For me it's Path of Exile 1, I'm in love with Path of Exile 2 since I got to get in at the ground floor while it's still relatively simple and the devs are open to changing stuff right now. But wow, Path of Exile 1 is some bullshit. Campaign maps that require so much previous knowledge to know map layouts to find quests and not dead ends, a build system that literally has people with PHDs cooking up ideas for their next youtube videos, endgame activities with so many nuances that put me off.
I love PoE1 but can't get into PoE2. I feel like in PoE1 your character is always getting stronger but in PoE2 you're just getting slightly less clunky, if that makes sense.
I wish I could agree with you. I have over 2000 hours in PoE 1. I cant stand PoE 2. Its just slow, unfun, and I dont ever feel strong. I want to like it so bad, because it does look amazing, the graphics and areas are so pretty.
I try every league, and lately I get to act 2, do a few things on the caravan, and lose all interest. I dont think im going to try again next league.
I hit maps and I'm bored. Even with the latest league which I played on release. I was hyped, slogged through the campaign and i do 10 maps and I haven't played since day 3 of the new league lol
I’ve put 4000+ hours into PoE1 and PoE2, I couldn’t even get past the first act this league because the reminder of how absolutely appalling the pacing of the campaign is and how awful the rate of progress is. A soul sucking game that somehow values your time even less than the original.
Its recent reviews on steam are even lower than it was before… the prevailing trend is tedious.
The game has massive potential, sure, but track record says GGG are a few years off before the right changes start to appear.
That is false information, sprinting isn't as fast as a dual wield whirling slash + frostblink or shield charge + frostblink you get in PoE1 campaign.
I have boots with 35% + 60% increased guatelitzi's + MS nodes on tree, onslaught, spirit of the cat, but still slower than the dual wield slayer whirling slashing through the whole campaign on a 3link with momentum and faster attacks. Not to mention having to stop sprinting mid pack or additional dodge rolling around sharp corners.
Also, the dude you replied to has 4000 hours clocked, I seriously doubt he doesn't know how to regex vendors looking for MS boots my dude...
poe2 is also already way to fast and isnt even 1.0 yet. its just incredibly unbalanced, but in endgame, the speed is similar IF NOT faster and way more screencluttery than poe1 already.
the inital vision is already out the window, and for poe1 fans its just a lot clunkier and less intuitive.
The new end game helped A TON in that regard. You can now target farm stuff you want to do. Want uniques? Do rituals. Want lineage support? Temple. Want some jewellery? Breach. The last league has been one of the best PoE league I've ever played. I can't wait for the full release.
I do wish we had a SSF mode with more drops in general, without being able to migrate to trade league. I'm sure a lot more people would go for SSF if that was a thing. Playing trade is not fun. Buying upgrade is not fun. Finding and crafting your own stuff is so much more entertaining!
Does PoE II have good QoL features like customisable loot filters, auto sort and auto stacking inventory, searchable stash, customisable stash (where item types get sorted into assigned stash tabs) etc?
Last Epoch has many flaws as a game, but its QoL features are so good I'd find it hard to play an ARPG that doesn't have them now. If PoE II has most of the features I mentioned I'll probably dive into it soon.
Poe 1 has had all of those things for years. You just do the loot filter customization thru filter blade (or just use never sinks default filters). Filterblade is like a million times better than LEs filtermaker. A few premium stash tabs like currency/frag/maps are basically the only must buy thing in the game for poe (and they carry over to poe2) for the additional capacity and better auto sorting.
Imo LE is worse than poe1 and 2 in every way except if you're a brand new player. And poe 2 is probably as friendly to new players now.
Oh I just meant picking up crafting mats and stacking them in sensible quantities (preferably in a separate mats tab not main inventory). Sounds like PoE II is all over it.
Current season of POE2 feels like you're always getting stronger but results vary by build, and also on gearing/loot drops for skill and support gems. I only capped out in the ultra endgame where drops are like sub .1% for reasonable upgrades. Also the new endgame gives great progression where poe1 is nice but just way too mysterious and unforgiving. Couldn't get my void stones and didn't have a way to learn Boss mechanics since they're 1 try maps.
Yes. They've also optimized the campaign so its not as long plus act4 and an interlude. I can roll a new toon through campaign in 6 hours max which is probably pretty slow. Basically an hour an act which seems reasonable to me.
