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Path of Exile


Deykari

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As per f0xx's sensible idea, here's a new thread on PoE. For those not familiar, it's a hack-and-slash game similar to those in the Diablo series (more like 2 than 3) with it's own little unique twists. It is completely free to play (with points available to purchase which allow cosmetic changes or simple utilities like extra character slots, no in-game bonuses) and will have it's last character wipe on 23rd January which is when it will enter open beta. I've been playing in the closed beta for a while now. It has the 'feel' of Diablo II but brings enough of it's own unique flavour to the table to make it unique and not feel like a clone. The passive tree is huge and all class share the same passive tree but each class starts at a different point in the tree (think the skill sphere from Final Fantasy X), so in theory any class can work towards another classes passives, creating some interesting hybrids. The skill-gem system lets you combine skills in so many different ways, and combined with the passive skill tree you can get tons of different class builds out of the same class (with very limited respeccing, for those like me that HATED that you could respec your build on D3 and taking the fun out of playing the same class many times).

I've played most of the classes to around the level 30 mark to get a feel for them, with Shadow being my favourite. Well worth a look on the 23rd when it goes live. Has full PVP with duelling, team-deathmatch arenas, and they're going to introduce a super-hardcore mode where PvP can happen anywhere away from cities, really good economy/trade system using different utility items (no gold!) and a 100 level cap that appears as though it's going to keep even the most persistent grinders happy for a while. They run regular events like races, arena fights, hardcore races, etc. with rewards given out for the top % of competitors, and an interesting system of creating your own end-game areas from maps that use their own randomly generated affixes.

For hitnrun:

The thing you notice immediately after the first couple of stages in PoE is that the volume of opponents is greater than in Diablo III. I found it much more challenging and the combat often a little more relentless than in Diablo III and so in that regard the pace is much faster, it definitely caught me off-guard. What most people seem to refer to is that initially your basic attack speed/animation is a little slow (this counts for some skills too), and combat itself does initially feel a little slow and clunky because of that - that does change quickly as you level up, and they're making a couple of minor changes for open beta that will boost that. It's not really an issue. My shadow is like a bolt of lightning. :D

Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/eehtnb/path-of-exile-exclusive-open-beta-trailer

Dey

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I took the time to look through the passive skill tree and some of the actual skills.... and my enthusiasm seemed to die a bit. The passive skill tree looks boring and the actual skills (that are obtained trough runes?) don't look much different as well :/

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The passive skill tree is just that - a large map of small bonuses that over time will give your character a very specific build and focus. There are the 'milestone' passives at various points that are more potent versions of passives, and towards the outer rim of the passive tree are some some more powerful double-edged passives that can change things radically, such as one that lowers your maximum health to 1, but makes you immune to chaos damage (a damage type that penetrates energy shields) and gives you a bonus to said shields, or a passive that means you can never strike critically but your hits can never be evaded.

The actual skills themselves are very varied, and they can be combined with support gems to create different effects, much like how runes were variations of the same skill in Diablo III. The skill gems themselves level up as they're equipped, becoming stronger as they level up - they are found in different 'qualities' too in the same way you would get a crude buckler or superior sword - a superior version of an aura skill gem may have a higher aura range, for example. The fact that skills aren't unlocked as you progress but found as items (each with their own varying rarity) or given as quest rewards makes for interesting combinations with different classes, or lets you even trade skill gems. Definitely give it a try, some of the skills sound uninteresting and are named quite plainly but there are lots of them and some are very cool. :)

There is a definite D2 feel here, from an aesthetic point of view as well as with the gameplay.

If you're not a fan of dungeon crawlers Volg you might not like this.

Dey

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When they do final pwipe in a few hours, any closed beta characters are fully reset and anew, allowing closed beta players to reserve character names.

Guess who has a Templar, going necromancer build, called Jondar. :D

Servers/gamemode works just like Diablo. There's an EU, America and Singapore gateway to connect to (all separate) and then within, are gamemodes (leagues) which are currently default and hardcore - both separate from each other.

An interesting point for those who've always liked the idea of hardcore mode but don't want to permanently lose their chars, if you die in hardcore mode you just get 'relegated' to the default league so you can continue playing normally, just not in the leaderboards for hardcore anymore.

Dey

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When they do final pwipe in a few hours, any closed beta characters are fully reset and anew, allowing closed beta players to reserve character names.

Guess who has a Templar, going necromancer build, called Jondar. :D

Servers/gamemode works just like Diablo. There's an EU, America and Singapore gateway to connect to (all separate) and then within, are gamemodes (leagues) which are currently default and hardcore - both separate from each other.

An interesting point for those who've always liked the idea of hardcore mode but don't want to permanently lose their chars, if you die in hardcore mode you just get 'relegated' to the default league so you can continue playing normally, just not in the leaderboards for hardcore anymore.

Dey

so most on EU side? I will be on US side I am sure.

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