Oh yes, my friends, we’re gonna be shapeshifting. Here’s a quick (and almost certainly incomplete) list of new features for Path of Exile 2.
- Six new character classes, along with the six from PoE 1 for 12 total (Sorceress, Monk, Huntress, Mercenary, Warrior, Druid)
- New ascendancies, with three for each class
- A revamped skill gem system where the links are in the gems themselves, not tied to equipment
- Tons of new skills, including shapeshifting (bear, wolf, cat) and giant comets
- Meta gems, which are gems that can have other gems socketed into them (think things like cast on crit or spell totem)
- New weapon types, like spear and crossbow that have their own skills
- A six act story campaign set 20 years after the death of Kitava
- A new map-based endgame
- A dodge roll for everyone that doesn’t require a gem link, with the ability to dodge-cancel abilities
- Changes to crafting and the economy, including changes to the way chaos orbs work and the introduction of gold as a currency
- Over 100 new bosses to battle, each with unique mechanics
I think GGG picked the worst possible solution. They are correct: trading ruins the item progression experience. So what do they do? They keep trade, make the experience of acquiring items yourself torture to keep the trade economy functioning and to push you into trading, then they make the experience of trading miserable as a bandaid to the problems caused by trade. In the process nobody gets to be happy with the solution. If you like SSF, PoE is not the game for you. If you like trading have fun putting up with whispering 50 people to find an item and then dropping whatever you were doing once you find someone who responds.
It’s the most backwards, anti-fun design I’ve ever seen, (that isn’t a monetization scheme) and it doesn’t even accomplish what they claim to be their goal.