I dropped the game and here's why

How I played: SSF, 400+ hours in 0.2, got to level 94 and 86 on two characters.

I skip Expeditions because they are absolutely useless. I can die while hacking mobs on sites, and I did, losing hard endgame experience progress. But for what? 10 logbooks didn't show a single boss, so I stopped paying attention to this mechanic. No rewards, no fun, no progress. Skip it.

I don't chase Azmiri spirits because they are useless. I can die from chaotic possession mechanics, but most often everyone dies early and I have no loot. In any case, these socketables are useless to me, I don't play with minions, and the iron or elemental rune is obviously more profitable. Drop it.

Okay, I'm making delirium mechanics, unlike league 0.1. In 400 hours of play I collected 3 stones due to very low shard drops, especially at the beginning. I lost one stone due to server issues. No fun, no reward, no compensation. Just lost time and got annoyed. Especially since the Simulacrum bosses didn't drop anything valuable anyway, so why?

I skipped league 0.1 without waiting for map stash, because 200+ t15 maps and precursors took up the entire stash. Now I have all the space filled with socketables, precursors, catalysts, non-stackable ultimatums and bariums. And why make stacks of only 10 units? Why? Greedy **it.

Okay, after all the patches I risked storming the citadels. It's a big risk, because on a huge open map (absolutely inconvenient interface ever) I saw only 4 strongholds. Two of them closed the portals during the passage, just closed them. I did not die and did not leave the computer, but the portals disappeared and - why??? - I can not replay this map again. I can replay any node from hundreds, but the only unique ones needed for the endgame boss - no. And now for 400 hours I just can not go to the boss even for the first time. I do not see open strongholds on the map and only one in the fog. For what?

Finally, I decided to get the fourth ascension. 15 times I went through the extremely boring Ultimatum, and did not get a single Cowardly Fate. On the 16th time I just crashed from the 9th room.
If you love the damned randomness so much, why not just gamble Ascension points with Alva? The same effect, but less negativity.

There is enough randomness in this game that it is not a positive experience. Starting with the fact that I did not see a perfect jeweler orb until level 90 and only 2 greater orbs in the first 200 hours of play. I have 200 lessers but I can't reforge them even 10 to 1. In addition to this, why are you hiding the endgame boss and ascension points behind such disgusting randomness? No fun, no loot, no progression. Skip it.

If you hate players in SSF mode so much, why are you introducing it? If the game is impossible to complete without an auction, maybe just sell the "completed the entire game" omen there?

Developers, you've already lost 8/10 players in just a month of league 0.2. Why are you still so slow-witted and opinionated?

soon there will be other SSF players judge your skill your bd your...

I better shut up:)

I play SSF all the time since December 6th and I dropped ONE greater orb from random white mob somewhere in early maps. My current main char is lvl 82 and doing t12 maps and he didn't see that orb yet even after recent loot patch. So I can feel your pain and it would be great if we could use reforge table to 3to1 or even 30to1 lesser orbs.

And randomness of trials is the reason none of my chars ever got above 2nd ascendancy. I just have no will to run chains of rooms in SuckEmAss watching honour bar (I have relics to give me 74% resist though) or subject myself to strobo-fest of death beams and orbs and expanding circles while escorting idiotic flying statue or collecting cores to put them in sockets. Trials should be dps or stats check not my patience check. I would love to just have waves of mobs swarming like in Vampire Survivors and every 20th, 50th, 100th and 200th wave you get ascendancy. Current form of trials is my biggest gripe with POE2.

Other than that I don't share your view on rewards but I wish you the best and hopefully GGG will be able to bring you back at some point. 0.2.1 patch info looks very promising in rewards department so fingers crossed :)

Your complains are valid but some of them got attention recently and there's the article about 0.2.1 that was released yesterday that talk about some of the points you mentionned so please at least look at the gggtracker and stay informed with the game before coming up with a post like this because I think people forget this is a beta/ea game. People NEED to be patient, feedback is valid but people also need to stay informed and take it easy.

Im lvl88, t16 maps are done without much difficulties.

but the progress is hindered so much now...
300 shards for 2 endgame mechanic just to be tossed around like a ragdoll in one and cant get to the end in the other.
What is the bar of a tier0 pinnacle content?!

Ok... lets do expedition:
runic carpetbomb oneshots me...
Logbooks are non-existent for me, found a single one in 6 weeks so far. So what is the realistic chance I will meet the boss who will possibly oneshot me because I havtn seen it yet before?

So far I havtn even seen a single citadel, so I am sure that will entertain me... Oh... wait...

Ok... I still need my 4th ascendency points.
Chaos is true to its name. Its not even gearcheck, its more like a stuck of luck. Heres a mod that completely destroys your run. Better luck next time.
Thunderbird boss is still insane. It spawns that tornado on top of you isn't the issue, but its radius... I cant even shieldcharge-leap strike out of its distance and a splitsecond just oneshots me...

