[0.5 endgame] What about slow builds and meaningful combat?
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Play unarmed strike for slow combat for a nice while
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" +1 I agree with your post. But what's ironic to me here, is that if you talk about reducing power variance of player builds, and nerfing mechanics which trivialize the game, proponents of AoE screen-clear game-play often accuse you of trying to limit "build freedom". But if you talk about how the AoE clear meta and player power variance is severely reducing the total number of viable builds in the game, or how engaging combat is not possible, then you will hear their myopic definition of 'arpg'. Presumably having never played PoE's predecessors Diablo 1 & 2. Most of the arguments I come across in support of 'samey' screen clear game-play, feel very reactionary and self-focused on their own loot acquisition without seeing the bigger picture and broader health of the game. Last edited by WhisperSlade#0532 on May 15, 2026, 9:17:45 PM
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I just want to have challenging fights that give me a sense of accomplishment and sweet neurochemical release, followed by picking up the loot. After a large zone I want to take said loot back and ID it and have that cause more neurochemical release and "NICE!" because I actually find upgrades in the items those dead enemies drop.
GGG's actions don't line up with their words. They say they want more meaningful combat, and then add in fighting 6 bosses at a time insuring the only thing that matters is hitting as hard as you can as fast as you can. They say they want ground loot to be meaningful and valuable, and then add in new bases that can only be acquired by pulling the lever on one of their crafting slot machines. |
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" In my opinion, it all comes down to what GGG does to enable ACTUAL build diversity. Having literally each class do effectively the same thing with a different flavor is NOT build diversity. Investing in clear speed with massive AOE is not build diversity. It’s literally 1 playstyle. One. No matter the class, weapon, build, etc. We were promised more ways to play. Melee being viable by playing melee. Not ranged, not caster, not fullscreen AOE. They even provided all the necessary skills for this type of playstyle. The warrior can active block for example, the huntress can parry. These are actual mechanics that go beyond clear speed. It’s just that we need the actual game systems to support such playstyles during the endgame. Either via the Atlas, specific tablet mods, or even specific endgame modes specifically designed for more player expression instead of the usual clear speed thing which is done to death and back and it’s beyond tired. Last edited by rifraf-_-#9478 on May 16, 2026, 5:52:57 AM
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" Yep well said. A fella I talk to in Dreamcore's discord calls the current PoE2 melee: "Bluetooth melee". Which is as appropriate as it is sad. It's as you described. The reason is that monsters are balanced to one-shot certain builds which attack at range and regenerate eHP very quickly. The only way to kill those builds are sneaky burst damage / one-shots, and that's an impossible ecosystem for melee to thrive in, without obscene defenses. But it gets worse, because even if you manage to craft such a build, your efforts are in conflict with the loot acquisition incentive of min/maxing clear speed, hence you get the "popular builds" which are all some variation of efficient clear speed via AoE spam. Last edited by WhisperSlade#0532 on May 16, 2026, 11:22:43 AM
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" Yeah. Idk what GGG is thinking tbh. They seem to be losing focus on what this game is and why they’ve built it in the first place. Jonathan has said multiple times PoE2 exists because PoE1 had bad combat and people didnt like that. Now that they’ve built it and the skills are there, the animations, the mechanics, etc., it would be literally madness to invalidate all the work and go back to essentially no combat from PoE1. Idk. Maybe they want to go down that path to appease the PoE1 crowd but in the process doing that, they’re clearly losing the plot. More AOE, more spam, more visual vomit; Vision 2.0. Last edited by rifraf-_-#9478 on May 16, 2026, 1:16:08 PM
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This game is less synergy based than diablo 4 and never will be. Sadly. It's only about zooming. D4 have more iomportant defense layers than POE. Here it's always about zooming and one shot or be one shoted and nothing else or get out from economy :/
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" It makes complete sense when you look at Chris Wilson and other veteran designers leaving the studio. Chris was the anchor for friction, item weight, and punishing mechanics. Now that he is gone, Jonathan and the current dev crew are stuck. They obviously couldn't just abandon the game they had already built up to that point, but they clearly didn't know how to carry that slower, tactical vision through to the end either. Instead, they are being sneaky about it. They are quietly pivoting the game back to its PoE1 roots by aggressively watering down campaign difficulty, expanding AoE, and shrinking map layouts. To avoid getting exposed for gutting the core identity of PoE2, they are deliberately catering to the loudest critics from the old PoE1 player base. That way, they can hide what they are doing behind the excuse of "giving the players what they want." |
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Would love to see atlas points that make maps smaller group whites or magic packs into less monsters with more effectiveness for slower builds.
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if someone gets the reference i feel like poe2 "meaningful combat" is the same as riots "precise gunplay"
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