by RNG and not even properly rewarded when completed.

It can be better. It should be better. And with some rethinking, it can actually become a highlight instead of a frustration point.

Thanks for reading — and for all the amazing work on the game overall.

100% agree with everything stated by OP. I have felt very frustrated and the mere fact that the RNG and constant forced negative boons you get in many ways punishes the player for no good reason.

Trials were supposed to be challenging, not punishing.

The rewards are not worth the risk as they stand currently.

Boss mechanics should be designed around the player and putting players in a scenario in which they have zero chance to dodge out of 2 bosses simultaneously using AOE nukes only to ensure you get hit, usually ending in a 1 shot mechanic is just rage baiting for players to quit and go play something else.

I am all for challenges, and difficulty, but not in the manner of "punishment" you seem to employ as challenge and difficulty.

It would be nice to see some real thought put into the mechanics of these trials, that are fair, but also rewarding.

We need a reliable way to obtain the tokens ourselves instead of forcing players to have to go to the market, and then again, if you are SSF, it is more punishing then anything else based on a very low drop rate chance after you do X number of maps.

I am running tier 5-6 now, and so far have only received 1 additional token for the 3rd ascendancy trial, for a total of 2 out of dozens of maps I have run. This does not feel rewarding in any way, but very punishing.

This is not fun to grind endlessly in order to have a chance at progression in the ascendancy, only then to be further punished with overbearing negatives you force on players as they try and progress through each floor, only to end in forced dual boss encounters that usually ends your run.

I value my time I spend playing the game, and to force players to spend hours in order to get a single token drop, then to spend another good chunk of time trying to get through 14+ floors, only to get beaten by poor game mechanics, is not something many players will opt into.

Hi,

Trials are clearly the worst content in the game. You're talking exclusively about Sekhemas here, but I think the chaos trial is even worse, partly because of its principle of only giving malus from room to room. That doesn't detract from your pertinent remarks on Sekhemas, though.

I think Sekhemas has enormous potential to become content that the majority of players do for fun, rather than to unlock ascendances.

GGG must have statistics to show that most players wait until they're a few levels higher before going in to make sure they don't fail the trial.

The game designers responsible for these trials should play and understand what makes Hades by Supergiant Games such a great game to play over and over again.

It should also be noted that currently players are selling these keys for 22 - 30 EX, which might for certain players not seem much, but when you play the game on a more casual basis and you are on your first char 20 - 30 Ex sound more like a scam or bad joke, especially as it regards your genuine character progression.
The fact that players exploit this situation at the expanse of new players or those that play the game more casual, should be more than a warning flag.

The prices of the level 61-63 keys are actually so high because everybody tries to overlevel the trial for known reasons.

"

Palad1n72#2974 wrote:

if you are SSF, it is more punishing then anything else based on a very low drop rate chance after you do X number of maps.

SSF here. Was swimming in these things last league, and there's even a way in the atlas tree to spec into more dropping. Just got into maps this leage and am in no hurry to find any, because as everyone knows it's best to overlevel them anyway. But in no way did I find them dropping infrequently in SSF.

As for trade league, obviously you can buy them or just a carry service. I heard you can buy a carry as soon as you're in act 2 and get all 8 of your points at once. Lol. LMAO even.

And on top of everything, you don't even get to feel "special" or that you became that much more powerful after ascending. Most ascendancy nodes are more incremental than anything. In PoE1 it felt much more impactful to ascend.

Trial of Sekhema is awful.

All forms of ascendancy in this game are utterly awful, and the 3rd one being TOTA is also fucking awful. How do they pick the worst shit?

Good god. Just let me run the lab.

I dont know how many of these things I have done and have never killed my run with an affliction on melee, a caster, and this league it will be minions.


Seems like OP might be on the earlier stages of this and struggling as people farm sekhemas for the jewels

SSF as well, you have too many of these things to count.



Is actually an incredibly rewarding mechanic if done thoughtfully.


Would suggest maybe doing something else if you dislike sekhemas this much. Doesnt really need anything done to it, could actually see a buff to more generic loot imo but doesnt necessary need it.


Zarokh was nerfed so hard that any skill in the game can just kind of afk through it. Thing has like barely 300k health now. Which was a hard mistake if you ask me

Trials was the reason I quit 0.1 and 0.2. 100% agree.
I can only imagine there were a lot of others who quit as well b/c of it.
Horrible designed system.

Number 6. 3 and 4 ascendancies takes at least 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Which can be frustrating if you fail the run