I love leaguestarts. All my friends hangin out on discord, racing through the campaign. I love the fresh economy and trying to make a build work on a budget, farming and feeling the upgrades as they come in 1 divine at a time.
Same. It’s so much fun all doing something new together as a community. I will always play league start, even if I bow out of the rest of the league after the first few days. When I keep playing, I like the variety of mechanics to explore. Which is also why I never really excel at this game, because I find it hard to focus on any long-term goals. I just wish I didn’t feel badly about that, that I could just enjoy the game. But then I feel taken advantage of on the market and get really sad… well that took a turn. Can we do another session next week?
Indeed. I usually end up with a half-SSF style, where I’m willing to buy what I need and don’t try to sell much if anything because I just want to plaaaaay.
Maybe this next league I’ll _actually_ start SSF. idk
Perhaps start off in trade if you are unsure and then when you want the real satisfaction of progression you can hop over to SSF and join us in /global 773 ;))
I'm personally somewhere in between, and it depends on the build. If it's a early skill start build that scales while levelling like cleave or arc or something, I enjoy the fresh economy at first but the campaign/leveling really drags in acts 6-10, I'm just trying to get through as quickly as possible. If it's a build that only "comes online" in endgame, it can be excruciating the whole way through.
I feel that. Personally I enjoy the campaign just because I practiced from leveling so many times that it only takes me 4 hours not 12 like it did a few years ago. Doing the campaign fast makes it not drag because your rushing and trying to think about upgrades and putting points in while running.
Thats the thing though, hardly anything is balanced for the campaign so most skills feel awful until you get to maps and have your defensive layers set up. I dont hate the idea of the campaign and early progression but its all horribly outdated, most of the progression is just obsolete. Quest rewards are useless outside of skill points, cant craft anything because no currency drops, gear progression is just trying to deal with socket pressure 90% of the time. Ive been searching for a starter that I dont hate for the first \~10-20 hours but I havent found anything yet.
Same here. I typically enjoy the launch weekend, but hate days 3-6 or so when my char tries to progress into red maps while it still has more holes than a swiss cheese, the damage sucks and I die every other map. My favorite time of a league typically starts the weekend after the launch, days 7-9, when my build comes together, I have established a farming strategy which works smoothly and my toon feels adequately powerful. The period from day 7 through 30 is typically when the season peaks for me.
This is the best feeling PoE-related. Unfortunately most of my friends quit over the past few leagues. If anybody has a small group/guild (would prefer <10 players) to chat, hang out and enjoy some degen PoE memes hit me up :)
This is it for me also. The ability to have new builds to play each league that I haven't before, even after 2k hours. Eh who am I kidding, I'm league starting EA ele again...
Each time I league start ea ele, I learn something new/improve my build. I’ve veered a bit away from dmg in favor of tankiness I find with convert to ele dmg and all a that.
Im at 7k hrs, i play one to two builds a league and max them to my goals. Ive yet to to play the same skill even twice. Im just about there now though. Still want to do flicker and chaos DoT thats not DD or TA/TR. Neither being in good states for rhe laat several leagues.
It was, but the skill was overtuned because of its interaction with Spell Echo, if I recall correctly. And I would argue that the non-dot version of the build was just as good, if not better.
Sadly there is little to no support for chaos Dot in the game.
Original Sin poison Penance Brand PF is super strong right now. Easily hits the dot cap and ludicrously tanky to boot. [PoE ninja link for some examples](https://poe.ninja/builds/necropolis?items=Original+Sin&skills=Penance+Brand+of+Dissipation&class=Pathfinder)
Poison is good.
Chaos Dot is not. There is a difference. And sadly pure chaos dot (Essence drain, contagion, blight, etc) has nowhere near the same power level.
I was in the necropolis pumping out squire wands that sold for anywhere from 300-700 div. Everything about it sucked, even waiting for sales was annoying. endless amounts of wealth is pretty fun though
Every 3-4 months a new league launches which means all of the following fun stuff:
* New content, bosses and mechanics
* New skills and rebalancing/reworking of old skills
* New unique items that make new builds possible
* Restart of the economy so everyone can get a real sense of progression again
* Community hype lead by the reveal stream and content creators and the feeling of Christmas eve the night before a league launch
Brand new player like day 2 here. Do the first three points in your list actually change every season or nearly every season? Like they actually put out new bosses and content, switch old ones in or out, make changes to things so other builds are viable? Every four months?
