Is Path Of Exile Still Worth Playing In 2025?
There is no doubt that the most eye-catching ARPG in recent times is Path of Exile 2, which was launched at the end of 2024. Although it is still in the early access stage and has not yet shown its full version charm to you, POE 2 is better than the recent performance of another strong competitor Diablo 4 - after all, the latter’s Season 7 has not yet arrived.
But perhaps you have a question, since Path of Exile 2 is in full swing, is it still necessary to experience the first game in the same series in the new 2025? Based on this, we will make a comprehensive comparison of the recent performance of POE 1, POE 2 and Diablo 4 to provide you with some reference.
Path Of Exile 1 Performance Review
In the past year, from 3.24 Necropolis to 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, even though it has been more than ten years since its official release, POE 1 has always been committed to maintaining its freshness by constantly updating the league, which is one of the main reasons for its enduring popularity.
POE 3.24
The league was officially launched on March 29, 2024, and added a lot of new content based on the past leagues, such as the league mechanism that allows you to configure the difficulty of monsters and POE Currency rewards, and Embers of the Allflame items that allow you to encounter abnormal monsters with special rewards.
POE 3.25
As the most recent Path of Exile 1 league released to you, POE 3.25 can be said to have made many special updates to the game. In terms of combat, version 3.25 has completely changed your melee mode and introduced Warden class to replace Raider. But besides these, the most eye-catching is the challenge league mechanism that allows you to build and manage your own town.
It is worth noting that it is this league mechanism that allows you to experience a new and more complete trade system in POE 1, allowing you to obtain more necessary materials by hiring workers and port trade besides obtaining POE Divine Orbs through battle.
Compared To Path Of Exile 2
As a sequel, POE 2 must innovate in many aspects to ensure that it will not be overshadowed by the brilliance of the previous work, and based on the current performance, it has completely done this.
First of all, it is worth mentioning that it responds to the response and expectations of fans in the past, and launched the couch co-op that POE 1 did not have, as well as cross-platform games and cross-platform progress. In view of the continuous evolution of current game devices, it is imperative for a large-scale ARPG to keep you and provide you with more convenience in playing.
In the specific game content, POE 2 allows you to provide more unique mechanisms for game characters through support gems based on skill and class differences. This undoubtedly gives you more control and customization, giving you more personality than Path of Exile 1 for any class and weapon you want to experience.
If you like the boss battles of POE series, then POE 2 will never let you down. It brings more than 100 unique bosses to fight. Besides the improved boss battles in the endgame content, you also have the opportunity to get a brand new combat experience through dedicated maps for each boss. And the bosses in POE 2 are more challenging, requiring you to use critical thinking to deploy strategies and make the battles more interesting.
Based on the above changes, there is no doubt that Path of Exile 2 is better than the first game in these aspects, especially the narrative method of the second part is also better. In addition, all the playing threshold of the first and second parts are actually not low. So if you are an old player of the series, you can experience an upgraded version of Path of Exile through POE 2 in the new year.
But if you haven’t come into contact with POE yet, then I think you can also consider playing POE 1. Because compared to the second part, it still has some unique mechanisms, such as the fun league and trade system in 3.25. And the first game has been running for ten years, so it may be more stable.
And if you plan to play POE 1 in the near future, you still can solve the possible POE Currency shortage through the giveaway information and activities in iGMeet Discord, avoiding worries.
Compared To Diablo 4
In the past year, Diablo 4 has always been popular and discussed, especially after October, with the launch of DLC Vessel of Hatred and Season 6, it quickly attracted a group of new players.
Although Diablo 4 was launched in 2023, the development history of the entire Diablo series is much longer than Path of Exile. So although POE 1 also has its own characteristics, Diablo 4 is better than Path of Exile 1 in terms of the smoothness of the game and the exquisiteness of the picture, and the experience will be better.
Although in the face of 2025, except for Season 7 which will be launched soon, Diablo 4 has not yet revealed whether it will launch new DLC or other major activities, but there is no doubt that Diablo 4 is the current core of Diablo series, so any updates will basically be launched in Diablo 4, and the development focus of POE series in 2025 is undoubtedly the second part. So from this perspective, in 2025, Diablo 4 may bring you more surprises than POE 1.
