The socket and link systems desperately needs to be changed

For a little while six links were a luxury for minmaxers in builds, supports used to be much much worse and the game didn't really need 5 supports. this quickly changed

Yet now, after so many years of adjustments and changes, six links are essentially mandatory to get the damage output were the game feels comfortable. Hanging out in lower tier maps gives less gear, less fusings, and doesn't engage with any pinnacle mechanics were most of the endgame is to be had.

however, most of time, interesting items drop with basically no sockets. Many upgrades are passed over because the cost of linking them is much greater than the actual item. This isn't just a trade issue, but an inherit problem with tying the ability to equip skills to the amount of sockets in the gear. Grinding 1500 fusings is an absurd amount in ssf, let alone if the item drops corrupted and the tainted currency success rates aren't great. The game feels to stingy with build enabling things honestly, to the point were finishing an item isn't fun, but a tax to engage with the game at all. It feels a little like a Potemkin Village , were if some of the time wasting mechanics were removed there would be nothing of any real substance.

The situation must have been so untenable that in poe2, the entire system is being changed anyway.

Instead of pushing necessary qol changes to poe2. implement them now. All stick and no carrot is a dick move. I think almost every player at some point of bad luck has asked for the linking and coloring mechanics to be made easier.

As soon as you said SSF you lost your entire argument.

Sorry not happening.

Modern PoE makes it really easy to get six linked items, what do you mean? You can even target farm a couple with very little effort. Especially in SSF.

Ok just to clarify

I am not ssf but quick current econ math is roughly 250ish chaos for 1500 fusing.

Tainted fusing would probably be like 100-200 chaos depending on luck, the omen is like 3 div, black Morrigan which is new would be like 70 chaos to 1 div ish.

Why should paying for the ability to use a chest or 2hander cost so much more than the item itself. It is not good game design in trade or ssf.

That is my argument. It really hurts mid unique items the most and really really pushes players into not upgrading till near bis items. It doesn't add anything to game in my opinion to gate power in this manner. Let it be level based or tied to atlas completion or something.

Making something rare doesn't make it more valuable, making it tedious doesn't make it harder.

The only thing I wanna have is white sockets for low ilvl items since managing sockets and links suck so hard early game.

I'm in SSF and I am drowning in Fusings and raw 6-link drops. We have a league mechanic that easily forces 6-links on perfect bases on top. I really don't see an issue there

I dearly wish gamers would never have come across the term "quality of life". Now everything is being descibed as a "QOL change", even fundamental structures that inform the entire rest of the design.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see the system changed in POE1 too. Just, you know, it's not a small thing.

Came here expecting to throw a +1 behind a reasonable suggestion a la "coloring sockets on high requirement bases is arbitrary, obnoxious, and hurts build diversity, more so now than ever since the Vorici bench is gone."

Clearly I'm an idiot for expecting too much of this community.