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[Editorial] Path of Exile: Walking the Path of Exile

BillMurphyBillMurphy Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565

Path of Exile, the long-awaiting Online Action RPG from Grinding Gears went into Open Beta last week. Now, after some time spent in the Open Beta, our Adam Tingle is reporting on his first impressions.

Which is where Path of Exile takes center stage like a confident contestant on a talent show. Its developers, Grinding Gear Games, describe themselves as "hardcore gamers" and their influences are very apparent, but it's the changes, the additions, and the punts that make their product very different to everything else on the ARPG circuit.

Read the rest of Adam's Walking the Path of Exile.

Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.

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Comments

  • bbbb42bbbb42 Member UncommonPosts: 297
    ._.I'm just thankful for no gold sellers those guys are a plague

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  • UnshraUnshra Member UncommonPosts: 381

    "I'd always assumed that New Zealand was populated by only two things: sheep and the creatures of Middle Earth..."

     

    About the same though I'd add Gin Wigmore to the list! ^_^

     

     

    I am enjoying Path of Exile, so far it's the second project I've supported (diamond level) with the first being Project Eternity. I do say that the team has done a great job so far and I look forward to game's future.

     
     

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    Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.

  • bbbb42bbbb42 Member UncommonPosts: 297
    Originally posted by Unshra

    "I'd always assumed that New Zealand was populated by only two things: sheep and the creatures of Middle Earth."

     

    and Gin Wigmore! ^_^

     

     

    I am enjoying Path of Exile, so far it's the second project I've supported (diamond level) with the first being Project Eternity. I do say that the team has done a great job so far and I look forward to game's future.

     

    o.o did you get to make your own item?

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  • ShaikeShaike Member UncommonPosts: 301
    Am i the only one annoyed that you cannot (even with money) expand your inventory??????

    Just my 2 cents...

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  • ZooceZooce Member Posts: 586
    Overall great game minus the near constant desyncs if you aoe melee, and the FFA loot encouraging online single player campaign mode.  If they manage to address these two issues game will approach flawless for me.
  • UnshraUnshra Member UncommonPosts: 381
    Originally posted by bbbb42
    Originally posted by Unshra

    "I'd always assumed that New Zealand was populated by only two things: sheep and the creatures of Middle Earth."

     

    and Gin Wigmore! ^_^

     

     

    I am enjoying Path of Exile, so far it's the second project I've supported (diamond level) with the first being Project Eternity. I do say that the team has done a great job so far and I look forward to game's future.

     

    o.o did you get to make your own item?

     

    I received an e-mail from Chris Wilson today saying that Carl de Visse would contact me later regarding my avatar and the item. So I'm looking forward to the process. ^_^

    image
    Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.

  • AeonbladesAeonblades Member Posts: 2,083
    Been playing the OB, and this game is pretty fun. It feels clunky, but it's probably the best ARPG out there right now.

    Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
    Have played: You name it
    If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.

  • Slappy1Slappy1 Member Posts: 458
    Originally posted by Shaike
    Am i the only one annoyed that you cannot (even with money) expand your inventory??????

    It took me a few day's to get used to being a picky looter.Once I did this the inventory was no longer a problem for me.However if they offer an inventory expander of such,I'm all over it!

    Some day I'm going to put a sword through your eye and out the back of your skull!

    Arya Stark

  • black_isleblack_isle Member UncommonPosts: 256

    There is one more awesome thing from NZ, and it's Flight of the Conchords.

     

    Very good game but i'm not looking for that much hardcore-ness so i'll stick with d3. I mean making your character only to realise in higher difficulties your build sucks and you have to start from scratch -as there are no full respecs- is a bit much for me.

     

    I'm happy for hardcore arpg players that they have a great game now so everyone will enjoy their own arpg and won't whine about the other :)

  • catlanacatlana Member Posts: 1,677
    The variety in builds is a lot of fun. I enjoy a game that requires both thinking processes (builds) as well as clicking speed. PoE has simply been fun toplay
  • DrolkinDrolkin Member UncommonPosts: 246
    I love running around PoE and killing monster after monster endlessly.
  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726
    It is what Diablo III should have been instead of the POS Blizzard produced.  
  • TsumoroTsumoro Member UncommonPosts: 435
    Originally posted by Shaike
    Am i the only one annoyed that you cannot (even with money) expand your inventory??????

