Jonathan Rogers, Game Director of Path of Exile 2, talked about a mistake made by the biggest competitor that should definitely be avoided. Bigger isn’t always better.
What is this mistake? In the new episode of the “Tavern Talk” podcast (via YouTube), Jonathan Rogers explained that the damage numbers in Diablo 4 are already far too high, which would undermine readability and the player experience. If the numbers are too high, a value squish would have to be performed, which often only provides short-term improvement.
The head developer is confident that this problem will not exist in Path of Exile 2. Rogers explains:
Path of Exile obviously went pretty crazy at some point, but at the same time we had many years when things weren’t like that. Our numbers don’t scale as quickly as those of other games and they don’t rise exponentially, which means we don’t have to worry about trillions of damage or similar.
Of course, the developers want to give players a noticeable increase in power, but not in a way that would break the game. Accordingly, the numbers and values in Path of Exile 2 will be relatively small and will increase gradually.
This way, damage numbers can be kept readable during combat over the long term and value squishes can be avoided. “I don’t think we’ll ever have to do a number squish or anything like that,” Jonathan Rogers is certain.
Here you can see the gameplay trailer for the early access of Path of Exile 2:
What else do I need to know about Path of Exile 2? The release of Path of Exile 2 in early access is on December 6, 2024, at 8:00 PM, on Steam, via Epic Games Store, the in-house PC client, PS5 and Xbox.
Path of Exile 2 will initially only be accessible to supporters who have purchased a package for at least €30 or a top-tier supporter package, or who have invested $480 or more in the predecessor Path of Exile. Once the game is released in full version, it will be available to everyone for free.
With the early access start, you will have access to the classes Monk, Warrior, Ranger, Mercenary, Witch, and Sorceress in Path of Exile 2. The action RPG supports couch co-op, cross-progression, and crossplay. You can find more information here: All info about the release of Path of Exile 2 on Steam, PS5, and Xbox – early access, gender lock, classes, crossplay & amp; couch co-op
