[Game] Path of Exile (Diablo 2 style, f2p)
- Thread starter Snuffeldjuret
- Start date
So played a few hours tonight. While in a lot of ways it reminds me of Titan Quest and how repetitive some areas could be...on the other I found a lot to like about it. I've been having some conversations about the way D3 turned out, that always seem to come back to "well the old system was broken so they had to simplify it down." And I think PoE shows that a high degree of player choice works, you just have to be committed to it.
Anyways, I like the skill gem system and I'm starting to get a lot of ideas what to do with the passive skill tree. The potion/flask system and the barter versus gold system....just a lot of interesting things going on.
Visually...it looks nice but I agree, I think it has a sameness problem. It's really understated, just like TQ was, maybe to a fault. But I love the grittiness of it.
I don't know how much play time it will get from me, since I'll be pretty Diablo'd out after D3. But as something to just jump into with friends casually, it seems solid.
Anyways, I like the skill gem system and I'm starting to get a lot of ideas what to do with the passive skill tree. The potion/flask system and the barter versus gold system....just a lot of interesting things going on.
Visually...it looks nice but I agree, I think it has a sameness problem. It's really understated, just like TQ was, maybe to a fault. But I love the grittiness of it.
I don't know how much play time it will get from me, since I'll be pretty Diablo'd out after D3. But as something to just jump into with friends casually, it seems solid.
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Played for about 4-5 hours and killed a couple bosses. Game's good for free to play, but I can't see myself coming back to it (or Diablo for that matter). Sticking with Torchlight, it's just more fun for a casual ARPG player like myself.
The individual parts that make up the scenes look really good. Like the rusty cages, the rocks, the mud, the cliffs, ... but they really don't come together well. Everything just looks sort of stuck together in a very video-gamey, not realistic, way.
Diablo 3 has very cohesive visuals, for example, but Path of Exile lacks direction.
Once you hit the prison levels, the scene design starts to actually work. I agree that before it's like pristine coastline/rusty iron cages and skulls on sticks. Again it kind of reminds me of Titan Quest's semi-generic approach to things.
On the other hand, D3 has a story most are committed to at this point, and that can tie a game together when, in PoE's case, it's a new story, new setting.
Although in the end I do agree. D3 looks like it has a million dollar art team pulling things together. PoE does not.
On the other hand, D3 has a story most are committed to at this point, and that can tie a game together when, in PoE's case, it's a new story, new setting.
Although in the end I do agree. D3 looks like it has a million dollar art team pulling things together. PoE does not.
The game just went into open beta and had it's last character wipe, so I for one will play it the coming weeks and perhaps even further =). Haven't really played in a long time so I bet there is a lot to discover!
I have to say, getting a patch of lag in the middle of a dungeon is absolutely game breaking sometimes.
You can move all you want and enemies can still damage you. Even putting up a portal and trying to use it doesn't work. No idea how people can put up with that in hardcore or higher difficulties.
I just lost progress on 2 dungeon levels because I had to relog and the instances reset since I'd taken so much time (~5 minutes) to get back. It can happen if you just die, too. Your portals don't work right and if you don't have a waypoint back you're screwed. You get to start over. I would've probably ragequit permanently if I was playing a hardcore character.
My biggest complaint at the moment is Act 2's huge focus on skeleton mages. There's nothing but magic damage flying everywhere and even the best resistances you can get are useless when the mages are better later on and fire 3 projectiles a piece. Rooms turn into death traps and they won't follow you out. I can kill all other enemies in the act in 1-2 hits but the skeletons take 4-5 and it's just too much.
It's a shame because I wanted to try to solo the game until I finished one run through. Doesn't look like it'll be possible now.
You can move all you want and enemies can still damage you. Even putting up a portal and trying to use it doesn't work. No idea how people can put up with that in hardcore or higher difficulties.
I just lost progress on 2 dungeon levels because I had to relog and the instances reset since I'd taken so much time (~5 minutes) to get back. It can happen if you just die, too. Your portals don't work right and if you don't have a waypoint back you're screwed. You get to start over. I would've probably ragequit permanently if I was playing a hardcore character.
