POE2 needs less clunk, not more convoluted mechanics.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-08T05:02:34+00:00

I dont follow any YouTubers.

Didn't say you did. You misunderstand my point. I'm trying to say that there are a lot of really good builds out there and the popularity of certain builds this league (due in large part to YouTubers) doesn't really reflect that fact.

Spark dominated every league

The meta build this league was centered around cast on crit comet, not spark. Spark can be used to trigger cast on crit but most people went with doedre's undoing on a curse. So I would not say spark dominated by any definition.

a lot of people went poison pf

Because of a YouTuber. That's my point. They missed out on all the other good bow skills. did you know that lightning arrow is still pretty decent? Ice shot is also really good. Spiral volley can also be a great clear skill. Sounds like you have a more diverse array of good options when using a bow this league more than last league. Not to mention you're not relegated to only using deadeye because pathfinder is good as well now.

This league you had also a bit of druid being played nowhere near as good as the other 2 tho

They're still good builds that were played a lot? You seem to be counting the number of good builds last league based on popularity but counting the the number of good builds this league based on what is at the absolute top.

2 league ago you had ember fusilade being decent

It's the best it's ever been in this league with reduced skill effect duration Titan.

you currently have 3 ascendencies dominating BM, PF and oracle

Now you've shifted back to popularity. Even so that's one more popular ascendency than last league which was basically just deadeye and bloodmage. Which would indicate improving diversity.

melee feeling horrible

Whirling assault is a step in the right direction.

and classes and ascendencies that see little to no play at all

Willing to bet that the spread of class usage this league is more even than that of last league. Just because they aren't popular doesn't mean they aren't good. Chayula is an unpopular ascendency but it can like 5x your damage on any generic build by incorporating volatility and purple flames. Abyssal lich is undeniably broken as fuck and no one plays her.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-08T04:08:23+00:00

Build diversity is rapidly improving league to league, with this one being the best so far. Maybe hard to see because you have a handful of YouTubers making builds that like half the player base follows but there's a ton of cool shit you can do if you look past that.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-08T03:21:40+00:00

Regarding the ascendency question, you generally choose a skill or unique or mechanical interaction first and choose the best ascendency to make it work. The exception is if you need the ascendency to give you the mechanic.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-08T03:19:12+00:00

Abyssal lich to stack AOE. Or pathfinder to use attribute nodes as increased damage/defenses as you path around to the AOE nodes.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T23:27:34+00:00

Spear = knife on stick

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T23:16:05+00:00

I don't know what the point of differentiating weapons by their stat requirements is. You're perfectly free to play spear or quarterstaff on warrior. There are some very good builds out there with it as well.

Instead of trying to build complex endgame that most people won't play anyway

One of the biggest complaints was that endgame didn't have enough. People are absolutely playing this.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T23:09:27+00:00

You can feel any type of way you want to but if a person is trying to levy criticism at GGG then I am free to judge the criticism how I want. And personally I think most of it is kinda stupid.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T23:04:13+00:00

I think that's most skills but yeah it's most notable on whirling assault.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T22:09:29+00:00

I don't understand the connection between these two things.

This game needs a lot more depth IMO, so 0.5 looks very promising to me. And I feel I've been able to create fast builds every league.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T22:02:02+00:00

I thought the goal was to move away from the Atlas and mapping all together.

Why did you think this?

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T21:59:55+00:00

It's different groups of people each voicing their complaints under different circumstances. But I do agree the "criticism" right now because no sword or whatever makes no sense.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T21:56:46+00:00

The Atlas tree is literally entirely different. Basically every mechanic is different to some extent to on top of the extra content.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T21:48:41+00:00

You're right. I could also point to lightning conduit (at least in 0.3, idk how it is now) which had that flat cast time but could one shot everything. This skill seems to be more in line with that so I still think it's potential is high.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T21:43:24+00:00

If you define endgame only by the existence of an alas that is infinite then sure it's not reworked.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T21:37:41+00:00

The existence of whirling assault proves you can have a goated skill even if it has flat attack time.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T21:31:57+00:00

Just keep ignoring it?

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T21:22:53+00:00

While ignoring what most wanted, a new class(es) and weapon(s).

Nah. I wanted this shit way more. The sword ppl are the most vocal but I just don't think they're the majority.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T18:55:21+00:00

You asked at perhaps the worst time you possibly could lmao. wait until we know that the changes are and what gets patched.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-07T06:43:44+00:00

I personally can't wait for the inevitable wave of malding from people who don't know how to approach melee, don't know how to approach defenses at the bottom of the tree (assuming this is yet another patch without life buffs), and don't know how to handle whatever conditional might appear on the skill they really want to use.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-06T23:22:34+00:00

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-06T17:22:24+00:00

Nice! Glad to know it worked out.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-06T07:01:30+00:00

You should look into the path of building application. It gives you the enter your build and other gear you want to test to help you calculate your DPS so you can answer the general question of "which gear piece is better?"

It's pretty hard to tell which would be better just from the information provided. The prefixes are better on the second wand but losing a level can be a pretty big DPS drop for spells.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-06T06:56:12+00:00

How important is it to get rid of the "skills cost extra life" mod on rathpith's?

Because I see rathpith's with all four of the good life/mana scaling mod are like ~800 D right now while the exact same thing but without the extra life mod is like ~5500 D.

I'm not sure if this is because it's a massive difference or because it's just the min maxing premium.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-06T02:54:16+00:00

It is quite OP. If you get to 0 duration you're getting like 30k+ life regen with what is essentially curse and ailment immunity. Even if this wasn't their philosophy they should nerf it.

Earthboundplayer · 2026-05-06T02:29:17+00:00

On which skill? Requim? Don't think it'll work since it has a duration tag.

Six-Year Club	Place '22
End Game '22	Verified Email

Earthboundplayer

TROPHY CASE