ascendancy trials are TRASH content.

"

Jobama#9902 wrote:

Ok so I'm sorry, but if you have completed everything and are still struggling with trials of sekhema, its because you are scared of it and refusing to do it

Remember learning to ride a bike for the first time without training wheels?

You were definitely scared to take that leap maybe having someone assist you, but eventually you have no problem on that bike and you don't even think twice you just bike!

Same goes for any piece of content in this game, I was initially in the crowd begging to remove it, to nerf it at the least, now I laugh every time I do a trial

There is a way to do them, you choose the right rooms, to know what the right rooms are? you gotta run them

You do have to fail, how many tests at school did you ace on the first try?
If you aced them first try, its because you did alot of studying, others may get a lower test mark, some fail

Do you let that failure scare you away from ever doing a test again? Or do you study? Looks like you choose to be one of those delinquents skipping class refusing to study and do their homework!

Through every failure is how you succeed, ask yourself what exactly it was that killed you, Was it the room you chose? the afflictions?

Sadly the issue is your patience, maybe need to rework your build, watch some videos on how others run the trial, but by no means does it need a nerf, other classes(specifically right side of tree) legit need a buff maybe introduce
F O R T I F Y into this game so melee has an ES equivalent, you know just a thought GGG? Only like every other ARPG has it or something similar

Pathing is everything, taking the rooms that offer the most choices not ones that only have 1 path etc etc, sometimes you can take some real shitty afflictions and still succeed, you have to try lol, only took me 1500 hours xD

Has absolutely nothing to do with ability, the mechanics are just garbage and have been since POE1.

I COULD eat a kilo of brussel sprouts for dinner but I don't like them and Im sure as hell not going to frequent a restaurant that has them as a mandatory part of my meal.

The problem is one of the "Visions." It's a core principle of their game design which is to find what players want and what gives them joy and turn all those things into negatives instead. Oh you progressed in x, y, and z areas? Here are three various mechanics that take all that away from you. Hahaha, now you suck loser! It's ok to have temporary penalties applied with intelligent design, but this is not it. Most mechanics that penalize players should have an accessible counter-play option.

[Removed by Support Nichelle_GGG#0000 on Jan 14, 2026, 12:13:20 AM]

But no, this isn't about being "scared". It's about getting punished by a pile of endgame-irrelevant mechanics that have no business being stapled to the one thing you're basically required to do.

Ascendancy is the beginning of the endgame. It's the on-ramp. Atlas passives, maps, loot systems, temples, pineapple bosses - that's endgame. Trials are the gate you have to clear just to start actually playing it.

So when a character that has finished the Atlas, has multi-million DPS, and can delete basically any pineapple boss in seconds still gets bricked by some random Sekhema modifier that you can't meaningfully avoid, where exactly is the "balance" supposed to be? That's not build-checking or skill-checking. That's "congrats, you rolled the wrong punishment".

Also, the whole "you learn by failing tests" lecture is… not the motivational speech you think it is. Failing can teach you something if the game gives you clear feedback before and after. Sekhema doesn't. It doesn't explain what happened, why you failed, or what you could have done differently. It's just "you lose, try again" with the educational value of touching a hot stove.

I'm all for learning mechanics. This isn't that. This is "go study a wiki and watch a few hours of videos just to get through the door". If your advice is "watch other people play the game so you can play the game", the mechanic already failed its job.

And for the record, I'm level 93 with strong DPS and decent defenses, and Sekhema is still a dumb challenge for all the wrong reasons. If the expected progression is "read a couple books, watch some tutorials, then maybe you're allowed to start endgame", that's not a skill curve. That's a hazing ritual.


EDIT: Small note on moderation, since it directly affects the tone of this thread.

My reply was edited by staff for being "needlessly negative and antagonistic". Understood. But the post I'm responding to is still up unchanged, despite containing lines aimed at the other person rather than the mechanic, for example:
- "if you have completed everything and are still struggling with trials of sekhema, its because you are scared of it and refusing to do it"
- "Looks like you choose to be one of those delinquents skipping class refusing to study and do their homework!"
- "Sadly the issue is your patience"
- "you have to try lol"

Those are personal jabs and motive-attribution, not gameplay analysis. If the Code of Conduct standard is being applied here, shouldn't it be applied consistently to both sides of the exchange? Right now it reads like one post gets cleaned up while the other gets a free pass, and that kind of selective enforcement is how you turn a balance discussion into a moderation meta-thread.


EDIT2 (moderation/process):

My reply was edited again, but this time there is no visible note explaining what was changed or why. If a moderator can clarify which specific wording was the issue (or which guideline it hit), I will adjust my phrasing - I'm trying to keep this discussion constructive and focused on the mechanic.

