[POE2] Feedback from an old time fan and game developer

Hey all, old time PoE fan since 2013 and also a game developer myself. I have a pretty limited free time to play these days but I have sinked about 70 hours into PoE 2 and thought I'd give some feedback.

Overall I see great potential with PoE 2 and think it feels like a next gen ARPG.
However it definitely has issues in its current state and I'm already feeling like I want to take a break from it. I believe it will probably need a year before the game will truly feel great.


Anyway on to the issues:




Leveling experience

1. Early game gameplay experience
The first hours of gameplay experience is vastly different depending on class. For example Witch and Merc had it pretty easy, while Warrior and Monk suffered noticeably more.
I can definitely see lots of people abandoning a class early on because of that.
Melee is highly dependent on gear in a game where you have very limited access to loot. In that case the class need a general boost from the very start.


Solution:
This needs to be polished for the sake of all classes having more or less equal challenge.
Overall once again melee suffers here and could need stronger early game tools to feel good.


2. PoE 2s difficulty
I overall like the more challenging gameplay and higher difficulty. But I think it can be fine tuned a bit so it ramps up over time. Guess this will get better once we get all the acts, since atm cruel is a lot easier than normal.

Solution:
I think it's mostly fine. But could need some minor nerfs in the campaign for the sake of the average casual.
But overall I think it just comes down to giving players early tools to tackle this challenge. Like proper balance for all classes, easier access to crafting at lower levels, better quest rewards, balanced/useful ascendancies etc.

3. Pacing issues
First act is perfect! Second act is a bit long in places, but act 3 is just way, waaay too long.
I should have been amazed by traveling back in time but was mostly bored at that point and just wanted to get it over with.

Solution:
Not every place needs to be gigantic.
I am genuinely concerned about the replayability of the game just because of how long it takes to get to the endgame.
I actually hope act 4,5 and 6 is shorter than act 3 otherwise I fear people will refrain from rolling new classes and generally find the game to be a bit of a slog.


4. Some ascendancies are in a pretty bad shape
Like blood mage and Infernalist.
Some could even be considered build breaking traps for many beginners.
It's even hard to understand what certain nodes will do.
Look at infernalist for example. It has like 4 nodes that damage you and 3 nodes that reserve your life. Some of which are just confusing to read and understand properly.
Sorry but this just feels bad when comparing it to PoE 1 which felt a lot more class defining functions.

Solution:
First nodes should not be a risky choice which can make the class actually feel worse.
Some nodes are kinda doing the same thing in the infernalist tree for example, try to unify multiple nodes.
Less confusing functionality of these nodes so players has an idea of what they are picking.
Finally I would also vouch for the possibility to switch ascendancy(it can be costly)

5. Ascendancy Trial 3 and 4 is too messy and too unforgiving if you fail
I also say Skhemas is in general too punishing for melee, even with various buffs.

Solution: Just tone it down across the board and make the whole ascendancy journey less RNG. Both Ultimatum and Sekhemas are highly RNG due to all the extreme modifiers.
I also think both of them in general could be dropped by 5 levels in requirement as well and make them more easily obtainable.

6. Passive tree is a lot easier to grasp then in PoE 1, downside is that it's also a bit too streamlined and unfun.
Way too many similar nodes, or nodes with too little effect.
Once we get the full game I assume this will get improved.

Solution:
I think this will solve itself once the rest of the content gets added. We don't have to have a tree as advanced as PoE 1, but i think the ideal thing would be a middle ground between what we have currently and PoE 1s tree.
One of PoEs main longevity has been it's deep build options.

7.Quest rewards are a bit inconsistent and kinda uninspiring at times
Like getting a skill gem when you're getting flooded with gems of that level.

Solution:
Would like to see some proper jewel rewards since they are hard to obtain, book of respec should make a return, rare rings, lesser jeweler orb etc.

8. Monster run speed
Feels too fast at times and it makes speed on boots even more mandatory. Can imagine non-freezing builds will have a hard time with this, not to mention struggle with clusterfuxks like Ritual.
Overall it feels more toned for PoE 1 then PoE 2s intended slower pace.

Solution: Tone it down a tad and i'd say things like rituals need a bigger area to fight on, or make mobs spawn in with a lower intensity.


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Endgame

1.Map sizes
Atm it gets boring searching through oversized maps. I get what they are going for and PoE 1 has the opposite problem where you clear a map in 1-2 mins then spend half that time sorting through the loot.

With that said, not every map needs to be as big as what we have currently

Solution: 80% of the maps should be smaller in size. Even 50% of the size would still feel large.
I'd also like to see more varied layouts like old beach, atolls that are more straightforward.
I also think rituals etc need to be seen on the minimap.

2. Clearing towers are very repetitive
There are also lots of issues with walls blocking your vision.

Solution: Pretty obvious much more variation and could also be shorter with more challenges/rewards.


