Path of Exile 2 – Days 19 – 24: Early Endgame
Controls: X-Input Controller
Rolling Slam L15 with Overpower, Splinter, and Aftershock
Boneshatter L14 with Execute, Impact Shockwave, and Magnified Effect
Volcanic Fissure L14 with Fire Infusion, Ignition, and Persistence
Shield Charge L14 with Stomping Ground, Second Wind, and Momentum
Armour Breaker L14 with Martial Tempo, Break Endurance, and Break Posture
Seismic Cry L14 with Premeditation, Murderous Intent, and Dazing Cry
Hammer of the Gods L14 with Brutality, Fist of War, and Fast Forward
Overwhelming Presence L14 with Precision
Content: Trading, 10 Tier 1 maps, 2 Tier 2 maps, 1 map boss, 4 Expeditions
So this is still early feedback and it occurred as I finished my holidays and time with family. It also occurred during a massive flareup, so I can't ignore how that probably affected my experience.
But I can definitely see why Endgame is so controversial.
There's a term in miniature painting called “The Ugly Phase.” It usually hits after you finished with many of the fundamental steps that are important for creating a beautifully painted miniature. However, no matter how well you've been painting, and how well you've done those fundamental steps, there's a point as you start to put in the details where the miniature will start to look bad. Things like initial metallic or non-metallic metal layers, initial layers or glazes for creating shadow, fine details before they're complete, they can all just make the miniature look like it will never be good. It's not that you've messed up or that you don't know what you're doing, but even to a trained eye things look like they're not going well.
I feel like Endgame is in “The Ugly Phase.” I think there are good fundamentals here and systems that will one day be great and fun to engage with. But, especially after that dynamite campaign, right now they feel shallow and unfinished.
Since this log is going to be almost entirely “What I'm struggling with,” I do still want to make sure you know I'm having fun and I've been wanting to play more while I've laid in bed nursing a killer migraine. And even if I give up on Endgame, I want to roll another character and play through the campaign again. So you really have done great work.
But it's clear that more of that great work needs to come to Endgame.
Most of the points I want to make from my experience are things that I don't know for a fact are issues that actually need fully addressed. Additionally, I know you often take the stance that players are good at diagnosing problems, but not solutions. But there is one thing I'm sure of, that I think you should change right away, and I'm going to lead with that.
PoE2's bosses are fantastic! For three acts I greatly enjoyed exploring to find them all and overcome them. You intentionally put a boss in each area, and that added so much more to the campaign.
So why isn't there a boss in each map?
My suspicion is this was tied to the idea of having maps originally be single attempt only. I can imagine how having a difficult boss in each map might be too punishing if you brick any map when you die. But from my one death, it looks like you've rolled this system back. Now if you die, you lose your Waystone and portals, but you can attempt the map again. This should mean I can attempt a boss multiple times, as long as I have Waystones.
I think having a boss in each map will make the experience more fun, tense, enjoyable, and rewarding. I think knowing that you'll at least get boss drops for completing a map will remove some of the feels bads with traveling through empty maps.
Honestly I'm kind of surprised this isn't already a thing. If I'd designed these bosses, and then someone came to me and said, “I don't think we should have them in every map,” my first thought would be that we screwed up a system somewhere else.
Trading Feels Out of Balance With Crafting
As I progressed closer and closer to endgame, crafting became less and less effective for fixing my gear. As item levels rose and the variance in the mod pool increased, it became nearly impossible to get improvements with my Regals and Exalts.
So I get to Endgame, complete my first map, and I decide I need to fix my gear. I load up the trade site and find significantly better gear than anything I've seen, all for an Exalt a piece. Selling some Vaal Orbs got me those Exalts, and now my gear is in a much better place.
In interviews, Jonathon said he wanted us to be using Exalts on items. If you want that to happen, they need to be more rewarding. I think mods should be weighted by item level, but I know that will have knock on effects, so I'm not as sure of that as I am about bosses.
Progression Feels Slow and Directionless
One of the things I loved about the campaign was that progress always felt relatively steady. Yeah, sometimes areas felt to big, but going from zone to zone, leveling up, finding monsters, Ascending, all of that felt near perfectly paced. But that feeling is gone now.
Now I finish Cruel, I get that amazing transition, I talk to everyone, get my first new challenge and it's . . .
Then I clear that and I get two points on my tree . . . which aren't enough to reach any notables. And it felt like the only right answer for what to get was increasing the amount of higher tier Waystones. So I do that, and I get my next quest . . .
I don't want to make too many comparisons to PoE1, as I do believe this game should be taking steps forward from there and not treading back. But the Atlas has always felt like it had a clear sense of direction with a clear and finite goals to pursue. When the Atlas Tree was introduced, the progression felt natural and steady. Beat a map under the right conditions (which you always do), get the loot, get the Atlas Tree point, use it to progress towards the content you want to do, and you get that nice visual marker on the Atlas that you've done it. Ten maps in I would usually have one or two Notables on the tree and would already be shaping the content I'm playing.
But now it's more like, “Okay, I have to clear 10 maps. Well I guess I'll get my Hideout. There's Expeditions nearby and on the way, so I guess I'll grab those. Okay, now I have my Hideout plus Gwennen, Tujen, and Rog. I've got two passives that will hopefully help me get the Waystones I need. Plus you can Reforge lower tier Waystones into higher ones, just like old maps. I guess I'll go grab Dannig, then let's try a map boss. Now to figure out what to do for the next 8 Tier 2s . . .”
I just don't feel I've made all that much progress, and what progress I've made feels like I'm still setting up to do things. I've got all 4 of our Kalguuran friends, so now I can actually start doing Expeditions for real. I've unlocked some Atlas Passives, so now I can actually get real rewards.
And speaking of rewards, maps feel notably less rewarding. In the campaign, I frequently had to go back to town to drop off loot I was interested in before completing a zone. Now I often clear maps without ever having to portal back. And that's with my rucksack full of Waystones!
This might be tied to monster density, which also feels off. I haven't had any of the fun and hectic encounters like I experienced in the campaign. Instead it feels like the pace of combat has slowed down. So I think this is another area that needs tuning.
I'll add one final little note on progression. It's a small thing, but a little touch I think would be quick and easy. As a PoE1 player, I know who the Kalguurans are. I knew that once I found Gwennen and she showed up in my Hideout, that I'd be getting the other three. But maybe you should add some dialogue to her, Tujen, and Rog about keeping an eye out for the rest of their party. That would queue in players that they might want to do three more Expeditions so they'll know what rewards they can get.
So that's my first impression. Maps feel slow, empty, and unrewarding. I want to do pinnacle content, but that usually requires being able to do higher tier maps. At 15 tiers, and 10 maps a tier, I'm not currently feeling enthusiastic.
But as I said, even if I give up on Endgame I still don't feel like I'm done. I have five more classes and 11 more Ascendancies to try. And I want to try them all! And I know your team can do this. I remember what the original mapping system was like. So I know you'll get this out of “The Ugly Phase” before Early Access ends.
