I'll lend my voice...

At first I was really excited by Ascendancy. But after repeatedly RIPing my 80+ level characters to the labyrinth in normal and cruel I don't even feel like playing it anymore. I love POE but it is a game and games are supposed to be fun. This is not fun.

Awakening was way over tuned when it came out and now it has been brought down to a reasonable level. Hopefully the same will happen with Ascendancy.


People say that the labyrinth tests the player not the character. That's fine but if it is only playable for the best players then this expansion alienates a large part of the player base. Not a good way to sell MTX's. Yes it is optional but knowing that there is a whole, huge portion of the game that is unplayable by me is demotivating.

I was really hoping to get some Ascendancy points into some of my favorite toons but I'm really feeling a lot of what's the point.

I'm usually behind GGG all the way but this time...

Wolf-be-not-happy

Suggestions? Maybe later. right now there's too much why bother.

OP nails it.

Some of us, and I'll dare say many of us, due to the overall tone of the posts in the feedback section since Ascendancy went live, have neurological disadvantages as compared to people like say, Mathil, or ZiggyD, or even HeWhoAnswersTheCall. This isn't exactly a handicap, but it's likely kept us out of games like platformers such as Happy Wheels, Super Mario, and Sonic the Hedgehog. The precision of button-mashing is not one of the gifts we were born with, and up until now, Path of Exile has felt very accessible to us.

No longer.

There is now a so-called "optional" upgrade (yeah, picking up that first rusted sword on the beach is optional too) to all characters available, but it is gated behind the kind of content that myself and others like me cannot do with anything approaching ease, while Sidtherat is able to do 10 minute runs. I can't say I don't envy that ability, but I certainly don't possess it.

The suggestion that it will come with perseverance is facile and lacking understanding for the challenge actually faced. If you can run the labyrinth fast and easy, you will never, ever be able to understand what it is to be someone who has trouble clicking on that perfect square millimeter of the screen to whirl blades or lightning warp to that perfect, trap-free spot.

I'm pretty impressed with myself that I was able to finish normal lab, but I am certainly not looking forward to doing this chore with all of my 10-plus characters.

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鬼殺し wrote:

Define 'best player'. The threshold for passing the Labyrinth challenge, as an abstract whole, is a lot lower than some people seem to think. It just has a very high starting point. If you can take your time, watch the patterns and start to see how it all ticks, you'll be fine. Plenty of people I know who are anything but 'good' at this game in the usual sense have done just that.

So perhaps there's some upset on this board because the pre-existing definition of 'good' at the game has been shaken up. To this I say: good. If fresh level 40 characters can get through a challenge that some existing level 80-90 characters cannot, that to me indicates a sort of balance that GGG rarely achieve, given most of the game's pre-existing difficulty has been little more than gear checks.

But I totally understand the frustration and the anger. You're totally entitled to that.

I wouldn't dismiss it as unplayable yet. Have faith in yourself as a gamer who doesn't just rely on items for power and achievement. A gamer whose very blood thrums with the desire to spot boss patterns, figure out paths through dangerous areas, explore and discover secrets. This is the heart of oldschool gaming. Perhaps you've forgotten that feeling. But it's still there. Beating. Beating. Beating...Beating this challenge is all that matters! No matter what!

I'd be curious to know how often you play this game.

While I recognize the amazing effort in building it, the labyrinth is a just failure in providing end game farming content.

I think that I am starting to warm to the Lab. There was some advice from another post, I'm not sure which one so I can't credit the original author, but the major points that have been helping me are:

1. Top right and/or clockwise.

2. The Lab is not a farming area, get through it and get your rewards.

3. Read up on the Izaro mechanics. (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Izaro) The fight is complex but certainly doable.

I'm not that skillful of a player but, last night - first attempt on cruel, I got through in 35 minutes. Not any major accomplishment by community standards but certainly much better than dying to Izaro stage two after an hour of wandering and near death experiences.

If I can get through, anyone can.


Wolf

If you have looked at some of the players blasting through the labyrinth (even in merciless difficulty) it has nothing to do with the players' skill level at all. Basically just stack a bunch of move speed/move speed mechanics (vaal haste/haste), link up a movement skill, and roll some instant flasks. At that point it's just go balls to the wall and hit potions at key intervals.

I think this is 100% why they cut down the duration on the quicksilver flasks (I know they gave a different, typical GGG BS, reason) with higher duration on quicksilvers people would have no difficulty sprinting through without even looking at the damn traps.

Is it a good design? Eh, not really.

Is it the worst add we've ever seen? Certainly not. (Invasion anyone?)

I think they could have made it a little more skill based and less rewarding for meta-fu*k builds (stacking speed is classic meta) but that's only my personal opinion. It could definitely be better but some of the bile on the forums is misplaced.