My biggest complaint at the moment is Act 2's huge focus on skeleton mages. There's nothing but magic damage flying everywhere and even the best resistances you can get are useless when the mages are better later on and fire 3 projectiles a piece. Rooms turn into death traps and they won't follow you out. I can kill all other enemies in the act in 1-2 hits but the skeletons take 4-5 and it's just too much.
It's a shame because I wanted to try to solo the game until I finished one run through. Doesn't look like it'll be possible now.
What class are you playing? Act II is very passable on normal difficulty even if you completely screw up your passive skills and have weak gear. That said, you shouldn't expect to be able to run into a room full of enemies and just hold down a button and clear it in a few seconds (well, some builds come close to that, with good gear).
As for the lag issues, that's the reason I'm playing on normal. That said, if you die on HC your character just gets demoted to normal mode, not completely deleted.
I've had two occasions where I've almost died because of lag, but usually it's such a short spike that I can escape. I just quickly pop my flasks, all of which give various benefits in addition to healing me. One of my Life Flasks gives +40% resistances, the other insta heals when I'm at low health, one of my Mana Flasks gives +72% evasion and the other gives +25% movement speed. Add to this the Quicksilver Flask, which adds an additional +40% movement speed and it's usually enough to get out of even the stickiest situation.
As for the lag issues, that's the reason I'm playing on normal. That said, if you die on HC your character just gets demoted to normal mode, not completely deleted.
I've had two occasions where I've almost died because of lag, but usually it's such a short spike that I can escape. I just quickly pop my flasks, all of which give various benefits in addition to healing me. One of my Life Flasks gives +40% resistances, the other insta heals when I'm at low health, one of my Mana Flasks gives +72% evasion and the other gives +25% movement speed. Add to this the Quicksilver Flask, which adds an additional +40% movement speed and it's usually enough to get out of even the stickiest situation.
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I was just flying through it until the magic damage went into overdrive at the Ancient Pyramid dungeon.
Every single room has 5-10 skeleton mages that fire 3 projectiles a piece. I'm doing sword and board Duelist and my evade doesn't do anything to dodge magic apparently.
I basically have to run in, smash one, and run out. Or wait for them to slowly funnel into a doorway if they even decide to move. One burst up close can cut my HP in half because all 3 projectiles hit me at once. Plus whatever's still around.
Every single room has 5-10 skeleton mages that fire 3 projectiles a piece. I'm doing sword and board Duelist and my evade doesn't do anything to dodge magic apparently.
I basically have to run in, smash one, and run out. Or wait for them to slowly funnel into a doorway if they even decide to move. One burst up close can cut my HP in half because all 3 projectiles hit me at once. Plus whatever's still around.
My best recommendation is to use a bow as an alt weapon. Duelist is a Dex/Str hybrid, so unless you've specced fully into Str you should be able to wield quite decent bows. I always keep a bow ready on my Shadow for occasions where rushing in and out DPS'ing everything before I die doesn't work (and for kiting slow bosses).
A couple things I wish the game had.
-A way to teleport to your party members
-An onscreen marker of the direction your team mate is from you.
-Loot showing the name when it drops for a few seconds before fading away.
Are there any true class specific abilities? Seems like every gem I get my friend also gets access to.
I just got through the Prison, which is where I stopped playing last time I think.
-A way to teleport to your party members
-An onscreen marker of the direction your team mate is from you.
-Loot showing the name when it drops for a few seconds before fading away.
Are there any true class specific abilities? Seems like every gem I get my friend also gets access to.
I just got through the Prison, which is where I stopped playing last time I think.
Gems are tied to Str/Dex/Int. So they are not class specific, but tied to what stats you are investing in. Besides, there really are no classes anyway, just starting points on the passive tree.
I kinda do wish there were some class-defining things though. I know it's the opposite of the philosophy that the game is built on, but I hate it when a game uses words like "Class" as a vague container of almost no meaning. To me the word creates an expectation of something beyond "what do you look like" and "where do you start on the tree."
Really enjoying my time in it though. I love that Act 2 is full of BLOODTHRISTY MONKEYS! I also like that there's no overbearing story constantly intruding on your fun or leading you around by the nose. I'm not really sure how they're going to achieve proft/sustainability since the store is bare of most things people would want to buy other than stash space...but it is still technically in beta.
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