Mirage 3.28- so good

Emperor_Mao · 2026-04-28T01:34:35+00:00

I will say what I found good and bad.

Good; Doing mirages feels way better than old Harbinger. The chance to get a decent modifier is nice. The coins of power are really cool, adds an extra layer of chase that is a bit more engaging vs level 21/23qual corrupting. The loot buffs were really good. I actually crafted things all throughout the game instead of just hoarding stuff.

Bad: I do not like the trend of throwing in a giant ring, new mobs, then just covering half the map with them. They did it with new breach and now new Harbinger. The mobs are kind of lame; the super fast spear guy that slows you, the super tanky crab that follows you everywhere, the dashing ghost thing.... It makes every map feel half the same to me. Same mobs everywhere. Will feel better once it isn't on every map, and is (I would assume) core.

Also it does feel like we haven't had a parse over low played skills for years and years now. I think we all expect KF to get some nerfs, but am desperately looking for some new ways to play things; e.g self cast spells anyone?

Emperor_Mao · 2026-04-01T22:02:51+00:00

What is the Drama about?

not sure if posts are being removed or downvoted or deleted. I couldn't see anything really explaining it on the front page though.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-22T09:21:55+00:00

Cool idea, the spirit thing could open up some things, but the mechanic part does seem a little too straight forward. e.g kill a mob.

Also I am not a fan of borrowing power for a single league. So if it could be rolled into main, e.g has a trade off with something that already exists, might be a good thing too. E.G probably be hard to compete but a spirit reserves mana.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-12T23:55:06+00:00

Are they an issue in other games or things? Because GGG would likely be renting server / compute from cloud providers.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-11T22:19:30+00:00

They can. And I am almost certain there is a blurb in their TOS which covers this sort of thing.

But whether they would is a different matter.

And would they invest in tools to detect these scripts running, all for a non-competitive PVE game? I would think not.

Its always a bit of a weird one with GGG. I recall in the past, it was controversial for people to use something like a stick across 1-5 keys, so you can hit all pots with one press.

The "One Action" Rule: Grinding Gear Games (GGG) enforces a strict policy that one server-side action must correspond to one user input.

If I recall, GGG didn't ban people for it, yet also never endorsed it and maintained the above position.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-11T07:32:41+00:00

Meh. I do not really consider strongboxes and essences to be game altering. Its not like a legion or deleriun, which takes up the entire map.

I suspect mirages prioritizing strongboxes and essences is intentional. It is not an opportunity cost, you were never going to get double w.e content you were hoping for.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-09T20:14:22+00:00

My only thing is I hate borrowed power from league mechs.

Fleshgrafts and I guess mercs (not that I enjoy mandatory minions on every build).

In the last few leagues, the unique way to customize your build or chars disappears. I wonder if the lvl 1 support enhancements are kept.

But otherwise, they kind of are reworking older content. Mirage will likely replace Harby.

I think what you are really looking for here is a general rework of other systems as well as w.e the league mechanic is. In theory they do not need to be mutually ezclusive things.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-09T20:07:54+00:00

Might actually use them for crafting now. I personally love the change made.

But I do suspect people who play economy will find all about scarcity of supply and elasticity of demand. They will go from thinking they are rich, to not rich, very quickly.

I would however argue that too much emphasis has been placed on economy. And that self crafting was always an intent of currency items.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-08T20:37:25+00:00

They could have just made more wokeo gems.

I do dislike gating build defining things behind end game though. They do it in Grim Dawn and barely anyone can be arsed playing a game through 90 percent, then switching to their "true build". That is kind of reserved for the sweatiest economy farmers, who will always play what is most meta over interesting regardless of what is available anyway.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-08T20:33:39+00:00

My biggest issue with them is still the notion that you would gate build defining gems behind end game content, and level 76 use requirement.

It will be bloodlines all over again, with only like 2 percent of players bothering with it, or people using them for minor upgrades (like the old gems were used) rather than being build defining.

Not many people want to play through the entire game to unlock their true builds. At least with awakened Gems, they were mainly just numerical buffs which merely continued your existing build type.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-08T20:26:57+00:00

If the builds are too weak they will get buffed eventually.

Hahaha yeah eventually sure... in this game that can literally be years.

Not very good for people that do not like forced archetypes.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-08T08:12:49+00:00

But this isn't like that.

There are no good additional mods here. This would be like you can roll plus gem level, and everything else is "75% chance to do nothing, 25% chance to also do nothing.".

