Am I weird for just not enjoying maps?

[Quadsword]

Going through the main acts was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. They solved the main problem that kept me from getting into PoE1, that being combat feeling weightless and unsatisfying. Everything in PoE2 just "feels" good. Aside from occasionally annoying one-shot mechanics, the bosses are fantastic, and I like that there's always a checkpoint right outside the arena so you can go right back in for another attempt if you die.

Then I get to maps and it feels like I'm playing a totally different game. It pretty much has the "Mulch everything before you get tapped on the shoulder for 1,000 damage" gameplay loop that turned me off of PoE1. I'm not crazy, am I? I looked up gameplay of endgame maps on Youtube and it's more or less the same thing - sprinting through areas mashing 1 or 2 attack skills like in PoE1.

I know I'm probably going to get dog piled for saying this, but the acts and endgame mapping genuinely feel like completely different games. I fully accept I'm the dumb one for buying a game called PoE2 and being surprised when it plays like a sequel to PoE1. There's no real point to this thread other than expressing a bit of buyer's remorse for blindly boarding the hype train.

[Zankoukanshokai]

The maps aren't really fun if you have a normal build. It's only "fun" when you have super busted builds that one shot everything. My normal build is already falling down at t16+ and some regular bosses (not the pinnacles one) one shot you unless you're a god in when it comes to rolling.

[Razerarc]

Some people do enjoy and some don't. I don't think it's wrong or weird if you don't find it interesting. It's all subjective and preference after all.

[ffrotty]

You're not alone.

There is no sense of completion and controlling the maps is much worse than in POE1. I liked "doing one of each map" at different difficulties to get atlas points to change mapping. In this, if you're not built for boss killing (which is at odds with map clearing) the bosses get very tedious/difficult/risky.

I personally dislike most of the map layouts. Too many obstacles and things to get stuck on. And my favorite layouts are rare... i like the gothic city only found around the one citadel.

I think the bigger problems with maps not being fun are:

1. the is the actual atlas itself and the UX/UI of it
2. how the atlas talent trees work.
3. the lack of variety with breach/expedition/ritual

The atlas is a chore. I've lost where I was going/wanted to go and couldn't find it again. There's no sense of progression to it like POE1. There's no rerolling map types/nodes on the world like the vendor recipe where I could dump 3 of some map layout I didn't want to run to focus on those I want to run.

I don't mind towers, didn't mind them before either, but the RNG of what tablets effect can be rage inducing when it doesn't land where you want.

The atlas passives are uninspiring. I suspect this will change when there are more leagues added, but just adding more qual/quant/rare/magic mob drops is silly. Essences seem like it's just for SSF. I wouldn't mind more nodes like shrines/strongboxes but they seem objectively bad compared to the other choices.

And even with showing where citadels are, it's like "ugh i have to do X number of fodder maps to get there." Tablets are prohibitively expensive as endgamers need them (it's literally better to sell ritual tablets unless you're endgame ritual tree and pulling 50 splinters out of the map).

The atlas talent trees and tablets need help. I have not gotten an audience with a king and only was able to get 1 or 2 breachstones so far, and got destroyed by the boss in there barely even getting a chance to learn anything about the fight. I've only gotten 3 low level expedition items. Not even sure what doing them is for / if there's a point besides another way to farm (which is also risky as the expedition maps ramp up worse than high affix maps).

Map placement/choice with breach and ritual is awful a lot of the time. A breach in a corner or maze yielding no mobs. Rituals in tight spaces where you can't move, and get barely any ritual points from it (not sure if they fixed it but i frequently had unstartable rituals as well). Same with expedition, couldn't place the explosives on some nodes on some maps...

I think build diversity is an issue as well, where it takes too much effort to make less effective builds work, and the resources you get are clearly better used to funnel any given character to one of the meta builds.

This leads to a general issue with sustain. I should never be running anything under T15. Yet I haven't broken through to the point that T15 sustains since so many of them are rippy for me and the map drops are rare. And that's with a full atlas passive biased towards dropping waystones.

Originally posted by Zankoukanshokai:

The maps aren't really fun if you have a normal build. It's only "fun" when you have super busted builds that one shot everything. My normal build is already falling down at t16+ and some regular bosses (not the pinnacles one) one shot you unless you're a god in when it comes to rolling.

Define "normal build" though. Meta builds are meta because they have the best damage multipliers and/or the best defensive layers.

The best clear for warriors is chilling stampede with polcirklen ring and herald of ice. Anything else for clear is simply less efficient, but not impossible. My warbringer just uses mace strike with a cultist hammer splash. It also clears, but it's simply slower than my titan with the ae ice setup, and to bring it up to even 50% of the efficiency is vastly more expensive since it relies fully on the DPS of that single 2h mace. where chill stampede benefits from the polcirklen with action speed % corruption that's fairly cheap.

[Quadsword]

Originally posted by ghost:

Keep in mind they pivoted last minute from completing all the campaign acts for EA to tossing together an end game for EA instead. This was a first pass.

I've heard that, but I doubt they're going to drastically change how maps play. Like I said, my biggest gripe is that playing maps feels like I'm just playing PoE1 - rushing through areas, mashing 1 or 2 attack skills, no real thought to anything I'm doing except to mulch everybody before I get tagged for 1,000 damage. That's some people's jam and there's nothing wrong with that, but it ain't mine, and the previews and even the acts leading up to endgame sold me on a completely different gameplay style.

[Tony]

I loved the campaign & don't really care much for mapping.

[RodHull]

The 'maps' system is a very much a WIP placeholder they have lifted straight from POE1 to give people something to test and work with.

Expect it to change A LOT over the coming year (or however long this is EA)

So no your not weird, its a very placeholder experience atm and nowhere near the same quality as the campaign. They spent 4 years doing the campaign and only really started doing endgame in the last 6 months, give it time.

[Quadsword]

Originally posted by RodHull:

The 'maps' system is a very much a WIP placeholder they have lifted straight from POE1 to give people something to test and work with.

Expect it to change A LOT over the coming year (or however long this is EA)

So no your not weird, its a very placeholder experience atm and nowhere near the same quality as the campaign. They spent 4 years doing the campaign and only really started doing endgame in the last 6 months, give it time.

Perhaps, but considering everyone and their brother was complaining about the slower pace of gameplay throughout all of the previews (even Woolie dumped on it which surprised me), I fully expect GGG to cave to community pressure and essentially turn the game into PoE1.5.

[xsakarabrux]

in maps it becomes poe1

[Crow Buddy]

I like maps, but adding "Patches of Burning Floor" as a super common roll on maps was just evil. There are times that the FLOOR ITSELF is even dangerous than the mobs and bosses on the map.

I also love when I'm running through a forest map, y'know, lush, vibrant rain forest with every plant being the picture of health, but somehow, there's patches of hidden burning ground, obscured right underneath the branches, greenery, leafy trees and foliage. Magically, none of it is catching fire, but your character certainly will catch flame!

They need to nerf burning floors and only allow it on maps where the effect is clearly visible.