"Path of Exile" Or, "My Inner Loot-Hoarder, Unleashed"

[Morkonan]

I had been recommending to a friend that we try this out for years. I hand't played it, but kept up with it from time to time. Since we mostly game together on XBox (NOT my fault!), we finally started playing this wonderful, addictive, game.

It's a lot deeper than I had thought it was, just from seeing it from the outside. They couldn't have made a better, more addictive, more demanding, ARPG in the theme of "Diablo II." And, they've gotten the microtransaction model fairly "right", too, but they don't shy away from providing inducements to at least purchase "Stash Upgrades" - There's more "phat lewts" than any other game I've seen that isn't just a purpose-built cash-grab. PoE can be that, in some ways, but there's a ceiling to its demands. (You don't really ever have to upgrade your stash, but if you don't, you'll spend more time trying to decide what to throw out than you will playing the "game.")

So, anyone have any experiences playing Path of Exile? Advice to share? Observations/comments/criticism or praise?

I'm a newbie right now, level 70 or so, just figuring things out. I decided on this build, just because it's what came up in a search...

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2036681

It's pretty fun and relatively pain free, but gearing-up seems to always be a pain and it's much more difficult to do on XBox... The marketplace tools are practically non-existent and there's certainly not as large a player-base selling gear. There are no tools availalbe like there are on PC. (I am still a proud member of the PC Master Race!) But, at least it's fun, for now, and if I stop having fun with it, I can just create a different character and make some room in my Stash for some new stuff. Uh, right? (I have to stop hoarding all this darn gear! I've already upgraded too many times... That's how they get you to pay for the game - MOAR STUFF TO HOARD!")

/sigh

I was climbing the ladder in Diablo 3 before this. I haven't even looked at D3 since starting to play PoE. That's from someone who was trying to make the legit top-ten in my class for this season...

(Finally getting around to building a full computer-game entertainment setup for my main TV and the like, complete with streaming media and all that jazz, just have to get a few more bits and pieces. So, will likely start playing this on PC a bit in the near future, as soon as I can get a good controller mapped for it. Wouldn't want to play this M&K full-time if I didn't have to.)

[Tycow]

Tried PoE... Wasn't a fan for some reason! Shame as I'm normally a loot-em-up fan!

Have you tried Grim Dawn?

[matthewfarmery]

The real issue with POE is the requirement to trade, but I heard they added in a new mode that makes that impossible. (not tried it recently) the devs released an expansion that changed the progression and levels. But I not touched POE for a long time. It just got boring at the end of the day. The other issue is the skill tree, or should I say passive tree, looks good on paper, but falls down flat in practice.

In the end, I stopped playing it, (this was before the big changes to the story) so can't comment on what its like recently.

[Morkonan]

Tried PoE... Wasn't a fan for some reason! Shame as I'm normally a loot-em-up fan!

Have you tried Grim Dawn?

I haven't tried it, but I've looked into it. It looks interesting, but I think I'll wait until it matures a bit.

The real issue with POE is the requirement to trade, but I heard they added in a new mode that makes that impossible. (not tried it recently) the devs released an expansion that changed the progression and levels. But I not touched POE for a long time. It just got boring at the end of the day. The other issue is the skill tree, or should I say passive tree, looks good on paper, but falls down flat in practice.

In the end, I stopped playing it, (this was before the big changes to the story) so can't comment on what its like recently.

It's pretty easy to see that trading is mandatory for min-maxing a character's capabilities. That's the sad part about the XBox port - It's a chore to trade without all the features available to those on the PC. The game absolutely requires a vibrant marketplace. I'm not quite sure how healthy the console-marketplace is. And, if it's not healthy, then it's just not going to be easily possible to counter that by giving players the necessary tools.

Still, it's fun. I haven't hit the progression wall, yet.

The Passive skill "tree" isn't too bad, really. It's part of the game, itself, and isn't ancillary to it. It certainly doesn't encourage experimentation, though, which is sad. But, there are obvious, at least to me, reasons for that. With 24 character slots available and a very limited ability to re-spec characters in terms of Passive Skills, you're encouraged to create new characters. In turn, that places demands upon your storage space for gear for all of those characters, which encourages you to buy additional Stash space... which keeps the game funded.