Ok... lets do some sekhamas. First two floors are boring. Its just chore. Its nothing more than hoping for water that I can stack up with merchant boons and avoid runkillers afflictions.
But floor3 is absolutely mental...
I am lvl88, full res cap, 60% chaos res, 2.1k hp (will come back to this) cap honor res, have honor max, extra defense and a few sweet benefit relic.

Yet at floor 3 those pesky enemies that drop their "backpack" run like headless chickens and hard to hit them as melee (because they run outside hit range before the attack animation connect) a splitsecond in their cone of flames melts your honor away.
As if it ignores honor resistance. Just a whiff and 1.2k hopnor is gone. Another run failed. Because I got a rare version of chalise run with temporal bubble. Thanks...

Ok... so somehow my gear is not git gud, must git gudder...
Well... I tried to get gear from the endgame mechanics. Nothing.
Recombination just turns everything to dust, even if I manage to get 2 mods together there still 4 slots to turn it into a junk item.
At this level all mods MUST be beneficial.

Last week I won the mod lottery by having a 6/6 desired mod. Guess what
T1 and 3. Hurr-fckn-ray!
Not to mention certain mods are absolute mandatory. No negotiations there.
ie: weapon MUST have phys dmg, phys%, skill increase mod. Any of these 3 is missing and you can just bin it.

Shoes: can have the absolute best mods and tiers if Movement speed is missing, it will be still a negative impact on your char. Because Movement Speed is a hidden defense mechanic.
Most players think its just running faster. NO. Projectiles have no damage if they don't connect. You actually get less damage if you run out of hazard.

And every item for me MUST have life + STR, resistances (4 of them needs to be puzzled) + your builds beneficial stuff. For me its thorn.

The game somehow tells you its YOUR fault for not being able to do a tier0 endgame content, but I am not sure if I am getting gaslighted or actually suck.

or I need to realize the endgame is different and not for me. Seems speedrunners having fun because they have speed strats, know about RNG manipulations. In 19 hours they beat Arbiter.

While I still exploring the tier0 contents after 6 months...

And there's no guide of "well yeah... this is how you should play the game"

Oh yeah... and when you ask for help the great "helpful poe2" community just tells you play the game wrong.
Those who want me to help get dead end conversations, because they ask
"whats the value of my gear"

How am I supposed to know that? The game doesn't even have a stat check. I have to put my skilltree to ninja skill planner to tell someone what stats I have.
All I know my gears are in ilvl 72 with 4-5/6 mods that helps me.
"ok... how much divine they worth"

I haven't got a single purple fartcloud particle! I collected my gear from the ground, there's no "divine-o-meter" on it.

I guess my gear is fine, because the upgrades I could have some trade site is pretty damn expensive, so that's out of option...

Nah...

Also SSF here, beated Breach T4, Expedition T3, Sim and King each 1.
All doable, just need to be patient..
My king invite just come yesterday. I reached maps after second day since the patch releasted... so yes, it took a while.. :D

These are all valid points. Unless you are spending 4-6 hours a day on this game, you are not doing a lot of the end game content.

89 SSF here, still playing once in a while but am mainly done with what I wanted to do.

Expedition was my most fun endgame activity, proving that contrasting with your experience that fun is a matter of perspective. I encountered and killed Olroth on my very first 79+ logbook. RNG indeed.

I hate breach/ritual/delirium and always skip. I run minions and avoid content that locks you in small areas or timed stuff because I'm herding minions all over that don't focus fire.

I feel like the endgame is too focused on bosses, but it's what I expected. Map bosses, ritual boss, breach boss, expedition boss, citadel boss, boss boss boss.

My lone perfect jeweler orb was from a ventor's strongbox. Everything on the general atlas passive tree feels utterly useless except strongboxes.

I never even tried for my 4th ascension because honestly it's not even clear what I need to do. I don't want 4 floors of sanctum, so I think it's ten trials of chaos three times, then kill a boss? Whatever, not bothered as I don't care about the final points enough.

Crafting is too RNG. You need your required resists/attributes then life or armour or energy shield or whatever you're going for. Movement speed on boots should be implicit. There are no minion essences, lol.

I think SSF is fine. Just crafting in general needs serious work.

I have about 2,500 hours between PoE1 and PoE2 (0.1 mostly), always SSF. While I wish they stop balancing the game around trade and exploits, I kept trying. However, after the 0.2 massive nerfs, I see less and less reason to play.

A few days ago I tried to resume my game, in early maps, to run into an unkillable Rare with Health Regen and Resistante to my element. Oh-kay, thanks. I am out because the monsters are still playing PoE1.

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xxn1927#3319 wrote:

in early maps, to run into an unkillable Rare with Health Regen

Acrimony, don't leave home without it.