Path of Exile 2 Steam Charts & Stats

The campaign is the best part of the experience (and that's not saying much) but be warned after being forced to play said campaign over and over again to try different builds at 20+ hours a pop you will soon be bored out of your mind. Other than that you have lack of sufficient drops, piss poor Auction, terrible player engagement, crappy design, and GAMBLING. Other than that it's really "just okay"....

This was an amazing game, then they nerfed it into absolute trash. They made all fights take 5 times longer, reduced damage and pretty much killed all the fun the game had. Great job devs!

I played this game soon after release for more than 30h. I stopped rapidly because the few days I played it, it was consuming my life and I couldn’t do anything else. Insane game.

Played it just yesterday and honestly, hardly any rare drops for more than 2hrs play session. Killed several boss targets and the only thing I got worth mentioning after all that time played is 1 Exalted! I am furious as to why I supported GGG and bought early access. they keep making changes that makes their game worse and less fun every time while their patch notes and comments sound promising; they clearly do not know what they are doing. Also, when will the game return to its on release stability? whats up with the weird crashes/stutters?

Fixed an interaction where players were having fun in our game.

Just like PoE1, GGG again fails to understand that their top 2% of players aren't the right indicator of game balance.

Path of Exile 2 Review – A Diamond with Rough Edges Path of Exile 2 improves upon its predecessor in many ways, offering deep ARPG gameplay with stunning visuals and smart QoL upgrades. However, several frustrating design choices hold it back from greatness. ✅ The Good: Why PoE 2 Shines [list] [*]Clearer & Smoother Progression The revamped skill tree and leveling system are more intuitive than PoE 1, making builds easier to plan without sacrificing depth. Passive skill choices feel more impactful, and early-game pacing is improved. [*]Graphics & Atmosphere The game looks gorgeous, with detailed environments, improved lighting, and a distinct art style that sets it apart from other ARPGs. Monster designs and spell effects are visually striking (even if sometimes overwhelming). [*]QoL Improvements Reconnect feature is a game-changer—no more losing progress due to crashes or disconnects. Alva’s Currency Exchange shows the potential for a better trade system (now we just need it for everything else). [*]Endgame Potential The core gameplay loop (maps, bosses, loot hunting) remains addictive, and new mechanics add fresh challenges. [/list] ❌ The Bad: What Needs Fixing [list] [*]Post-Death Effect Overload Killing mobs shouldn’t feel like navigating a minefield, yet PoE 2 insists on filling every encounter with delayed explosions, lingering ground effects, and stacking DoTs. In Delirium, this becomes absurd—waiting 20+ seconds after clearing a pack just to avoid death isn’t engaging gameplay; it’s tedious. The visual clutter makes it worse, as effects blend together, leaving players guessing where to stand. [*]Corridor Hell: Lack of Open Maps The endgame map variety is shockingly bad. Out of dozens of maps, only four (Savannah, Oasis, Rustbowl, Steppe) feel truly open. The rest are claustrophobic tunnels or obstacle-filled pseudo-open zones (looking at you, Creek and Blooming Field). Maps like Augury, Decay, Hidden Grotto, Seepage, and Vaal Foundry are outright miserable, forcing players into repetitive, cramped combat. [*]Ranged Combat Feels Punished The game pretends to support ranged builds but constantly forces point-blank engagements. Mobs burrow, teleport, or materialize out of thin air, nullifying the advantage of distance. Shadow creatures, underground ambushes, and off-screen projectiles make ranged play feel like a lie. [*]Outdated Trade System The trade system is stuck in 2013. Alva’s Currency Exchange proves that automated trading works, yet the rest of the economy relies on: [list] [*]Mandatory third-party tools (Awakened PoE Trade, trade sites). [*]Being online 24/7 to sell items. As a result trade market was crowded with bots and price fixers until game lost 70% online. [*]Constantly leaving maps to complete trades. [*]It’s a time-wasting relic that favors no-lifers and punishes casual players. [/list] Solution: Expand Alva’s automated trading to all items. [*]Crafting = Gambling The crafting system is a slot machine disguised as depth. Want a top-tier item? Prepare to: [list] [*]Spam 100+ bases with Essences. [*]Pray for 1 usable result after dozens of attempts. [*]Lose everything to an unlucky annul/exalt. [/list] Recombinators help but don’t fix the core issue: crafting is RNG layered on RNG, designed to sink currency, not reward skill. [*]The Casual Player Trap The economy and progression are heavily skewed toward full-time players. A "nerd" farming 10 hours/day will: [list] [*]Hoard currency faster. [*]Flip items for profit. [*]Engage in crafting (because they can afford to lose). Meanwhile, casual players hit a wall—they’ll never save enough for top-tier crafts or meaningful upgrades without treating PoE 2 like a second job. Players with more time dominate the market, leaving casuals struggling to afford upgrades. [/list] [/list] ⭐ Verdict: A Strong Sequel That Needs Polish Path of Exile 2 improves on the original in many ways, with better progression, visuals, and QoL. However, annoying post-combat effects, map design, and archaic systems hold it back. If the devs address these issues, it could become the best ARPG ever. For now, it’s a must-try for fans but exhausting for casuals. Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5) – Great, But Could Be Legendary

