In Path of Exile 2, the new difficulty level is causing trouble with the community. Especially players who are used to the predecessor feel uncomfortable with the new intensity.
What is the problem with the difficulty level? Path of Exile 2 follows a different gameplay philosophy compared to its predecessor. While in the first part, one could rather effortlessly run through a large part of the game with high damage and only had to pay attention not to stand in the bosses’ attacks, Path of Exile 2 pulls much harder.
In PoE2, fights are supposed to last not only longer but also be harder, requiring players to pay attention to the bosses’ abilities and dodge them. New is the dodge roll, which allows players to slip out of enemy attacks.
Here you can see how the bosses in Path of Exile 2 are created:
New Orientation is Like Dark Souls
How does this relate to Dark Souls? Players of Path of Exile 2 who are accustomed to the predecessor currently feel like they are in Dark Souls. Learning boss mechanics, dodging, and longer boss fights contribute to the association with the Souls game.
On Reddit, jonny_wonny explains why the game reminds him of Dark Souls: “This is because the combat is more based on dodging, blocking, precision, and reaction. Playing a melee class feels 100% a bit like Souls, and the statement that it is closer to a Souls game than to an average ARPG is completely correct.”
A meme on Reddit, however, also describes the conflict within the community:
As can be seen in the image, part of the community is happy about the new orientation, while others are frustrated. The player base is divided over the new direction.
How do the players feel about it? The majority of players seem to be happy with the increased difficulty. In several posts on Reddit, there are even requests not to nerf the difficulty. Although the game feels quite different from the first part, many veterans find pleasure in the new gameplay feeling.
However, not everyone is so satisfied. While players on Reddit downvote many of the posts complaining about the new difficulty, opinions of players on X.com against the higher difficulty are gathering.
User @GJX__ writes on X.com: “Why did no one tell me that Path of Exile 2 is so damn hard omfg.”
Also, @Daltin2010 cannot relate to the new difficulty on X.com: “PoE2 had the chance to become mainstream. It reached millions+ EA. And they released this version, Ruthless PoE2, which is basically the least played version of PoE1. The majority didn’t want that. And you can make money with the majority.”
Ruthless is a game mode in Path of Exile that restricts loot and makes bosses harder. It was primarily played by professionals who found the regular experience in Path of Exile too easy.
Among many of the tweets complaining about the difficulty and the similarities to Dark Souls, there are opposing voices who actually like that about Path of Exile 2. Even the richest person in the world has played PoE2 and finds it reminiscent of a Souls-like: Read the opinion of Elon Musk on Path of Exile 2 15 million people