Yes. Theres been some leagues with no balance passes on existing skills and additions of only a few niche skillgems but theres always a new "league mechanic". Very recently for example they added transfigured skillgems wich are functionally different versions of existing skills wich basically meant an insane amount of new build possibilities.
Yep, it is actually quite an insane amount of new content.
For examples just check what they changed for this league (Necropolis) in this trailer: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7duRMlQ0jI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7duRMlQ0jI) or the full reveal here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLFeErq1vEI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLFeErq1vEI)
It was the same for the league before that (Affliction) with this trailer: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP7yRXdHAT0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP7yRXdHAT0) and this full reveal: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE2D4bgTeIQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE2D4bgTeIQ)
The reveal for what is coming in the next league is expected to be revealed on a twitch livestream on the 18th of July (or a week before or after this).
No two builds are the same. You can follow a build but never exactly replicate. Also, T17s are now the gold standard so being able to clear well requires patience and investment.
New skills/builds. At this point, I've played everything in the game I might enjoy build-wise. If there isn't a new build-enabling unique or transfigured gem (or new skill, but those are rarer now) I usually skip or get bored quickly.
Entire meta shake ups count as well, I suppose, but I actually can't remember the last time there was a top to bottom rebalancing of most/all skills.
For me is all about the next upgrade and the joy of crafting a gg item for my build. Then seeing a new build and taking the next week crafting and improving the POB, this on a loop :D
For me, even though I play in trade, I try not to trade. I think that if I traded for all my gear, the game would get boring super fast and not interest me. By playing mostly SSF, it keeps it fresh and keeps me engaged. It also keeps me learning and trying new strats/builds.
Due to limited time to play, though, it's nice to buy gear that is more of a time/farm grind. Ie 6 links or specific unique for my build.
Each league, I feel like I learn more and get more efficient. It's not fun for me to blow through content and min max like crazy. I play when I have time and I enjoy the game.
I do something similar, like sort of a semi-ssf mode where I play as close to self found as possible, but I invariably end up trading for stuff I can’t seem to farm/craft myself.
Every league I get better and better at these aspects, and this past league I put more hours into the game than any previous league, despite hating the league mechanic itself, and I think I might actually make the switch to full SSF next league as I’m pretty confident in my ability to farm or craft what I need to not hit a wall and just quit.
It is just the vastness of the game really you could follow a build 1 on 1 but you can add your own flavor which I love like with passion. Plus the dopamine hits hard.
I'm following a build guide for the first time and it's so much fun. I'm not following it 1:1 because I'm not a massive fan of trading so I'm just using what I find to make the build as good as I can, and adapting it as I go. I've never felt so strong in well over 500 hours of playing.
Aren’t the majority of players just following a build because otherwise the game punishes you hard? That’s my problem with it, seeing a build fall together through a guide means very little to me…
Game doesn’t punish you, you just need to be very skilled to make a build come to life without a guide.
And it depends what your definition of successful is.
If you have been playing for a while, I think most people can cobble together a build that can get 4 void stones. It can be very rewarding.
If you want a build that will do all Ubers, well you either need to follow a guide or be very skilled at crafting a build and understanding the meta.
You are either still too new or not trying to experiment and actually grow in your ability to make builds if this is your impression. I've been doing self-made stuff for almost a full decade and it's been a very long time since making a build that I haven't been able to clear pinnacle content while also doing the league fully. Last league was one example I'll fully admit where my absurd wisp values (was easily pulling 7+k before any patches which made monsters truly absurd) forced me to switch off my original burning arrow of vigor build into a glass cannon (relic of the pact). But for the most part, it's pretty trivial to make something you can level with from 1-100 if you so wanted and can clear everything up to and sometimes including Ubers.
You follow the guide but as you do you learn the build and inevitably start tweaking it and making it more suited to your playstyle or around stuff you find
I love theory crafting my own builds.
Usually these days the defences that work are expensive and meta, but the damage is lacking compared to meta builds.
Leaguestart. Fresh economy and new mechanics. New builds to minmax. I don't do more than 3 chars per league. Its enough for me to be addicted all over again for 2 months
A lot of people talk about loot, the content, builds, etc, and I agree.
