Absolutely disapointed -- This game is hard, and not in a fun way.

As a 100% noob player in both POE 1 & 2 combined less then 50 hours. I can say that 2 is NOT FUN. Hard is ok, I like hard, But stupid hard + very very low loot / no real reward or encouragement to move forward. That's like being forced to work at a job you hate. Then you add the roll simulator and all you get is a exorcise in frustration.

I would find the game 1000% more enjoyable if the difficulty was some where between POE 1 & 2 on normal mode and leave it where it is on hardcore.

Increase the loot drops by 50%

Ramp up difficulty, Through the acts, example Act 1 10% harder the entry zone, 2 25% 3 50% ect.. They are after all just a gear grind to the end game. I only have 4.9 hours in POE 2 and am on my third toon, None of them (NONE) of them feel fun. I tried the Monk, to lvl 5, Boring and sluggish. The Warrior was Slow & Week, The Merc, I'm playing now. seams the best of the three but still uninspiring. I normally play a tank, I enjoy getting in close and brawling, Not in POE 2 that leads to 9 deaths in 10 Not Fun.

I'm real glad they have curbed the loop all mobs up and destroy them in one shot, that was boring and stupid.

The Game need a massive re-balance as it is right now. I wish I could refund and get my $160.00 bucks back. I know we are in EA and the entire purpose of EA is to work out these bugs and balance issues. I guess I will check it out after a few months and see if things have got better, worse, or stayed the same.

Hi! I have reached level 40 in POE 2, and I think it’s time to share a little review about my experience so far:

I’ve been waiting for POE 2 for a long time, and to be honest, I’m enjoying the game but not as much as POE 1. POE 2 has a lot of potential: the graphics, map system, and boss fights are all fantastic. But please, can we address the artificial difficulty?

I’m playing an Infernalist Necromancer. Maybe it’s OP, maybe it’s not, but I’ve died on almost every boss 2–3 times (okay, 5 times on the Act 2 final boss). My build only started to feel decent around level 30–32, once I got good support gems and decent spirit/skill-level gear.

That said, here are the main negatives for me:

- White monsters hit too hard and have too much health. Sometimes they even manage to kill my minions—why is that? I understand the challenge posed by blue and yellow monsters, but whites? It feels like they’re overpowered just to artificially slow down the game. Wasting time on white packs isn’t fun, and dying because you’re blocked by an army of them isn’t fun either.

- Early bosses have too much health. It doesn’t fit with the low-level gear and beginner players. I’m on Act IV now, and I kill bosses fairly quickly and easily—but from the start of Act 1 to the middle of Act 2, bosses felt like damage sponges, taking several minutes to kill.

Here’s how i think the game could be improved to make it more enjoyable:

1) Reduce the health of white monsters and early bosses. I can’t even imagine how melee players handle them—I’ve helped a few on "The Count" (Act 1 boss), and it seemed miserable.

2) Stop resetting areas on death. It’s no fun, especially when there’s loot still left on the ground.

For me, these two points are the main issues that need addressing.. You made a good game, it's beautiful, it's pleasant, it's hard.. But please, let us bash monsters, like in Path Of Exile (1) !

Now, for positive points :
- Boss fights (not boss health haha)
- Currency loots are really enjoyable (you can craft decent stuff, and i does not needs hours of farm..)
- The beauty of this game, simply
- The new gems system, the classes, etc...


By the way, GGG, you made an amazing job for this new game, and i don't have any doubt that you'll balance it in next weeks.

1. It took too long to beat act 1 boss
2. Cant beat the first boss in act 2, you just get body blocked by adds and done

I was so excited about the game, now I am just angry. I just want to have fun while playing games, but obviously the devs don't agree that having fun is important.

The worst part of this is knowing that nothing will change as long no player exodus is going to happen.

I just hope it's going to be the same as with the Helldivers game, it took half a year for them to realize that "fun" is an important part of the game.

And before you say:

1. Get better gear, there is no loot in this game
2. Get a better build, there is not really much out there yet, also even the worst build possible should get you through the campaign at least.

"

wickedprayer#5920 wrote:

I’m playing an Infernalist Necromancer. Maybe it’s OP, maybe it’s not, but I’ve died on almost every boss 2–3 times (okay, 5 times on the Act 2 final boss). My build only started to feel decent around level 30–32, once I got good support gems and decent spirit/skill-level gear.

How did you feel in act 1? It's what I wanted to go originally but I went minions and uh the minions have been pretty terrible to the point I had to completely start over because I couldn't get skill gems to change out of minions. If it is taking that long to start feeling decent it's kind of off-putting.

"

KcStep2#5702 wrote:

"

wickedprayer#5920 wrote:

I’m playing an Infernalist Necromancer. Maybe it’s OP, maybe it’s not, but I’ve died on almost every boss 2–3 times (okay, 5 times on the Act 2 final boss). My build only started to feel decent around level 30–32, once I got good support gems and decent spirit/skill-level gear.

How did you feel in act 1? It's what I wanted to go originally but I went minions and uh the minions have been pretty terrible to the point I had to completely start over because I couldn't get skill gems to change out of minions. If it is taking that long to start feeling decent it's kind of off-putting.

Hi, the act 1, it was the hardest part for me really, but the act 1 ending boss was not the worse. I was not able to kill the rituals boss for example..
Skeletons warriors were dying so fast.. So, for me the solution, was to use skeletons archer poison skill + concentrated effect + mangnified effect.. But yeah, it was slow.. This changed when i took my loyal hellhound, and unearth skill + infernal legion help on big packs.

Btw, i have taken as many minion damage nodes + some minion life + minion revive speed.. Now it's decent, it's still not easy, but maybe, with some items..

The game is definitely very hard... I'm playing a monk, which is itself a hard class (melee). I've had (possibly 100+ deaths). EVERY boss fights is a complete die & retry (some >10 times). It's probably tune too much to the extreme side of challenging.

Just a note to the Devs.

1 Can the teleport not expire, please. I was at the last level in Ogham manor, I teleported back. Then tinkered with passives to try add more survivability. Then back ingame, portal gone! Another grind through levels down from the waypoint. That's unnecessary, imho.

2 After dying and trying at Geonor for >10 times, I finally killed him BUT I died too. This was not the 1st boss that happened. It did for King of the Mist as well.
Well, then NO loot pickup is possible, only the quest item. ARGGGGH!! There is absolutely no reward at the end of this fight. This SUCKS, big time.

3 Am I having fun? NO. I shudder to thing the PAIN I'll be getting at End Game. No reward for dying.

4 I'm not looking forward towards higher level 90-100. IIRC, you lose XP for dying. At my rate, I'll be stuck at 90 (if I even will continue subjecting myself to this pain that is POE2 for now).

That's my current take for the game now.

Rgds

+1 everything that the OP has stated. I really wanted this game to work out. POE2 just feels like work.

+1 and i agree. This game felt like alot of work... honestly my entire friend group is made of 1000's of hour poe gamers. Nearly all of them have moved onto other games and chucked it up to being a beta or a game not for them. They didnt not enjoying dodge or die mechanics. The slow gameplayer and non existant loot. It just felt bad.

This is my POV.

The game is too difficult. It is too much of a "grind."

The quality outside of combat also isn't there.

So to me I regret purchasing it. It was hyped as a great game, but skills don't work very well and the dodge roll gets old very fast.

My playstyle is mostly point and click. Trying to get away from button mashing.

For OP and all the people that agree with him: git good, nerds!

Now on a more serious note:

I am an avid gamer, I've been playing games for over 30 years and I really enjoy the challenge. For me whatever Fromsoft produced in souls genre is a gem. More of an art than actual game. I am one of the few people that loved Diablo 3 when it came out in 2012 because how challenging it was. Never used real money AH. I was spending sleepless nights with my friedns trying to beat it on Inferno before nerf patches were applied and I loved every second of it.

I've never played PoE1 though. I just didn't like the graphic and I found UI to be just unappealing. But now with PoE2 that is a whole different ball game! There is a dodge roll here? Are you kidding me? Awesome! I am dying not only in boss fights, but sometimes white mobs kick my butt? Oh, that is a pure ecstasy for me. GGG nade this a gem for me.

BUT!

On the other hand....This game could not have been developed without an amazing community of PoE1 players. If it were not you I wouldn't be able to enjoy this new title. I am a newcomer here and I am aware of that. GGG if you read this: for me you can tone the difficulty down a bit. But not too much, please! I believe you will make a good job while keeping the challenge up for most players. Cheers!