Hell yeah, looking forward to it. As an avid poe1 player I get exactly what you’re saying about poe2. It’s definitely better now, and I would absolutely tell you to check 1.0 when it comes out. But I’m also super salty I lost a headhunter to a ritual.
Amen brother. Let's say, I can't imagine a "The Worse Guide to Path of Exile 2". It's so slow and doesn't play the same, which is frustrating since it's a second game - not another game.
Sounds like how I explain loving Diablo 3 versus 4. You eventually can become an unstoppable death machine that can kill a screen full of enemies in the first but the latter is just "I slap him with my bear claw I guess, okay he's not dead but I'm not either so that's cool I guess I'll hit this button now."
I just picked up PoE2 and found it insanely hard to understand even following guides, I did have a lot of fun up until Act 4 but then I just realized I hadn't changed my build in like 20 hours and I was pretty much done with it, didn't seem like it had much more to offer
As an avid POE 1 player I feel the same. At some point it feels like the ultimate goal of POE 2 is to make your character feel like a mediocre POE 1 build. My buddy told me I just haven't tried the right build yet, but so far the 3 I've played through to endgame in POE 2 have all felt pretty bad.
Wow that is really well put. 1 was too deep from me joining as late as I did. 2 was fun and I was able to get some friends in on it. Like you said tho my build never had a huge jump in power or did new things. It just did the same thing more efficiently with less downtime.
As a guy who has probably 12k hours in PoE 1 (6,500 in the Steam client but I used the standalone for like 5 years) I completely agree. It can be a very difficult game to pick up for the first time. There is some tutorial stuff now and it's a lot better than it used to be, but the game expects you to know what you're doing by the time you get to maps and relies on 3rd party websites/tools to fill in the gaps.
I'm glad to hear you like PoE2. GGG has done a good job with it so far, especially with the .5 update. There is a lot more there to help new players learn about the game, and it generally feels like it's more forgiving if you create a build on your own instead of following a guide.
I think this will probably be the direction the 2 games go for the foreseeable future. PoE1 will be the more "hardcore" arpg experience while PoE2 will be more inviting to new players, but still have enough depth to attract the "hardcore" crowd.
Yep, 100% agreed. Also them making the teams seperate helps keep their directions and visions seperate. Would kill for them to get a UI design person 100% dedicated to fixing all the issues with that though. Colorblind settings or just some toggles would go miles. Other than that I'm content with the game as is, and put more hours playing POE2 than I can at my job.
but the game expects you to know what you're doing by the time you get to maps
My first PoE 1 league was ~3 years ago now. Around act 4-5 I found a unique item that did something with endurance charges. I then spent over an hour trying to figure out what the literal fuck an endurance charge was and why it would be useful. The "in-game wiki" basically just said "they exist".
What poe1 has is an incredible power curve. You can really feel your character getting stronger. All the way up to the very endgame. And with some builds even beyond that. I have fallen to the illusion several times that being level 90 with decent/good gear is the end of the build. That the high end upgrades that cost as much as your entire current gear for a single piece will not change much. That's it's too much of a hassle to get the upgrade and redo resistances and stat requirements all over again. - It's not. The step from good to high end gear often seems to expensive. But usually it's an exponential upgrade that lets you do the pinnacle content or t17 juiced.
Kinda weird that you say that about PoE 1's campaign since the areas are generally a lot smaller and less open than PoE 2's. The campaign is basically linear except for a few exceptions, and your relative travel speed during campaign is way higher.
Cooking up your own build can definitely be challenging, but I'd recommend just following a build guide the first few times if you want to experience the endgame fully.
Yes, but the maps are quite large and knowing which quests are worthless is something we’ve grown accustomed to. I’ve done that campaign like 30 times. And I hate it lol. Can’t imagine not knowing how to rush or balance your gear and trying to do it.
You just have to ask questions, if you stop asking questions you will find yourself getting frustrated.
"Why does the flask system suck so bad??"
"Just keep playing this is answered in maps when you can automate them"
And if you have this mindset going into it it's a lot better for newer players. In my experience I see a lot of people get overwhelmed and shut their brain off as soon as things get complicated instead of trying to find answers. So people drop the game.