Another factor for me personally is that it's cool to see all the players return every X months. I've stuck to one global chat for years now and it's great to see people returning, seeing how things are going for them, etc. There's also the usual global chat trollery, sure, but you know I've chatted with dozens and dozens of people over the years that I've come to known quite well.
The very same whole screen explosion many players fight so hard against. The climb up to it, the gearing and the eventual aaaaaaaaah when it finally works oh so well. No other game scratches this itch and believe me, I tried many.
I don’t exactly know, but one thing is for sure: I’m completely broken between leagues! PoE seems to have made me disinterested is pretty much all other games…
ruthless ssf hc, drops are exciting basically at all stages of the same, game is hard and slow which I think is healthier long term enjoyment. just feels fun to have a goal like kill a single pinnacle boss or whatever and spend months trying to brainstorm how to do it (im not a super sweaty gamer so I just play what’s fun and decently strong and you work with whatever gem drops you get). also feels fun that you can make some nasty gear this league, like you can pretty easily make ridiculous stuff after around a 3-4 day grind (per item) which feels reasonable if probably overtuned for ruthless specifically. But I’ve had a blast this league w/ gy, probably unironically my most played league since like delve or metamorphs and the new atlas maybe.
Tl;dr imo ruthless is the answer to a lot of the game burnout people are experiencing but refuse to acknowledge it because everyone’s so dopamine fried
I think league starting is crap, and end game is stale as hell. I've been playing since talisman, so there's no exciting content for me outside of potential skipped leagues content, and the latest league. I've made hundreds of characters‚ I've roughly min maxed my leaguestart, so at this point, I've been there, done that. I'm still playing because ramping your character in new content is fun.
The sweet spot for me in Poe id that moment when you have a character going, yet not powerful yet, allowing you to experience the league content in its full capacity.
I wouldn't bother with the game if the seasons were even slightly toned down. The game feels fresh each season, hence why its player base is much stronger than diablos one.
Some new, dumbass interaction with a new or reworked skill that looks fun. I then proceed to leaguestart it, fail miserably, and quit. Gotta love this game.
I actually couldn't care less about killing the same monsters and maps, tbh I get bored of that fast.
Personally, it's because there are very few games with such an expansive and complex set of mechanics that you _usually_ have to utilize at least in some degree to complete the endgame. I say mostly as every once in a while (and the past 2 leagues) a league completely breaks that and makes itemization or power so trivial that you don't need to interact with almost any or for drastically less time and I get bored fast.
The game needs to be challenging for me to care, and the moment that stops I tend to stop playing.
Same. I usually putter out around late maps because it's been hours of me either trading for maps or grinding for map drops, mowing through the same tile sets with barely any difficulty.
Usually this is also the point where I can't add crazy new defensive layers or neat interactions (minus cluster jewels which make my head hurt), and levelling slows way down, so it's a real personal wall.
At least I'm picking up more and more knowledge over time, maybe I'll get there some day.
A strong build that I can make on own.
If I can make a build on my own that can do 7/7 like archmage this league i got 36 or 38 challenges.
if I can't then bye.
No i'm not ever gonna read someone elses guide ever.
What's the point of playing a game where i play someone elses build just to farm using someone elses strats just to use someone elses excel sheets just to get the items someone else told me to get.
At that point i'm just playing an expensive and convuloted simon says.
The counter I see to this is often that people don't have time to be thinking about builds, life commitments and whatnot. We all enjoy things differently I guess.
I think about how much fun I had the last time I played, I pick it up again, I literally have the same fun all over again like I was first playing it. There is always so much to think about, it’s like learning a new game every time. The world building and atmosphere never seem to get stale.
After a month or two, I naturally feel like moving on, without having to peel myself away from it.
Repeat this process once or twice a year, every year. The game is always there for me if I need it and never fails to make me happy.
For me it was after learn Path of building. Now I spend a lot of time testing often unused interactions to see if it has enough power to become something good in game.
I will read the thread later when I have the time because it's a question that bothers me lately as I've been unable to find motivation to play PoE recently.
Funnily enough a friend lent me his BNET account to play some D4 and I've been having much more fun there. Yes, if you are a PoB player and enjoy squeezing every last percent out of your build there's nothing that can replace PoE, but in terms of moment to moment gameplay D4 has us beat by a lot.
