Attributes, Build diversity and Experimentation.

I want to start by saying they are doing a fantastic job with the combat feel, though admittedly i wish we had more variety for charge usage and generation but i'm expecting that to change as we get more ascendancies/classes. But there are some major issues largely around attributes and skill "tags".

So, a level 20 skill gem requires ~200 of a "mono" attribute (pure str/int/dex) compared to 155 for sunder for example in poe1. While most sources of attributes seem to be halved and our access gutted; amulets literally halved, passive notables literally halved, essences are more vague like "attributes" or "x/y/z element" rather than a specific effect.

How does this impact builds? Say you want to fit a flammability curse into an ignite melee build, you need a whopping 400+ in attributes which is valued at 80 of our 124 maximum skill points or you can alleviate that with even greater resist trade offs compared to poe1 due to attribute changes across the board. this isn't even including the additional dex required to fit in supports due to the way new support attribute requirements are handled and the single support gem per character limit forcing you to eventually dip into green supports.

I don't think that the idea of stretching yourself too thin is inherently bad at all btw! nobody should be able to "do it all" with minimal drawbacks, but right now i'd say the issue is compounding, any one of these things would be managable but putting them all together? the higher requirements across the board, more places asking you to meet those requirements and weaker access to the attribute values. I'd imagine there is no melee elementalist capability in poe2 simply because you'd need 200 of 1 and 150 of 2 other attributes to realistically make it function which is A LOT of your passive tree or resistance budget.

Unrelated to attribtes, skills being tied specifically to weapons rather than their blunt/slashing/piercing archtypes adds to these restrictions. Why can't a quarterstaff slam down shattering the ground for physical damage and why can't a mace make crashing frost explosions? the staff is a finesse bonk stick while the mace is a hefty impact bonk stick but right now the skills only reflect finesse or impact, we don't have a generic bonk stick category which is disheartening.

Right now most people are enjoying the gameplay itself since there is too much discovery/uncertainty going on to venture off the beaten path. But being extra brave I tried playing my chronomacer built towards monk skills trying to utilise the benefits a slowing presence and recoup could bring to a melee build.

Buuuut I hate evasion as a stat, which is where i realised all of this. Between wanting strength for HP and armour stats for better ehp, struggling to meet stat requirements for my hybrid skills and wanting cast on shock/conductivity and being unable to utilise items like Jarngreipr due to support requirements still being mandatory. I've come to realise, my excitement to try new builds is rapidly disappearing, which is what got me into poe! The excitement i felt knowing i could stick to my int/dex starting classes and realistically make any build work even if not super optimal? That magic is gone for me in poe2.