The Loot – Craft – Trade Problem

The core of the game is solid. It just needs some systems to be redesigned.

If at least one of these three systems is well-designed, the problems with the others can be easier to ignore. However, in Path of Exile 2, none of them is satisfactory.

The root of the problem lies in the loot system. The items you find are almost never sufficient in either quantity or quality. Around 90% of what you pick up is completely unrelated to your character. The remaining 10% is usually weak or underwhelming.

When loot isn’t enough, crafting should step in to fill the gap — but this is arguably where PoE2 is at its weakest. The crafting system is almost entirely luck-based. You start with a white item and use a Transmutation Orb, which adds one or two random modifiers from a pool. Whether you get a useful mod is pure chance. The strength of the mod whether high or low is also entirely RNG.

Let’s say you get lucky. Next, you use an Augmentation Orb to add another mod again, randomly. If this one isn’t useful, the item is now worthless. So, you find another base item and start over. Let’s say you succeed twice in a row now you use a Regal Orb, then an Exalted Orb, and so on. In short, to get an item with the mods you want, you have to gamble repeatedly — four or five times in a row — and you must win each time. These crafting orbs and the base items you need don’t drop frequently either. If you get a low-tier or wrong mod, the whole item is trash. In short: crafting is terrible, and loot is insufficient.

That leaves us with trade — but the trade system is also frustrating. There’s no in-game interface. To find an item you want, you have to go to the game's website, manually search using filters for the desired stats, and then start messaging players one by one.

For a trade to happen, the player you messaged has to invite you to their party. After you accept, you must travel to their hideout assuming they are there. They then have to find the item in their stash and initiate the trade, at which point you give them the currency, and they give you the item. It's a fully manual process.

Often, the player you contacted is in the middle of a boss fight, a labyrinth, or swarmed with enemies in a map so they can’t respond. Many players, especially for cheap items, simply ignore messages, because this system is often a waste of time. And in certain game mechanics like Ritual, Breach, or Delirium, the player can’t respond. If they’re in the Labyrinth, even if they want to trade, they can’t — because leaving would erase all their progress.

A common problem with trade is no response, or intentionally posting a false listings, I assume it's an attempt to bump to the top of the list, then hustle the price up 30x. I do agree that all the manual effort is a total waste of time, I would't want to sell anything for 1 ex.