didnt play much of the first league and stopped at 26 but now i hit 91 in dawn of the hunt and did the arbiter fight to get the full experience. while i do think the game is worth the money now even though it will be free in the future i have many issues with it in the current state. 1. trading is bad just makes no sense to me for it to be on an external site it should be a part of the game 2. death report i didnt die much in mapping but when i did it would be something obscured by a big corpse or 1 shot by a mob. i think there should be something to tell me what damage i took and how much of it right before my death. 90% of my deaths im just left wondering how it happened. 3. crafting this is literally just gambling and its not very fun. its fine to get through the campaign but when i hit maps i eventually just relied on trading for everything cause crafting is garbage and not worth the effort. i already dont like using a site to trade and then im pushed to use the site cause the alternative is a waste of time. 4. defenses i played til around 75 just being full evasion at like 88% and swapped to hybrid evasion/energy shield cause straight evasion was trash. full evasion youll inevitably be 1 shot and the same goes for armor which forces energy shield in the current state of the game. i would like more variety cause energy shield is just so obviously the best option you can get its total insanely high to avoid 1 shots and it regens very quickly with the right skills. 5. build variety i played some of the first game on my ps4 years ago and i remember lightning being part of a lot of the top builds and its the same thing here. i naturally leaned into lightning spear cause it was good and then later i see its good cause its way too strong compared to most other builds. im assuming this will be adjusted in the next league cause i want to play something else eventually that doesnt take years to clear and can effectively kill bosses. with that said the game is still good and i dont regret the money/time i put into it. my issues can and will most likely be fixed in the future. when these things start to be addressed ill be back to level on a new character cause this game is pretty decent as it is currently.

Never played a ARPG before but as a former drug addict, this game is way more addicting than heroin. 8.6/10

Before early access launched the developers said EA would last 6-12 months and at release there would be 36 Ascendancy classes and 6 acts. We're now 6 months into EA and all the developers have done is basic game balance and they've added 2 new Ascendancy classes. We still only have 3/6 acts and 17/36 Ascendancy classes. PoE 2 is currently in a state where the developers should pay people to beta test it rather than charge money from people. And despite that they're monetizing the game like it's a fully released f2p game. They just added new stash tabs which are arguably p2w to the store and they're introducing and advertising new lootboxes. A few years ago GGG also promised that all applicable micro transactions from the original poe will be usable in poe 2 and that they would continue releasing new leagues in poe 1 even after poe 2 launched. I'm sure they have intentionally said these things so people keep spending money in poe 1. The reality now is that the vast majority of mtx that people spent money on in the past is still unavailable in poe 2 and poe 1 development has almost completely halted with no new leage in close to a year. So people who bought mtx a year or two ago with the expectation to use it now got borderline scammed by GGG. And to add insult to injury they're introducing new micro transactions rather than prioritising to imlement the old mtx. If the game was great I could view past all that because things change and I don't necessarily think GGG intentionally mislead people at the time. But the game is mid at best and development is going at a snails pace so I can't recommend playing poe 2 at the moment. To be honest I kinda lost hope for GGG. Many of the people who made poe 1 a great game have left the company recently and the remaining team seems to struggle finding a direction for poe 2. Meanwhile Tencent who GGG sold out to is squeezing for money.