Looking for a slower-paced alternative for Path of Exile

I have always loved PoE: the passive skill tree is amazing, the support gem system allows for so many combinations, there are so many build-enabling uniques and keystones... .

I'm absolutely fond of the complexity and the endless possibilities in this game!

But I hate how fast the pace of the game has become over the years. It has turned more and more into a kill-before-you-get-killed feast. We are pretty much forced nowadays to make builds that can explode the entire screen in an eyeblink to be able to do certain (end-game) content.

Building a tank at the cost of damage is very unrewarding today: you'll get one-shot anyways. Playing tanks is actually riskier: you'll rely on being able to take the damage but you get punished for it sooner than later. They don't want you to tank the damage, they want you to mechanically avoid it.

But I don't want to play Counter-Strike... .

So my question: what current game has the same complexity and possible build-diversity as PoE, without being so fast and one-shot focussed?

None :P

Yeah, this is a toughie. No ARPG comes within even spitting distance of PoE's character building potential. In fact, not many games of any genre do.

The game that comes to mind is the one that quietly inspired a lot of PoE: the genre-defying Guild Wars 1. GW1's deck-building style of skill set-up, along with dual-classing, has a heck of a lot of combinations for character and, perhaps most importantly, gear itself is almost inconsequential. It's still online (a fairly recent incident with their servers prompted a surprise HD upgrade), but finding other players for regular sessions could be tough, and the game quickly makes its multiplayer focus clear. There is an expansion that allows you to customise your npc party members thoroughly, but you can't use them in the game's other 'starting' areas.

As for ARPGs, well, no lack of options there. Last Epoch's still nowhere near the complexity of character in POE but it's probably the only ARPG to really take a crack at it using familiar methods, giving each and every skill a passive tree of their own. Itemisation is also pretty hefty, but for me it's the deterministic, on the fly crafting that wins out. If only the game wasn't so...bland. I love what the devs are doing and their CM is an old Exile who knows what's what, but I just find the game itself really unmemorable. Wolcen...well, crash and burn. I still enjoy it for what it is but I suspect anyone who likes it knows better than to try to defend it now. It's D3 lite meets PoE lite with an offline mode and for a select few of us, that results in a fairly fun, accessible ARPG. But real and serious emphasis on 'lite' there.

Anyway, I think we can shelve any other ARPG scratching the same complexity itch as PoE -- and I'd be genuinely surprised if it's still scratching as many ARPG itches as it once did. Contrary to what PoE might express, a desire to go fast and obliterate the enemy a screen at a time was never really a big part of that itch. I think D2R is going to make that very clear, and I think stuff like Path of Diablo already sort of does.

Failing left-field stuff like GW1, it's PoE I'm afraid. And this is a big part of why the game is still such a success despite its drawbacks and problems. It still does what it does better than anything else out there. Overwhelmingly.

But I share your curiosity here. Gut says a true replacement for PoE's 'endless possibilities' doesn't exist in an even vaguely similar genre, but I'm eager to see if anyone has one to offer.

Last Epoch can be quite slow but only at the beginning. Once you reach the end game you start running monoliths like a spastic or do arenas which require you to clear fast.

So no, ARPGs are by default speed clear because of loot. If you want slow gameplay there are plenty of normal RPGs, some of them even with turn-based combat.

This was actually a very good game that could be played ARPG style or RTS style or a mix of both: (https://store.steampowered.com/app/4800/Heroes_of_Annihilated_Empires/)

Or

Try playing Path of Exile using temporal chains, chill and knockback - then consider the game to be finished at level 5 maps. It gives you a sense of the awesome game it could be if they didn't make all these horrible game design choices. Just because the end game tries to force you into speed farming, doesn't mean you have to buy into it.

"

So no, ARPGs are by default speed clear because of loot. If you want slow gameplay there are plenty of normal RPGs, some of them even with turn-based combat.

This is not default. Just because Last Epoch are threatening to make the same mistakes as POE, doesn't mean speed clear = ARPG.
In fact, Last Epoch has only recently committed more to the 'run fast through monoliths and explode the screen or get oneshot' style of endgame that the OP is referring to. Prior to that they had a few years where they threatened to aim for no oneshots, and more balance between offence and defence.

A good list here that you can see if anything catches your interest
https://www.reddit.com/r/ARPG/comments/du5gv7/big_list_of_arpgs/

I have played a lot of them, and not many can come close to what you are looking for as far as complexity and build diversity.

I would suggest Grim Dawn. It's slower pace and between the masteries and constellations you are given a fair amount of diversity. But the game still does not have the complexity you will find in PoE.

Last Epoch and Lost Ark are becoming my favorite places to degen a few hours of my life away.

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grimlock9999 wrote:

This is not default. Just because Last Epoch are threatening to make the same mistakes as POE, doesn't mean speed clear = ARPG.
In fact, Last Epoch has only recently committed more to the 'run fast through monoliths and explode the screen or get oneshot' style of endgame that the OP is referring to. Prior to that they had a few years where they threatened to aim for no oneshots, and more balance between offence and defence.

Its called being an early access game. For years Last Epoch did not have a clear endgame, challenges you might want to complete or gear you might want to get. Now that it has this it is more of a classic fast ARPG

grim dawn? its slow...too slow even.

Rogue.exe. Take your time.

Try out Grim Dawn. It's a great game, but I always found it too slow and missed the fast zoom-zoom pace of PoE - perhaps it's just the game that you are looking for.

It has a dual class system where you have to choose two classes so you can try and discover different combinations. Each class has its own tree where you invest points gained every level into active and passive skills of the class

https://imgur.com/a/CMlpgmZ

And then there's another large tree with special points.

https://imgur.com/a/qRhy82j

And in addition to that you also get attribute points every level to invest into raw stats like Physique, Cunning and Spirit.

So I'd say that diversity and complexity is there.