Several points and questions for the GGG team
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The Path of Exile developers have stated that they want Path of Exile 2’s campaign to feel different from Path of Exile 1, while still leading into a shared endgame with consistent themes, from my understanding.
However, I feel there are several areas where design opportunities are currently underutilized or implemented in a way that reduces flexibility and clarity compared to expectations set by earlier communication. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Weapon Swap and Skill Flexibility Path of Exile 1 already included weapon swapping, and although it did not have dedicated weapon set passive points, swapping weapons effectively freed up skill usage and allowed flexible ability setups. In Path of Exile 2, weapon swapping is a more heavily advertised feature, but its current implementation feels more restrictive in practice. It appears that active skill bindings are effectively limited to a smaller number of usable setups compared to what weapon swapping enabled in PoE 1. Even with modifier keys (such as CTRL+#), the practical number of frequently used skills remains limited, as many of those slots are typically reserved for auras or temporary buffs. This raises the question of whether the system could offer more flexibility in how skills are assigned across weapon sets, similar to or exceeding PoE 1’s freedom in this area. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Visual Clarity and Monster Density 2.1 Visual clarity At the current stage, visual clarity feels reduced compared to Path of Exile 1. Combat effects and overlapping visuals can make it difficult at times to clearly read encounters. It has been mentioned that there may be future options to reduce or customize visual effects, particularly for group play. However, in its current form, clarity feels like a regression rather than an improvement. 2.2 Monster pack size and density Monster density in interlude areas feels significantly higher than in early mapping content (for example Tier 1–5 equivalents). This creates a noticeable inconsistency in pacing and encounter density between zones. It may be worth considering whether monster density could be made more consistent across progression, either by: - slightly reducing density in interlude zones, or - scaling density more gradually across progression areas For example, areas such as Stones of Serle often feel extremely dense, with continuous engagements and little downtime, while other map sections contain noticeable gaps between encounters. This contrast can feel inconsistent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Replayability and Character Progression I am strictly against skipping the campaign cause it adds up to more injustice against the lower and normal players, especially considered a player ruled economy system! The current structure appears to favor a single-character progression path, with less incentive or support for replaying the campaign on additional characters. This is not necessarily a problem by design, but it does impact players who enjoy experimenting with multiple builds. 3.1 Skill gems and support gem accessibility While skill gems and support gems are available during the campaign, they still feel relatively scarce for early experimentation or secondary characters. For example, for twink or alt characters, acquiring key support gems early can be difficult or expensive in the current economy (1 divine or more for 1 gem). In some cases, even low-level support gems can reach high trade values, which creates a barrier to experimentation. A vendor or system that allows more reliable access to basic skill and support gems could encourage experimentation and replayability, especially for newer or more casual players. 3.2 Early progression systems and vendors On toons or alt characters, several key convenience vendors or systems are not immediately accessible (for example, identification or trade-related functionality depending on progression state). Having earlier or more consistent access to core utility vendors across characters could improve quality of life for replaying players. 3.3 Item socketing and progression pacing Item socket progression also feels slower compared to Path of Exile 1. In PoE 1, players often reached 4-linked setups relatively early in the campaign, while in PoE 2, acquiring additional sockets or links can take significantly longer. If character power progression were slightly more accessible through items and sockets, it might also allow bosses and encounters to be tuned more around mechanical difficulty rather than raw damage thresholds alone. 3.4 Defensive build diversity At the moment, offensive scaling often feels more impactful than defensive investment during early progression. Many early defensive nodes on the passive tree do not feel equally meaningful compared to offensive options, which can reduce build diversity in early character development. Improving the relative value of early defensive choices could help make passive tree decisions feel more impactful across different classes. People are set with 4 choices from skill tree, starting a new character while only 2 are actually meaningful. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Unique Items and Early Economy Certain unique items, such as Lifesprig, can roll different level requirements depending on item variation. Since these items are primarily used for early progression, higher-level variants often have little practical use beyond leveling. However, in the current economy, well-rolled versions can become very expensive despite their limited late-game relevance. This creates a situation where new players may unintentionally sell valuable leveling items for very low prices due to lack of familiarity. Improving clarity around item value or reducing variance in irrelevant stats for leveling uniques could help reduce this issue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Vendor Accessibility Across Characters In Path of Exile 1, once a player unlocked certain core vendors (such as Faustus or Lilly), those services were consistently available for all future characters, including early progression, through hideouts. In Path of Exile 2, similar convenience does not appear to be consistently available across all new characters. It would be helpful if core utility vendors were accessible earlier or universally available once unlocked on a player account, to reduce friction when leveling additional characters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Passive Skill Tree Value, Defensive Investment, and Opportunity Cost There are concerns regarding the perceived efficiency and opportunity cost of passive skill tree allocation, particularly in defensive and utility-focused nodes. 