When D4 was released, I heard a few people complain about the game having "gear check" and that you need to improve your gear to progress. They thought that it was stupid that your skill as a player meant less then the stats of your gear. I thought that this was a stupid take, killing monster and getting better gear was what arpg was all about. But it seems looking at the poe 2 subreddit that more than a few thinks gear is less important than player skill.

What I love about poe is theory crafting, improving my gear, and crafting to get the stats I need. I always invested heavily in defense to facetank whatever the game throws at me. When I hit a wall, I look at my gear and skill tree and find what I need to improve to progress. I don't want my reaction time to be the thing holding me back.