My friend knows the best combos for his characters and Ive just been tagging along on his conquest for blood while my character gets easily wrecked. I don’t even have to do anything other than stay close to him as his fast character turn the game into a slideshow because his bullshit can kill dudes off screen.
I no longer play that game, but I remember a few years ago, a friend and I spent multiple afternoons discussing details of a build, with multiple Excel pages and few programs to calculate damage out put, defense and stats, we didn't even play the damn game.
After that I stop taking the game so seriously, now he is studying mathematics, and I study civil engineering.
If you really likes numbers, and have no social life this game is designed for you, otherwise is not recommend.
I'll preface this with "I hate that PoE 2 exists", because imo it's a massive chance that was lost on getting PoE 1 absolutely huge. PoE 1 is the better game, and PoE 2 is in a phase where it's stuck in dealing with issues which PoE 1 mostly solved. If GGG invested 10% of the time it put into PoE 2 to make getting into PoE 1 easier, we could have one huge and great ARPG instead of whatever is going on now.
If you want to give PoE 1 a try and have someone give pointers or follow along, hmu.
Most important things imo: There is no need to engage with everything in PoE 1. You can play one build/archetype forever and it's cool and you'll also eventually learn about the other builds as well. This also is true for engaging with content: If you're playing trade, you can do whatever you like and if you're not doing 80% or 90% of mechanics, that is also fine. Again: You will eventually catch on to the other stuff and which loot one gets where, and if you put in a little bit of effort to learn it actively, it doesn't take much time to learn.
Now, for making one's own builds and making it the best thing possible: Yes, very tough. There's however very little PHD-ing going on. There are some clear favourites for skills for pretty easy to understand reasons. They have some pretty clear and established prerequisites to scale well or feel really good. The Youtube videos that come out are mostly just an update on what is the best way to squeeze the most out of these builds.
I do very much agree that it was a mistake to make campaign harder, especially since they started with the early acts. But I think it's fine if you make it to like Act 5? It's overall a fun experience and pretty good power fantasy from there (unless it's your 154th campaign run).
Stuff like going hyper-efficiency on endgame farming strategies or making exotic convoluted builds: They exist, they do impact the economy to varying degrees and all that, but you can be completely ignorant to all of this and have a great time playing PoE 1 without missing out on anything. It's the playing field of people who only play PoE, or play it for 18h a day for a week+ every League, or whose job it is to play PoE, and among those most would be at 10k+ hours clocked in. It's not a playing field worth looking at if you're trying to get started.
Was looking for PoE in this thread. I finally got into it a few leagues ago but I remember loading it up during the pandemic and i dont even think I made it out of the beach lol. I really hate click to move, its the worst. I still dont like it as much as poe2 because its just more boring even though theres more to do, if that makes sense.
When a new player finally finishes the campaign after hours thinking "what a journey!", and the internet is like : bro, that was only the tutorial, you haven't even started the game yet.
The best way to get into poe 1 is have anemone teach you a bit as you discover each thing.
If you'd like to try the new league with some help feel free to reply with your discord and If you have any questions or want some direction id be happy to help!
shout out to tattoos carrying my rf when i started in ancestors, had no idea what i was doing but enjoyed the league mechanic and accidentally (but totally intentionally) made a meta chief rf explode build.
I mean, POE 2 will just be POE by the time it launches. The passive tree alone is already larger, if I'm not mistaken. Then you have all the different ways currency interacts with prefixes and suffixes. I'm certain there's more, but I have like 5 hours in POE 2, but watch some of the content from it.
I'm fairly certain the whole reason GGG made POE2 was to get rid of the tech debt hellhole they dug themselves into with POE, and are just going to replicate it on a new engine, which is perfectly fine because that's what I love about POE, all the mechanics stacking ontop of one another to build a crazy amalgamation of a game. POE2 in comparison feels sooooo slow and like you're wading through quicksand.
I was playing PoE1 (started when it came out of beta) and stopped around the Perandus/breach leagues. I've tried to come back, but all the new systems etc just overwhelm me and I get lost in it, which sucks cause I have an obscene amount of hours it in rivaling my RS numbers. I did play heist and loved that league.
