Play without grinding?

Want to come back to the game while waiting for D2R and PoE2. I forget why I quitted last time, but I've never made much progression into the story.

Is the game worth playing without dedicated endgame grind?
And exactly what do you get from grinding?
I personally dislike the idea of chasing progression, so I would avoid league. With that said, are there enough story/ campaign content that I can play through to experience all the mechanics, rewards, systems naturally without any serious grinding?

Some people play it strictly by trade. That's all they do. Trade stuff. Can't imagine the reason.

Others play by offering "services" where they do things that other characters aren't equipped to do.

Most of us are here because we enjoy the grind. It's what the core of the gaming environment was designed around. But you can find other ecological niches hidden in there too.

no

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Most of us are here because we enjoy the grind.

What do you get from the grind? Infinite growing character power/ gears?
Would it be a huge time sink, like either you get something good or absolutely nothing valuable from the time you spent in a run?

Bit of a loaded question to be asking of a game from a company titled Grinding Gear Games, isn't it? :P

The main campaign/storyline is absolutely doable without grinding. In fact, dedicated speedrunners are consistently able to beat Acts 1 - 10 in less than 3 hours. I personally think the campaign is very fun to play through just in itself. But the developers, true to the company name, pour a ton of resources into trying to make compelling "endgame content," so much so that for many people, what the developers call endgame, players consider the start of the game.

The way I see it, playing through campaign allows you to experience most enemy archetypes and all active skill gems.

However, in the endgame, there is a lot of content that you slowly progress towards - if I recall correctly, if you don't want to grind Maps (endgame areas), you will never experience the Timeless Conflict, Harvest, The Maven, the Shaper, the Elder, Kosis, the Conquerors of the Atlas/Sirus... and just going through storyline/campaign, it'll be highly unlikely you ever fight any Abyss Liches, Delve Bosses, Syndicate Safehouses/Mastermind...

In my opinion, none of this should dissuade you from getting into the game with what you've described in your opening post. Standard League is a perfectly viable place to play. Though many players would view that previous statement as a joke, I mean it sincerely. I would recommend just playing at your own pace and gradually chipping away at the endgame content, because there is a lot.

"What do you get from grinding?" It's a little bit like you suspected - the feeling of progressing further and further. What helps prevent the grind from being monotonous (for casuals like me at least) is the fact that there is so much content in the endgame to aspire towards. There are definite, objective stepping stones you can reach in the endgame... Sirus is only unlocked at Awakener 4, for example, and the Uncharted Realms only unlocks after a certain amount of Maven progression. For casuals like me, the main purpose of grinding is to try and beat whatever is the hardest boss fight in the game at the current time - which right now, I believe would be Maven's Invitation - The Feared (a combination of most the megabosses the game has to offer all at once).

endgame does not equal finishing story. finishing story is where the actual game begins lol.

the game can be a huuuge timesink but you can also play it casually, even in leagues. just depends on what you want to get out of it.

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dixondd105 wrote:

Want to come back to the game while waiting for D2R and PoE2. I forget why I quitted last time, but I've never made much progression into the story.

Is the game worth playing without dedicated endgame grind?
And exactly what do you get from grinding?
I personally dislike the idea of chasing progression, so I would avoid league. With that said, are there enough story/ campaign content that I can play through to experience all the mechanics, rewards, systems naturally without any serious grinding?

I think you should figure out what the term “grinding” means to you. Does it mean going out and killing the same mob over and over and over. Or in POE’s case there is an expansive “grind” where you can go anywhere and do anything and any amount of things at any time.

After all most ARPGS are “Grindy”. To answer the question “is it worth it” well, that really depends on your concept of something being “worth it”.

I myself enjoy the grind.

Hope this helps.

My wife likes playing slot machines. She plays Zygna's Chocolate Factory Slots as if it were her religion. I don't get it either. Harmless though... she doesn't buy stuff. Been doing it for years.

People get their dopamine different ways. It's evolution. We need specialists. Some people are rewarded for grinding. Others are rewarded for other activities. We've dominated the planet based on this adaptation. A simple chemical reaction. Don't worry about why others find things enjoyable. Just enjoy what you do and collect your chemical for it.

And yes... that's all we are. All this "enlightenment" nonsense is just a different response to it. People triggering their pleasure centers simply by acting enlightened. Amazing that we've come so far with it.

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in the endgame, there is a lot of content that you slowly progress towards

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Or in POE’s case there is an expansive “grind” where you can go anywhere and do anything and any amount of things at any time.

I'm convinced to come back now. I remember playing D3 when it first came out and I spent more time in the auction house than in the actual grind, which back then was extremely difficult. I remember watching Kripp solo highest difficulty diablo on hardcore when I couldn't even get through the flies in act 2 desert. I switched from a witch doctor to a barbarian, trying to counter the ridiculous mob damage. As frustrating as it was, it was fun to do some grinding. As it feels 'necessary' to me to finish the game in the default 'highest' difficulty.

1. Does campaign/ story difficulty works similarly in POE?
2. How do the expansions work? Are they overlapping, building on top of each other? Or are they integrated into the many campaign Acts. I remember when POE first launch, there weren't 10 Acts... Or I can select which expansion to play through?

The "expansion" in POE sense is small league mechanic

For atlas expansion it just mean the end game. It will rework once per 1 or 2 years (Atlas of Worlds, War for the Atlas, Conqueror of the Atlas, Echoes of the Atlas)