Hubris
20-07-2015, 06:22 PM
I should have done it ages ago but it just never happened. So here we go ladies and gentlemen... A hopefully not too late overview slash review slash l2p for Path of Exile! With ratings as good as this game has received it shouldn't matter what I say! Get out there and download it already! FYI 4,5/5·Metacritic. 9/10·Steam. You can expect a fresh download to be around 6.5GB, which all things considered is not a hell of a lot.
635
A couple of us have been playing Path of Exile since beta and the addiction has never really left us. The developers Grinding Gear Games (GGG) listen to their community and are constantly releasing new content and quality of life improvements. This review was prompted by their latest expansion: "The Awakening". The Awakening expanded the endgame somewhat, largely fixed the issue of desync and brought a new act into the game (act 4).
What is POE? Well these things are hard to describe these days, but POE to me is an online Action Role Playing Game (ARPG). It's a hack and slash. It's a dungeon crawler. It's a raiding game. Most importantly though it's free to play and the spiritual successor to Diablo. This little indie developer totally killed Blizzard's Diablo series and gave fans exactly what they wanted in its place. An intellectually stimulating dungeon grinder of destiny!
The game centers around the island of Wraeclast, where Exiles find themselves waking up on a cold beach surrounded by zombies and strange beasts. By questing their way through four acts and three difficulty levels, players can develop and grow their characters in preparation for the end game content. Unlike most other games, the end game is where it all happens. It's here that you will face the toughest content, guaranteed to test every player and character to their limits.
POE's end game is all about mapping. In later levels, items drop in game called maps. When you use these in the map device they open portals to a randomly generated world for you to test your mettle against. Typically you will run maps with friends for the increased magic find. Maps are customizable as per the currency system which I'll expand on later. In addition to the standard maps, certain unique and special maps allow you to face off against the toughest bosses in the game like Atziri.
A word on difficulty before I go on. Most hack and slashers are not particularly difficult. You load in, you choose your character and you pretty much dominate until you're max level with some limited uhh... "I'll use this skill now" along the way. Not in POE. From level 1, the content is genuinely hard. Not only do mobs have big health pools and hit very hard, but they have interesting mechanics and often require careful examination of your build and teamwork to overcome successfully.
Obviously games like these are all about grinding out gear. The best gear comes from end game content but universally useful gear can be farmed off bosses and specific zones if you really need it. You will constantly be replacing your gear set as you progress and this process will seriously test your ability to manage all the stats they give you in context of your character and build. Some may say games like this are pointless, but they are exercises in perfection. Perfecting gear, perfecting characters.
640
As far as skills go, these are not bound by class but are instead made available by skill gems that drop in the game or can be purchased at vendors. You can augment these skills with support gems to modify their attributes or in some cases modify the skill itself to do something more useful to you. It's all up to you and how you would like your build to be. Combine these skills with good gear and you are a winna wena! Typically any plateaus you hit with your skills can be overcome with better gear.
There is no gold in POE and trading is a big part of the game. Underpinning trading is the currency system. All currency items drop in game randomly and all of them serve a specific purpose. That is to say the supply of currency is kept relatively stable as currency is destroyed when used to improve gear or maps. It's a fantastic system and so far uncorrupted by bots and Chinese gold farmers. From portal scrolls to Exalts, each has a useful purpose in the game and relative value to other players.
There are seven possible characters representing the traditional strength, intelligence and dexterity focuses. There are also hybrid characters combining both strength and intelligence and so on. The classes are: Marauder, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Duelist, Shadow and Scion. The Scion is somewhat different to the rest and represents a little bit of everything. My favourite is the Shadow, combining Intelligence and Dexterity. But you could go with anything and be equally successful.
Melee witch? Caster Marauder? It's all possible.
636
Choosing a character is all about the skill tree and where you start. The skill tree is amazingly large and complex, giving players almost infinite freedom to create customized characters that combine all sorts of skills and attributes that are otherwise impossible in other games. Planning out a build is definitely recommended when you know the game quite well, but successful build guides can be followed if you're new to the game so you can get into the end game relatively easily.
In summary, this game is fantastic value. Honestly considering how much people paid for Diablo 3, this is a miracle! If you enjoy dungeon crawlers, this is your unicorn. Guaranteed play time, guaranteed challenge, guaranteed happy feelings! Just don't blame me if you get addicted ;) The game is completely not pay to win, although if you do want visual customization and some extra stash tabs you will need to buy those.
Currently we are in a little guild called POE bros since the interest in the game amongst grrrs has been limited. Grant, Phats and I are the most regular grrrs but we hope to generate a few more players and have a full 5 or even 10 to raid maps with and roll multiple characters. If that sounds like your cup of tea, pull in. We're helpful guys and will make sure you get into it easily and have all your questions answered.