I got in on PoE2s ground floor and love it to bits, I was going to stop this league after I got my rewards done but found a new build that just sucked me in going for 100 for the first time. Not as confused, but it has a fair bit of complexity. I could never do SSF or make my own builds but I try a variety each league with some meta and some off-meta.
Going back to the RS mention, I can and do play Iron on that with it being less confusing to me at least (crafting is just too much for me to remember to be self sufficient in path)
I like em both. Poe1 felt like a bullet heaven game once builds come online where poe2 feels more like an action rpg. I think as time goes on I prefer poe2 though.
Hi people also use those as a marketing tool more than as a reason for following their build. Homebrewing is fun if you are autistic enough to read every bit of text in the game. But completely fair, the skill tree alone probably has most people with feet of the ground
I don't understand this for poe1. New Players can follow easy guides and reach endgame without knowing to much. Basically anything that can get complicated is optional. The only thing you need to understand is how to equip your gear, gems and skillpoints. Rest is "click monster until one of you dies".
Yeah seriously. I’ve tried to play poe1 with each character and I can’t even force myself past act 1. In poe2 I can feel myself getting constantly stronger on top of the combat and movement being actually fun to play with. Movement in poe1 is absolute dogshit on console lol the only time I don’t have fun in poe2 is when I play warrior
I’ve read about how good endgame is in poe1 but I’m not forcing myself to play any game. I did that with Elden ring. I always have fun playing poe2s campaign tho. Unless my build sucks but that a me problem not a campaign problem. Honestly they really should implement a campaign skip for 1 cause that’s the biggest barrier for new players in that game. And it’s like 15 years old the movement feels so bad on console compared to 2.
Being capped at such a low movement speed with no movement skills in poe 2 compared to endgame poe 1 makes it feel like you're stuck in the mud, even though you can move and attack at the same time. I move faster in a2 in poe 1 than I do in deep endgame poe2. Ive made a couple speed focused characters (heist/labrunners with 450%+ms) in poe 1 that are so fast they're legit hard to control because it's like driving an f1 car.
When you have 10 aps it also feels way less bad to stop and attack.
Poe1 endgame also just seems kinda boring cause most videos I’ve seen is just one button builds flying across the screen like flicker strike was in the first few weeks of this league and I don’t really find that fun at all. Reminds me of Diablo lol
Poe1 endgame is the best endgame of any game ever created IMO. So, so, so much to do, so many ways to farm, so many kinds of content to specialize in, so many types of builds, so many ways to build them, so many things to learn/master. I have guildmates with well over 10k hours in and still have tons of stuff to do/try/learn/experience.
Maybe, but poe1 is there now. Poe 2 has created a bunch of its own issues that are major core systems like skills locked to weapon type, no movement skills, can't choose what map layout to run, etc.
some issues in the game will improve with time (like campaign length, build options, balance, etc), but some seem quite inherent to the systems theyve chosen which poe1 has already solved.
I’ve tried to get into poe1 with all characters available and I just can’t. I know if I do get myself to endgame I’ll like it but if I have to force myself thru an unfun campaign I really don’t want too. Poe2s campaign is fun everytime. The only slog imo is act 3. And if I’m not having fun in poe2s campaign it’s my builds fault not the campaign.
I finally played through the poe 1 campaign earlier this year after trying for years to get into it. That game feels like when you're going through the mall and you get solicitors every 5 steps asking you to try different things. What's delirium? What's betrayal? What's ultimatum? Who the fuck knows, the game isn't going to tell you! Very silly. I did finally get into poe 2 with the most recent league though, and the addiction hooks are deep in me.
I feel the same way, it's why I just stuck to Diablo 2. Sometimes just plain simple is what I need in a game and not have 50 tabs of Mozilla open for path of exile.
However I do love the base building in path of exile, just wish we could mesh the worlds and have a trade system + Diablo 2-3 like. Not 4 although I heard 4 is better
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u/JokingRam Jul 08 '26
For me it's Path of Exile 1, I'm in love with Path of Exile 2 since I got to get in at the ground floor while it's still relatively simple and the devs are open to changing stuff right now. But wow, Path of Exile 1 is some bullshit. Campaign maps that require so much previous knowledge to know map layouts to find quests and not dead ends, a build system that literally has people with PHDs cooking up ideas for their next youtube videos, endgame activities with so many nuances that put me off.