Zidjian’s Alpha Experince

Hello for those of you who don’t know I’m Zidjian. I’ve been frequenting the forums since September of last year. So when I got the invite to join the Alpha last Friday I was ecstatic. First of let me say PoE is the game that you guys are waiting for. There’s are still some kinks obviously, but the game is just pure fun. It was like playing through my first ARPG for the first time intertwined with something new. It’s got nostalgia, but PoE is unique in that is never loses that old school hack n slash feel, but It also manages to make some very progressive leaps forward. It’s heartwarming to see a collective of guys that just plain love video games and are working on their dream game. After playing PoE I can tell you I have no doubt these guys will be well rewarded when the game is fully released. So let me begin with my experience in Wraeclast.

After getting the email I smiled ear to ear and started downloading the client. The client seemed to take an eternity to download, but that was probably just from my excitement. First thing I did was create a Witch. I named her Liliana and started the bloodshed. PoE starts just like the Witch’s trailer. First I picked up my weapon and started the bloodshed. The Combat does not disappoint it is very visceral and satisfying. Enemies bleed when you cut them. Guts come out when you crush them. In particular playing the Ranger is fun and hearing the arrows pierce through them is very fun. The targeting works like you would expect it too. Then after slaying a couple of wandering Zombies and Sand Spitters I discover some loot.

One of the most important aspects of an ARPG is the loot. PoE does not disappoint. There are so many different base types it’s hard to keep track of. Then added with the mods and magical, rare, or unique you’re going to be looking at incredible amount of variety. On top of that there is the socket arrangement. First off it is a complete free for all. By that I mean weapons can any kind of socket in it. Clubs with Intelligence sockets or wands with Strength sockets. Then there are linked sockets to consider. The pure number of Combinations is crazy. PoE truly has one of the best item systems I have ever seen. These mechanics are great on their own, but together they form this intricate, but satisfying mechanic.

While doing this I noticed something strange my hand had been on WASD the entire time. This is because I’m used to constantly controlling my camera. Any PC gamer worth his or her salt can attest that this is second nature similar to breathing. I know this is a concern to a lot of you. First off let me just say there is no need to worry the camera works very well. In fact I can say that not using the camera is nice. You don’t have to constantly adjust it and frees up a hand. You can use your left hand for skills/flasks and your right for movement/aiming. All in all the system works very well and I very rarely have trouble seeing anything and I’ve never had a moment where I thought the game would benefit that much from a free camera.

After getting through the beginning level I moved on and got to start using new skills. First off skills are downright fun and hearing the Ping of a new gem is like finding a 20$ in your jeans that you haven’t wore in a while. The skills all feel varied and unique. The free hand makes it easy to use hotkeys and allows you to string skills together into some very damaging and brutal combos. I have used all announced skills and quite a few of the unannounced they are all fun and the animations for each are detailed and fluid. Another bonus is to see your skill gems getting more and more powerful. It truly is similar to FF7 Materia which is a great thing. Not is your character growing, but this powerful little gem is growing as well. The benefits of a highly leveled gem are very rewarding.

While playing through I would fairly rarely see a currency item pop u on my screen. The currency system in PoE is fantastic. Whenever you see a new Orb it gets you exciting. I love watching rare items come up after I kill a hoard of monsters. Not only are these items useful, but they are at a premium. They have many different functions and get used frequently. The only hard part is knowing when to hold off to use it on another items, using on your current item, or using it as trading material.

After playing for about 8 hours straight and staying up into the late night I went to sleep. After waking up I pulled my laptop onto my stomach and grabbed my glasses. After playing with the Witch I was very excited to see the other classes so I started one of each.

The Marauder truly lives up to his name which in this case was Khan. His strikes are earth shatteringly powerful. Crushing zombies with clubs is truly fun. The class is all about raw power. The skills compliment his power leap slam is a great skill to use. Not only does it do great damage, but you can jump up or down cliff and transverse objects that you couldn’t normally. Ground slam is fun to use as well.

The Ranger I named Shotoa is a fun class to play. She focuses solely on dexterity and her attacks are skillful. Arrows don’t feel like little sticks flying through the air. When you fire an arrow you here a great smack as it bores into the enemy. There is more movement with the ranger, but it doesn’t feel like you’re running around all the time. Instead your constantly dodging attacks and launching your own and has a unique feel to her combat.

My Duelist which I named Zidjian is first off an insanely fun character. When I played through I used dual strike a lot and it is very fun to see how fast my enemies die. Interestingly I thought the Duelist would be this class that was a jack of all trades, but I found out it’s not that he’s decent in two skills he combines both of them and makes it into something completely unique. The Duelist adds strength and grace to the battlefield and can unleash some very skillful heavy hitting moves. If the other mixed classes are as fun as the duelist I have high hopes for them

The one thing I can is that PoE is real deal. Trust me I know the wait can be a real pain, but every day PoE inches towards beta GGG keeps perfecting it and making it better. My closing advice is to be patient and wait for it because as a fellow gamer I can say it’s most certainly worth the wait.

Also if you guys have questions just ask. I'll try to answer any question that i can.

When I read the title I was expecting a more immersive narrative, kind of like a telling of your experiences in Wraeclast from the perspective of the character you were playing rather than the typical "While I was playing this game, I pissed myself because I forgot to go to the bathroom" kind of writing.

Still, a very interesting read. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Sorry Septile, I just realized that I used that as the title. I was actually working on some fan lore in the PoE universe and used that as the title by accident. It will get uploaded to the wiki once I'm finished up with it. For the wiki it'll be updated with a lot of information once beta gets released so you guys can have a good tool to start out with. Oh and we'll have a lore section if you want to submit your own lore as well.

Thank you Zidjian. It is great to read your alpha experience. I'm very gratefull to all you guys for writing yours impressions .

First thing I did was create a Witch. I named her Liliana and started the bloodshed. PoE starts just like the Witch’s trailer. First I picked up my weapon and started the bloodshed. The Combat does not disappoint it is very visceral and satisfying. Enemies bleed when you cut them. Guts come out when you crush them. In particular playing the Ranger is fun and hearing the arrows pierce through them is very fun. The targeting works like you would expect it too. Then after slaying a couple of wandering Zombies and Sand Spitters I discover some loot.

thanks it is great someone share info about witch :0 i think i ll love it :)
can you choose the high of your hero ?

Nice impressions Zidjian

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Septile wrote:

When I read the title I was expecting a more immersive narrative, kind of like a telling of your experiences in Wraeclast from the perspective of the character you were playing rather than the typical "While I was playing this game, I pissed myself because I forgot to go to the bathroom" kind of writing.

Sorry, Septile. I know these impressions posts can light on actual substance. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that haven't been publicly announced or are just plain unfinished which makes giving specific information in these posts difficult. The good news is that I think GGG intends to continue inviting new people on a very regular basis.

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Bulkathos wrote:

can you choose the high of your hero ?

I'm not sure what you mean.

excuse me , i mean can you change the size of your hero,maybe shorter or higher ,fat ot thin,can you choose diferent faces or ,you can't choose from this ?

Thanks Zidjian for your post, always appreciative of the testers to take time out of their day (or playing POE!) to tell us forum frequenters about your experience. It sounds like GGG is doing a fantastic job.

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Bulkathos wrote:

excuse me , i mean can you change the size of your hero,maybe shorter or higher ,fat ot thin,can you choose diferent faces or ,you can't choose from this ?

Ok. 'Height' was the word you wanted. No you can't. The only way to change the look of your character is by the equipment you wear. The cash shop will have options to change some things about how your character looks and how your equipment looks but I doubt you'll be able to change your character's physical proportions.