Struggling to Enjoy the Campaign – Anyone Else?

I’d like to talk about how the campaign in PoE 2 feels right now, and the emotions that come with it – for me personally, and probably for many others as well.

I got stuck on Benedictus in Act 4. I tried to beat him about ten times, but the fight was so frustrating that I ended up uninstalling the game. Overall, my feelings about the campaign are very negative. I’ve tried it several times already, and more and more it feels like the whole thing just doesn’t make sense. The boss has absurd amounts of CC, the fight feels completely pointless – I’m forcing myself through multiple attempts just to finish a quest and get rewarded with a single rare that doesn’t even fit my class.

In Path of Exile 1 I made over 30 characters and the campaign never gave me this kind of experience. Sure, it could be a bit boring at times, but after a few hours I was already in endgame. Progression was smooth, and the real challenges came later with uber bosses – which you could do if you wanted, or ignore if you didn’t care. You had a choice. In PoE 2, the campaign itself feels like a wall that kills all the joy before you even get to the “real” game.

Act 4 is just endless running for 10–15 minutes through maps that feel like they never end, only to face yet another annoying boss. And not a boss that teaches you something new – but one that kills you with unexplained mechanics, even after multiple deaths with no hint or clue. I could understand a tough boss at the end of an act, but having one on every single island just kills the fun.

Playing SSF? That’s pure torture. Crafting any sort of usable weapon during the campaign feels impossible, even if you pick up and melt down every single drop. Buying random bases with gold is a joke of a system, not actual crafting.

Loot? Almost always worthless. Leveling? Extra points that don’t change much. I haven’t even seen endgame yet, because I’ve already uninstalled the game three times. It’s honestly frustrating that the campaign is so unpleasant that you quit before ever reaching the content that should be exciting. I’m literally on vacation right now and I can’t bring myself to even start another quest, because I know that in 20–30 minutes I’ll be wiping to the same boss again and then checking Reddit for a guide on “how to even kill him.”

And here’s the biggest problem: I can’t imagine creating 3 or 4 characters in one league and spending dozens of hours repeating this same campaign with all the same bosses. If I struggle to get through it with decent gear on just one character, how am I supposed to do it with multiple? Honestly, grinding 99–100 in PoE 1 felt less tedious and less frustrating than a single PoE 2 campaign run.

It really feels like the campaign in PoE 2 is harder and more exhausting than the endgame itself – and I don’t even want to think about what endgame looks like. In my opinion, a campaign should introduce you to the world of the game, help you learn the mechanics, and provide a smooth sense of progression. Instead, it just burns you out and makes you want to quit.

And just to be clear – these are my personal feelings. I’m not posting this so someone can laugh at me for “not being able to kill a boss” or tell me to “git gud.” I’m sharing this because I genuinely feel like I’m not the only one, and there’s something really off here.

What makes it even worse is that the campaign is the one part of PoE nobody can avoid. Every new character, every new league – you have to go through it again and again. That’s why the campaign should be one of the best-designed, most enjoyable parts of the game. Instead, right now, it feels like something you have to endure once – and never want to touch again.

Does anyone else feel the same way? How do you deal with the campaign? Or am I the only one who thinks it kills the fun instead of creating it?

You got to Act 4 that seems very solid. It’s a big campaign, quintuple marathon big. I also will not be finishing the campaign as I just get bored with it. It’s boring running around I take a couple days break, complete a couple more zones repeat with the amount I finish shrinking and the break increasing.

Yes and no. I am almost exclusively an HC player, which means I am used to playing through campaigns often in an ARPG. I was thinking about this exact point the other day to figure out why POE 2 is such rollercoaster ride of enjoyment, and frustration, for me.

The good in the campaign: I think the acts are actually pretty well done and the boss fights, for the most part, are engaging and fun. Now that we don't have to replay the same acts over and over with the addition of Act 4 and Interlude Acts, it feels less tedious

The bad about the campaign: unless I am playing a meta build, the gameplay up until the middle of act 3, sometimes longer, feels awful most of the time. I am not the fastest player in the world so this could be 5+ hours of not so enjoyable gameplay.

I also feel like the pacing of leveling is off in some areas, specifically end of act 2 and early act 3. Because I am hardcore I have to grind the spires or dreadnaught over and over to level up before fighting Jamanra or the monkey.

Lastly, grinding at lower levels doesn't feel rewarding for how unfun the gameplay feels to me. I am not leveling gems, like in POE 1, and very rarely am I finding gear upgrades or useful runes (finally got my first iron rune drop at lvl 30). I am literally grinding just for a small hp bump each level and talent points.

In short, the grind isn't what bothers me because ARPGs is all about grinding, it is having to grind at the point of the game where the gameplay isn't enjoyable to me.

If theres that much about the campaign that you dont enjoy and feel are just pointless then I dont think your ever going to enjoy it.

Some people want the poe2 campaign to be just like poe1 where its only a prelude of small quests with no difficulty that you blast trough in an hour.
But the poe2 campaign is very intentionally built different, to be longer, better, have difficult moments. And I personally love it.

I think the campaign is incredibly well made and much more enjoyable to play trough since it actually has some parts that are difficult and it just doesnt feel like a pointless prequest you do before you actually get to play the game, its part of the game.

The one thing I would agree on is that I think they should add more mechanics that make it faster to do the campaign for additional characters once youve done it once per league.

Sure, that lightning Benedictus was a hard boss, but then it's even more exciting once you do manage to beat it for the very first time !



And also it's at the moment in the game where it's only one of the parallel options (even if he is mandatory, eventually). Unlike a certain Act 2 Hyena Boss... *cough*

But the biggest issue here seems to be your mindset of the campaign not being the 'real' game. It's already bad enough to have it in PoE1, but you're having it in PoE2, while you don't even know yet whether you'll even enjoy the Atlas !!

P.S.: PoE2 does a great job so far (up to lvl 58, and mid-act2 in couch co-op) with the loop of :
being stuck => learn the new mechanic, change approach, tweak build => become unstuck

I have completley different opinion on the Campaign. I Enjoyed it and act 4 was actually awesome and also the interludes. I have started patch 0.3 witch char i did not played before (Merc). So I was learning new class (i do my own builds, i am enjoying the path of figuring out) and was totally blown away by act 4. I was struggling only Act 1 because I was unlucky with item drops.
But I am full clear player so I am never underleveled and never have issue with bosses...

I can not wait more for act 5.... with Druid....

On the other hand i still do not like the end game... The progress in End game is like thousand time slower than in POE1 and maps(waystones) are scarce... I have like 30 precursors i can not use (no towers) but no maps....

So campaign is fantastic, endgame is sooo boring....

Abyss, yeah Abyss I love....

Seems to be a build issue. Chose the easy way if you struggle is the best advice i can give. Game is day and night between easy and hard mode.

The campaign was by far the best moment i had on the new league release.
They made an amazing job and i cant wait for the next acts.

People who love the campaign so much likely haven't played a lot of maps. It just shows how bad some of them are since they are taken straight from the campaign. Sun Temple, for example, is one of the worst maps to ever exist and it is 1:1 like the campaign one.

Yes, i do enjoy the campaign and i cant wait for act 5 and 6.