Suggestions for Optimizing the Temple Gameplay in Path of Exile 2 Season 0.4

Dear GGG Development Team,

As the core seasonal content of Season 0.4 "Vaal League", the Temple of Atzoatl gameplay (Vaal Temple) should have brought rich experiences to players through diverse room combinations and strategic construction. However, the current gameplay has problems such as single combinations, unbalanced rewards, and insufficient charging guidance, which severely limit the gameplay depth and players' enthusiasm for participation. Based on extensive practical experience and community feedback, we hereby put forward the following 4 optimization suggestions for the Temple gameplay, aiming to improve gameplay diversity, balance the reward logic, and optimize the overall experience:

I. Core Issue: Break the Dilemma of Single Combinations and Enrich the Diversity of Room Interactions

The core pain point of the current Temple gameplay is "extremely single combinations". Players are forced to cluster around a few high-yield combinations such as "Legion Barracks + Spy Master". The fundamental reason lies in three core imbalances, which need to be addressed targeted:

1. Monopolistic Output of Spy Master Rooms Leads to Fixed Combination Choices

Varlroth's Emblem (used to lock rooms to prevent disappearance) is a core prop for building large-scale temples. It can only be stably obtained from Spy Master rooms, which directly makes Spy Master rooms a "must-choice", while other rooms are difficult to be included in the construction system due to the lack of support from core props. It is recommended to add new channels for obtaining Emblems, such as the probability of dropping from Tier 3 Golem Workshops and Commander Rooms, to break the monopoly of Spy Master rooms and loosen the constraints on combination choices.

2. Severe Insufficiency of Enemies and Rewards in Most Rooms (Core Issue)

Currently, except for a few rooms such as Legion Barracks and Spy Master rooms, most other rooms have the problem of "too few enemies and low reward yields". Community test data shows that the average currency output of non-core rooms is only 10%-20% of that of core rooms, and the enemy density is extremely low, resulting in players' lack of motivation to choose them. It is recommended to comprehensively improve the basic benefits of non-core rooms: first, increase the number and density of enemies, such as adding the "Additional Monster Packs" affix to rooms like Sealed Vault and Alchemy Lab; second, strengthen reward relevance, for example, increase the currency drop rate of Alchemy Labs and the Emblem drop probability of Golem Workshops, so that each room has unique reward value.

3. Too Few Matchable Types for Some Rooms, Limiting Construction Freedom

Some key rooms have very few matchable types, or even no effective matching options, which further compresses the combination space: for example, the Sealed Vault has 0 matchable room types, and the Alchemy Lab, Commander Room, and Golem Workshop can only have weak interactions with a few rooms, resulting in these rooms either being abandoned or only used as "filler rooms". It is recommended to add new room interaction effects, such as: adding a linkage effect for Alchemy Labs that "increases the rarity of rare monster drops by 15% when combined with Golem Workshops"; adding an exclusive mechanism for Commander Rooms that "unlocks additional Emblem output when combined with Sealed Vaults"; designing a synergistic benefit for Golem Workshops that "increases the number of enemies by 20% when combined with Legion Barracks". Through enriching interaction logic, players can have more construction strategies.

II. Optimization of Charging Mechanism: Link to Map Content Completion to Guide Participation in Diverse Gameplay

The current Temple charging is only linked to the number of map affixes, leading a large number of players to only focus on "stepping on beacons and brushing high-affix maps" to pursue efficient charging, completely ignoring other core map contents such as Altars, Abysses, and Legions, which violates the original design intention of "diversified parallel" seasonal gameplay.

It is recommended to optimize the charging mechanism: Completing core content in the map can provide additional bonuses to Temple charging. The specific plan is as follows: Completing 1 Altar can get 0.5 charge, defeating the Abyss Lord can get 1 charge, clearing more than 4 waves of Legions can get 1 charge, and killing the map boss can get 1 charge. The upper limit of additional charge per map is 5 points (after superimposing the basic beacon charge, 2 maps can collect 6 core charges). This design can effectively guide players to actively experience all map contents, while reducing ordinary players' dependence on high-affix maps, making the charging process smoother and more diversified.

III. Full Game Adaptation: Tiered Shielding of Low-Level Items by Map Tier to Improve Experience and Reduce Server Load

Currently, within the Temple and the entire game, low-tier maps still drop a large number of low-level materials such as Scrolls of Wisdom, Normal Alteration Orbs, and Enhanced Alteration Orbs, as well as white/blue items with low item levels. These items have no practical value for mid-to-high-level players, but they seriously occupy picking time, pollute the drop interface, and increase the server data transmission load.

It is recommended to adopt the "tiered shielding mechanism for Rune drops in previous seasons" (this mechanism once reduced the server's data transmission pressure by about 25%), and gradually shield low-value items according to the map tier. The specific rules are as follows:

- Maps below Tier 70: Keep all drops to meet the needs of new players for transition equipment and materials;

- Maps from Tier 70 to Tier 79: Shield the drops of Scrolls of Wisdom and Normal Alteration Orbs;

- Maps above Tier 80: Shield the drops of Scrolls of Wisdom, Normal Alteration Orbs, Enhanced Alteration Orbs, and white items with item levels below 75.

This plan has been verified for feasibility through player-made filters. It can not only significantly improve the picking efficiency and game experience of mid-to-high-level players, but also effectively reduce the server load. It is recommended to fully apply this mechanism to all gameplay scenarios in the game.

IV. Expansion of Emblem Quantity: Increase to 9 to Broaden the Construction Space of Large-Scale Temples

The current upper limit of Emblem quantity (core props used to unlock rooms and expand temple scale) is too low, making it difficult for players to build large-scale and complex temple layouts and limiting the depth of gameplay strategy. Community tests show that the existing number of Emblems can only support a basic construction of "about 40 rooms", and cannot achieve richer room combinations and reward stacking.

It is recommended to increase the upper limit of Emblem quantity from the current level to 9. By increasing the reserve of core props, players can have enough space to build multi-link and multi-combination large-scale temples, further explore the strategy of room interaction, and enhance the depth and replay value of the gameplay.

Conclusion

The core potential of the Temple gameplay in Season 0.4 lies in "strategic construction and diverse combinations". The above suggestions aim to make the Temple gameplay return to the core positioning of "strategy-driven" by solving the problem of single combinations, optimizing charging guidance, reducing the burden of drop experience, and broadening construction space, while balancing the experience of both ordinary and core players. We look forward to the development team referring to the relevant suggestions and making targeted optimizations to the Temple gameplay to make the seasonal content more attractive and vibrant.

Thank you for the development team's continuous investment and optimization in Path of Exile 2!

——From an ordinary player who loves POE2

If you ask me, just don't make it core and move forward. It is a failed concept that can be reviewed at a later time.