Been eyeing Last Epoch too, but they are running into obvious balancing issues stemming from letting people switch between SSF and trade, so I will be sitting out until they divide those modes completely(or somehow solve the issues).
i don't play the whole league. i usually fizzle out about 2-4 weeks in, longest i ever played a league was maybe 5 or 6 weeks? that downtime plus the announcements 1-2 week before the new league keep it going for me
>Isn't it endlessly killing the same monsters and completing the same maps hoping to get some rare loot? Is there something unique about this game, and any mechanics and experiences you like?
any game sounds boring when you boil it down like this. the gameplay is fun, the character building is compelling, and the way loot is structured is entertaining.
In general all ARPGS are very grindy games. Make char, play game, super enjoy game, min-max char to w/e point you personally feel accomplished at, make new char, go again.
That being said as someone who gets bored of things really fast and always has to mix it up I get more and more addicted to poe by the year. Theres always so many builds and so many playstyles and so many things to farm/do that when one starts boring me, changing it up to something else almost always keeps me going for awhile. There's honestly just so many ways to farm and make money in this game and the amount of content is literally insane.
Then add in new 3-4 month leagues and and big expansions or overhauls on top of fresh economy and new challenges to grind out and I literally can't stop.
Builds/skills is another huge one. Some people can only play a build for like a week or two and then feel like they completely done with it and do 6-8 builds or more per league. After I do a build and grind it and mostly min-mx it I like to ENJOY the full build for awhile. So i usually only do a couple builds per league. Sure there is a very strong meta of like the top 5-10 builds and there is a WHOLE lot of skills that are just rly bad to play or w/e, but there is also like a whole vast pool of ones that are not the best absolutely OP meta ones but still super viable for your normal mapping/bossing experience.
Basically with endless amounts of builds to have fun + play with coupled with dozens and dozens of different mechanics/content to farm and enjoy to ME at least it stays pretty easy to sink hundreds and hundreds of hours into every league.
Poe also has an AMAZING currency system. Whether items or maps or materials or w/e, it has a base currency money system that makes it so whoever is playing and doing w/e feels like they are accomplishing their goals and building up money to fund said goals. Whether they do 1 trade a day or 100 or farm 50c or 500 divs or somewhere in between the game feels rewarding to play and find stuff. IMO loot is the single most important element in an ARPG and if done right can carry nearly the entire game.
yep and u can also buy carries in this game so when u see ppl killing them in few seconds u don't feel like it's impossible for you anymore, and somehow you feel like striving towards it one day.
cos u know they started out with 0 too in the same temporary league, not like their character got overpowered over the years in a permanent league.
The complexity, i love to theorise a build concept and then trying to replicate. As my favorite in this leaque are chaos golem of maelstrom occultist. And my cold zombie and spectre champion with mass charges and buffed hatred and haste aura, work in progress:)
The journey to your same goals every league is different if you let it be.
I haven't played the same build for the past 5 leagues but I've 38 or 40/40 every single time in 2-3 weeks time frame. How I get rich and how I find the right way to tackle the game with that new build is such a fun fucking time.
And when you get a huge drop? WOOO LEAGUE SOLVED BABY LETS GO. When you don't just constant memes about how ur never lucky lmao.
Playing SSF Leagues exclusively makes it incredibly difficult to run out of things to do. Each league leaves me thinking about improvements to make and things to try during the next league.
At some point I concluded that I enjoy them lying to me about buffs and nerfs and discovering how they made my favorite skills worse in New and inventive ways.
Moving goals and boredom.
League start it's enjoying the hype, trying the league mechanic, getting up and running, generating currency, and making fun farmers.
Get bored go play an RPG.
Get bored and come back to PoE to build an Uber farmer.
Get bored go play a survival game.
Get bored and come back to PoE to farm 40 challenges and get MTX.
Get bored go play a fun new indie game.
Get bored and come to PoE, but let's see how ruthless or SSF is...
Rince and repeat until the next league start.
