EDIT: Atlas is saved.

Weekly reminder that the atlas still sucks.

I can now say, after spending over 400 hours on my character, this league that the new system is interesting but flawed at the same time. I definitely do not look forward to go through this ordeal next challenge league again, especially since I do map progression in SSF format (I do not buy or trade maps).

I have made a big push over the weekend to get as much completion as possible, I'm currently sitting at 145/47. Map sustain is much better now as well--effect of Atlas bonus, Awakening bonus and Awakened levels is definitely impacting how well you sustain your maps.

My main issue is that new Atlas system is not intuitive, it requires you to go through very specific hoops and it is prone to brick a lot. I have lots of maps but mostly in regions where I already have all the watchstones. This mean I need to run areas where I have not acquired all watchstones but at the same time I do not have many or, in same cases, any at all maps. I'm forced to run maps from regions where I have all watchstones and when I spawn conqueror there, I have to kill him and trigger him again somewhere else.

Also, map stash is a horrible mess and still need a lot of work to be done before it can be deemed satisfactory. We need to have option to select maps by region or blight, have better search options and allow us to customize what we see in the tab.

I have spent more time on a single character this league than on any other character in recent history. I have also spent by far most currency on the character. I'm not sure any of this is due to new Atlas system, in fact I'm worried about next league and whether I will be able to drag myself through the mess that it is mid-game (early game is fine and straight-forward, end-game is ok-ish since you already have most of the maps and just run them over and over again).

I must preface this saying I have 4k hours in this game and I have never seen this game in a more miserable state than it is right now.

Two leagues back, I could easily do tier 16 content with as little as 4k hp without dying repeatedly to every single monster I encounter.

Even after I started playing a tankier character with 6k hp, endurance charges and other layers of defense, I die like a leaf. What's that about? Not one damage mod on red maps and encounters like alva (chaos damage incursion), certain legion rares, most map bosses, every single monster in an al heizman influenced map and absolutely all metamorphs one shot me every chance they get and those aren't even the telegraphed attacks. What happened to this game? I came back with the goal of leveling my first character to 100 and I was quite optimistic. I can't get past level 90. It's disheartening and makes me wanna play any other arpg out there.

"

demonstorm wrote:

I must preface this saying I have 4k hours in this game and I have never seen this game in a more miserable state than it is right now.

Two leagues back, I could easily do tier 16 content with as little as 4k hp without dying repeatedly to every single monster I encounter.

Even after I started playing a tankier character with 6k hp, endurance charges and other layers of defense, I die like a leaf. What's that about? Not one damage mod on red maps and encounters like alva (chaos damage incursion), certain legion rares, most map bosses, every single monster in an al heizman influenced map and absolutely all metamorphs one shot me every chance they get and those aren't even the telegraphed attacks. What happened to this game? I came back with the goal of leveling my first character to 100 and I was quite optimistic. I can't get past level 90. It's disheartening and makes me wanna play any other arpg out there.

You totally right, except the sign. It is amazing that you can't faceroll 4k hp in t16.

Hello, dear exiles.

this league is being my 3rd league in the game briefly for those who have a full-time job plus family obligations like myself, this new system only implements more RNG which makes it tedious in the long run (it was nice to do it one time but for future leagues omg no please no).

I spent hours getting access to kill Sirus in Ak8 to receive a ridiculous loot. and be subject I don’t know how many hours to see Sirus’s face again and pray to all might RNG god for some loot. I think I have more to do with my little free time.
it wasn’t enough to just die from one shot hidden mechanics, to lose 10% xp and to waste hours of progress (remember that I am not making this my life) now comes this new endgame to make the cherry on the top of the cake.

I just wanna spend my little free time enjoying and relaxing playing a god ARPG but at this point POE it's all but fun and relaxing experience.


ps: Sorry for the English

"

Sikottic wrote:

Hello, dear exiles.

...

I just wanna spend my little free time enjoying and relaxing playing a god ARPG but at this point POE it's all but fun and relaxing experience.


...

I share this sentiment.

I still consider myself casual player even if I play this game for 8 years and have spent over 5000 hours in it.

New Atlas system is a novelty in 3.9 but I'm not looking forward to do the chores again next challenge league.

Map sustain is definitly easier once you reach high Atlas and mid-level Awakened bonuses but early to mid-tier game is a chore.

Reworked map tier progression made a map stash tab total mess where you have multiple same maps in different tiers. Atlas regions play massive role in the progression but you have very limited options on how to search or sort your maps by them, in or outside of the map tab.

RNG introduced into the progression due to how conqueror's influence or taunts spawn makes mapping a hassle. All the more that you can actually spawn conqueror in a region where you already have particular stone or all of them, which locks you out from getting next watchstone for that Sirus cycle. You can also run out of maps needed to spawn conquerors due to how they are locked to regions. So, new system pretends we can run whatever maps we want but in reality you still need to run specific maps at specific tiers to progress. If game RNG does not give you map drops you need or you do not fiddle with watchstones to limit potential map drops, you might be out of luck and maps to run.

Conquerors of the Atlas rework was a decent attempt to refresh end-game that was rather stale for quite a while but it still needs a lot of work to make it a pleasant and seamless experience.

"

demonstorm wrote:

I must preface this saying I have 4k hours in this game and I have never seen this game in a more miserable state than it is right now.

Two leagues back, I could easily do tier 16 content with as little as 4k hp without dying repeatedly to every single monster I encounter.

Even after I started playing a tankier character with 6k hp, endurance charges and other layers of defense, I die like a leaf. What's that about? Not one damage mod on red maps and encounters like alva (chaos damage incursion), certain legion rares, most map bosses, every single monster in an al heizman influenced map and absolutely all metamorphs one shot me every chance they get and those aren't even the telegraphed attacks. What happened to this game? I came back with the goal of leveling my first character to 100 and I was quite optimistic. I can't get past level 90. It's disheartening and makes me wanna play any other arpg out there.

+1

I'm happy for everyone who enjoys the current state of the game but for me 3.9 is the most UN-FUN ever :D

It's been another week. Atlas is still awful. See you again next week.

"

carkasjak wrote:

It's been another week. Atlas is still awful. See you again next week.

It has been over two month alas still fun and amazing thank you.

It is likely that the dev themselves knew of the new atlas problems.

For example, if you didn't place the watchstone properly, u dont get watchstone to drop or the conquaror to appear.

At the start of the league, there are some players who 'seem' to know that we have to place the watchstones at the four corners. Now this info isn't apparent until they add in the map tooltip and there are confusion among the players.

But somehow, these same players seem to know better.

Maybe they are devs or close friends of the devs. But regardless, the new atlas is confusing and time consuming.

Because the new atlas also lead to fighting sirus, there are storms that instantly kill players, leading to a bad taste in the mouth, especially when the storm is blocking the exit.

Collecting 32 watchstones over 8 citadels is too much. There should be just 4 main zone at each corner.

However the damage has already been done and causing a bad taste with many solo players.