Path of Exile 2 brings a slower, more deliberate pace that many players, including seasoned Path of Exile 1 fans, have come to appreciate. The game’s design reflects hard-won knowledge from the development of its predecessor, rather than relying on guesswork or momentum. This shift allows for meaningful decision-making, transforming the game into an engaging and thoughtful ARPG experience.
A Nostalgic Yet Modern Experience
Many players have likened the game’s atmosphere to the dark, grim vibes of Diablo 2. From the hauntingly beautiful voice acting to the challenging gameplay, Path of Exile 2 evokes nostalgia while delivering a polished and modern ARPG experience.
“At 42, this game brought back the feelings I had when I first played Diablo 2. It’s truly an honor to play this.” – Veteran ARPG Fan
Gameplay Improvements
The slower pace and deliberate mechanics make every encounter feel significant. Boss fights demand strategy and precision, and rare enemies often act as mini-bosses, requiring players to adapt their approach. The game rewards tactical gameplay over brute force.
Controller and QoL Enhancements
Path of Exile 2 works seamlessly with controllers, making the gameplay more accessible. Quality of life changes, such as easy respec options and detailed in-game skill and gear information, reduce the reliance on external tools like Path of Building.
“You don’t need to spend hours online searching for builds. The game’s systems are intuitive, and respec options are a breeze.”Â
An Engaging Campaign
Even players new to the Path of Exile series or those migrating from other ARPGs, like Diablo 4, have found the campaign enjoyable and approachable. The depth and complexity of the game unfold naturally, making it easy for newcomers to adapt.
“I’m a D4 refugee, and I love that Path of Exile 2 reminds me more of Diablo 2. Randomized maps, boss battles, and grinding – it’s all here!”
Early Access Performance
Despite being an Early Access release, Path of Exile 2 has set a high standard. The game’s stability, minimal server issues, and excellent performance have impressed players, especially considering the influx of players on launch day.
“This is one of the best EA releases ever. A couple of stutters and two disconnects are negligible given the circumstances.” – Casual ARPG Player
A New Standard for ARPGs
Path of Exile 2 redefines what an ARPG can be. Its tactical, deliberate approach contrasts with the fast-paced, flashy style of its predecessor, catering to players who enjoy methodical gameplay and strategic challenges.
“It’s more deliberate, methodical, and mechanical. Recognizing boss patterns and managing resources is immensely satisfying.”
Room for Growth
While the game already offers substantial content, it’s still in development, with more acts, classes, and ascendancies on the way. Players are excited about the potential of the final release.
“It’s missing the final three acts, six classes, and 24 ascendancies, but there’s already plenty to enjoy.” – Dedicated Player
A Game Worth the Hype
From stunning graphics and top-tier sound design to meaningful loot and challenging gameplay, Path of Exile 2 has exceeded expectations. For many, it’s the ARPG they’ve been waiting for.
“This game is what Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction was for me years ago. It’s hard, fun, and rewarding. The loot feels meaningful, and the game is a masterpiece.” – Longtime ARPG Fan
Currency & Crafting
The concept of using your currency during the campaign to make your items better is perfect, but to do so you need the aformentioned currency, which barely drops. No deterministic crafting during the campaign, so you pick up an item, make it magic, if it’s a good mod you upgrade it, and you continue this cycle for a few times until you have the item you want.
As for crafting and currency, the absence of Alteration Orbs feels disappointing. No vendor recipes or crafting bench in is also a letdown. Alchemy Orbs don’t exist in the acts (at least not with my luck), and essences are nearly nonexistent. More common Exalts and new Chaos Orbs are fun, but most deterministic crafting methods seem locked away in maps, which I dislike. Omens for crafting appear to exist (based on what I saw on the currency exchange), but my guess is they won’t be common and will cost a fortune to obtain.
New Loot System
There is no guaranteed way of getting upgrades, Path of Exile had this and it made the campaign quite a lot better. The reason why the currency drop rate is lowered is because of the new loot system, supposedly dropping more useful items at the cost of not having entire screens of loot.
New Gem System
The new gem system is intuitive and removes much of the frustration of the old system. However, a major issue is the imbalance between the drop rates of Uncut Skill Gems and Uncut Support Gems, with 25 Uncut Skill Gems dropping for every 1 Uncut Support Gem. This makes building feel almost permanent, which is contrary to the franchise’s focus on experimentation. Right now, there’s simply not enough freedom to experiment with builds.
The best part of the current gem system is the ability to create skill combos, and I’m excited to see how the developers expand on this concept. However, it does feel a bit limited in some areas. For example, gas can only be ignited by burning enemies or skills with the “detonator” tag, but not by other explosions, burning oil, or a literal wall of fire, which seems illogical.
There are also support gems that trigger double status procs on enemies, and I’m particularly interested in seeing more AoE and ground effect interactions. These abilities are incredibly satisfying to use, and not continuing to develop this idea would be a missed opportunity. Additionally, I hope the weapon restrictions on gems are eased. While weapon-specific skills offer interesting designs, there’s a need for more general, all-around options like we had in the past.
Overall, the Skill Gem system is a groundbreaking innovation for the genre, offering a lot more freedom to customize builds and providing a much smoother onboarding process for new players. In my group of five, two people who had never played Path of Exile 1 adapted quickly and found the game enjoyable. There truly isn’t any other game that offers this level of freedom.
Main Currency (Gold)
Gold is now an integral part of the game, being the main currency to buy items and refund passive points. This system had already been tested in Path of Exile and received a lot of praise with one complaint.
The amount of gold that drops is too scarce, if I want to buy a random ring (that isn’t even guaranteed to be rare) I have to spend thousands of gold, which (at the start of the game) equals to hours of playing.
The same applies to refunding skill points, we have an entirely new passive skill tree, new weapons, new skills, etc. and we are still half-locked into tentative choices.
This is probably only an issue because of the previous complaints but, the balance feels quite off. It takes really long to kill any enemy, especially some bosses that take 15 minutes of perfect dodging and continuous damage uptime. Besides, players are also complaining about frequent crashes and performance lagging when playing the game on Windows 11. On the other hand, players with Windows 10 on PC have minor issues.
I think the balancing is based on having decent rare items that are appropriate to your level, but since this is not the case currently (see points 1 and 4), every fight is an unfun struggle.
New Skill System
The new skill system is more restrictive: it’s divided into “only maces” or “only staves” instead of the broader categories like “blunt,” “sharp,” or “melee.” Experimentation is less encouraged. For instance, in PoE1, testing a different skill or skill combo cost a negligible amount of currency, which was easy to acquire. In PoE2, skills and their modifiers are rare and random loot. A failed attempt at improving your character’s power essentially punishes you until the RNG gods decide to give you another chance.
New Gear System
The same goes for gear. Now, even blue items can’t be freely re-rolled: you get just one shot at crafting. If you end up with garbage, tough luck—sell it to a vendor for peanuts. Crafting currency has become rarer, and there are fewer opportunities to deliberately improve your setup. Gear drops have also become less frequent, and it’s all too common to kill a boss, a rare mob, or open a golden chest only to receive absolutely nothing useful or valuable. And this happens over and over.
Tips Before Starting Path of Exile 2
- Go grocery shopping.
- Block distractions from friends and family.
- Prepare for long gaming sessions.
- Embrace the challenge and depth.
Path of Exile 2 is more than just a sequel; it’s a love letter to ARPG fans and a testament to thoughtful game design. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer, this game promises an unforgettable experience.