Trial of sekhema is really bad

Im not sure GGG knows why their game is good.
Im not really being sarcastic here.

I get confused about their choices.

They seem to want a league based game.
They seem to want to encourage building multiple characters.
They seem to want to extend the time players spend playing per season.

Then do everything they can to make sure none of that happens.

I know EA
But there are many problems and the trials are only 2
I am not kidding at all when i say ascendancy

GIVE THEM AWAY!

Hi Alva what up ?
Not much here have all your points, done!

What exactly is the point of stopping a characters progression?
Why is the character gated in a game of random chance.
There is no skill to use, why is it being presented as a skill challenge ?

The trials the way they are guarantee game failure, period.
They are despised to the point people pay to not go near them.
Without being able to actually make characters... im gone.

I hate it

Everything from Trial 3 onward is udder BS with this trial.

Running a duo with my dad, we attempted a lvl 75 Barya tonight, both of us are level 85.
Everything is smooth sailing until we get to Trial 3, adding even more environmental hazards, as well as ranged enemies with high ground, a lot of honour loss feels unavoidable.
The terrain of the areas also gets tougher to navigate, adding in walls, etc. that you can easily get stuck between an enemy with, ending your run.
Last run I did, I got stuck in a corner and inevitably lost over half my honour (roughly 5k), we had zero afflictions.
I'm also convinced the ritual trials begin to spawn enemies faster as you progress, because I could one-shot everything being summoned, and then there's another mob straight out of the same portal instantly, making it borderline impossible to end the ritual, because it never targets the summoners, then once you do target the summoners, everything they're spending swarms you, and you either lose all your honour, or die outright.
We've loaded the altar with as many Honour Resist/Max Honour relics as we can.

They didnt delete those leagues from the game yet?

"

The trials the way they are guarantee game failure, period.
They are despised to the point people pay to not go near them.
Without being able to actually make characters... im gone.

I said something very similar. I've got all but the last trial points, and i've attempted the final trial a grand total of Zero times so far, bc i hate the artifical difficulty, randomness, meta forcing, punishment-centric, etc... design.

I used to make many characters, it's the whole point of these types of games, but now i'm planning on making a single Standard League character and if i get bored of the game and and it doesn't last as long for me so be it. I have plenty of games in my library.

they not that bad

"

they not that bad

No, you're wrong. They're bad.

Sanctum really was one of the worst season mechanics added... I hope they eventually develop a proper Labrynth of Ascension. Izaro and his maze was goated.

I think Trial of the Sekhemas could be like the ascendancy trials in PoE 1 if they removed the honour mechanic and just made everything do more damage, added more mobs and so on. Just make it like PoE 1 and everybody will be happy, I suppose.

And I might be alone in this, but I think Trial of Chaos is nice.

The issue with Sekhema is it stands is that it's just uninteresting.

Forbidden Sanctum was always very lackluster.

Now in POE2, the maps all look identical (boring bland cave), vs the varied rooms of the Labrynth.

Completing trials to earn the right to enter lab was cool

From a narrative perspective, walking up to the steps of the labrynth, the peaceful calm before, Izaro talking to you and all the lore you find along the way -- it was all just better. Also the labrynth felt like something unique and apart from the rest of the game. Like you've walked into some sort of escape room that you need to overcome. POE2 cave feels like a low effort side area.

The traps are way less interesting compared to lab.
The trap placement in lab felt organic and part of the map, vs just at the lattices of junctions here in poe2.

I don't mind the pros/cons of the buffs/debuffs, but lab had cool exploration, finding darkshrines felt great.

Izaro's random weapon and augments every day made you think differently about how to approach him.

I'm just relying on the fact that the game is early access so this was an easy placeholder to put in while they keep working on it. I actually really like POE2, and think they have an awesome start to it, so I know they'll come through. POE1 is full of hits, and the misses are far and few between -- and corrected usually shortly when it is. The Sekhema trial as it stands is a massive sore thumb, it must be on their radar.