Just finished the Campaign, my quick review

[Malecite]

As someone that literally just uninstalled moments ago:

I got through the campaign.

It was awful. I hated just about every minute of it.

I started a minion build, which by the way stopped being viable at freaking Act 2 normal against the boss. Respeced into a ED dot build and kinda did fine until cruel.

The gameplay?

Enemies rush you, you get one ED or contagion off and either back peddal, roll, or run. Giant open areas with slow enemies are okay because you can infect them and leave them to die behind you. Literally ANY area with Vaal enemies that are both ranged and melee are pure hell and make you want to quit.

Most players aren't even through the campaign yet because progress is GLACIAL. Entering cruel is like getting your nuts put in a vice and having the devs slowly tighten down every act. Act 3 cruel is like God himself designed a joyless pain simulator where every enemy is both melee and ranged, is 2x as fast as you, stun locks you, and every fight ends with you back peddaling and rolling around like an idiot. Areas are massive, you spend tons of time joylessly killing enemies only to hit a dead end then back track across the entire thing.

Regardless I beat the campaign.

Did my first T1 map. It's literally exactly the same only when you die, you get to lose exp of course.

Uninstalled.

Through the entire game I got 5 exalted orbs. FIVE. There is no loot to speak of, you don't have the mats to trade or craft, and meanwhile people in the end game with broken builds you didn't make have been duping mirrors for the past 2 days using the legendary tablet exploit. I literally used the same +2 Chaos wand I found off a vendor in Act 2 normal the ENTIRE campaign.

In short this season is trainwreck, they sucked literally all the joy out of the game and replaced it with tedium and misery. Just do yourself a favor and play literally anything else.

30 hours of my life I won't get back telling myself "maybe it will get better".

Fun fact, it doesn't, it gets worse.

[Rabbitツ]

so did you have fun ? yea i didnt either, waiting for LE now.

[Malecite]

Originally posted by Rabbitツ:

so did you have fun ? yea i didnt either, waiting for LE now.

Honestly?

Not really. There is no feeling of power progression, the new gems are pretty lame, and my build played the exact same from the beginning to end. Also, there is NO LOOT, like they seemingly reverted any changes they made to the exalt drop rate. It's barren.

I kept slogging through telling myself "the fun starts when you hit the endgame". Then I got to the endgame and realized I didn't have the energy to keep playing the same miserable build. Enemies are just too fast and the stunlocks are just ridiculous, I died more times completing the campaign than I did in 4 months of playing the previous season.

[cAipi_rInHa]

Originally posted by Malecite:

Did my first T1 map. It's literally exactly the same only when you die, you get to lose exp of course.

You lose exp from Level 70 on. So not in Maps or after you finished the campaigne.
I`m about to hit lev 80 and having a blast. That might be equally relevant to you like your story is for me :d

[Rabbitツ]

You did ya bitter than me. congrats for making through hell. careful going in a second time.

[Malecite]

Originally posted by cAipi_rInHa:

Originally posted by Malecite:

Did my first T1 map. It's literally exactly the same only when you die, you get to lose exp of course.

You lose exp from Level 70 on. So not in Maps or after you finished the campaigne.
I`m about to hit lev 80 and having a blast. That might be equally relevant to you like your story is for me :d

I'm aware of how the exp loss works.

It's just insanely easy to die in this game now, the white mobs swarm you and most of the time your dead before you can react. I'm not going to grind through the end game and also lose exp at the same time, thats like pouring acid on an already open wound.

[Kopejka]

Yeah it's tough atm.
The worst thing is being punished for trying out different builds, especially if you try off meta things. Add in the new crazy unbalanced mobs and it's a slog.

I'm doing a huntress and currently in the middle of act 2.
I did a mistake of not following a guide and going on with my own build and it's starting to show cracks.
I don't feel like grinding for more support gems to change my build, so might just start from scratch and just follow someone else's guide.

I think they should make it so any build could be viable throughout campaign and then you could narrow it down to your prefered specific play style once you reach endgame.

[Rikkore]

Class balance might be the problem here. Every person that I've seen who played witch has had the worst time ever. I've only played war so far through the campaign and it was a breeze through

[Malecite]

Originally posted by Rikkore:

Class balance might be the problem here. Every person that I've seen who played witch has had the worst time ever. I've only played war so far through the campaign and it was a breeze through

Definitely possible.

The entire time it felt like someone was kicking me in the nuts while I was bashing my head against a wall.

Having to respec into freaking Act 2 because minions were useless wasn't exactly a rewarding feeling either.

[dash slamson]

yeah. they didnt really change much in the end with that update, they prob happy with how the game atm
like, loot too scarce, survivability too hard to come by, 70% of my loot is spears (im glad that they released huntress, but comeon ), minions still stuck all the time, body block is still a thing (i swear they removed it, but somehow it still happens), game kindof asks you to use reactions like doges and evasive skills but they hardly evade anything.
is it too hard? no, its very possible to play through, its just, give me as a player more options to power myself (more craft, more skill expression like skills that can actually negate some attacks if my reactions on point, more different types of options realistically available on skilltree ) and to balance that just buff enemies add traps and stuff idk, not like now when enemies are kinda weak,slow and predictable, but in return character power progression is snail paced

to be fair tho, they said from the beginning that they want poe2 to be different from first one, and as poe1 is very good arpg (my opinion obviously)... soooo something different from very good is - something that is not i guess lol. on serious note - game is different, some dont really like it (me for example), some do, as long as that not mistake but devs vision, im inclined to believe in ggg, even if i personally dont get it

[hairy_fedd]

Gonna try Witch after I finish campaign on my Ranger.
I'm curious how bad it is (it's not bad on my SSL Ranger so far into Act 2 Cruel).

[Cpt Obvious]

Playing merc with grenades having zero issues. Maybe try a different class before jumping to conclusions

[KillJoy]

I tried a hunter with minions. I thought why not, being with 6 you are stronger than being by yourself. You would think melee with 2 warriors and 3 ranged minions would be viable.

But nope, minions still die way too fast and most of the time you are fighting by yourself.

[Kopejka]

Originally posted by Cpt Obvious:

Playing merc with grenades having zero issues. Maybe try a different class before jumping to conclusions

Thanks cpt obvious, but that's not a solution

[Tantrumus]

OP I am playin a Witch/Lich and feeling what you are describing but cant beat ACT2 final boss was planning to redo my build tonight for a second go.

I am all for the goal of making the combat more engaging and meaningful but at what exoense?

I had fun last night up to the point I mention. But was thinking like you mentioned it will get better.

The things I noticed as well was that with the tweak in making the game more difficult THE DROPS for gear and crafting has only seemed worse.

When I made my first char ever I had multiple Div by the time I finished first 3 act and easily 2 to 3 exalt easy a night. Next to no RARE items are dropping even from bosses!

Got to say this is more bothering to me based on your feedback.

[DeeMeeX]

ye im gonna add,
NOT ONLY is it a painful playthrough
its also a very pointless one - since you dont find ANYTHING along way to make you stronger
im like 43 myself and found maybe 17 exalts at best...
so little i can even count in my head each and every one drop