Beta Feedback: Version 0.4.X Impressions & Bug Report
---
TL;DR: 0.4.X shows great performance gains over 0.3.0, but hardware temps remain high. While the core gameplay loop is fun, the campaign length and lack of monster density in maps are major issues. Key bugs include a critical PC reboot to BIOS, UI issues on the async trade merchant, and tooltips not changing when you hover new items while holding ALT.
---
Pros & General Feel
- Performance: Much better than 0.3.0. Far fewer crashes and the game remains visually impressive on lower settings.
- Loot & Progression: Item drops feel more rewarding than last patch. I feel like I am naturally acquiring enough gear or currency for steady upgrades.
- Sekhemas: Far less problematic. Mechanics feel more refined with fewer bugs and less ability to "cheese" the encounter.
- General Fun: I'm playing more than last patch and genuinely enjoying the experience.
Cons & Pain Points
- Hardware Temps: Even with better performance, the game causes high temperatures consistently, even on the lowest settings. This is not an issue with other high end games I play.
- Campaign & Map Density: The campaign feels too long with excessive empty space. Maps also feel like they lack monsters in large sections.
- Movement Speed: Needs a general increase across the board to improve the game's "flow."
- The Well: Should automatically fill flasks on hideout entry. Alternatively, give the Well a reason to be clicked (e.g., "Overfill" or temporary enchants for gold).
- Endgame UI: The mapping system feels repetitive. It would help to have a "Stash" button on the World Endgame screen to craft Waystones without leaving the menu. Search functionality would help a great deal.
- Economy: Logbooks and Tablets are far too rare and expensive to provide a reliable return on investment.
- Server Stability: Packet loss is heavy during peak hours (after 8 AM CST), whereas off-peak hours (4-7 AM) are perfectly smooth.
- Atlas Zoom: The endgame map needs the ability to zoom out much further.
Bug Reports
- Async Trade Merchant: Sometimes bricks stash tabs, making items unplaceable/unmovable.
- Alt-Tooltip Locking: Holding ALT to see stats locks the tooltip to the first item hovered. It should update when moving the mouse to a new item.
- Map Device UI: Maps occasionally become unclickable, requiring the device to be closed and reopened.
- Realm Selection: The dropdown box occasionally fails to open on the login screen.
- Herald of Blood: Causes an unintended red line to appear over the health bar. See image below.
- Tab Affinity: Ritual and Delirium fragments are prioritizing the Fragment tab instead of the League-specific tab.
- Reforging Bench: Relics larger than 2 units wide (Incense/Tapestry) cannot be reforged.
- Critical System Crash: Game causes a full PC reboot without an error dump. Specific to POE2. This happened last patch as well but far more often. There are no details in event viewer for windows, just an entry stating the previous restart was unexpected. This doesn't happen outside of POE2, only while playing. Screen goes black the the video driver has crashed before eventually rebooting the PC. Worth mentioning that the instance I was in appears to go away when this occurs, for instance if I was in a map the map device no longer has portals and on one occasion the atlas showed the node I attempted as attempted, like I never entered it at all.
Suggestions for Improvement
- Sekhemas QoL: Balbala should have an "Identify All" option or sell scrolls directly.
- Implicit Currency: Add a way to roll implicits (like a Blessing) so players don't have to waste Divines on items with already-perfect explicits.
- Trial Interaction: Allow monsters (like Rares) to influence the trial timers—specifically deducting time for the Hourglass trial.
- Trade Search: Allow players to copy/paste an item directly into the search window to auto-populate mods.
- Temple Mechanics: Add an Undo or Full Reset for Temples, maybe a gold-sink to reroll tile options would work here.
- Gold Pickup Radius: Introduce a way to scale this, perhaps through belt affixes or as a replacement for Rarity.
Herald of Blood, red bar issue:
