PoE 2 isn't hard, it just tedious and that lowers player engagement. POE player with 1.5k hours

In PoE 1, part of the fun was trying to make your build so powerful that it could blow up hordes of monsters with a click. Some argue that it what a arpg should be all about. Some would argue that PoE 2 is trying to hard to be like Elden Ring.

We’ve seen those arguments on the forums already. I personally like the direction on both games. I like the fast paced gameplay of PoE1 and also love the slow paced nature of PoE 2.

PoE 2 has a better movement system than PoE 1 (the roll). You aren’t going to be pressing your movement skill and suddenly fly right into a deadly attack. Although in 2, I’ve still rolled into attacks. Bosses in 2 also do a great job of telegraphing their attacks, and that is great.

I still remember that one area in poe 1 with all those fire spitting totems. Tukohama's dream or something?That was annoying on some toons. (It's been years) I stopped playing poe1 after the lake league.

The point that I want to make here is that PoE 2 is tedious and it’s not forgiving if you mess up. In a more souls like game like Elden Ring, the default katana can get you through the entire game. In an arpg it’s the quality and level of loot that you get with the right stats. Furthermore in Souls you really only need to worry about like 7 attribute stats, and if you mess up your build, it’s very easy to respec.

In Path of Exile 2, if you are a new player, or aren't very good at making builds, you will struggle with these bosses. Loot was rare (but now is easier) to get. It is really hard to find a good weapon early on that can help you with those bosses.

Some (but not all) bosses have too much health, or are poorly optimized for the level that you are fighting them at. If I didn’t have an act 3 sorc with better gems in my stash, my poison ranger would have never been able to clear act 2. Since most builds are not optimized until end game, it requires a very good understanding of how get the most damage while leveling, and keeping your end game build in mind, and that is just tedious.

I feel like the campaign should be the tutorial for the endgame. Bosses should be able to one shot you, if you stand in bad. There should be complicated fights, but also they should be optimized so even the underperforming builds can down them. As for the optional bosses, I think besides the forge master, there should be timed optional boss in every act, that acts as a base-line for a dps check.

As for the other things that I find tedious. Some of the campaign maps or just too big. It would be find if the clear speed was much faster, but it’s not—and if you die, everything resets. That just makes me want to put down the game.

Making the game more like a rogue-like is just not something I enjoy, I hate rogue-likes. In PoE 1, the trial of the ascendancy was great. It had secret areas to get buffs for your toon if you needed that extra push, some of the mechanics of the boss fight were optional, which if you kept them up, gave better rewards.

The trials in POE 2 are not fun. Honor needs to go. Monsters need to move a normal speed, with normal attacks like the rest of the game. I do not like clenching my cheeks because I’m afraid that some rare with bad mods, or a poorly positioned mob is going to eat up some of that resource when I need it for the boss. Basing it on health and energy shield is dumb, as well as losing it when u get hit. Not even Elden Ring has something stupid like that.

It is also not good form to completely nerf( taking a wrecking ball to builds,) and not provide players with a free respec.

There will be complaints either way. Suppose the campaign is easier, suppose a character with bad build and gear manages to get to maps. Then he hits a wall because now they are much harder than everything the player has seen before. What would this lead to? Complaints about wasted time and pleas to make mapping easier like the campaign was.

Agree
I considered PoE1 to have several levels of game content:
1. level was the campaign where you could come up with a build or try to recreate one from the forum that looked fun.
2. level was the early endgame. Running some maps and collecting loot from the various league contents.
3. level was the late endgame that only the very dedicated players with the best uilds reach.

I was having fun with reaching the early endgame and grinding around and occasionally die, engaging with the various mechanics (or skipping them) until I lost interest and did something else.
With PoE2 it feels like they want to filter out the dedicated players much earlier. If that is the direction they want to take the game then thats fine and I will probably not play PoE2 then.