If anything, I can see how the game is structured to support players buying additional storage space, which is basically the only "consequential" thing you can buy. (The rest being cosmetic mods.) I don't mind that too much, but it become aggravating after awhile. I'd rather pay a monthly fee than be faced with the constant pressure of inventory management in this game. (Because of the very random nature of item affixes.)

Still, the game is free. It's fun. One doesn't have to buy anything in order to have fun with it. /shrug

One thing I really don't like - The looting system is similar to Diablo 2, with some limited features for assigned loot. I don't like that system at all, preferring D3's loot system, especially the way it notifies you of significant drops. This makes multiplayer a bit inconvenient during leveling and such. Not sure how it will go when I start running maps.

All in all - Good game, fun, and it's free, but with a very strong focus on getting you to buy more loot space. Still, with the default Stash, there's plenty of room there for someone to have a great time playing for free.

[pjknibbs]

I haven't tried it, but I've looked into it. It looks interesting, but I think I'll wait until it matures a bit.

It's been out for two years and they've just released their first story DLC (Ashes of Malmouth), how mature do you want it to get?

[matthewfarmery]

GD I think is way better then POE, granted it has its flaws, but its a good game, and still maintained. So its very mature. I would give that a go, and see which game you like better. For me, the pairing of jobs helps a lot. and there are plenty of items to find, and they are going to add some more weapons and armour in their next major patch.

[Gosnell]

Lost nearly 600 hours to it.Love my witch summoner with vast summon skeletons.

[euclid]

Found the skeleton become less useful in ultimate boss/elite fights. They just die to quick and you barely have time to recast them.

However, I do agree that GD is a good game and can be quite addictive because there are so many ways to combine masteries, skills and gear.

Cheers Euclid

[pjknibbs]

Found the skeleton become less useful in ultimate boss/elite fights. They just die to quick and you barely have time to recast them.

Depends what you're combining them with. I have a specialist minion character--9 skeletons, Blight Fiend, Briarthorn, and a Revenant of Og'Napesh. +150% health to pets, +550% damage, +46% attack speed, loads of +resist, you get the idea. Skeletons have more life than I do--they have over 15k before all the auras I have stacked on them are taken into account. (The Briarthorn has nearly 90k life, I don't have to recast him very often ).

Level 89, just took on two level 90 elites at the same time in the Arkovian Foothills, lost 1 skeleton.

[RegisterMe]

Downloaded three times. At least.
Played three times. At least.
Uninstalled. Three times. At least.

But then again I did the same with Diablo(s).

They scratch an itch, just not a very deep one.

EDIT: for me....

[felter]

So I downloaded and started it up tonight just to be inundated with chat shouts about where to buy the in game currency. I hate free to play games, they have ruined the MMO market, the only thing I hate worse is those mothers who buy currency with real money and botters.

[euclid]

Found the skeleton become less useful in ultimate boss/elite fights. They just die to quick and you barely have time to recast them.

Depends what you're combining them with. I have a specialist minion character--9 skeletons, Blight Fiend, Briarthorn, and a Revenant of Og'Napesh. +150% health to pets, +550% damage, +46% attack speed, loads of +resist, you get the idea. Skeletons have more life than I do--they have over 15k before all the auras I have stacked on them are taken into account. (The Briarthorn has nearly 90k life, I don't have to recast him very often ).

Level 89, just took on two level 90 elites at the same time in the Arkovian Foothills, lost 1 skeleton.

Ohh, a Ritualist! That's another out of 57 masteries I have not yet tried Obviously you got the Black Grimoire offhand. What other gear(set) do you have?
My Cabalist has the Shepherd set, Fiendmaster Rainment, Mogdrogen's Ardor, Fiendflesh Grieves, just to mention a few important. Main damage comes from the two Hellhounds, the Blight Fiend and the Revenant. The Skeletons do their job but, as I wrote already, particular in prolonged encounters I have to recast them.

Cheers Euclid

ps: sorry for hijacking this thread E.

