Like many players who enjoy action RPGs, I was very excited to play the new Path of Exile 2 update, The Return of the Ancients. The patch promised an extensive endgame overhaul that included several new storylines, and more importantly, quality-of-life changes that would make completing the campaign simpler.
Even with these changes, such as additional signposts for important objectives and a redesign of optional areas to make things less confusing, I still found ranger leveling to be nothing more than a frustrating waste of time. My build is relatively competent, I don't have a hard time dealing damage, and I couldn't be bothered to play through the campaign for the fifth time at all.
Grinding Gear Games will never implement a campaign skip feature. Because I don't believe that's how the studio wants the game to play. But what can you do to make the campaign a more enjoyable experience for regular players like you and me? What is the answer?
Is this how it works?
This has always been a flaw in Path of Exile 2, and not just in this ARPG. Diablo 4 has the same problem, and Last Epoch to some degree as well. However, that campaign is much shorter and there are a few ways to skip at least some of it on your second or third character. Due to the nature of ARPGs, each time a annihilation occurs, you have to start from the beginning. Clear the campaign, level up your characters, learn how it all works, etc. before getting into the actual endgame.
PoE2 has a special problem because the maps are so large and dark. I actually wrote about this in one of my early reviews of the game two years ago, and little has been done since to address this frustration. Return of the Ancients added some neat little changes that I thought might have been more impactful than they actually were, such as following the path of Ogham Village to reach the blacksmith instead of running in circles on the map to find a small checkpoint.
Campaigns are always a bit of a challenge, even if they don't take that long to play. I'd say my clear time is currently around 10 hours. It could be shorter, but I tend to experiment a bit with my builds rather than completely following a very strong build already made by someone who has put thousands of hours into the game.
And therein lies one of the problems: watching other people play the game. There are a few experienced players I turn to for build guides, tips and tricks ahead of the season, and these are people who can complete a campaign in 4-5 hours. Every movement is practiced. They know exactly which buttons to click and which items to move to maximize execution speed. It makes me look absolutely pathetic as I stumble around the shaky roads and is a bit of a motivation killer. But that's just a small problem. On a broader scale, Path of Exile 2's campaign still needs some balancing work to make it feel enjoyable.
wider frustration
I understand the need for a campaign. This is essentially a way to test if your build is ready for the final game. If the game were to have you engage in mapping without first going through the complicated process of conquering the campaign, I think many players, especially those new to the game, would find the entire endgame experience extremely frustrating.
But what's especially terrible is how much easier the game becomes when you're using a build put together by players who have had far more play time than you. If you try to use your own build you'll generally be able to get through the campaign without a hitch, but if you choose a pre-made build the difference is quite shocking. You can eliminate bosses in seconds and clear the screen of enemies with just a few clicks of a button. Grinding Gear has also made this task much easier in this league thanks to their new build import mechanism that allows you to copy builds directly into the game before you start running your campaign.
Aside from your build choices, much of your campaign success depends on acquiring good weapons. For example, in my current Ranger run I haven't been able to drop a good Warden Bow at the end of Act 1. That means my damage is about 150 DPS lower than my previous league's ranger build at the same point in the game. Thanks to simple coincidence, everything is a little harder to kill. The randomness of loot drops and the impact this can have on how comfortable you feel completing the campaign is truly frustrating.
And that doesn't take into account that if you want to have a replacement hero later in the season, you'll have to run the campaign again from the beginning. Despite enjoying the final game quite a bit, I've only created two alternate characters in the nearly two years I've been playing the game. This is because you cannot run the campaign again. Keep in mind that once the game releases in 1.0, Act 4 of a potential 6-act campaign is currently underway. There may be more campaigns to run by the time the game is ready for release.
My personal thoughts would be to place a new character in the hideout with campaign unlocks and simple endgame gear, making it possible to skip the campaign entirely in alternate mode. The current campaign could use further tightening, especially in Act 3, which seems to drag on too much despite some positive changes in this update. It's rare for a video game to ask for more signposting, but I'd like to see the campaign made very simple to complete with clear instructions. Perhaps it could be specifically featured on your account after you've already completed it once in a previous league as well?
We'll continue to see changes to how campaigns work ahead of PoE2's release, but we're not entirely sure what the answer is. Still, I trust Grinding Gear Games. I'm sure the studio has something planned.
Path of Exile II
- released
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December 6, 2024
- ESRB
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Ages 17+ / Blood and gore, nudity, intense violence, sexual themes, language, user interaction, in-game purchases (including random items)
- developer
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grinding gear games
- publisher
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grinding gear games
