The core problem with Path of Exile is the passive tree and its cyclopean nature. That in itself would not be a massive problem if the game supported some sort of reasonable respec system. The problem there is that it does not… I am 37 levels into the game and I have acquired six “refund points” which means every decision that I have made needs to be tactical and planned. I have an army of functional alts in this game, in large part because I made decisions that were too hard to undo without really knowing what the overarching picture I should be going for looks like. In Diablo III I am used to playing in a way where I level with whatever build I happen to make work as I go… and then completely respeccing at the end game into a specific structured build. Path of Exile on the other hand essentially requires you to find the build you want to play… and commit to it entirely. This level of required research really make the entire experience out of reach for a lot of players that simply don’t want to box themselves into a corner before they even start the experience.
As part of my recent foray into the Diablo Immortal quagmire, I ended up familiarizing myself with a number of the Path of Exile YouTubers who also gave it a spin. This leads me to watch a few videos from Zizaran’s PoE University series. I have this habit of listening to long-form YouTube videos thrown up on the second monitor as though they were a podcast. So when I saw a video proclaiming that it was “Everything Explained” I fired it up… only then realizing that it is legitimately 7 hours long… and this is only the first part. I by no means watched the entire thing, but I did listen to the first hour or so of gameplay and it piqued my interests enough to give out the build that he was playing in the video a shot. I liked the idea of playing a steel-slinging magneto character and thought the entire “steel” magic line was a cool idea and seemingly provided a gameplay style similar to that of the D3 Demon Hunter.
If we are going to talk through the Path of Exile rabbit hole in its entirety… we have to get into Path of Building. For those who are uninitiated like I was… Path of Building is a third-party open source software designed for trying to keep track of your build and how you should be expanding it at each phase of the game. For example, the build that I am working off divides the passive tree into 9 distinct phases and presents you with an ever-expanding footprint as you work through them. So when you are building to level 12, you are only shown those first 12 nodes… then you bump up to 32 nodes, etc until you eventually end up with the convoluted masterpiece that is the key part of what turns people off from the game. Often times there is a notes tab that explains the decisions you should be making along the leveling process, what gems you should be using, and what gear you should be seeking out.
The other component that I think is important to starting this game is being able to put yourself in the right frame of mind. I’ve mostly played games with classes that more or less align to the holy trinity of roles, with some pretty clear assumptions as to what type of gameplay provides. If you see a class called the Marauder, and it is a big hulking brute of a guy… then I assume that is the melee/tanky class. If I see a character called the Duelist, I assume that is the rogue type character. The truth is these names associated with classes or even the choice that you make… doesn’t necessarily intrinsically shape your character. All characters have access to the same passive tree, with the key difference being where they “start” on said tree. So it is best to think of the classes as something along the lines of this.
- Marauder – Pure Strength
- Ranger – Pure Dexterity
- Witch – Pure Intelligence
- Duelist – Strength/Dexterity Hybrid
- Templar – Strength/Intelligence Hybrid
- Shadow – Dexterity/Intelligence Hybrid
- Scion – Pure Hybrid… Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence
The other thing that I have had to effectively “unlearn” is the importance I place on gear. Right now I am level 37 and wearing a level 6 chest piece, not because I have not had access to better-itemized chest pieces… but because I’ve yet to come across another item with Green/Green/Red with linked sockets. All of the abilities that you use in Path of Exile come from Skill Gems, and these can be connected up in different ways so that they provide wildly different effects. Right now I am using Splitting Steel as my primary attack and it is being augmented by Vicious Projectiles Support and Chance to Bleed Support. This is my core combo and gives me the ability to shatter my weapon into steel projectiles that ricochet across the battlefield and deal significant damage while having a good chance of inflicting massive bleed damage over time debuff. I am now seeking a Red/Red/Green/Green item so that I can build into Fire Arrow damage that this build eventually targets, but I am experiencing something that the community refers to as “socket pressure” where I am not able to find an item with the correct arrangement of linked sockets.
The thing is there is enough flexibility in this system that players more seasoned than me… would be able to pivot their build on the fly to work with what they have been given. For me, I am mostly following the build dogmatically, at least until I understand the impact of different nodes on the passive tree a bit better. I have a nice 4 link item, and the game gives you rare items that will reroll the colored gems… but I have yet to reroll to a RRGG like I am wanting. Truth is that I am not reaching the limit of what I can do with my initial GGR Splitting Steel combo, so I figure I have time to find the item that I actually need. The only problem is right now I am building into options in the passive tree that are giving me no real current benefit. That has not however stopped me from having a freaking blast playing this game.
As an outsider who is not already bought into the Path of Exile community, the game has a number of problems. I think the two largest however are the frustratingly obtuse nature of the passive tree overwhelming players with choice, and not giving them a free pass at changing their mind without rolling a brand new character. The second problem is that Act 1 is objectively not good. It shows off the most uninteresting parts of Wraeclast and it is painted in the drab color palette of the first quake game. This is not doing the game any favors when it comes to indoctrinating new players. Those who manage to push through this rough exterior and devote the necessary homework to learning the game… absolutely love it. However, for years I was one of the ones that bounced almost immediately. Now I find myself starting to lean towards the “omg this game is brilliant” spectrum.
The other thing that I absolutely love is the fact that after I got to a specific point in Act 2… I unlocked a Hideout. This is effectively ARPG Player Housing and I am hooked. I’ve also seen that there is guild support, but I am not sure what that even entails. I know there is Guild Hideout support as well along with a guild stash, but I have not gone down that rabbit hole given that I am playing alone. I am not going to undersell the amount of work that I had to do in order to arrive at the point I am at, in understanding Path of Exile. I am also not trying to say that I fully understand the game because I am extremely novice in my knowledge. However, I do feel like the game is more approachable with the right research, and once you get the ball rolling… there is an extremely fun experience to be had. Right now I am loving it and I look forward to seeing what the rest of the game gives me.