[felter]

I wouldn't say you have hijacked the thread as you seem to be talking about what the thread was created for.

I have a question, do you ever get more bag space or are you doomed to be only able to carry half a dozen large items at any one time. Also are you able to acquire whatever is used for microtransactions without spending real cash.

[pjknibbs]

I wouldn't say you have hijacked the thread as you seem to be talking about what the thread was created for.

No, he's talking about Grim Dawn, and the thread was nominally created for Path of Exile.

@euclid: Believe it or not, I still have greens in several slots--my weapon is a weapon that gives me an extra skeleton summon (those must be *very* rare, I found it in Normal difficulty and have never found another with that affix), for example. I generally just picked whatever had the best pet bonuses in any slot without worrying too much about the rest. I also went for Devotion bonuses which boost pets as well.

Full list of gear: Demonic Warden's Judgement of the Void (weapon), Empowered Black Grimoire of Og'Napesh (off-hand), Legion Conjuration Seal and Empowered Briarthorn Band (rings), Mythical Sovereign Ruby of Domination (amulet), Mythical Corruptor's Mask (helmet), Taskmaster's Preserver Cuirass of Protection (armour, green), Rhowari Shoulderguard (shoulders, green), Rifthound Legwraps (legs), Touch of the Everliving Grove (gloves), Fiendflesh Greaves (boots), Mythical Voidmancer's Cord (belt), Mark of the Nymph (medal) and Ancestor (relic).

[EDIT] After writing out this list it occurred to me that there might be an upgrade to those Rhowari Shoulderguards, so I went to Old Arkovia to check--yep, there's an elite version of those, so I'm now wearing them!

[euclid]

@ felter: If you are talking about Grim Dawn then you will be able to extend your bag space but this requires some side quests. The first is to repair the water pump. Concerning microtransaction/cash I never did that and will never do this. Imho the best way to gear up is to have one (main) toon up to level 100 on ultimate completed. Then use this toon to farm for legendaries/infrequents to gear up your new toon(s). Ohh, and do not start on nomal, it's a waste, go veteran. For a new toon the crucible is a good way to gain some basic loot and, more important, additional devotion points.

@ Paul: that's a nice setup. Will try one day necro/shaman And good luck with the legendary loot.

Cheers Euclid

[Morkonan]

I haven't tried it, but I've looked into it. It looks interesting, but I think I'll wait until it matures a bit.

It's been out for two years and they've just released their first story DLC (Ashes of Malmouth), how mature do you want it to get?

My bad. I was thinking of another game. I haven't looked into Grim Dawn very much.

[Morkonan]

I wouldn't say you have hijacked the thread as you seem to be talking about what the thread was created for.

I have a question, do you ever get more bag space or are you doomed to be only able to carry half a dozen large items at any one time. Also are you able to acquire whatever is used for microtransactions without spending real cash.

You don't get more Stash space in PoE unless you buy it. It's possible to forego buying it, but it gets difficult. However, if you simply refuse to store stuff you'll never use, it's not too bad.

If there's a valid criticism there, it's that the game has mechanics that encourage loot hoarding in a number of ways. I don't mind a little encouragement for players to pay up, but it does get a bit out of hand at times. Still, it can be played without paying anything and, at least on PC, you can create as many different accounts as you wish, so you can keep what Stash space you have dedicated just to one character.

[pjknibbs]

My bad. I was thinking of another game. I haven't looked into Grim Dawn very much.

Well, that brings to mind two points:

a) What is this other game that's not Grim Dawn or POE, out of interest?

b) You should look into Grim Dawn if you're into ARPGs at all, it's a really good game.

[Alan Phipps]

PoE could refer to both 'Path of Exile' and 'Pillars of Eternity I/II'. Just mentioning it in case of confusion. (Not forgetting 'Port/Point of Exit/Entry' of course!)

[pjknibbs]

PoE could refer to both 'Path of Exile' and 'Pillars of Eternity I/II'. Just mentioning it in case of confusion. (Not forgetting 'Port/Point of Exit/Entry' of course!)

In a thread which spells out "Path of Exile" in the title I don't think there's really much chance anyone is going to think POE is Pillars of Eternity.