player power curve

I was just thinking to myself about the power of loot acquired in games like these and how it has to be balanced for the area you're currently playing in / the level of your character and level of enemies you're fighting. I was thinking how you can't just let the player go rampaging around all the time killing things with a flick of their finger like a god or they'll get bored too soon. Concordantly, you shouldn't force the player to just barely scrape by all the time in the minimum gear they can possibly complete the content in.

Then a thought hit me - about how I could feel the best about playing the game and finding new gear, and it boils down to this:

If you take a particular segment of the game's story/content - call it a story arc - and you provide the player with enough quality of equipment to feel like they are having to struggle just a bit through about 75% of that story arch, then at the last 25% allow them to find things in loot that would make them feel more like demi-gods for that story arc - I think this would be the most enjoyable balance between the two feelings that I could have with a game in this genre.

Right now the feeling I get from path of exile is more of a linear-power-growth-throughout kind of feeling. I think there needs to be this break-away feeling where at some point towards the end of an act/story arc you can really pull ahead of the difficulty curve and go wild. It's kind of like a reward for all the hard work you did building your character's strength/experience up for the other 75% of the act/story arc.

I know this might sound counter-intuitive to some for the fact that the act/story arc boss is usually in the last 25% of an act/story arc - and I'm not saying the boss should be easier to fight than the other 75% of the act/story arc was. The boss should come at the end of this final 25% and be an exception to the power spree feeling the player should get. Bosses should ofc be the most challenging part of an act - that is why they are called bosses.

On a side note, the boss's skillset should reflect that which the player has learned through the rest of the act. A boss should be like a final exam - not covering new material, but being an intense review of everything you've learned in the content before. And when I say everything you've learned, I mean everything you've learned about how best to combat the enemies and their abilities.

You do get bursts of power where you're suddenly launched ahead of the difficulty curve. It happens when you take that build defining keystone passive or get a lucky weapon roll. It happens when you get that extra link, or move a spell to a totem or get dual totems. It happens when you get a critical support gem like multiple projectiles, faster attacks, or reduced mana cost so you can run (more) auras.

Plenty of those moments. Especially for those point intensive builds that only really come together at high level or with good gear.

And you also get moments where your build is struggling, an unintended blip, a bad choice. Or maybe your gear just isn't too great.

And that's hell. (Or Wraeclast)

Regardless, I do like the theory of that 'struggle > success > final exam' idea. I don't feel it fits Path of Exile entirely, but as a theory, it's a game I'd play. Struggle and Strife pretty much make anybody's game.

You can get some pro items that will give you those feelings. Like.. getting a godly ring in act 1 cruel definitely possible to get a ring that can last you all the way to 60s+