Path of Exile 2's The Third Edict update introduced many new variables, primarily removing the upper limit on Suppport Gems and significantly improving the crafting system. These changes disrupted the balance of power sources for standard characters.
Both in terms of balance between characters and skills, will be these problems can be solved with the addition of other parts of the game, such as Remaining Classes and Ascendancies, the addition of new weapon types, new skills, and updates to the Passive Skill Tree.
However, the balance of power sources for standard characters remains largely unresolved. Let's examine the causes of this imbalance and identify areas where the game's developers can improve the player experience.
Character Power Source Composition
In Path of Exile 2 0.3.0, standard characters can gain power from a variety of sources, primarily through Passive Skill Tree and its Jewel Sockets, Ascendancy and corresponding node selection, the character's Armor and Weapons, Flasks and Charms, and their skills and Suppport Gems.
Normally, each source of power for a player character should be similar, with one power source comparable to another, preventing significant imbalances. Each power source should complement each other for a balanced build, allowing players to balance these power sources to achieve their desired effect.
Power Source Imbalance
However, in POE 2, this balanced power source pattern does not exist. As it stands, character power sources are significantly skewed. Passive Skill Tree is generally single and meager, with the majority of power coming from the character's equipment, specifically their Armor and Weapons.
A closer look at the numerous issues in Path of Exile 2 0.3.0 reveals that most of them stem from equipment being overly powerful, far more powerful than anything else. This is an area the game needs to improve in future updates.
Player Experience
It is recommended that the game developers work on optimizing the player experience during the game, especially during their first paly-through.
The game developers have already made some efforts in this regard, such as by fine-tuning drop rates in specific campaign areas and points of interest. As you progress through an Act, you can earn a variety of rewards, including POE 2 currency like Artificer's Orb and Jeweler's Orb, as well as rare item drops.
They hope to make up for RNG gap in other systems in the game by allowing players to obtain these items to continue the game progress.
The Impact Of Equipment Quality
While these guaranteed drops are certainly important, they far from compensating for poor equipment. For example, at the beginning of Act 3, you can obtain a guaranteed drop of a Jeweler's Orb, which grants you additional Suppport Gems and 20%-30% increased damage.
While this may sound impressive, it's important to understand that the primary source of your damage is your weapon. For spell builds, Staff and Wand already provide significant damage bonuses, and for attack-based builds, this is even more true, as the primary source of damage comes from the weapon itself.
Thus, if a player has a poor weapon, a 20%-30% damage bonus won't be very effective. If you have a wonderful weapon, this damage bonus is simply icing on the cake, speeding up your farming process.
Knowledge Differences
Different players' knowledge of the game can lead to different gaming experiences. Games like POE 2 require extensive strategy development. A player who knows how to utilize all available tools and can analyze which item modifiers are useful and which aren't can use their intelligence to forge a successful path in the game, even if their item drops and POE 2 currency drop rates are poor.
However, if players don't understand the game and don't know how to use their currency—for example, not using Essences they encounter, not utilizing their Regal and Exalted Orbs effectively, not upgrading their weapons quickly, not checking Vendor for movement speed boosts, and relying solely on luck to progress through the game—then their experience won't be very good.
Those who have done their homework and understand the game better should receive more rewards than others, allowing them to level up faster. However, currently, players gain too much power from their gear and too little from Passive Skill Tree and other aspects. Even a strong Passive Skill Tree can't compensate for the poor RNG.
Item Gem Level Modifier Strength
Now, finally, we get to the biggest contributing factor to this problem: the disproportionate Gem Level modifiers on gear. The power gained from item modifiers is a significant downgrade to Remaining Classes, Ascendancies, and everything else.
No matter your build, even if your weapon has all the other perfect modifiers, without gem level, it's just garbage. It sounds exaggerated, but it's the truth. A standard weapon with a gem level modifier outperforms a perfect weapon without one.
Why is this so? Two-Handed weapons can reach gem level seven, Amulets can reach up to gem level three, and special Amulets can reach even higher levels. Then there are gloves, which can gain some gem levels through Melee skills. There's even the Prism of Belief, which grants you three additional gem levels with special skills.
Let's take a slightly less extreme example-Crossbows. What's the difference between a Crossbow with a gem level modifier and one without?
A perfect combat Essence can add six gem levels to an attack skill. Explosive Grenade's damage increases from 878% of its original value at gem level 20 to 1,372% at gem level 26. Just by increasing Crossbows' damage by one additional modifier, it's two-thirds higher. That's outrageous.
This is just the gem level increase for the weapon itself. If your Amulet reaches three gem levels, the Explosive Grenade's attack damage will increase by 1,716%, doubling its damage without the original gem level.
This is a relatively small difference; the difference would be even more dramatic with Two-Handed Maces or Giant's Blood. In a campaign, the difference between having a gem level modifier and not having one is truly dramatic; just having this modifier alone can give you a significant boost in power.
The problem is that affixes on weapons alone can reach a maximum of seven gem levels, while a notable in the Passive Skill Tree can only reach one gem level if you're incredibly lucky.
By the way, if you can effectively utilize these notables in the Passive Skill Tree - those that grant you a gem level - they can become some of the strongest nodes in Passive Skill Tree.
Therefore, it's reasonable to suggest that game developers reduce the gem level modifiers on items. The maximum gem level for two-handed weapons should be increased by three, and the weight of the highest gem level should be reduced, so that the bonus to weapon damage is less significant.
Amulets should follow the system already in place in PoE 1: one modifier increases all skill levels by one, and another set of modifiers increases specific skill types by one, for a total bonus of two.
Establishing A Better Baseline
This is just one obvious cause of unbalanced energy sources, caused by overpowered gear, insufficient passive skill trees, and other factors. If the game developers are interested, they should be able to identify deeper factors. This way, they can adjust for the RNG differences between players and eliminate the need for guaranteed PoE 2 currency and rare item drops, as players can already have a basic understanding of their character's strength based on their gear.
Passive Skill Tree And Ascendancies Issues
Path of Exile 2 has revamped the Passive Skill Tree in 0.3.0, adding many new attributes. However, it's still not enough. It would be great if the Passive Skill Tree had more powerful options, more build-specific options, and the ability to include Ascendancies.
Ascendancies should be more detailed, offering more interesting build options, rather than the current Deadeye Ascendancy. While powerful, it's perfunctory and hollow.
Warbringer is one of the better Ascendancy classes in the game right now. It has a lot of detail, including bonuses from the Ancestral Spirit Minion's Totem branch, a powerful and specialized Warcry, and an Armor Break branch.
Although Armor Break isn't very strong yet, it's on the right track. It opens up more possibilities, and working on a particular mechanic might lead to unexpected results that aren't currently available in other classes.
Well, this discussion on the item design of Path of Exile 2 0.3.0 ends here. We still hope that the game developers can see the current problems and make improvements so that players can enjoy the game.
