PoE2 has already failed on what it set up to do before it even released.

Sadly, one of the main reasons PoE2 was made is almost no longer there. What I'm talking about?.. Good combat.

The little challenge that was there initially, at launch, has been gradually removed to the point where you can no longer die from mistakes you make almost at all... nothing feels like a challenge anymore. Bosses hit like wet noodles when compared to before and they die ridiculously fast as well. And it's just 0.3. Shockingly, I still see people complain about difficulty which is the most insane part to me.

The slapped together PoE1 endgame, as admitted by the devs themselves, is what's gradually becoming the norm and seeping more and more into the rest of the game instead, which is really sad. As you can see with abyss as more density and more enemies are added, gradually turning into the same overcrowded with mobs landscape just like in PoE1.

Funny enough, the same people that ask for visual clarity, are also those that asked for PoE2 to become more like PoE1... and that's exactly what they're doing... very ironic. You'd think that they'd figure out that screens of enemies equal in less visual clarity... but nope.. not in their heads.

"Good combat involves some level of challenge" - said Jonathan Rogers once ... And so I am here to ask you, where is that challenge now?

Just look at all the statements here:

https://www.sportskeeda.com/mmo/path-exile-2-more-difficult-than-first-game

https://maxroll.gg/poe/news/pax-west-path-of-exile-2-interview-with-jonathan-rogers

Moreover, the one thing that you sought to fix as well with PoE2 was melee... and guess what, you failed to do that as well for the same reasons... when combat becomes irrelevant and speed becomes king, you end up with the same issues PoE1 had, regardless of how fancy the melee skills look or feel. They can't compete with what becomes relevant in a game with speed and screen clears as it's priority... contagion, minions, the power of a lot of other ranged skills in general and so on...

The only thing that would make it able to compete is if it were to clear 3 screens with one tap or teleport and one tap screens of enemies instantly... and guess what... that doesn't make for good combat even if it did... and even much less feel like you're playing a melee character.

You've managed to hit two birds with one stone.. both good combat and melee took a backseat. Oh well.. actually three if we count visual clarity too.

It's no coincidence that PoE has always had low player retention.. when the combat isn't good, after you finish the campaign there is essentially no reason to continue playing. You're either wiping everything you see or struggling and dying if your build isn't working, because there is no combat to engage with by the time you reach endgame.... it's more of a stat check then anything else. Do you have all the "more" multipliers required, do you have the screen clear capabilities so you don't get hit by 200 monsters at once? And so on.

Overall, disappointed with the direction/path you took in the end, at the pressure of PoE1 community and toxic content creators.

A few steam reviews that were fairly relevant:

"

IonSugeRau1#1069 wrote:

... nothing feels like a challenge anymore. Bosses hit like wet noodles when compared to before and they die ridiculously fast as well. And it's just 0.3. Shockingly, I still see people complain about difficulty which is the most insane part to me.

This isn't a problem with bosses or enemies. It's a problem with your build and easy accessibility of gear on trade. Whatever it is you're playing, is clearly overpowered and needs to be tuned down & nerfed.


People with different builds have vastly different experiences. The fact you can't comprehend that tells me you probably either only play the strongest meta builds (which all need to be nerfed to the ground) or you just don't experiment enough with other classes.


The bosses IMO are perfectly balanced. As someone who plays ethical builds & doesn't just copy a guide, I never found myself killing bosses too fast or too slow. 30sec on a map boss is right where it should be before it starts feeling like a slog. SSF progression is actually perfect because you can't just buy everything you need and immediately start blasting T15's.


I strongly recommend SSF if you wanna slow down your progression and become more engaged with combat and crafting.

"

peter1990ex#0531 wrote:

This isn't a problem with bosses or enemies. It's a problem with your build and easy accessibility of gear on trade. Whatever it is you're playing, is clearly overpowered and needs to be tuned down & nerfed.


People with different builds have vastly different experiences. The fact you can't comprehend that tells me you probably either only play the strongest meta builds (which all need to be nerfed to the ground) or you just don't experiment enough with other classes.