6.1 Mixed-value nodes (offense vs drawback trade-offs) Several passive nodes provide increased damage at the cost of attack or cast speed. While such trade-offs are intended to create meaningful decision-making, in practice they can feel unfavorable due to the relative scarcity and importance of attack and cast speed scaling in current character progression. As a result, certain nodes may feel like a net loss in practical combat effectiveness rather than a meaningful trade-off. 6.2 Defensive wheel efficiency (example: armour clusters) Defensive clusters such as Heatproof require multiple passive points for relatively modest returns (e.g., increased armour and partial elemental mitigation scaling from armour). In comparison, alternative clusters such as Tempered Defenses appear to provide more efficient scaling, particularly through broader applicability of armour mitigation across multiple damage types. This creates a perception of inconsistent efficiency between similar defensive investment paths. 6.3 Reduced effect / ailment mitigation investment Nodes that reduce the potency of slowing or similar debuffs require multiple passive points for partial effectiveness (e.g., ~40% total reduction across multiple nodes). In practice, this investment may feel inefficient when compared to alternative solutions such as: - movement or action speed investment - just avoiding the mod entirely - ascendancy-based immunity - charm-based mitigation systems As a result, some players may perceive these nodes as offering insufficient value relative to their opportunity cost. 6.4 Overall opportunity cost and defensive investment Across multiple examples, defensive investment often requires a relatively high number of passive points for partial or conditional mitigation, while offensive or speed-oriented investment tends to provide more immediately noticeable returns. Additionally, defensive layers frequently require supplementary systems (e.g., equipment slots or charms) to reach full effectiveness, further increasing opportunity cost. 6.5 Comparison to Path of Exile 1 passive tree efficiency In Path of Exile 1, a relatively small investment into defensive clusters could yield a combination of: - significant ailment avoidance - increased maximum life - increased maximum resistances (in select clusters) In comparison, defensive investment in Path of Exile 2 can feel more fragmented, requiring more points and additional systems to achieve similar levels of reliability. 6.6 Design perception feedback Based on the above, there is a perception that passive skill points in their current form do not consistently feel impactful when invested outside of damage or speed scaling. This can lead to a preference toward offensive allocation by default, as defensive or utility investments may not provide equivalent immediate value per point spent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Closing thoughts Overall, these points are intended as feedback on clarity, accessibility, and replayability systems rather than criticism of the game’s direction. The core concern is mainly about whether current systems sufficiently support experimentation, alternate characters, and clarity during combat, especially compared to Path of Exile 1. Last bumped on May 17, 2026, 12:06:44 PM
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I would like to see a forum rule expressively forbidding AI generated or heavily AI assisted posts. Online forums are increasingly implementing such rules and I think it keeps the debate natural and focused. AI translators fine, but not Chat GPT help me write up a summary of criticisms of these things I don't like in PoE2.
Several valid points brought up here, well explained, etc. but no one wants to talk to a bot, and with the flood of ideas here with no specific topic in the title of the thread I don't know why anyone thinks they'll generate meaningful discussion. GGG can ask for AI summaries of customer complaints on the forum, and maybe they already do and that's why they don't respond in threads anymore. I mean I wouldn't say that's excusable but it might explain it. |
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" I use Chatgpt to overlook my poorly framed or maybe antagonizing words, cause I am in fear of exaggerated bans or mutes. So I am sorry that you see it like that, but I rather let a program like chatgpt overlook and correct my posts in some sort that makes it so that I don't breach ToS/CoC as to get muted for months, years or even banned for having not the knowledge of writing it better. If you want I can definitely share you the not changed points via private message. But I will not risk my privilege just to appeal to your wishes. For that the Forum should also allowe a bigger flexibility to say certain things without getting harshly punished. Also this is the "feedback" section. So isn't it natural to post feedback about the game? For me I want to make my feedback rather meaningful, therefore I collect several reasons to give feedback and not make ´6 - 10 posts for each topic. :& And since I wrote this naturally I hope the mods don't go on a rampage against me. Last edited by InvisiblePosture#7553 on May 17, 2026, 12:03:23 PM
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" All good, and sorry to pick on you personally, I just see this a lot more lately and fear its going too get to easy for people, or bad actors, to clutter the boards. This is why other forums I've seen are banning it. I also think its just more effective to keep posts to one topic, but since GGG never replies here who knows if any of it matters. All my opinion, others may feel differently. Hope GGG addresses most or at least some of what you're bringing up. Last edited by Skutz123#5377 on May 17, 2026, 12:00:46 PM
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" I get the feeling that the mods are rather active in forums and also check for good advice or improvments, but the more a game grows the more difficult it may get to actually also answer in forums, especially since they most likely have to also ask for permission to say stuff or not and if they can actually proof or give proof for said points. I'd rather also like to write more for myself and I can understand your point there very well. So thank you and stay safe! |
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