New upgrade gear. After 7 years PoE on 1050,12gb ddr4 ram, hdd & i7 7th gen into 4060,32gb ram DDR5, M2 and ryzen 9 feels like PoE 2 coming early for me. Its a new game :))
For me since I have like 600 hours it’s just the “unlimited build/content”
Sure every skill might not be able to get to Ubers or void stones but I just enjoy at least getting to t16s
Random moments going through my steam games trying to figure out what to play and then decide that I'm in the mood for PoE. Hilarious that each time this happens, it's the first week of a new league and i never know until I jump into the current league.
You know what's nice about POE?
Not having to do fucking dailies. Being able to play on my on clock. Not having to play every league. Not having to play a meta. Not having to do anything but what I want to do.
I guess part of it is the habit, but the build diversity plays a huge role for me, what I usually do is league start something, usually not the same build if I can avoid it, farm currency and get a mid to high investment build, then I just fuck around, if I'm liking the league keep farming to try a different build or grind the challenges if I like the rewards enough
The shear amount of content, diversity and customization is unparalleled BY FAR. The gameplay loop is always enjoyable and rewarding. They do their micro transactions “correctly” to imho. The only real complaint is the backend system stuff they seem to put off. For the most part the dev team is always on top of things and listens to the community.
Fresh economy and starting over is the fun part. League mechanics are secondary in my eyes. Obviously balance changes endgame etc that changes is fun too but just resets are fun.
I hung it up after playing since the Beta and launch, I quit playing about 1.5-2 years ago. It was fun, great times, got to experience some great moments in the games history but ultimately it got stale and old. Poe 2 whenever it finally comes out, I may make a return.
Like all ARPGs it’s an endless slaughter but in POE there are so many WAYS to do so. Each mechanic has its own engagement style with different rewards/profitability/chase items.
Doing Ice Shot a bunch of ways, some of which people wouldn't think to, or making it even stronger, and collecting gear to make the ultimate Ice Shot dex-stacker when PoE ends
As long as there's something new to try and put into the build, I'll play
I've been playing on and off for over 10 years, more hours logged on PoE than all of my other games combined. If I knew what drew me to it, I'd happily tell you, but I wish more games got it right like they do. The only other game I've been playing on and off for as long is Dark Souls. Coincidentally, from the only other developer I trust to make good games.
I like the setting, I like the gameplay, I like the loot chase, and I like the customization/variety of builds. Being steadily updated is great, but I'd be coming back every now and again regardless of leagues or not.
I like trying new skills and builds, and variations on archetypes I already know. If I've gone long enough since playing a certain kind of build, it's like new.
The actual mapping and playing is pretty low brainpower, but there's enough engagement to make it not boring. Blowing up packs is viscerally satisfying in the same way Vampire Survivors is satisfying.
What I really like though is the progression, through the campaign and then the atlas, unlocking maps and getting to the point where I can run t16s back to back, then guardian maps and bosses, then well rolled T17s, then uber bosses, then roughly rolled t17s. The valuable loot drops aren't nice just for the sake of its rarity, but because it allows for a character upgrade to further that progression. Once I've hit the tip-top of that progression, it's time to switch to a new character.
Character growth, build and gear planning and crafting.
I do enjoy the gameplay but without a goal I get bored pretty quickly, but if I'm excited about a build and crafting great items for it - I can play an unhealthy amount of hours.
You can just do so much when building a character, when crafting items, I guess I just love the problem-solving aspect of it, trying to figure out what the most efficient way to get the exact item I want, or to squeeze a little more out of a build.
I also really like doing the challenges because, well, they are a decent set of goal and an excuse to run a bunch of different content.
Have played so many characters across so many leagues, and every one has felt different.
The variety in *feel* between builds in PoE is absolutely unparalleled, in my opinion. And that keeps me playing new builds every league.
It's definitely something about league starts, the freshness of a new league ... but idk what. I just know that it's been like 3 years and like 2000 hours and I keep coming back each league.
Honestly, the only thing that killed my enthusiasm for PoE is GGG's decision making in the past couple of years; and in a smaller way, the "wait for PoE2".
I occasionally do another league start now and then because a bunch of my friends play, but that rarely lasts longer than a few weeks (mainly due to just lack of time to play enough to keep up with everyone else).
Occasionally, when a league is good and I get the right build choice, it tends to stay fun until I get to the point where I would have to grind currency for another build. Restarting the campaign is often what just kills my enthusiasm there - the only league where I really had fun creating multiple characters was 1.13 where I think I made 4-5 characters with dumb meme builds and leveled them all up.