If you're amped to play, have a think about what you would like to play (melee, caster, ranged etc.) and we can help you get started! Just prepare yourself to run through the content yourself at your own pace. GGG removed the ability for other players to XP boost but we can still help you with waypoints and bosses etc. It may start slow, but the story is interesting and once you get into Cruel and Merciless difficulties the game really ramps up in pace and is seriously demanding.
637 638 639
635
A couple of us have been playing Path of Exile since beta and the addiction has never really left us. The developers Grinding Gear Games (GGG) listen to their community and are constantly releasing new content and quality of life improvements. This review was prompted by their latest expansion: "The Awakening". The Awakening expanded the endgame somewhat, largely fixed the issue of desync and brought a new act into the game (act 4).
What is POE? Well these things are hard to describe these days, but POE to me is an online Action Role Playing Game (ARPG). It's a hack and slash. It's a dungeon crawler. It's a raiding game. Most importantly though it's free to play and the spiritual successor to Diablo. This little indie developer totally killed Blizzard's Diablo series and gave fans exactly what they wanted in its place. An intellectually stimulating dungeon grinder of destiny!
The game centers around the island of Wraeclast, where Exiles find themselves waking up on a cold beach surrounded by zombies and strange beasts. By questing their way through four acts and three difficulty levels, players can develop and grow their characters in preparation for the end game content. Unlike most other games, the end game is where it all happens. It's here that you will face the toughest content, guaranteed to test every player and character to their limits.
POE's end game is all about mapping. In later levels, items drop in game called maps. When you use these in the map device they open portals to a randomly generated world for you to test your mettle against. Typically you will run maps with friends for the increased magic find. Maps are customizable as per the currency system which I'll expand on later. In addition to the standard maps, certain unique and special maps allow you to face off against the toughest bosses in the game like Atziri.
A word on difficulty before I go on. Most hack and slashers are not particularly difficult. You load in, you choose your character and you pretty much dominate until you're max level with some limited uhh... "I'll use this skill now" along the way. Not in POE. From level 1, the content is genuinely hard. Not only do mobs have big health pools and hit very hard, but they have interesting mechanics and often require careful examination of your build and teamwork to overcome successfully.
Obviously games like these are all about grinding out gear. The best gear comes from end game content but universally useful gear can be farmed off bosses and specific zones if you really need it. You will constantly be replacing your gear set as you progress and this process will seriously test your ability to manage all the stats they give you in context of your character and build. Some may say games like this are pointless, but they are exercises in perfection. Perfecting gear, perfecting characters.
640
As far as skills go, these are not bound by class but are instead made available by skill gems that drop in the game or can be purchased at vendors. You can augment these skills with support gems to modify their attributes or in some cases modify the skill itself to do something more useful to you. It's all up to you and how you would like your build to be. Combine these skills with good gear and you are a winna wena! Typically any plateaus you hit with your skills can be overcome with better gear.
There is no gold in POE and trading is a big part of the game. Underpinning trading is the currency system. All currency items drop in game randomly and all of them serve a specific purpose. That is to say the supply of currency is kept relatively stable as currency is destroyed when used to improve gear or maps. It's a fantastic system and so far uncorrupted by bots and Chinese gold farmers. From portal scrolls to Exalts, each has a useful purpose in the game and relative value to other players.
There are seven possible characters representing the traditional strength, intelligence and dexterity focuses. There are also hybrid characters combining both strength and intelligence and so on. The classes are: Marauder, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Duelist, Shadow and Scion. The Scion is somewhat different to the rest and represents a little bit of everything. My favourite is the Shadow, combining Intelligence and Dexterity. But you could go with anything and be equally successful.
Melee witch? Caster Marauder? It's all possible.
636
Choosing a character is all about the skill tree and where you start. The skill tree is amazingly large and complex, giving players almost infinite freedom to create customized characters that combine all sorts of skills and attributes that are otherwise impossible in other games. Planning out a build is definitely recommended when you know the game quite well, but successful build guides can be followed if you're new to the game so you can get into the end game relatively easily.
In summary, this game is fantastic value. Honestly considering how much people paid for Diablo 3, this is a miracle! If you enjoy dungeon crawlers, this is your unicorn. Guaranteed play time, guaranteed challenge, guaranteed happy feelings! Just don't blame me if you get addicted ;) The game is completely not pay to win, although if you do want visual customization and some extra stash tabs you will need to buy those.
Currently we are in a little guild called POE bros since the interest in the game amongst grrrs has been limited. Grant, Phats and I are the most regular grrrs but we hope to generate a few more players and have a full 5 or even 10 to raid maps with and roll multiple characters. If that sounds like your cup of tea, pull in. We're helpful guys and will make sure you get into it easily and have all your questions answered.
If you're amped to play, have a think about what you would like to play (melee, caster, ranged etc.) and we can help you get started! Just prepare yourself to run through the content yourself at your own pace. GGG removed the ability for other players to XP boost but we can still help you with waypoints and bosses etc. It may start slow, but the story is interesting and once you get into Cruel and Merciless difficulties the game really ramps up in pace and is seriously demanding.
637 638 639