The bosses IMO are perfectly balanced. As someone who plays ethical builds & doesn't just copy a guide, I never found myself killing bosses too fast or too slow. 30sec on a map boss is right where it should be before it starts feeling like a slog. SSF progression is actually perfect because you can't just buy everything you need and immediately start blasting T15's.


I strongly recommend SSF if you wanna slow down your progression and become more engaged with combat and crafting.

First of all, I'm not copying my build from anywhere, and I don't believe I've played meta either. I've just played what I thought would be strong from my personal analysis. (Tactician for the ridiculous 40% more multiplier on immobilize + pin totem, and filled in with whatever skills felt nice during gameplay)

Secondly, the build doesn't mean anything in early game because there is no build to speak of and as I've said, things got considerably easier from the start, before I even got to trade or anything.

I haven't engaged with trade at all till the new system became available. So up to that point there was no trade involved, essentially SSF till act 4.

Third point, just open youtube and type in "path of exile 2 builds" and you'll see just how many trivialize the content entirely that aren't considered "meta".

And fourth point, SSF will change nothing about the amount of enemies coming at you all at once. That's not making combat more engaging. Alongside other points I've mentioned previously.

I don't know what perfectly balanced bosses you speak of, but this isn't it.

"

IonSugeRau1#1069 wrote:

First of all, I'm not copying my build from anywhere, and I don't believe I've played meta either. I've just played what I thought would be strong from my personal analysis. (Tactician for the ridiculous 40% more multiplier on immobilize + pin totem, and filled in with whatever skills felt nice during gameplay)

Secondly, the build doesn't mean anything in early game because there is no build to speak of and as I've said, things got considerably easier from the start, before I even got to trade or anything.

I haven't engaged with trade at all till the new system became available. So up to that point there was no trade involved, essentially SSF till act 4.

Third point, just open youtube and type in "path of exile 2 builds" and you'll see just how many trivialize the content entirely that aren't considered "meta".

And fourth point, SSF will change nothing about the amount of enemies coming at you all at once. That's not making combat more engaging. Alongside other points I've mentioned previously.

I don't know what perfectly balanced bosses you speak of, but this isn't it.

Sorry I was being presumptuous. There are a lot of OP builds around but I feel like most of the ones showcased on YT are edge cases that require a lot of investment. Those will 100% get nerfed.

I still believe the issue isn't with boss balancing but rather with skills & equipment. Because the moment you start making the content harder, all the weaker builds will start to suffer and you're essentially pushing away a large chunk of the playerbase.

The point of :

"

This isn't a problem with bosses or enemies. It's a problem with your build and easy accessibility of gear on trade. Whatever it is you're playing, is clearly overpowered and needs to be tuned down & nerfed.

is to say : you can consider the game as sandbox. If it's too easy the way you played, try challenge run. Impose yourself some restriction.

Per example, i could try to overcraft my weapon, but i don't want to. Why ? I would clear the boss so fast that i won't fight them anymore. And i like to fight. So i don't uppgrade. My 10 point in atlas boss makes my weapon just balance enough.

You can break the game by op build if you like. You can spend all your time crafting and make money if you like. Or you can blast maps like me if you like.

If nothing is enough, there is still hardcore. If the game is so easy, become the #1 world. That's challenging.

I don't say the game is perfect as is, but... it's just the 0.3 version.

Poe doesn't have the sandbox tag on anywhere so there's no reason to consider it so.

Aside from that, most people don't want to purposely handicap themselves. And even if they did that doesn't fix the game's issues.

Now to bring back the focus on "good combat"...

Nobody can tell me this is Good combat:

https://youtu.be/8IU3w--EP44?si=ZhNzunLtz5_0Q1_N

https://youtu.be/ME_3n2MNs-w?si=V_jXwx6bZq_JYWCe

https://youtube.com/shorts/vhRcoNIyHqk?si=t7n6QHgMDtG1Pp1X

These three popped on my timeline without even searching for them. How is this in any way, shape or form good combat? Well, GGG?

looks fun.

kill it NOW!

"

Jitter912#4278 wrote:

looks fun.

kill it NOW!

Fun? Sure.. for about 5 minutes.

"everything is easy" okay buddy close the guides and turn on hcssf