After a success story of over 10 years for the online action role-playing game Path of Exile, the early access launch of the successor to the “free-to-play Diablos” is now imminent. The extensive list of new features, mechanics and content proves that there is really only one game that can surpass Path of Exile in terms of complexity and the megalomaniacal amount of skills and combination options, and that is Path of Exile II.
is primarily known for two things. On the one hand, for many it represents a free alternative to Activision Blizzardsseries, and on the other hand it has probably the largest skill tree that many gamers will see in their lifetime. The intricate network of various passive upgrades for your character offers over 1,300 individual points and requires half a study to get the hang of. Mind you, active skills are not included here at all.
They have their own system, which of course also differs from the role-playing standard. Instead of simply selecting “Fireball” in a menu and then shooting away, you go looking for certain gemstones, which you then insert into your armor or weapon and thereby gain access to the skills engraved in it.
If you put support gemstones in addition to your skills, you can change how it works or create additional effects. In addition to the 1,300 passive improvements, you can also choose from countless combinations of ability and support gemstones. If all of this already seems like a lot to you, then wait and see what part 2 has in store for you.
The cruel count and his dancing tentacles
PoE II begins 20 years after the events of the first part. The dark Count of Ogham has acquired a powerful relic of the old world, the Seed of Corruption. The wobbly, twitching collection of tentacles corrupts the land, killing everything in its path and turning its victims into undead. (At least if I interpreted the opening cinematic correctly...) The players now set out to stop the mad count before not only everyone who opposes him has to believe it, but the seeds of corruption also destroy the entire country.
In total, the story will be told in six acts, although not all of them are available for early access. To ensure that players can still reach the maximum level in order to enjoy the numerous endgame content, developer Grinding Gear Games uses a little trick. Once you've finished the first three acts, you go straight into a second run on the new, higher level of difficulty, Cruel.
As soon as acts four, five and six are added, the higher level of difficulty is eliminated again and instead of working through the first half of the campaign twice, you can then experience the story undisturbed until the end.
In addition to the (hopefully) appealing story, leveling up is worth it, especially for the completely revised endgame. In countless areas you collect crafting materials, face challenging bosses and continue to explore the world of Wraeclast.
Logically, the reward is powerful equipment and skill points. And if you're really good, you'll even unlock completely new skill trees (no joke!) that you can use to further specialize and change your skills.
Advancement and class struggle
At the beginning of the early access phase there are already six different classes to choose from. Monk and Warrior represent the typical melee classes with force (Warrior) and finesse (Monk). The nimble ranger is once again out and about with her bow and acrobatically romps across the battlefield. The mercenary is a little more unusual.
Its crossbow is a true multi-tool, as long as “multi” means different types of shooting. With the right ammunition you can turn the medieval bolt gun (literally!) into a shotgun, a sniper rifle or a grenade launcher. This seems a bit out of place in a dark fantasy world, but of course it opens up completely new play options for non-magical ranged characters.
If you want a little magic, you can choose between a witch and a sorceress. The witch is a mixture of necromancer and chaos or blood magician. So, first and foremost, you let your army of skeleton warriors and magicians loose on your enemies and then support them with chaos spells and spells that cause damage over time. The sorceress, on the other hand, takes a more classic approach and attacks her enemies with elemental magic.
Once you have finished the campaign, you can specialize your class even further. These “advancement classes” form part of the endgame content and must first be earned by completing various challenges. In this way, you can turn a mage into, for example, a Stormweaver who can summon powerful elemental storms, or a Chronomancer who uses temporal magic to freeze enemies in time.
Over time, six more classes will be brought into play, all of which will of course come with new promotion classes. In addition, the passive skill tree, to which all classes have access, has more than 1500 nodes in PoE II. So you definitely won't get bored trying out different builds.
If you can't wait to jump into Path of Exile II, it can be a little more expensive. Only buyers of one of the Supporter Packs have access to the early access version. They range from around 30 euros for the blank key and some currency for the in-game shop to 480 euros for the “Liberator of Wraeclast Supporter Pack”. If you dig deeper into your pockets and choose one of the more expensive packages, you will be rewarded with cosmetic items, titles and pets. Only with the actual release after Early Access will the game - just like its predecessor - become free for everyone.
The successor to the free-to-play online action role-playing game Path of Exile impresses with its dark intro video.
Conclusion
The wet dream of every build tinkerer and role player with staying power
I am firmly convinced that only insane sadists or masochists work at Grinding Gear Games and I mean that in an absolutely positive way! In addition to the previous excess of mechanics, so much new is added and at the same time some bulky systems are meaningfully changed.
You can now engrave skills into the skill gemstones you find, giving you a little more flexibility in using your skills. In addition, redistributing points no longer requires special items, but can be paid for directly with gold. This can almost be described as comfortable.
However, the old problem of Path of Exile is looming again. Beginners have an extremely steep learning curve to get to grips with all the mechanics. The developers have already announced some improvements in this regard, but Path of Exile II remains an extremely complex game that is loved by fans for exactly that.
You just have to be prepared to invest time and push through. As before, you can certainly make your life easier with external guides and beginner builds from the depths of the Internet, but the barrier to entry remains much higher than with Diablo IV, for example.
If you haven't had any contact with PoE yet but are curious, it's better to take a look at Part 1 first. It's free after all and you'll get a feel for what to expect. If you have liked PoE so far, then you can access it without hesitation - depending on your wallet and patience, you can either pay for early access on December 6th or you can just wait for version 1.0 and then get in for free.