Based on the above review and comparison, if you are only interested in POE series, then in the next year you can choose to play the first or second part according to your own preferences; but if you have to choose between Diablo 4 and POE 1, the former will be better. I hope you can continue to enjoy the fun of ARPG in the new year! Thank you for reading!
Jan-07-2025
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Path Of Exile 3.26 Mercenar ...
As Path of Exile 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas’s release date draws closer, players are increasingly looking forward to some new content that this new league will bring to the game, such as new items and mechanisms. Among them, Mercenaries of Trarthus League Mechanic is the one that players pay the most attention to. In this league mechanism, you will be able to challenge, recruit and create mercenaries who can help you kill enemies and provide additional loot with new exclusive enhancement affixes during the exploration process. If you effectively match it with your skill gems or passive skills, you will have a super high advantage in the campaign in POE 3.26. However, it is worth noting that since this mercenary mechanism has not yet been officially launched, this guide will give you an introduction to the operation of Mercenaries of Trarthus League Mechanic and what new game experience it may bring to you based on some information currently released by the developer and player comments. Who Are Mercenaries? According to the developer, each area you explore will have a Trarthan Mercenary NPC, who will show you everything in his backpack after interacting with you, such as the items equipped, skill gems, and the contents of his pockets. Not only that, it will also provide you with a window with three options: Hire, Take Item, or Exile. No matter which one you choose, you need to fight this mercenary first, because only if you win can you gain the right to dominate it. If you are unfortunately defeated by it, the mercenary will be teleported away, and you will not encounter this mercenary with the same gear and skill gems again in this league. So it is highly recommended that you consider your exploration needs while also considering whether your build has the ability to complete this battle. For example, when you find that its skills are mainly based on fire elemental damage, you need to buy POE Divine Orbs to make your build’s fire resistance affix better, thereby improving your survivability in this battle and keeping the power of choice firmly in your hands. After that, you can choose from the following options. Hire First of all, you hiring this mercenary as a permanent combat assistant need to spend some Gold, which is one of the most important currencies for settlers in Settlers of Kalguur League. You will encounter a variety of mercenaries while exploring POE 3.26, and once you find one with stronger combat abilities or one with skills and equipment that suit your build, you can discard the previous one and hire the next one. This way, the mercenary will be counted as half a player, so you have a team of 1.5 players, which will make your subsequent battles more difficult, but also provide you with more loot. If you find a way to make their abilities and difficulties offset each other, you will have a helper who can help you get extra loot! By the way, you can only hire up to three mercenaries, but you can only choose one to fight by your side, which means that you need to choose a more suitable mercenary as your most capable assistant according to different combat needs or exploration needs. Take Item If you find a more effective item among the items shown to you by this mercenary, then you can choose this option. After the battle, you can choose an item from its equipment, a Trarthan Gem, which is new variants of existing skills, similar to Transfigured gems, or all the items in its pockets. On top of that, if you encounter Infamous Mercenaries, they can even provide you with rare items with exclusive attributes, which are very difficult to farm in the early stages of your POE 3.26 exploration. Exile Of course, not all mercenaries are worth using, so you can choose to exile them and prevent any mercenaries with the two attribute types you choose from appearing in the next 10 areas. Although the current developers have always praised players for getting more high-quality loot from this mechanism, the appearance of this option always makes people feel very strange, and it always indicates that players are likely to encounter enemies like Rogue Exiles in POE 2. Please note that the mercenaries you defeated but did not hire or exile will not disappear permanently, they will return to your town and be ready to challenge you again. However, if you want to fight the same mercenary again, you will need to resurrect him by paying a certain amount of gold. About Mercenary More As I just said, the specific information of each Mercenary will be displayed in the interface that appears when you interact with it, which may include level, attributes, all items carried, and skills, etc. You can use this to determine whether it can be used by you. Level & Attributes What needs to be paid attention to here is that the level of the mercenary will not change, and it will always be fixed at the level you have when you hire them. So when recruiting, try to choose stronger mercenaries instead of higher-level mercenaries. As for attributes, since the developer has too little description of them, but based on Rogue Exiles with similar mechanisms in POE 2 and the previous league mechanism, it can be inferred that they are likely to affect its combat capabilities and the gear and gems you have captured in it. Items After you hire a mercenary, you can give it the gear you have invested a lot of POE currency to upgrade it to replace its original weak gear, just like you equip another self. However, once you discard or replace a mercenary’s original gear, it will no longer be usable by this mercenary or other mercenaries, so please think carefully before making these operations. Skill Gems Like your character, a mercenary can have up to 6 skill gems that can be linked to support gems, and they cannot be changed after you hire them. You can only obtain more effective skill gems by recruiting stronger mercenaries. It is worth mentioning here that a small number of mercenaries will have Gilded Supports, which is one of the most powerful support gems in the current Path of Exile 3.26 league, which can bring extremely high bonuses for you and the mercenary. The above is a part of the specific operation method and contents of Mercenaries of Trarthus League Mechanic that appeared in the new league of POE 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas. Although this is not the first time that the developer has introduced a mercenary mechanism in the game, its addition may allow players to have a better gaming experience and create more builds possibilities. I wish you a happy game!Jun-11-2025
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Path of Exile 3.23: Conquer ...