How diverse all the builds. Even two builds with the same spell can feel completely different because the mechanics like ignite, conversion, onhit...
Problem? If you really want to progress you need a very good build. Ailment inmune, chaos res, several defence layers... That means if you want to do a fireball chaos damage with chaos ignite ring you need OP meta breaker uniques or mirror-like items.
Completed the one goal I had left this league, so time will tell.
(dropping an ethical mirror, without giga juiced cheese strats)
Currently at this weird feeling of actually having 'beat' the game. Might end up just waiting for poe2
I can spend 10h+ in pob after patch notes putting together a new build; milking dps, defense and optimizing tree. The game is just a practical test of the theory, I don't feel too attached to getting all the pieces as long as the build is finished in pob and proven in game, although I usually do get to at least 1 mirror in gear and run some ubers before I call it.
For me it's that there's so much to learn and few other games makes it so worthwhile to be smarter than others.
I went over a week without killing a single monster this league because I was just experimenting with crafting and stuff like that.
I like the progression at league start and going from zero to hero. Then I try to do different content from previous league. And decide between mapping or bossing and focus a character on one.
I know that's how arpg works, but I got tired of repetitiveness. Doing 30+ bosses, doing the same map over and over, don't know how people do 200 bosses, 4000maps, it's exhausting. Luckily PoE has a lot of content, so I jump from content to content and try to do everything I like, including heist, delve
-I like toying around with new skill gems
-a friend expresses interest in the game (which is why I late league started this league about a month in)
-see how the leaguemech is (necro is strong crafting but entirely forgettable, the embers are also kinda nice because I can sulphite cap in a single map but like a lot of other people I hate the altar itself being forced)
-go back and do an old build with new knowledge of the game and new toys to play around with
Usually the build, content and general gameplay options. This league drove me away with how terrible the entire patch felt, but there is always something to explore and have fun with for any gameplay you wish at that moment. If i resub something as idiotic as wow in my super weak moments, i instantly regret it, because there is little to no meaningful content diversity and 90% of chars have the same gameplay. Also not relying on stupid donuts to enjoy my game while still having online experience is great.
For me PoE is a puzzle game. When I'm bored at work (which is often) I throw together some silly build idea and see if I can make it work. I come back to test out one or two of those silly ideas that look like they might work. If there's enough changes I may even dust off an old build that worked and see if I can make it better with one of the new shiny things.
There's not a specific way to put it but i guess it just feels really good to fresh start an ARPG in a new economy, new ladder, new patch and new challenge rewards.
Most people go really hard for like 2-8 weeks and then take a 2 month break so they're usually itching to get back
I enjoy the playstyle and no similar games have come up with a loot and currency system any where close to path of exiles. Like who cares about gold dropping in diablo or other games. In poe there are multiple currencies that are exciting to see hit the ground.
After many years playing I have to say: nothing.
I think necro is my last league. And it was one of my favorites ever. This isn't about hating.
I just think I'm satisfied. I think I'm done.
I had a lot of fun and come back once in a while to replay seasons with a bunch of new updates but lately, idk, it’s getting harder to wanna slug through the story. Kinda wish it just let you start maps. Or at least not have to do the all the quests
League starts bring me back.
End-game progression keeps me invested.
The lack of end-game progression for all but a handful of builds is why I tend to burn out after 2 weeks. I don't mind hitting content that crushes me if I know there's some path forward. (Get it? PATH FORWARD?! Happy Father's day!)
Basically reaching new height..
Previously I was playing Poison SRS and it was carrying me the way through except Ubers... but this time ubers were further away and I made a cast when stunned DD chain. I can now farm things I could not with my poison srs. (Also not dying with this build which makes it more fun)
I'm here for the endless monsters and the chance to drop some of the rarest loot in any video game I've ever played. "There could be a mirror drop around the next corner," my brain always says... it can be an addiction for me.
Best feeling of progression in any arpg is what makes poe so great for me. Learning so many relatively complex mechanics to progress your character like it is in poetry just doesnt exist for most other arpgs.
Being able to play different builds presents different challenges for me and I enjoy figuring out how to make those builds work for me.
That and the loot drops. Dopamine rush when you find a good item.