    Ah see, I was a little bit like you at first when I played this in closed beta. In Torchlight you gather all and send it off with your pet to get your gold. In D3 you kinda garner what you can and flog it off when you next have a pit-stop, or use the way points available.

    However, PoE acts a little differently. You are literally picking up the items you want to bargain with, trade for orbs or use/transmute. You are meant to leave behind the stuff you do not want, you get no benefit to them and I think the game does quickly teach you this.

    So from Act 1, you pick up the whites etc and start running back and forth, you think, 'cor, I am not getting any benefit from this'. So your reigns begin to relax. Typically I will only take yellows in for barter. At later levels and difficulties you begin to start eyeing up all those whites, stuff with a good quality level and whether they have any sockets and links to it. A white, good quality chest piece, 6 linked will fetch a nice price on the market because it gives people of a higher level more options to play about with it to turn it into something good and viable.

    But this is how you learn in the game. I would strongly reccomend people, who are mature to perhaps make a default character for at least chapter 1, then move on to a hardcore character. The community I have found is much more civil and mature when looking for answers and advice.

  • sakersaker Member RarePosts: 1,458
    They did microtransactions good, unlike other companies! I DESPISE pay-to-win games, and the companies that make them. This is a nice game, be interesting to see what they do with it as it moves forward beyond release.
  • ubermutubermut Member UncommonPosts: 271
    Originally posted by saker
    They did microtransactions good, unlike other companies! I DESPISE pay-to-win games, and the companies that make them. This is a nice game, be interesting to see what they do with it as it moves forward beyond release.

    ya sometimes i wonder how they will recoup their money back lol.  their game really is F2P.. you get 24 char slots, shared stash, and nothing in cash shop helps you level or gives you an advantage.  Way to set a new standard!

  • MaxJacMaxJac Member Posts: 185
    I have already given them some money. Once they get some cosmetic alternative lightning spells I will give a bit more. I feel compelled to support what they are doing, and I think anyone who can support them and enjoys the game should. You can't be a working individual and praise the business model without looking silly if you don't show a little financial support for what you enjoy.
  • MilitantMilitant Member Posts: 48
    If the game maintains popularity it has seen in OB and continues to grow, I think they will add more character slots and stash space to the cash shop.. Which would be smart as that would deffinitely generate cash flow without being pay-to-win.

    Personally I only have 1 small dissatisfaction with a minor cosmetic issue: only 2/4 classes are female and no male/female option for all classes (perhaps intentional for a cash shop option in the future)
  • Slappy1Slappy1 Member Posts: 458
    Originally posted by Militant
    If the game maintains popularity it has seen in OB and continues to grow, I think they will add more character slots and stash space to the cash shop.. Which would be smart as that would deffinitely generate cash flow without being pay-to-win.

     

    You can already buy more stash tabs and char slot's in their store.They're in the shop under account feature's.

    Some day I'm going to put a sword through your eye and out the back of your skull!

    Arya Stark

  • bbbb42bbbb42 Member UncommonPosts: 297
    Originally posted by Militant
    If the game maintains popularity it has seen in OB and continues to grow, I think they will add more character slots and stash space to the cash shop.. Which would be smart as that would deffinitely generate cash flow without being pay-to-win.

    Personally I only have 1 small dissatisfaction with a minor cosmetic issue: only 2/4 classes are female and no male/female option for all classes (perhaps intentional for a cash shop option in the future)
     

    No, I think its just more likely that ggg could not afford to make x2 char or ggg likes the whole gender lock thing.

     

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    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • AristabulusAristabulus Member Posts: 6
    Originally posted by Tsumoro

    Originally posted by Shaike
    Am i the only one annoyed that you cannot (even with money) expand your inventory??????

    Ah see, I was a little bit like you at first when I played this in closed beta. In Torchlight you gather all and send it off with your pet to get your gold. In D3 you kinda garner what you can and flog it off when you next have a pit-stop, or use the way points available.