With the highly anticipated Path of Exile 3.23 "Affliction" expansion upon us, players worldwide are eager to delve into the game's new challenges and immerse themselves in the exhilarating world of Wraeclast. As they embark on this journey, selecting the ideal league starter builds becomes crucial to navigate the game's vast expanse and conquer its formidable foes. To aid in this endeavor, here's a comprehensive overview of the top 6 league starter builds for PoE 3.23, meticulously crafted to cater to diverse playstyles and preferences. 1. Absolution Guardian: A Bastion of Power and Control For those seeking a combination of unwavering defense and potent offense, the Absolution Guardian build stands as an exceptional choice. Guardian's innate resilience and Absolution's spectral minions imbue this build with remarkable durability and crowd control capabilities. Absolution's ability to summon spectral minions to attack and debuff enemies provides an excellent source of damage and crowd control, making it a versatile build suitable for both beginners and experienced players. 2. Cobra Lash Deadeye: A Deadly Dance of Blades Deadeye's expertise in projectile manipulation and Cobra Lash's poison-spreading prowess coalesce into a deadly force capable of dominating both single-target and AoE encounters. Cobra Lash's flexibility allows players to adapt their playstyle, ranging from nimble, mobile clearing to sustained, high-damage bossing, making it an appealing option for those seeking a versatile and effective league starter. 3. Boneshatter Juggernaut: A Unyielding Force of Destruction For those craving an unyielding melee powerhouse, the Boneshatter Juggernaut build emerges as an undeniable contender. Juggernaut's unwavering resilience and Boneshatter's unique mechanic, which allows for stunning attacks with physical damage, combine to create a formidable force. This build excels in withstanding the harshest encounters while delivering unparalleled damage, making it a staple choice for many players. 4. Divine Ire Totems Hierophant: A Masterful Orchestration of Destruction Hierophant's mastery of totems and the sheer power of Divine Ire projectiles manifest as a reliable and scalable option for both novice and experienced players. Divine Ire's ability to convert elemental damage to chaos damage grants it versatility against various enemy types, while Hierophant's totem synergy ensures a steady stream of devastating attacks. This build excels in both clearing and bossing, making it a well-rounded choice for league starters. 5. Summon Raging Spirit/SRS Necromancer: A Legion of Undead Mayhem Necromancer's expertise in raising minions and Summon Raging Spirit's formidable damage output make this build a popular choice for league starters. SRS's ability to scale with minion life and damage enables it to remain a formidable force even in the face of endgame challenges. With its ability to summon a horde of spectral warriors, this build offers a unique and effective playstyle that appeals to many players. 6. Physical Reap Hierophant: A Symphony of Damage Hierophant's totem synergy and Physical Reap's unique ability to stack damage over time create a distinctive and effective league starter build. Physical Reap's versatility allows for adjustments to accommodate various playstyles, from rapid-fire totem casting to deliberate channeling. This build offers a different twist on the traditional totem-based playstyle, making it an appealing choice for those seeking a fresh experience. These six builds represent a diverse spectrum of playstyles and strengths, catering to the varied preferences of Path of Exile players. Whether you prefer the ranged precision of Cobra Lash Deadeye or the unyielding melee prowess of Boneshatter Juggernaut, there's a build perfectly suited to your style. As you embark on your Path of Exile 3.23 adventure in the realm of Affliction, unleash the power of these top-tier league starter builds and conquer the challenges that await you.Dec-19-2023
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Unlocking the Magic Find Pa ...