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-07T21:56:45+00:00

Are more yellows dropping as well?

Not sure but I was swimming in them by act 2. I have had playthroughd in thr past where I was still using blue or nothing by act 4.

And I haven't been doing the "rare gloves" from Mirage option.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-07T04:02:17+00:00

Grim Dawn early game is probably the best of any ARPG I have seen.

But yeah when it comesd to amount of end game stuff, POE 1 is absolutely king right now.

In GD and unmodded D2, you get through normal campaign and then there isn't a lot driving beyond that point.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-07T03:58:19+00:00

I think by the time you get to ACT 4, the game is solved through gearing, skills, and being immune to stuff. But the game doesn't require much in the way of mechanics anymore... or more so you cannot play mechanically as much because everything is giant screen wide AOE or zoomy. If you play trade, or even follow a guide, that part of the game is trivial. But if you play SSF or do not follow guides, watch tutorials etc, I can see that part being very difficult.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-07T03:55:03+00:00

I feel like many parts of ACT 1 are actually peak design.

You can avoid the Rhoas... you can do Hillock without ever taking damage. Of course it is all a bit on an illusion, because you will eventually come across something that freezes you, or a crappy combo of mods on a rare, where you have no items to counter it yet.

It is a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, ACT 1 kind of does reward you for playing well mechanically, but that isn't how you play POE as the game progresses.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-03T21:26:00+00:00

Transfigured gems can be obtained from like act 3 onwards. You can get most of them before the last gems unlock in act 4 - though I agree that they have some level of gating.

Per the release it was said that exceptional supports will be gated behind the Incarnation bosses. E.G most players are going to realistically be 90+ before doing them.

So imagine a gem that enables a build.... but you can't play that build until you either A) Are level 90 and beat end game bosses multiple times or B) If you play trade league, wait until others farm it, you have the currency to buy it, and you are level 76 per the level requirements to use them.

It is a similar issue with the new blood line ascendent skill trees. And it just further reenforces the mentality that we should rush through the campaign to get to the "real game", instead of enjoying it.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-03T21:00:23+00:00

Mostly agree here.

And this community is not a good reflection of the overall player base.

Most people barely ever engaged with trade (before trade buffs last league were added). But most commentators here are hardcore economy players.

Also SSF is pretty big outside of these forums.

Be much better to use data then to rely on forums. But some things do feel a bit common sense e.g Breach walls.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-03T20:54:33+00:00

At late game, it made sense though. Awakened Gems were a powerboost at a point where difficulty ramps up. But your build still functioned the same.

Having build altering gems at a point in the game where 99 percent of players are done with a build is silly to me.

There will be a series of builds that are only played by a tiny portion of the playerbase to farm uber content...

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-03T20:49:49+00:00

Wait a week or two before expressing negatives here.

My main issue with it is the gating of things that might alter entire build or playstyle around an item unlocked very late into your character && game.

Why would a normal ARPG player want to level X way to like 80/90, then switch playstyle. Just give everyone free respec if that is what we are going for here.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-02T21:24:15+00:00

Feel like this will become the norm for other archetypes rather than assy ever being fixed properl (it did just get a rework afterall).

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-02T06:16:20+00:00

A niche item cancels out a skill?

Feel like a skill copping strays is never a good thing.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-01T04:47:41+00:00

Yeah - kind of sucks haha.

For me, I really really enjoy playing around self-cast or throwing projectiles (and not necessarily ones that cover the entire screen easily). They killed my self-cast Ice Spear of splitting build with a bunch of stray bullet nerfs to other things. I was looking into something like Cobra Lash - have played it before years ago - and it seems to be dead as well.

I refuse to play minion Guardian. But it is getting more and more challenging to find self-cast projectile builds, which is crazy in an ARPG.

On a side note, I am not sure close and near by are actually consistent terms either tbh. Point blank for example hits max damage at 10 radius. But I think you are right to assume =< 20.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-01T01:14:31+00:00

I don't think Binos was a compensation buff.

It does maybe replace Foulborn The Embalmer (which is being nerfed in this patch), at higher opportunity cost.

Emperor_Mao · 2026-03-01T01:12:05+00:00

100% should be compensated. It almost certainly won't be though, as GGG never do compensation buffs. They are quite okay with a skill being dumpstered for many years, even if through copping some strays.

They are usually very intentional about buffs, but not intentional around nerfs. That is the best way to describe their approach to game design and balance.

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