3. Dying on a map and losing all progress is a bit harsh
Feels like unnecessary added difficulty since the whole game we have been taught that it's okay to die and retry.

Solution: you can still have the mechanic, but make it a map mod or specific regions of the atlas.

(I still think the exp loss can exist btw)


4. More bosses on maps is a must have!
Hunting rares atm is annoying, much more prefered having a boss on each map or hunting 1-3 semi strong bosses.

Solution: Add two boss tier types. Current one which can take quite some time to battle and a different type that consist of 1-3 roided up rares.
Similar to red/yellow beasts with Einhar. Preferably we would want an easy way of knowing which direction they are located, kinda like the chalice function in the trials.


5. More things to discover on the atlas
Places that make you really want to go there. Delve in PoE 1 did that pretty well.

Solution:
This one is pretty obvious, overall i just think PoE 2 needs a year of adding content.
It feels like each map can contain more interesting stuff like lockboxes, essences etc across the board.


6. Too few bosses to chase
Currently in PoE 1 there are plenty of bosses etc to keep you going. It also has some really iconic stuff that really could return in PoE 2.


Solution:
Shaper and Eldar are highly Iconic and should make a return. Re-introducing Eldar/Shaper items also makes it more interesting in terms of loot.

7. Citadels are highly random on the atlas and super rare
Failing it once means you can't do it again and have to find a new one.
It just gives a horrible experience in general. In this case we don't want too much of an RNG factor in boss progression.


Solution: Citadels needs to be more accessible. Maybe you can even convert towers into a citadel with some form of currency.
Also you can't lose progress just because of one death. But if this is fixed across the board and you have some portals, i think its fine.

8. Other defences that's not ES needs to be increased to be endgame viable, especially armor.
You can't reach the same amounts of armor values as in PoE 1 due to the lack of determination aura etc.
Kripp made a good video on it, I suggest anyone who hasn't seen it to check it out.
Overall I find it a bit odd how you can stack ES like crazy in the passive tree, or get crazy Mind over Matter mana as a defense. But meanwhile life and life reg is pretty much non-existent in the passive tree.
Yes, we don't want it like in PoE 1, but a few nodes here and there wouldn't hurt.


Solution: armour needs to have an overall better function vs big hits. Its not a crime to have some % life nodes mainly meant for melee users in a few key locations of the tree.


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Itemization

1. Charm slots
You introduce a mechanic like charms but I can bet that the vast majority of players still, despite buffs to charm slots, still only have 1 charm.
To me that makes the system feel a bit wasted.

Solution:
I think belts should come with certain slots by default starting with some having two already in cruel. Third slot could still be a bit harder to obtain.


2. Run speed on boots
Now with limited default moves speed or proper movement skills, movement speed is a 100% must have.
Found like one pair of boots through the whole 2x campaigns which I kept simply due to the speed.
I'd say moderate movement speed should be more common or even exist by default on some boots.

Atm exalt slamming boots is also a frustrating experience since if I don't get that crucial mod it's just unusable.


3. Staves
Why should I use them when I can more easily get better mods with wand + focus? Not to mention I have plenty of passive tree points that boost the use of focuses.

Solution: add powerful mods that only exist on staves. More passive tree points for using caster staves.


4. Skills locked to items
It's a cool concept but frustrating because they don't level up. I also don't like how I can't obtain such skills elsewhere. For example If I happen to like Power Siphon, I basically have to look for that specific wand of that specific type.

Solution: Make such abilities scalable and possible to transfer to similar item classes.


5. Way too many niche or pure trash unique items
Some of these are so niche, yet I can't see any build actually utilizing them in the long run since they are low level gear.. So only real use is when you got absolutely nothing else.

Solution: More useful endgame uniques, maybe some upgradable uniques, kinda what they did with items like Doomfletch Prism in PoE 1.

6. Socketed runes need to be replaceable
Nothing more to be said on this one.

7. Rune system feels a bit unusually simple for being PoE
Even Diablo 2 had more functionality with different qualities of gems and rune words.

8. Easier access early on to artificial orbs to combat resistance issues
Would also like to see runes that gives stats for solving gearing issues.

9.Why you should use a salvaging bench isn't really conveyed
Most people won't understand its pretty much a must to get artificer orbs.
Also showing sockets on items aren't even enabled by default, which greatly helps.

10. Greater and to a minor extent Perfect Jewellers should probably be a bit easier to get since this is needed to get many builds going.


11. Give us back scouring orbs
Or at least some limited way of reseting a crafted item.

12. You can easily end up stacking loads of uncut gems/support gems
Would be good if they could be used for something more.

13. Magic find needs to be toned down and made less of a must have
But this has been greatly discussed so assume changes are on the way.


14. Life/mana potions
Overall I like that there is less potion piano in PoE 2. But I would like to see more use for the potion slots we have.
What if you don't need mana? What if you don't need life due to ci?
I think you then need some alternative uses in such slots.