About melee, Balance and new loot.

The lack of a formal statement from Grinding Gear Games regarding the current state of melee combat in Path of Exile 2 has left many players feeling unheard and frustrated. While the developers have acknowledged community feedback on various aspects of the game, the persistent issues surrounding melee have yet to be addressed directly. This silence, coupled with the significant impact that melee mechanics have on gameplay, has led to growing concerns within the community about the developers' commitment to balancing and improving this core aspect of the game.

Lack of mobility: Melee characters often feel sluggish and unable to keep up with the pace of the game, especially against ranged enemies or mobile bosses.
Solution: Introduce more mobility skills or items specifically for melee characters, such as dashes, leaps, or temporary speed boosts.
Limited interaction with the environment: Melee attacks often feel isolated from the environment, with little to no interaction with objects or terrain.
Solution: Allow melee attacks to trigger environmental effects, such as knocking down objects or creating shockwaves that damage enemies.
Inconsistent hitboxes: Hitboxes for melee attacks can be inconsistent, leading to frustrating moments where attacks miss their target.
Solution: Improve the precision and consistency of hitboxes, making it easier for players to land their attacks.


I'm finding the melee combat in Path of Exile 2 to be a major step down from the first game. The lack of mobility and the difficulty of reaching enemies, especially in crowded areas, is making it a frustrating experience. I've tried multiple builds but haven't found one that feels satisfying, I think there's a balance issue with melee compared to ranged classes, been playing melee since the start of Path of Exile, and I'm really disappointed with how it feels in PoE2. It feels like melee has been neglected and doesn't have the same level of depth and customization as ranged builds.

It's frustrating to hear 'there's a build that can one-shot bosses'. Yes, it's possible to create extremely powerful melee builds, but they require a specific combination of gear and gems that are difficult to obtain. Additionally, these builds are often very niche and lose a lot of their effectiveness outside of boss encounters. What we want is for melee combat to be fun and viable throughout the entire game, not just in specific situations.

These niche builds don't address the fundamental issue: melee combat as a whole needs to be more fun and rewarding. We want melee builds that are strong, versatile, and enjoyable to play, not just a gimmick to defeat bosses.

Sure, it's possible to create powerful builds, but the problem is that they require so much effort and dedication that they end up alienating many players.

also

It's unacceptable that GGG continues to release updates that completely destroy players' builds without offering a skill point refund system. This practice is disrespectful to players and shows a lack of consideration for the time and effort invested. The slow endgame progression, combined with these abrupt changes, makes the game experience frustrating and disheartening

Created a new character to see the changes on loot, bosses still don't drop rares.

I'm playing a melee witch mace & board. It's not that bad.
if there is one thing I would change is allow movement with the base attack, it's infuriating to try and hit ranged foes who just flee non stop...

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Ashgan9#6435 wrote:

I'm playing a melee witch mace & board. It's not that bad.
if there is one thing I would change is allow movement with the base attack, it's infuriating to try and hit ranged foes who just flee non stop...

What is it worse than? Last Epoch's combat is better, Diablo 4's is better, Grim Dawn's is better, even Path of Exile 1's combat was better. They mentioned multiple times that PoE1's melee combat would be improved in PoE2, so I don't understand how this 'improvement' could be worse! I'm extremely disappointed and feel betrayed by the developers."

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HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

Last Epoch's combat is better

Lol no.

"

HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

Diablo 4's is better

No.

"

HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

Grim Dawn's is better

No.

"

HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

even Path of Exile 1's combat was better

AHAHAHAHA.
No.

"

just_dont#6539 wrote:

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HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

Last Epoch's combat is better

Lol no.

"

HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

Diablo 4's is better

No.

"

HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

Grim Dawn's is better

No.

"

HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

even Path of Exile 1's combat was better

AHAHAHAHA.
No.

So, please clarify how much better Path of Exile 2's melee combat is compared to all the games listed above

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HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

So, please clarify how much better Path of Exile 2's melee combat is compared to all the games listed above

It's immeasurably better than all of the above.

It's the only game (out of all the mentioned) where you can get any impression you're playing a characted who SMACKS things WITH A BIG HAMMER right ON THE HEAD.

Other mentioned games have so-called "melee" where the main and only difference between melee and not-melee is that you're hitting things close to you. With the exception of Diablo 4, because there it's all over the place, short-range mages are a lot more "melee" than melee barbs.

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HunterDIII#1294 wrote:

I'm finding the melee combat in Path of Exile 2 to be a major step down from the first game. The lack of mobility and the difficulty of reaching enemies, especially in crowded areas, is making it a frustrating experience. I've tried multiple builds but haven't found one that feels satisfying, I think there's a balance issue with melee compared to ranged classes, been playing melee since the start of Path of Exile, and I'm really disappointed with how it feels in PoE2. It feels like melee has been neglected and doesn't have the same level of depth and customization as ranged builds.


These niche builds don't address the fundamental issue: melee combat as a whole needs to be more fun and rewarding. We want melee builds that are strong, versatile, and enjoyable to play, not just a gimmick to defeat bosses.

+1
And saying, it is a step-down from PoE1 (on which I agree) is something really big (bc melee really sucks compared to any ranged or projectile build by dps and by survivability)

And the fun-aspect is the most important for me as casual and PoE2-enjoyer. Every other class brings some fun and engaging gameplay; the melee creates frsutration and is no fun over all - and it feels soooo bad, bc the other classes (wepaons to be exactly) are such a joy to play and feel so f***ng good!

yea, have to agree with you on this. Played Sorc to level 35, switched to warrior to play with a buddy who just started. its night and day warrior has some strong abilities, but they take way too long to get off, bosses move so much and have so many mechanics that force you out, getting swarmed entirely, compared to my buddies infernalist im better off just sitting in the back picking off the 1 or 2 enemies that make it to him.

Melee feels AWFUL. ive tried several builds, currently have almost all max res and over 70% armor, with almost 50% block chance and i still die stupid quickly and bone shatter is really the only move i have that can kill enemies fast enough consistently. To top it off Giants blood getting nerfed makes the damage potential even worse. Hope they do something to make melee actually worthwhile. Im watching a friends Merc clear whole maps with ease, infernalist and my light sorc clear pretty easily too, but warrior is a SLOG.