The 0.2 difficulty outcry was Mandela effect caused by the streamers. Game Feedback

Just make entire game with nothing but zombies.... even the bosses! Just a really big zombie for boss. Boom! fast monster problem solved. J/K

I did have a sense I was fighting zombies though, do the speed reduction, felt kind of strange.

"

You should watch the latest interview and read the patch notes.
0.2e is literally Zizaran's wish list word for word. He said nerf the werewolves - they nerfed the werewolves, he said i don't have sockets - they added artificer's orbs, he said make bleed work on ES and they did it. They straight up bent and given him every single thing that he asked for.

While there’s definitely value in listening to player feedback, I’m growing concerned that we’re heading into “cry loud enough and GGG will cave” territory.

Yes, some suggestions may genuinely improve the game—making progression smoother or abilities feel more powerful can be a good thing in moderation. But when you start shaving off too much of the challenge, or accelerate progression to the point where players are zooming through content, you risk turning PoE into another Diablo 4-style loot piñata. Free loot, one-shotting uber bosses, hitting BiS in a week, then logging off until the next season or rerolling for a few more days of fun. That’s not PoE.

This is exactly why I think PoE2 needs to offer something for everyone—give people who want fast-paced power trips their experience, but also bring in a Ruthless mode for those of us who crave real challenge and slower, more deliberate progression.

GGG absolutely should listen to feedback—but that doesn't mean they should always act on it. A good example was during a past interview where sea battles were brought up because players were suggesting it in the forums. The interviewer asked if this was something we might see, and GGG responded with something like, “Some players don’t even know what they want or what would be good for the game.” That stuck with me. Sometimes, the devs do need to hold the line.

"

Ragestorm26#0930 wrote:

While there’s definitely value in listening to player feedback, I’m growing concerned that we’re heading into “cry loud enough and GGG will cave” territory.

This is exactly what just happened. There definitely are issues with the game, but the Grelwood werewolves isn't it, not even close.

Another thing Ziz complained about was Viper Napuatzi "chaos damage", while Johnathan explained to him that all green damage in the game isn't chaos, it's physical damage with poison chance. So it turns out Napuatzi was destroying the players with physical hits the entire time, not chaos hits.
But hey, since this patch is a sweeping list of Zizaran's wishes they listened to him and nerfed her chaos damage without touching Physical. He asked for chaos nerf, he got the chaos nerf.
This almost looks like a case of malicious compliance lol, from Johnathan to Ziz mind you!

"

This is exactly what just happened. There definitely are issues with the game, but the Grelwood werewolves isn't it, not even close.

"If the mobs are too fast, just slow them down lol."


What I genuinely don’t understand is how Ziz—who’s clearly a highly skilled and experienced player—is struggling with monster speed. He knows the game inside and out, has access to slows, roots, freezes, chills, stuns, pins… the whole toolkit. So why is he pushing the idea that monsters are too fast?

Maybe it’s something specific to endgame, where I admit I have less experience since I’m playing HCSSF. But I’ve got around 500 hours, mostly in campaign, and I have never—ever—had a single issue with wolves. Even when running around in all white gear. So this whole “monsters too fast” thing just doesn’t land for me.

It wasn't a matter of it being harder. It was that the game was slower and more of a slog to get through than in 0.1.0. Also, the campaign areas issues. And the unnecessary nerfs to already underperforming skills. (See Explosive/Voltaic Grenade.) Also Huntress being underwhelming right out the gate.

And the 100+ support gems are just more of the same combo-ing bullshit. Nobody wants to do that.

"

Ragestorm26#0930 wrote:

"

This is exactly what just happened. There definitely are issues with the game, but the Grelwood werewolves isn't it, not even close.

"If the mobs are too fast, just slow them down lol."


What I genuinely don’t understand is how Ziz—who’s clearly a highly skilled and experienced player—is struggling with monster speed. He knows the game inside and out, has access to slows, roots, freezes, chills, stuns, pins… the whole toolkit. So why is he pushing the idea that monsters are too fast?

Maybe it’s something specific to endgame, where I admit I have less experience since I’m playing HCSSF. But I’ve got around 500 hours, mostly in campaign, and I have never—ever—had a single issue with wolves. Even when running around in all white gear. So this whole “monsters too fast” thing just doesn’t land for me.

POE2 is a new game. Even If he played the endgame a slot, so far Ziz only had one FIRST character in 0.1 starting without any orbs or gold.
I really think that what happened is that he facrolled his 0.1 with SRS or something, and all his martials were twinks with gold gambled items and a stash of exalts.

In 0.2 people started with a Dex Melee build right away, no gold, no orbs, no rings and no gloves and it was much harder than they remember their 0.1 late game blasting.

"

Ragestorm26#0930 wrote:

"

This is exactly what just happened. There definitely are issues with the game, but the Grelwood werewolves isn't it, not even close.

What I genuinely don’t understand is how Ziz—who’s clearly a highly skilled and experienced player—is struggling with monster speed. He knows the game inside and out, has access to slows, roots, freezes, chills, stuns, pins… the whole toolkit. So why is he pushing the idea that monsters are too fast?

It was, and still is, obviously a class (Huntress) issue, and the fact that the devs want us to use combos. When using combos, you're risking yourself being swarmed, and then stunned to death, before you even get a combo off. He literally said these words, in some other way. Did you not hear him when he said this?

"

Cpt_Katawa#5469 wrote:

"

Ragestorm26#0930 wrote:

"

This is exactly what just happened. There definitely are issues with the game, but the Grelwood werewolves isn't it, not even close.

"If the mobs are too fast, just slow them down lol."


What I genuinely don’t understand is how Ziz—who’s clearly a highly skilled and experienced player—is struggling with monster speed. He knows the game inside and out, has access to slows, roots, freezes, chills, stuns, pins… the whole toolkit. So why is he pushing the idea that monsters are too fast?

Maybe it’s something specific to endgame, where I admit I have less experience since I’m playing HCSSF. But I’ve got around 500 hours, mostly in campaign, and I have never—ever—had a single issue with wolves. Even when running around in all white gear. So this whole “monsters too fast” thing just doesn’t land for me.

POE2 is a new game. Even If he played the endgame a slot, so far Ziz only had one FIRST character in 0.1 starting without any orbs or gold.
I really think that what happened is that he facrolled his 0.1 with SRS or something, and all his martials were twinks with gold gambled items and a stash of exalts.

In 0.2 people started with a Dex Melee build right away, no gold, no orbs, no rings and no gloves and it was much harder than they remember their 0.1 late game blasting.

Literally wrong on all counts on this one. His first character in 0.1 was a Warrior and his first character in 0.2 was a Witch.

You seem to just be making things up regarding a streamer who was voicing the opinions of one of the largest PoE communities.

"

Kadath128#6487 wrote:

Literally wrong on all counts on this one. His first character in 0.1 was a Warrior and his first character in 0.2 was a Witch.

You seem to just be making things up regarding a streamer who was voicing the opinions of one of the largest PoE communities.

I cannot fathom how can anybody play Witch in 0.2 and feel like the game is too hard or too slow.

"

the Martial scaling simply expects you to have 4 damage items rather than 1

And that's exactly where the problem lies. Not enough loot drops for that. Even if it does, you're at the mercy of RNG.

Point invalidated.