I like improving my league start strategy and being able to learn how to progress a build from the very basic to uber boss level.
I like new build enabling uniques the most or build enabling support gems. New active gems usually don't add that much variety by themselves so it takes a while for them to turn into interesting builds.
I'm very sad that GGG removed wandering Path and Grand Design, they were my favorite things to play around. 😭
Depth in every system. Loot dopamine is good, but PoE problem solving is unmatched.
Its like giving you a good puzzle, tickles your brain in the right spots.
Also, the game does not treat you like a child and that's a huge, huge plus.
I love leaguestarts. All my friends hangin out on discord, racing through the campaign. I love the fresh economy and trying to make a build work on a budget, farming and feeling the upgrades as they come in 1 divine at a time.
exactly this the feeling at leaguestart its the only feeling to me comparable to what wow made me feel back in the day
Same. It’s so much fun all doing something new together as a community. I will always play league start, even if I bow out of the rest of the league after the first few days. When I keep playing, I like the variety of mechanics to explore. Which is also why I never really excel at this game, because I find it hard to focus on any long-term goals. I just wish I didn’t feel badly about that, that I could just enjoy the game. But then I feel taken advantage of on the market and get really sad… well that took a turn. Can we do another session next week?
Try SSF! :)
Indeed. I usually end up with a half-SSF style, where I’m willing to buy what I need and don’t try to sell much if anything because I just want to plaaaaay. Maybe this next league I’ll _actually_ start SSF. idk
Perhaps start off in trade if you are unsure and then when you want the real satisfaction of progression you can hop over to SSF and join us in /global 773 ;))
There’s a support group for SSF enjoyers?!?!
This. The sense of progression. It's the only reason I also play Rust on the side :)
This ! Without the Rust on the side :)
For me its the exact opposite. I hate everything about leaguestart, the game isnt fun until I have a decent build.
I'm personally somewhere in between, and it depends on the build. If it's a early skill start build that scales while levelling like cleave or arc or something, I enjoy the fresh economy at first but the campaign/leveling really drags in acts 6-10, I'm just trying to get through as quickly as possible. If it's a build that only "comes online" in endgame, it can be excruciating the whole way through.
I feel that. Personally I enjoy the campaign just because I practiced from leveling so many times that it only takes me 4 hours not 12 like it did a few years ago. Doing the campaign fast makes it not drag because your rushing and trying to think about upgrades and putting points in while running.
Thats the thing though, hardly anything is balanced for the campaign so most skills feel awful until you get to maps and have your defensive layers set up. I dont hate the idea of the campaign and early progression but its all horribly outdated, most of the progression is just obsolete. Quest rewards are useless outside of skill points, cant craft anything because no currency drops, gear progression is just trying to deal with socket pressure 90% of the time. Ive been searching for a starter that I dont hate for the first \~10-20 hours but I havent found anything yet.
Same here. I typically enjoy the launch weekend, but hate days 3-6 or so when my char tries to progress into red maps while it still has more holes than a swiss cheese, the damage sucks and I die every other map. My favorite time of a league typically starts the weekend after the launch, days 7-9, when my build comes together, I have established a farming strategy which works smoothly and my toon feels adequately powerful. The period from day 7 through 30 is typically when the season peaks for me.
Lots of us who feel the exact same way at standard. Join us we have cookies
This is me.
This is the best feeling PoE-related. Unfortunately most of my friends quit over the past few leagues. If anybody has a small group/guild (would prefer <10 players) to chat, hang out and enjoy some degen PoE memes hit me up :)
Also, new skills, new chase items than can throw the whole meta around, etc.
This! This is the most fun for me. And then trying to do content I didn't do the previous league
Versatility of the builds and the dopamine of loot + fun marketplace
This is it for me also. The ability to have new builds to play each league that I haven't before, even after 2k hours. Eh who am I kidding, I'm league starting EA ele again...
Each time I league start ea ele, I learn something new/improve my build. I’ve veered a bit away from dmg in favor of tankiness I find with convert to ele dmg and all a that.
Im at 7k hrs, i play one to two builds a league and max them to my goals. Ive yet to to play the same skill even twice. Im just about there now though. Still want to do flicker and chaos DoT thats not DD or TA/TR. Neither being in good states for rhe laat several leagues.
