Another feedback post in the sea.

Hi GGG team,

Big props on taking the step to release PoE2 in EA for us. From what I've been able to gather, this is a huge undertaking with the constraints you have (such as team size, needing in-person personnel, etc.), and I'm sure everyone is doing their best to meet deliverables to push all projects forward. Project management isn't easy; I studied it in university, and I understand how quickly scope creep or change management can make things overwhelming (though my studies are only in the business side of things, I'm sure there's plenty of struggles you may have that none of us players can begin to fathom). Please know that I, as well as many like myself, do genuinely love PoE 1 and 2 and support your work in our many different ways.

My main feedback points are:

1) I think the campaign pacing, story, voice lines, environments, and graphics are wonderful -- it's art. I find it hard to try to blitz through areas due to the stunning visuals. At times, this game is hard to recognize as an EA release in campaign, aside from the known issue of grassy areas causing some graphics issues.


2) The ascendency mechanic is... interesting, but not entirely in a bad way. The ability to choose the Trials of Chaos or Trial of the Sekhemas is great, but it is never made clear that there are other options to ascend unless you have prior knowledge.
Maybe dialogue from Sin after investigating the Trials of the Sekhemas temple(?) in Act II could give hints to new players about the different options (e.g., "As I understand it from my travels, most civilizations had ceremonial trials to test their warriors or potential leaders..." with some minor expository info about these trials).
If a player chooses to go with the Trials of Chaos for their 4th ascension, it being locked behind the fragments needed for facing the Trialmaster seems a bit restrictive. Maybe the 10 trial Inscribed Ultimatums could be bumped up in drop level to be in line with the 4th Sekhema trial baryas, and have the fragments unlock different variations of the Trialmaster fight.

3) I believe that, overall, the endgame is good, if very irritating at times. The “hardcore-lite” (as some call it) aspect of mapping is frustrating at times, yet I understand the ideal behind it and can appreciate it. I have very few items of feedback that haven’t already been mentioned as being upcoming fixes.
However, I think that some adjustment to modifier values is needed. For instance, the pacing of PoE2 is, by design, slower than PoE (which I enjoy greatly)… but why are mobs bum-rushing players from off-screen in maps? I understand that, at some level, this is only a skill issue, but when double-digit packs of monsters in an area are rushing and surrounding a player from offscreen, it ceases to be a skill issue. What I'm referring to is the “Monsters have % increased movement speed, attack speed, and cast speed” waystone mod and its range of rolls.
Even with the consideration that it is part of the usual "risk versus reward" of mapping, I think it needs adjustment in some way to lessen the severity of the impact of the mod. Even without taking any of the “% increased effect of waystone modifiers”, the boost monsters get from even low rolls of this mod in low tier waystones feels much more substantial than the intent could have been – and in high tier waystones, such as T15, having a “Monsters have 24% increased movement speed”, et al. (with 0 “% increased effect of waystone modifiers”) shouldn’t result in the slow-moving skeletons being able to keep pace with a character with 35% MS boots and all but 3 move speed passives.
I think that the current highest 10% of rolls for this mod could/should be reserved for T16 and/or corruption results, or even a special random mod pool for irradiated/ coalesced corruption maps; this way, the juice still exists, but less punishing for times when a player isn't juicing their waystones.


But even with what flaws PoE2 has, and even at my most frustrated moments from getting skill issue’d in maps, I can’t help but be in awe of the game that you have created. As it is, it’s a great game. On full 1.0 release, I think that PoE2 will be astonishing, standing not at the level of, but above any AAA studio’s paid (and unpolished feeling) game release. Though I do offer some feedback that is negative in this post, I did my best to ensure it came across as constructive/productive rather than a simple complaint. Keep up the great work, cause a lot of us players are certainly excited to see what comes next in the world of Wraeclast!