In the dynamic world of Path of Exile, a fusion of tankiness and magic find attributes in a single build is a rare sight. Players often opt for a multitude of defensive layers or prioritize magic find, seldom balancing the two. However, a unique build has emerged, promising both resilience and efficient magic find capabilities, and we're here to guide you through this innovative playstyle. High Movement Speed: The Key to Success The foundation of this build revolves around exceptional movement speed, an invaluable trait in Path of Exile. The current iteration of this build boasts an astonishing 250% movement speed. This feat is achieved through a series of strategic choices. In the 3.22 update, the introduction of tattoos added a new dimension to character customization. This build harnesses the power of 20 tattoos to significantly boost movement speed, giving you an edge in your adventures. Choosing the Pathfinder Ascendancy Selecting the right Ascendancy class is crucial, and for this build, the Pathfinder is the ideal choice. The Pathfinder's inherent ability to enhance the effectiveness of Quicksilver Flasks significantly impacts movement speed. With this ascendancy, you gain an impressive 111% movement speed. Furthermore, the Phasing on kill mechanic provides an additional 10% movement speed when the Pathfinder is active. For even more speed, the Haste Aura adds a whopping 21% movement speed to your character. The combination of these effects results in an overall movement speed increase of over 250%, making your character a blur of motion on the battlefield. Quantity & Rarity: The Magic Find Foundation A successful magic find build relies on quantity and rarity bonuses. This build incorporates two high-quality unique rings, Ventor's Gamble, known for their maximum item quantity and rarity attributes. These rings are paired with health bonuses to ensure your character's survivability. An indispensable flask for magic find enthusiasts, the Divination Distillate, remains active consistently thanks to the Pathfinder's unique capabilities. The only drawback is the need to manually activate the flask every 5 seconds. However, the build still manages to achieve a remarkable 58% item quantity and 135% item rarity, which significantly enhances your loot drops. Clear Skill for Swift Annihilation In Path of Exile, speed and quantity are futile without adequate damage output. The build's damage capabilities are maximized through gear and gem enhancements. It all begins with a Divine Orb, a small yet significant investment that yields great results. The build is designed around two active skill gems, each serving a specific purpose. Caustic Arrow is the go-to skill for clearing maps. When fired with a bow, it leaves a trail of Caustic Ground where the projectile lands, dealing additional Chaos damage over time. To further enhance this skill's efficiency, the Arrow Nova Support gem is added. This combination significantly boosts your clearing speed, ensuring swift annihilation of foes. Single Target Domination For single target damage, Toxic Rain takes center stage. When unleashed, it spawns Spore Pods at the projectile's point of impact. Over time, these pods deal chaos damage in an area, potentially overlapping for increased damage output. Optimizing single target damage is possible with a slightly higher budget, which allows you to hit a specific threshold of increased area of effect. This optimization ensures maximum pod overlap. The choice of Bow Mastery on the passive tree contributes to this aspect, combined with a glove craft at the Crafting Bench to provide an additional 39% area effect increase. Additionally, the use of Withering Step in the build is essential. Upgrading to the Anomalous version of Withering Step adds two extra Withers and increases quality with Enhance Support. Activating this skill creates nine layers of Wither overlays with a single button press. This not only boosts your damage but also applies more stacks through Toxic Rain. Building a Solid Defense The build is not solely focused on damage output; it also prioritizes defense. A substantial portion of physical damage, about 88%, is converted into elemental damage. Lightning Coil alone accounts for 50% of this conversion, with Taste of Hate's maximum scroll rate contributing an additional 24% as flask effect nodes are allocated in the skill tree. A 14% increase in conversion rates is achieved through helmet upgrades. This extensive conversion of damage into elemental damage permits the use of elemental damage reduction flasks. These flasks substantially reduce damage when transitioning from physical to elemental damage. Additionally, the Grace Aura is employed to bolster evasion, providing protection against monster attacks and projectiles. The build's utilization of Ancestral Vision grants cold and freeze immunity and includes a modifier that reduces the chance of experiencing elemental ailments by 50%. An additional 60% ailment avoidance adds further protection against shocks and ignites during map exploration. Key Items and Equipment Selection Certain essential items are pivotal for this build's success: 1. Bow: Aim for a bow with +1 to socketed bow gems and increased Chaos Damage over Time. Craft it with +2 to socketed support gems and Chaos Damage over Time. 2. Quiver: A quiver should increase normal damage over time and provide bonuses to bow and life damage. Consider a Penetrating Arrow Quiver for enhanced damage output. 