Feedback - Rogue Exiles - Game Longevity

Firstly thank you to the devs, managers and the creative team for a game that is original, fun and mostly enjoyable.

I've debated with myself long and hard as to whether to actually create this first post. My desire to continue a long term relationship with POE by providing and receiving feedback has surpassed my concerns with the part of the community who won't get what this post's true intention is. This is my personal feedback and I am not speaking on behalf of the community, nor is this a build discussion.

The introduction of Rogue Exiles has killed my personal enjoyment and ability to level. At level 77, farming catacombs for XP, the Exiles made their appearance. Whilst my character usually only dies with a desync problem (where the server thinks my ranger, using chain is actually in the room I never entered with the mobs as i am damaging them), the Rogues appear far too regularly, are extremely over-powered for my build (remember I am fine doing catacombs just fine on my own when Rogues are excluded). Catacombs by its nature, limits visibility and movement. As a Ranger I need distance, i'm not a tank nor will I become one. The Rogues usually kill me before I even know they are there. Often I cannot even see what killed me afterwards before resurrecting out. The frequency of these Rogue attacks lends itself to this being a major part of the game (I get jumped every few runs) Stats: 111 deaths at lvl 77

Whilst I accept that part of the community loves PVP and tanking the rogues, this adds zero enjoyment to my game. Personally I'm not interested in PVP which this feels like.

The nett effect this introduction has had on me personally - taking a week to level from 77 to 78 with friends help - is that I find myself no longer pushing myself to get to the next level, making significantly fewer runs than I would normally do. This really concerns me as that is the first indication that I'm losing interest in a game that has rewarded me with decent escapism and a lot of fun. I want my relationship with POE to last for years, not just a few months beyond open beta. I usually pick an MMO/ARPG and stick with it for years. POE's originality and design (apart from the 'crafting' system) struck me from the beginning that this was exactly what I was looking for. This is my second high level character where I normally only ever create one. Healthy sign.

SUGGESTION: Please consider an option allowing those of us who do not like this added element to be able to disable it, or alternatively warn on entering an area that there is a Rogue hidden. With a warning system I would exit and reset to continue with my personal game style. Naturally there would be more runs, business as usual, more time spent within POE.

Thank you for reading through and accepting my feedback in the light with which it was meant.

Did you spend all your points into offense and nothing into defense ?
Because if it's the case, you're gonna be bound to farm catacombs forever since many type of mobs/bosses will crush you in maps.
In PoE, you have to tank at least a minimum to survive the content, if you can't, you are just closing many doors as a solo players. This is a little less true if you are playing in a group I guess.


The thing is, you are meant to adapt to the content, which now includes rogue exiles.
Try to use sum skeleton/decoy totems, or switch to a brightbeak + shield @leapslam to get away and temporize and see what you can do.

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FarStrike1 wrote:

The Rogues usually kill me before I even know they are there.

What kind of build you have?

The only exile which can be problematic is Thena since Merciless if you don't have high regen/chaos res and Igna in maps if you don't have spell block. Even famous Xandro is not so problematic IMO, I usually finish him off in few seconds in maps.

Physical Crit Ranger. Skills (SA, EA, IS Totem, Bear Trap)
Notable Gear: Lioneye's Glare, Daresso's Defiance, Rat's Nest, Maligaro's Virtuosity, Sin Trek Stealth Boots, Carnage Heart Onyx Amulet, Lavianga's Spirit

Current Tree:


Please note that I started this thread as personal feedback. The added Rogue element has detracted from my enjoyment of the game significantly. To the point where I am playing less which concerns my long term commitment to POE. If we are warned about Rogues then if we so chose, we can exit and do what we enjoy best. If we are able to optionally disable this added feature then it is no longer a concern.

I do accept that other players will enjoy the Rogue addition as enhanced game value. To me personally it has had a direct opposite and game changing effect, completely detracting from my enjoyment of POE.

Thanks for reading and your constructive feedback.

