“There were some blatant f-ups.” The PoE 2 devs admit their mistakes and explain their decisions

The Dawn of the Hunt update for Path of Exile 2 fell short of expectations. Players aren’t just disappointed, they’re frustrated. Recent Steam reviews are now mixed, with a common complaint: while the update added new content like the Huntress class and 100+ skills, it also nerfed popular builds, making gameplay feel slower and less dynamic. The endgame is now seen as a grindy, time-consuming slog, especially for casual players.

• More changes coming to PoE 2 after Dawn of the Hunt update
• GGG gets real - devs open up about PoE 2’s biggest issues

More changes coming to PoE 2 after Dawn of the Hunt update

The developers at Grinding Gear Games are now working on buffing aspects in the game that are underperforming to balance things out. They’ll be improving a bunch of skills for Sorceress, Huntress, Warrior, and Ranger, and making some tweaks to Bleed and Chaos mechanics.

Source: Grinding Gear Games

On top of that, GGG is adding a new support skill called Inhibitor, which stops charges from being used but boosts skill damage by 4% per charge type. However, they’re having trouble with this one, so it’ll launch without it for now.

Other announced changes include:

1. Crafting updates – guaranteed Artificer’s Orbs in the campaign, new runes, and rune support for wands and staves.
2. Delirium duration increased – now 2.5 times longer.
3. Better visibility of rare monsters in endgame – they’ll always appear on the minimap.
4. Fewer levers in the Matlan Waterways map.

They’re also looking into monster speeds, with more info coming tomorrow. And as for that Ritual exploit, 301 players got banned for using it, but the devs said it didn’t really mess with the game’s economy.

GGG gets real - devs open up about PoE 2’s biggest issues

Yesterday’s interview with Zizaran and GGG devs Jonathan Rogers and Mark Roberts gave a lot of insight. The two-hour chat got a little heated at the start, but the developers didn’t hold back. They openly admitted to mistakes – saying, “There were some blatant f-ups” – and acknowledged that some things didn’t go as planned, like the overly harsh nerfs to minions.

They covered a range of topics, from the campaign feeling too slow and the lack of loot and currency drops to the frustrating combat that relies too much on dodging and movement. A lot of player feedback makes it clear – they’re not fans of the Souls-like feel. What they really want is for Path of Exile 2 to be the ARPG they originally signed up for.

After the interview, players are giving Mark Roberts credit for steering the conversation in the right direction. To be fair, though, Jonathan did apologize at the end, and even admitted he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

Path of Exile 2

December 6, 2024

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• Grinding Gear Games
• PoE / Path of Exile (franchise)
• interviews