3. Amulet: Aim for an amulet that boosts all Chaos skill gems with +1 to Damage over Time. 4. Unique Items: The build utilizes Lightning Coil for significant physical damage reduction. Ventor's Gamble rings are essential due to their high quantity and item rarity attributes. Mastering the Pathfinder Ascendancy The Pathfinder Ascendancy is the optimal choice for this build. In the initial labyrinth, Nature 's Reprisal is selected to empower Toxic Rain. This choice substantially changes the skill's early performance, enhancing its effectiveness. The second labyrinth involves the selection of Nature's Adrenaline, which assists in generating massive Flask Charges. Finally, in the third labyrinth, Nature's Boon is chosen. This ensures that the Magic Find Flask remains active at all times when the character is at full life, thanks to the Master Surgeon mechanic. In conclusion, this Magic Find Pathfinder build provides a comprehensive guide to creating a powerful and cost-effective character. With this build, players can tackle high-level maps and challenging content while optimizing their Magic Find capabilities. If you're seeking a versatile and efficient Magic Find build, this guide equips you with the knowledge and strategies needed to excel in Path of Exile's ever-evolving world.Oct-17-2023
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Path of Exile (PoE) 3.22 De ...
In the ever-evolving world of Path of Exile (PoE), the introduction of new content and updates keeps players engaged and challenged. The recent 3.22 patch has brought forth the intriguing Delve Early Farming Guide, offering players the chance to delve into uncharted territories and unearth valuable rewards. In this guide, we'll delve (pun intended) into seven key tips that can help both new and seasoned players make the most out of the Delve content and enhance their PoE experience. 1. Understanding the Delve Mechanic: The Delve mechanic in PoE takes players on an underground adventure, accessible through Niko, who allows players to delve into mines and encounter diverse biomes and unique challenges. Sulfite, the key resource for delving, is acquired through mapping. Players navigate the volatile mine to collect valuable loot, fossils, and currency items. 2. Delve Changes in the 3.22 Patch: The 3.22 patch has introduced some item balance changes, particularly affecting delve-exclusive shields. The patch primarily addresses certain modifiers related to maximum elemental resistances. 3. Currency Generation in Delve: Delve offers various opportunities for currency generation. Farming fossils is a prime example, with different biomes yielding different types of fossils. Fossils can be traded for currency, making this a lucrative strategy for wealth accumulation. Selling resonators, particularly in bulk, is another profitable venture. Additionally, defeating bosses like Crystal King can yield valuable amulets and rings that can fetch a good price in the market. 4. Sustaining Sulphite for Delving: Sulphite is essential for delving, and its acquisition requires thoughtful strategies. Setting up the Atlas properly can help players earn more sulphite from maps. Utilizing Atlas passives and Ascendancy skills can further enhance sulphite gain. Running Wandering Path in the Atlas passive tree can result in higher sulphite drops during mapping. 5. Biomes and Cities in Delve: Biomes in delve offer specific loot drops and challenges. Players can target particular biomes to farm specific resources and maximize their gains. Cities in delve contain valuable items and loot chests, making them a rewarding destination for adventurers. 6. Special Item Drop Nodes: Restless Rubbles and other special nodes offer unique item drops: lightning items, contains cold items, fire items, Physical, containing Mana or cursed itemssome of which can be highly valuable or even build-enabling. Players can take advantage of these nodes to acquire rare and powerful items that can be used or traded. 7. Voltaxic Generator Setup and Depth Farming: Managing the Voltaxic Generator is crucial for surviving deep delves. Players should focus on maintaining Darkness Resistance, Light Radius, and Flare Capacity. Balancing these attributes is key to exploring deeper mine levels safely. Starting depth farming at around 150-250 is recommended for evasion-based characters, while characters with more survivability can venture deeper to around 300-350. In conclusion, the Delve Early Farming Guide in PoE 3.22 presents players with a plethora of opportunities to explore, conquer challenges, and amass wealth. Whether you're a newcomer seeking to learn the ropes of delving or a seasoned player looking to optimize your currency generation, these seven tips provide valuable insights to make the most of your delve experience. As the world of PoE continues to evolve, embracing new content and mastering its mechanics will undoubtedly lead to a more rewarding and thrilling gaming journey.Aug-17-2023