"

FarStrike1 wrote:

Physical Crit Ranger. Skills (SA, EA, IS Totem, Bear Trap)
Notable Gear: Lioneye's Glare, Daresso's Defiance, Rat's Nest, Maligaro's Virtuosity, Sin Trek Stealth Boots, Carnage Heart Onyx Amulet, Lavianga's Spirit

So, you are bowman, probably not tanky enough to take on melee exiles. To be honest, I would drop IR on your character and go Acrobatics and take more HP. As I understand, AR is to be anti-reflect measure, but probably IC on CwDT would be better (if you not use one already). A little more life regen also can help, I would change Sintreks to Blood Dance (to be honest, I don't quite understand why ppls use Sintreks, there are tons of better boots).

tmaclak thanks for your constructive build/gear feedback. Much appreciated.

Yes this ranger is not tanky enough to take on strong melee face-to-face and survive. I still don't want Rogues at all, but leaving that for the original post to address.

My lvl 80 archer from OB is a genuine BM tank (from when BM passive was worth taking). Tankier than most tanks but hits were like throwing pillows :) Had truly epic long fights but got bored with the build

Fully agree with your comments on Sin Trek. Disagree re Blood Dance (my other ranger wears those). This character doesn't use Frenzy (Shock/Horror), instead uses power charges (PCoC). Daresso's a perfect compliment to this. I really don't want to add Frenzy to this build else will be too much micro-management and happy with current offensive skills.

Main problem with the boot uniques is not having life stacked as a mod. Will be replacing Sin Trek with 'crafted' boots (Life, Resists) when I can afford buying anything again. Which is not going to happen anytime soon with the current rogue problem killing my farming. (Socketing and Linking Daresso's Defiance made me a very poor player - although I did get it to 6SL)

Sole reason I took IR was Acr just not working for me early on with this character. All the advice I was given pointed to go IR which has helped tremendously. Not so any longer.

I haven't tried IC yet. Great suggestion. Using Molten Shell with CwDT. Problem is i'm dead from Rogues before it activates. Normal farming its just fine. I can swop out one of my two curses (Crit/Projectile) for IC. Any suggestions on how to best use IC and your thoughts on it?

Rogue exiles are great. They add a good portion of joy and adrenaline to the game, and they reward you nicely too.

"

FarStrike1 wrote:

Sole reason I took IR was Acr just not working for me early on with this character. All the advice I was given pointed to go IR which has helped tremendously. Not so any longer.

Yes, it was working fine while the hits were weaker, if you can't get gear that will push your armor rating back where it will actually mean something, acrobatics will most likely do a better job.

Your issue is probably the thing I was talking about in CI rework thread, you can't really play 'don't touch me' with the game anymore so pretty much all builds must be tanky to a degree or resort to cheesy moves.

Difficulty of exiles depends on build, mostly. There is a great variety of them and they use all sorts of skills so there will almost always be some that will give you trouble. Can't say if it's a good thing or not, it probably would be if the game played smoother, we had no lags or desync and some mechanics worked differently. Those would be battles to remember, unfortunately, right now it serves as yet another source of frustration to users of more fragile chars.

one can always go capped block and a blind flame totem

"

FarStrike1 wrote:

Disagree re Blood Dance (my other ranger wears those). This character doesn't use Frenzy (Shock/Horror), instead uses power charges (PCoC).

As you don't need reses from boots, I was thinking about regen from FC given by Blood Dance. But additional HP never hurts if you can get boots with HP.

"

FarStrike1 wrote:

Any suggestions on how to best use IC and your thoughts on it?

On characters which have IC on CwDT I usually use 2 CwDT, one on lvl 1 with EC (you don't need it with Daresso's Defiance) and second with IC, increased duration and if I have socket, Molten Shell. This latter is CwDT leveled to trigger on about half character life pool, IC and MS as CwDT allows, increased duration max.

"

Saltychipmunk wrote:

one can always go capped block and a blind flame totem

It's not so easy to block with quiver ;) BTW after last change to Flame Totem, IMO it doesn't work well with Blind, cast too slow, better to have Incinerate totem with Blind.