Getting to the end game takes too long

This has always been my impression of the game, and even though I currently feel that the game is in a much better spot than before, this issue still stands.

Back-story: I started playing in Beyond league, a start from scratch just like everyone else. Of course I had to play conservatively, and try to outlevel the zones I am in by a little just to be safe. My character died at level 62 after a total amount played of 20 hours (solo progression). I learned something from my death (getting 1 shot by Perpetus means I have to either avoid him or gain better physical burst mitigation by that time, via Armor or CWDT), still what saddens me is that in order to put into application what I just leared, I am going to first have to spend at least 10-15 hours to level a character back to that point.

The description of the issue.

PoE is a game made around building characters and taking them to the end game where the loot chase commences. Most builds only start functioning at around level 55-60 where you have enough points to be able to get defenses and offenses from the tree. Also a good number of 4L items are necessary.

It is pretty obvious that PoE is a game made around rerolling new characters very often. This means replaying through the Normal-Cruel-Merciless cycle quite often.

For Normal mode, the length is pretty much natural. It needs to introduce players to the game and for the new player it needs to feel like a full game. On the other hand, Merciless is where the character build becomes to shape up, all the challenges and constraints are in full effect and it's effectively where the most difficult content lies.

And then we have Cruel: which serves little purpose. Leveling is pretty slow (usually from 35-55 - so only 20 levels, compared to 35 for normal and potentially 45 for merciless). The items found in Cruel are of no use late-game, they are too weak to pose any late-game need. However, Cruel can be pretty difficult (especially act 3 in the later parts). Many characters can die in A3X Cruel which kind of makes you spend even more time grinding some extra levels in there and acquiring gear just to overcome the difficulty.

What this all means for the player?

This means that many average players like myself will be stuck in a loop where reaching Maps and end game happens very rarely. Between the average length of the Challenge Leagues which last too little for people with busy schedules, as well as Hardcore mode (which is fun but) can kill your characters forcing you to start over, many players may never get to experience what GGG actually designed as the full game experience.

For the experienced players this means that the hurdle of leveling needs to be done over and over again at each new league and each hardcore death. Not a difficult thing but a chore nontheless.

In Diablo 2, we had "rushing" which was never fixed by any of the content patches added, which means this little exploit was considered to be a beneficial thing to the game. Giving (veteran) players the opportunity to start of with a level 60sh character after just a couple hours was a good perk.

Possible solutions.

The first solution I am thinking about is nerfing Act 3 Cruel - especially the A3X content. That's the main culprit of delay. If that part is easier players can transition a lot quicker in merciless.

The second solution would be the leveling curve which can be improved.

The third would be to give access to maps a lot sooner. Effectivelly bringing the end-game closer to the early game.


I want to hear everyone's opinion on this, do you feel these points are valid?

I actually think it is too fast and too easy to get to the end game. Consider here also that you play in a temporary league and, on top of that, in hardcore mode. If you played in a permanent league, and could play more recklessly, you would take a character to the end game in a couple nights.

The solution, in your situation, is to not play in temporary leagues. They do require more time investment than may be realistic if you have other responsibilities.

Occasional maps starting around a3x/n would be awesome.

Otherwise, Cruel is my favorite part of the game, casually speaking. I think that may still have something to do with my very first impression of sheer awesomeness arriving on Strands Cruel for the first time and finding rare mobs there; having played on normal a handful of times while I learned the game, this was a bit of a shock. Cruel also happens to be when about I may begin using my build's proper skill set up. For me, it's normal and merciless I tend to want to end quickly (though by merciless progress is generally a lot faster than in normal)*. My main gripe is how boring rerunning normal again and again can be, as there is often little challenge and the character hasn't been exposed to enough resources to feel interesting yet. It feels more like a chore than anything else, rushing to power level zones and grinding with a power level pre-build, whereas Cruel is where I can just sit back and begin to appreciate my build for what it is.

Granted, I was a soft core player because of my PC and network (HC would laugh at my frequent FPS drops and network lag). I'm sure the experience is much different in HC, and especially HC challenge leagues.

*Edit: I should clarify, that technically normal is a lot faster to complete than merciless, but merciless feels faster (to me) because it feels like less of a chore. That fact that my character build is (almost) fully realized by this point helps immensely, as that is my main gripe with normal.

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Mivo wrote:

I actually think it is too fast and too easy to get to the end game. Consider here also that you play in a temporary league and, on top of that, in hardcore mode. If you played in a permanent league, and could play more recklessly, you would take a character to the end game in a couple nights.

The solution, in your situation, is to not play in temporary leagues. They do require more time investment than may be realistic if you have other responsibilities.

Temporary leagues is pretty much where all the magic happens and where all the new and exciting content is added. Even later on when the faetures of the leagues are rolled into the permanent ones their spawn rate is actually much reduced making the game feel completely different.

Temporary leagues have that novelty feel to them and playing them each time makes the game feel fresh.

Also, the economy in hardcore is something way more enjoyable for someone who does not have a lot of time. In case you don't RIP too fast it's quite enjoyable. In the latest iteration of the game Beyond seems a lot more interesting than Rampage, mechanics wise.

Since you have gear stashed from your first playthrough, things should go much faster.

I think the problem is that the path to endgame is not sugarcoated enough.

The many difficulties system is somewhat outdated, there should be another way to play the levels between Cruel and Merciless.

I don't know, optional bosses? Quests that are not the same as normal difficulty? Omiting story elements?

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NeroNoah wrote:

I think the problem is that the path to endgame is not sugarcoated enough.

The many difficulties system is somewhat outdated, there should be another way to play the levels between Cruel and Merciless.

I don't know, optional bosses? Quests that are not the same as normal difficulty? Omiting story elements?

More acts

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SL4Y3R wrote:

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NeroNoah wrote:

I think the problem is that the path to endgame is not sugarcoated enough.

The many difficulties system is somewhat outdated, there should be another way to play the levels between Cruel and Merciless.

I don't know, optional bosses? Quests that are not the same as normal difficulty? Omiting story elements?

More acts

Yeah, that too, but the acts can't come fast enough.

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SL4Y3R wrote:

Since you have gear stashed from your first playthrough, things should go much faster.

I do agree, and it is mentioned in the original post somewhere, from 20 hours it can go down to maybe 12-15. However going faster has its own risks in hardcore, and 12-15 hours is still a LOT for relatively easy content.

My only gripe is level 20 gems. They take way too long to level, even moreso if you want to q20 them. Their relative value is really low as well compared to this, most of the time it might be a better idea to just buy them Q20 or level 20 instead of grinding.