Path of Exile
 

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Hello everyone,

I'm sure some of you have already heard of Path of Exile by now. It's a free to play action RPG in the veins of Diablo. The game is in closed beta as we speak and is being developed by Grinding Gear Games.

Even though the game looks a lot like Diablo II at first glance, there are actually a few innovations that set Path of Exile apart from it's competitors. For one, there's the gigantic skill tree, that is very much reminiscent of the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X. In it, you only skill passive bonuses by the way. Active skills are socketed into your euqipment, similarly to how it's done in Final Fantasy VII. With other sockets in the same piece of gear you can even modify your skills. Needless to say that the game is quite complex in it's design. That way, a bit of accessibilty for new players is lost, but at the same time there's much more motivation to play the endgame content of the game than for example in Dialbo III.

The is a level cap, but due to the fact that you lose experience points when you die on higher levels, hardly anybody is actually going to reach it. That's at least how the developers see it. Just like in Diablo II, there are a couple of ladders that you can compete in. A real currency like gold does not exist, however. Instead, NPC's trade items with you and very often give you different shards for your items, that can be transformed int Orbs. With those, you can optimzize your gear; add attributes, add sockets, change socket color and much more. You can really take the worst grey item and forge it into a mighty weapon. Unlike in Diablo III you don't have to play the auction house to get good gear, which has nothing to do with the actual game.

Anyway, I'm not here to bash D3. I really like the game. I just want to get your attention to the differences in design. There are currently six playable classes and two acts. A third act is as good as done, but not implemented yet. The developer's have said that there are going to be four when the game launches. PvP is also going to make it into the game. As far as I know, it doesn't exist right now, although there are some events every now and then in which players can fight each other and steal loot from other players.

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For ten bucks, you can buy access to the beta. You can also sign up without paying and hope to be lucky enough to get a key by chance. Every five minutes or so, a key is given away randomly. Everyone intrigued by what I said should check out this trailer: click!

Unfortunately, there's really a lot of crap among free to play titles, but just like League of Legends, Path of Exile looks to be shaping up to be an exceptional title. Is anyone else aside from me playing the game? Is anybody interested? I have spent a few hours now in the game and am absolutely hooked.

Last but not least, I'd like you to take a look at the massive skill tree. I think "skill forest" would be more fitting, though.

Nice of you to make a thread on this f2p game, I signed up for the beta ages ago, thinking of just donating and getting into it :p
What really intises me to this game is the choice, so varied. I love that kind of play style mixing and matching.

Seeing as this game is going into open beta, and no more character wipes will be happening after this Wednesday. Thought it would be a good idea to see who is playing, and what class :)

It only sounds complex, but I think it's quite accessible; the only thing you really have to keep in mind is that respec points (which you get as rewards for some quests) and orbs of regret (which are consumables that the same effect) are at a premium, and you can only backtrack from the ends of explored branches in the skill matrix. So, it's really a good idea to take the time to think about what kind of character you want to build - fortunately, the skill tree is accessible online to aid in this.

And yes, the presence of linked sockets and support gems makes for some truly evil combinations. A couple of my favorites follow:

• Poison Arrow + Chain: the former leaves a short-lived toxin cloud at the point of impact, which inflicts a DoT on tangos which remain in it; Chain, when linked to any projectile-spawning skill, causes the projectile(s) to bounce to additional, random nearby targets, triggering the skill's effects at each. This combination can have groups choking in no time... feel free to have this music playing in the background while you spread the doom.
• Viper Strike + Increased Duration: a successful hit with Viper Strike will, in addition to the basic weapon damage and on-hit effects, also leave behind a toxin charge that inflicts a DoT over its several-second lifespan. Another strike in that period will add another charge and reset the timer; you can have up to four charges on a target. Increased Duration, of course, boosts the duration of its associated skill. Note that the type of damage from Viper Strike and Poison Cloud ignores energy shielding...
• Puncture + Increased Duration: as above but instead of a stackable DoT, Puncture inflicts a version that uses a higher value while the target is moving.
• Viper Strike/Puncture + Vulnerability: the latter is not a support, but a curse which among its other effects boosts the DoTs its victims have while it is active.

Be warned: quite a few of the tangos have access to these skills too.

Indeed, you will often find yourself sticking with a particular piece of gear despite the availability of a better one because of its socket layout (and not having the appropriate orbs on hand to try and 'fix' the new one).

On another note: potions joined currency on the cutting room floor. What you have instead are flasks (you can have up to five active ones) that contain a number of charges, with each use draining a portion of these... don't worry, they refill as you kill tangoes. And yes, those flasks can be modified too: for instance, you might have a health flask whose doses heal instantly (as opposed to over some seconds) if used at less than 30% life; a mana flask might confer an armor buff over its effect duration. Even more interesting: aside from the expected health/mana/hybrid flasks, there are also a few special ones (like one which gives you 100% critical hit chance for a brief time).

And that endgame content referred to above? Those would be 'keys' to random dungeons accessible from a certain facility... and yes, those can be modified too. TotalBiscuit does an excellent job explaining this here... and apparently Runic liked the concept enough that it shows up in Torchlight 2, with slight modifications, as the Mapworks.

There is, of course, no auction house; the store focuses on convenience items (so far, extra shared stash space, and extra character slots for your account); the other planned purchasables are purely cosmetic (alternate animations and visual effects; 'pets' like the kiwis that come with some of the supporter packs).

My one real complaint is a relatively minor one: GGG decided for whatever reason to gender-lock the classes. A better solution in my opinion would've been to mirror Torchlight 2's basic character customization (gender; face style/skin tone; hairstyle - bonus if you include the option to not render the helmet model): not only would this help the various players stand out more, but you would then have other options for microtransactions. As an example, folks have already expressed interest in having the Ebony Legon aesthetic (found here) available...

Finally, I'll just leave Gamespot's most recent relevant video feature here...

good info,A better solution in my opinion would've been to mirror Torchlight 2's basic character customization.thankshttp://www.maxin.us/imax/images/5.gif

I actually did the cheapest payment option for this game for sweet beta play and barely touched it after the free weekend that got me interested. I consider it money well spent regardless, however.

Path of Exile is basically what Diablo III should have been, in my eyes. It has all of the things that made Diablo II a great game, and then adds many fantastic ideas and improvements in. It's a well-made game and it has a lot of good development choices, and so I recommend it to ALL ARPG FANS.

I'm applying for open beta, too bad they haven't sent my activation email for the past few hours.

too Diablo for my liking.
will pass this mmo

Around spring of last year I was given a beta key (by a kind user at the official Torchlight 2 forums) for this game, and I enjoyed it alot. The atmosphere was bleak and gritty and the gameplay was addictive. However, the game has just gotten too easy lately and I just lost interest. Maybe I'll try it again when the game goes open beta soon, but for me if a hack & slash Action RPG isn't challenging then I'll quickly loose interest. A bit masochistic of me, I may admit, but I did grow up with Diablo and Diablo 2. And even by today's standards they were challenging (and often hard) RPGs. Especially the first Diablo game.