    However, PoE acts a little differently. You are literally picking up the items you want to bargain with, trade for orbs or use/transmute. You are meant to leave behind the stuff you do not want, you get no benefit to them and I think the game does quickly teach you this.

    So from Act 1, you pick up the whites etc and start running back and forth, you think, 'cor, I am not getting any benefit from this'. So your reigns begin to relax. Typically I will only take yellows in for barter. At later levels and difficulties you begin to start eyeing up all those whites, stuff with a good quality level and whether they have any sockets and links to it. A white, good quality chest piece, 6 linked will fetch a nice price on the market because it gives people of a higher level more options to play about with it to turn it into something good and viable.

    But this is how you learn in the game. I would strongly recommend people, who are mature to perhaps make a default character for at least chapter 1, then move on to a hardcore character. The community I have found is much more civil and mature when looking for answers and advice.

     

    He speaks truth.

    My early experience with gathering and assessing loot was similar. Understanding what loots distills to what orbs/fragments is important, and knowing what you're aiming for. When I'm questing, I go for the highest density of wealth, dropping a few things and replacing them with other stuff as I go until it's all blue/yellow/superior. If I'm running an older area for loot, it tends to be yellow/superior and ID fragment fodder. I tend to run out of IDs fast, so I sometimes take a break and faceroll low level areas for white items to restock.

    The whole bit of making the crafting supplies also be the currency is absolutely brilliant, as is having some horadric-cube-like functions built into the vendor selling. Path of Exile is much less likely to suffer from in-game economic woes like some of its predecessors have.
  • GravargGravarg Member UncommonPosts: 3,424

    This game is near perfect, however, the community is full of ninja looters, DDOSers, and level rushers.  It's terrible when you try to kill everything upto a boss, only to get to the boss room to notice that he's already dead and you get no credit because some higher level rushed up there and killed him because more loot drops in a full group than solo.  If they fix these issues this game would be perfect.

     

    I know some might say it makes it more hardcore or something like that, but it doesn't.  Once you get a couple of uniques ninja looted or try 15 times to kill a boss for a quest and never get to kill him, or get killed numerous times while you're lagging from a DDOSer, you'll want to quit in minutes...

     

    Edit: This is one thing people that do all these things don't understand.  You are only hurting yourself in doing such actions.  You'll end up in a game that has hardly anyone in it, and the players in it are all cheating and stealing from everyone else.

     
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    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
  • ZezdaZezda Member UncommonPosts: 686
    Originally posted by Mtibbs1989

     The more you play the game you'll realize that this game suffers the same issue as Diablo 3 with it's itemization. Unique items which take ages to obtain are completely worthless being out shined by rares that are easily obtained like candy throughout the game.

     

     Because of the fact that rares are better than the uniques there's no real reason for a player to stack the magic find to obtain these pieces of gear. It's only a matter of time until they find the next best upgrade.

     

     Even if said uniques are "decent" for their level when you look at the majority of them they typically have a negative side effect. For example there's a level 58 Two-Handed Maul with a 200% increased damage modifier. That modifier puts the max damage of the maul at 189 damage. However, the side effect to wielding this maul is that you will no longer be able to crit.

     

     Why is that said maul bad? To begin with it's a level 58 weapon with only 189 max damage. I currently have a level 44 Shadow with a claw that has 201 max damage on it. This makes the claw better in every way possible. It has higher damage, the ability to crit, and it's ~20 levels lower than the unique maul.

     

    Hopefully GGG will fix these blantant issues with their itemization. Otherwise there's no point to be farming bosses if you're able to obtain the same gear from normal monsters. There's no point for a hardcore character to play it risky because the no longer need to dance with the devil for better gear.

    I think you are missing the purpose of unique items in this game. They are not there to be the best items, they are there to let you take advantage of unique properties without having to skill for them. Take a pair of gloves which give you Conduit.. or a Bow which fires an extra arrow..

     

    They are suppose to be there to build around, not to slot in place of whatever you had before because they have universally better stats.

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    Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
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