Waiting on updates, endgame feels bland, unrewarding. Changes needs to happen.

For a starting note, this is coming from someone playing the Ranger class focused on poison with ascendancy, fully rolled jewels, quite expensive endgame items.

Too many issues need to be addressed. I can't really bring myself to keep playing and I do fully understand it is early access. The purpose of this post is to keep sending messages to hope they get addressed while its the easiest time to address them. Also, using DoT feels like being the illegitimate child of PoE2, stuffed into a tire and thrown off a building.

1-> Notables need to FOCUS on specific archetypes if they are to keep their debuffs, otherwise general buffs across the board for specific class archetypes.

Example:
Damaging ailments deal you inflict have 50% increased magnitude
HOWEVER
Enemies take 50% LESS elemental damage vs your attacks.
(After buff/increase % decrease; Total elemental damage * 0.5)

OR

Damaging ailments you inflict have 25% increased magnitude.
Damaging ailments deal damage 15% faster.

(Not balanced at all just examples to explain possible paths and thoughts, numbers are exaggerated.)

2-> Deaths need different penalties, one death needs to be opt'd in for to get substantial bonus' in map drops, experience etc. NOTE: I do not believe revive should be added into maps under any circumstances since there will simply be revive bots/alts used and exploited.

Example: Atlas focus to decrease USABLE portals per player after death for specific buffs. This would still allow party play, and on occasional crashes safety nets, otherwise 1 portal would brick the map instead of the usual 6 spawning.

Explained: Remove X portal uses for X (examples below)

i) experience increase
ii) +% quant or rarity of x item (waystone, armour, weapon, etc. NOT CURRENCY)
iii) guaranteed endgame content (breach, delirium, etc. probably not bosses.)

AT THE EXPENSE OF SEVERELY INCREASED DEATH PENALTIES

i.e experience lost can reduce the level; say you die at 1-9% exp it would reduce your character level to 99% exp of the previous level etc, at 0% it would be 90%. Scaling of mobs etc can also increase here.

The purpose of this change would be to allow the CHOICE for semi-hardcore and to reward it. It shouldn't ever be forced. I'm not terrible and was able to make a build from scratch that can sustain T15/16 maps-- but the random one shots even playing a screen away just demoralize you, the map nodes are gone, the waypoint is bricked without modifiers and anything you dropped is gone. After death effects make this feeling 100x worse.

3-> Spell targeting, attack targeting. Spells projectiles need a rework in how they reach the target location, speaking from using gas arrow specifically-- it is insane that platforms on equivalent levels on notably the sanctum, and tower maps for the worst offenders are only able to reach another platform 20%-30% of the time, this feels like a byproduct of trying to implement cover for the player to use, and consequently having spells fail to reach where they should reasonably hit.

For gas arrow I believe it should follow the same launch mechanism as tornado shot, and vine arrow for examples. It simply leads to clunky usage that feels unreliable at times at the expense of limited mana pools.

I've also witnessed my friend use projectile mage spells that quite literally aim 45 degrees downwards simply because his cursor is hovering over a lower level platform and misses all enemies on the edge of the raised platform he was currently on.

4-> CONTINUEOUS TRACKING MOB ABILITIES SHOULD NOT BE IN THE GAME. PoE2 survival is reliant on the dodge mechanic, and the very thing that exists from boss monsters, and regular monsters is abilities that wind up, and CONTINUE to track you and FOLLOW YOU while this is occurring. The entire issue with this system is that failing to dodge a monsters attack it SHOULD punish you then, and if you do dodge roll the monsters ability perpendicular to it, there is no reason for it to adjust while it is half way through usage, and oneshot you for it. This goes against the entire design philosophy PoE2 has set up for surviving.

Please post any ideas you may have down below and again, remember this is the best time for your voices to be heard, changes to be made and a better game to come out as the result. We need to complain and be constructive to GGG so we get a PoE2 that will last for another 5-10 years.