Related: some replies in this thread include remarks aimed at the player rather than the gameplay (for example: "you are scared", "delinquents skipping class", "Sadly the issue is your patience", etc.). If my tone is being moderated under a "keep it respectful / no personal jabs" standard, I'd appreciate that same standard being applied consistently so the thread stays about Trials/Sekhema feedback rather than becoming a back-and-forth about each other.

"

Jobama#9902 wrote:

Ok so I'm sorry, but if you have completed everything and are still struggling with trials of sekhema, its because you are scared of it and refusing to do it

Remember learning to ride a bike for the first time without training wheels?

You were definitely scared to take that leap maybe having someone assist you, but eventually you have no problem on that bike and you don't even think twice you just bike!

Same goes for any piece of content in this game, I was initially in the crowd begging to remove it, to nerf it at the least, now I laugh every time I do a trial

There is a way to do them, you choose the right rooms, to know what the right rooms are? you gotta run them

You do have to fail, how many tests at school did you ace on the first try?
If you aced them first try, its because you did alot of studying, others may get a lower test mark, some fail

Do you let that failure scare you away from ever doing a test again? Or do you study? Looks like you choose to be one of those delinquents skipping class refusing to study and do their homework!

Through every failure is how you succeed, ask yourself what exactly it was that killed you, Was it the room you chose? the afflictions?

Sadly the issue is your patience, maybe need to rework your build, watch some videos on how others run the trial, but by no means does it need a nerf, other classes(specifically right side of tree) legit need a buff maybe introduce
F O R T I F Y into this game so melee has an ES equivalent, you know just a thought GGG? Only like every other ARPG has it or something similar

Pathing is everything, taking the rooms that offer the most choices not ones that only have 1 path etc etc, sometimes you can take some real shitty afflictions and still succeed, you have to try lol, only took me 1500 hours xD

I like Sekhema, but it takes too long and the early floors become trivial too fast. It feels bad when the run becomes rewarding and potentially challenging only on the last floor.

If you are clearing T16 maps, but struggle with Sekhema like some posters here... Idk what to tell you.

"

Prügelprinz#6281 wrote:

I like Sekhema, but it takes too long and the early floors become trivial too fast. It feels bad when the run becomes rewarding and potentially challenging only on the last floor.

If you are clearing T16 maps, but struggle with Sekhema like some posters here... Idk what to tell you.

Being able to and being willing to are very different things.

after getting all the points, trials are rewardless according to the time you spent on them. this is the point

"

riguardli996#9479 wrote:

after getting all the points, trials are rewardless according to the time you spent on them. this is the point

The mechanics don't need to be removed from the game, they just need to be removed from ascendancies.
Some people like them, that's fine. Them being a requirement after a year of negative feedback is fucking insane.

"

JODYHiGHR0LLER#6171 wrote:

quit the league initially because of them.
came back for private league to give it another run, quitting again.

ascendancy trials are FUCKING GARBAGE. absolutely nothing has ever driven me away from a game harder than them.
ive killed every boss at the hardest difficulty more times than i can remember, i can easily farm the most juicy maps.

if trials arent massively changed next league im just done with POE.
basically nobody likes the mechanics. we know it, you know it, they have been despised since poe1.

time to get your heads out of your asses GGG.

trial of sekhemas is one of the best content.

in fact, it is the only content that allow the player to exit and shut down the computer and go attend to real life matters.

before entering the room, at the altar, you can exit and shut down the game and go take a nap and then come back to play the game again.

no other mechanics allow the players this type of freedom.

"

stkmro#2432 wrote:

"

JODYHiGHR0LLER#6171 wrote:

quit the league initially because of them.
came back for private league to give it another run, quitting again.

ascendancy trials are FUCKING GARBAGE. absolutely nothing has ever driven me away from a game harder than them.
ive killed every boss at the hardest difficulty more times than i can remember, i can easily farm the most juicy maps.

if trials arent massively changed next league im just done with POE.
basically nobody likes the mechanics. we know it, you know it, they have been despised since poe1.

time to get your heads out of your asses GGG.

trial of sekhemas is one of the best content.

in fact, it is the only content that allow the player to exit and shut down the computer and go attend to real life matters.

before entering the room, at the altar, you can exit and shut down the game and go take a nap and then come back to play the game again.

no other mechanics allow the players this type of freedom.

It’s trash content, and if they remove the ascendancies, you can still play your beloved trial. Btw., did you ever did the fourth Trial?