Concerns and Frustration with the Current League Experience

Hi GGG team,

First of all, thank you for your continued effort in evolving Path of Exile.

I usually play at a slower pace, enjoying the process and planning of my builds. Running a single endgame map often takes me around 20 minutes — and that's fine for me. But this season feels incredibly punishing, even for someone who comes prepared. Regular and rare monsters are hitting unusually hard, to the point where full resistances, high armor or evasion, and even decent recovery don’t seem to matter. I often die instantly without any clear indication of what killed me, which feels demoralizing.

The final Ascendancy trial through the new Ultimatum mechanic used to be a fair challenge — not too easy, not too hard. Now, the increasing buff stacks and monster difficulty make it overwhelming. Worse yet, I've encountered issues where I complete the trial, but still fail due to unclear mechanics or bugs. This makes the whole experience feel unrewarding and, frankly, broken.

While I understand that challenge is an important part of PoE, I believe the current difficulty scaling — especially for average or slower players — is out of balance. There's a fine line between challenge and frustration, and sadly, this league has crossed that line for me.

Please consider revisiting monster scaling, Ultimatum mechanics, and overall damage tuning. Many of us play to enjoy, not just to rush and compete.

Thank you for listening, and I truly hope things improve in future patches.

Sincerely,
A concerned exile.