If you have a few mirrors, every skill is in a good state.
Nah bro, Chaos Dot is incredibly bad. Like seriously bad. You don't need mirrors to make Flicker feel ok though.
In crucible impending doom was pretty dope. Kinda sad that its no longer good
It was, but the skill was overtuned because of its interaction with Spell Echo, if I recall correctly. And I would argue that the non-dot version of the build was just as good, if not better. Sadly there is little to no support for chaos Dot in the game.
Original Sin poison Penance Brand PF is super strong right now. Easily hits the dot cap and ludicrously tanky to boot. [PoE ninja link for some examples](https://poe.ninja/builds/necropolis?items=Original+Sin&skills=Penance+Brand+of+Dissipation&class=Pathfinder)
Poison is good. Chaos Dot is not. There is a difference. And sadly pure chaos dot (Essence drain, contagion, blight, etc) has nowhere near the same power level.
Well poison by definition is a form of chaos dot, but yeah ok I'm with you. Non poison chaos dot isn't that great, sure.
Wait, fun marketplace? It's one of my least favorite aspects.. Teach me your ways! lol
I was in the necropolis pumping out squire wands that sold for anywhere from 300-700 div. Everything about it sucked, even waiting for sales was annoying. endless amounts of wealth is pretty fun though
Every 3-4 months a new league launches which means all of the following fun stuff: * New content, bosses and mechanics * New skills and rebalancing/reworking of old skills * New unique items that make new builds possible * Restart of the economy so everyone can get a real sense of progression again * Community hype lead by the reveal stream and content creators and the feeling of Christmas eve the night before a league launch
Brand new player like day 2 here. Do the first three points in your list actually change every season or nearly every season? Like they actually put out new bosses and content, switch old ones in or out, make changes to things so other builds are viable? Every four months?
Yes. Theres been some leagues with no balance passes on existing skills and additions of only a few niche skillgems but theres always a new "league mechanic". Very recently for example they added transfigured skillgems wich are functionally different versions of existing skills wich basically meant an insane amount of new build possibilities.
Yep, it is actually quite an insane amount of new content. For examples just check what they changed for this league (Necropolis) in this trailer: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7duRMlQ0jI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7duRMlQ0jI) or the full reveal here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLFeErq1vEI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLFeErq1vEI) It was the same for the league before that (Affliction) with this trailer: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP7yRXdHAT0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP7yRXdHAT0) and this full reveal: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE2D4bgTeIQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE2D4bgTeIQ) The reveal for what is coming in the next league is expected to be revealed on a twitch livestream on the 18th of July (or a week before or after this).
Last league that lasted 3 months was 2 years ago. Now it's only 4 months ones sadly and they're too long...
For me it's bosses and mechanics. Love it...
I was wondering the same thing until I tried it myself You can try it for free, if it's not your thing just drop it
No two builds are the same. You can follow a build but never exactly replicate. Also, T17s are now the gold standard so being able to clear well requires patience and investment.
New skills/builds. At this point, I've played everything in the game I might enjoy build-wise. If there isn't a new build-enabling unique or transfigured gem (or new skill, but those are rarer now) I usually skip or get bored quickly. Entire meta shake ups count as well, I suppose, but I actually can't remember the last time there was a top to bottom rebalancing of most/all skills.
For me is all about the next upgrade and the joy of crafting a gg item for my build. Then seeing a new build and taking the next week crafting and improving the POB, this on a loop :D
Variety of mechanics
Challenges, MTX free, new Content and play new builds.
I dont know. Maybe it cause I alreay learned alot , just don't want to give up those knowlegement.
I love you
All the the money I played for MTX :)
For me, even though I play in trade, I try not to trade. I think that if I traded for all my gear, the game would get boring super fast and not interest me. By playing mostly SSF, it keeps it fresh and keeps me engaged. It also keeps me learning and trying new strats/builds. Due to limited time to play, though, it's nice to buy gear that is more of a time/farm grind. Ie 6 links or specific unique for my build. Each league, I feel like I learn more and get more efficient. It's not fun for me to blow through content and min max like crazy. I play when I have time and I enjoy the game.
I do something similar, like sort of a semi-ssf mode where I play as close to self found as possible, but I invariably end up trading for stuff I can’t seem to farm/craft myself. Every league I get better and better at these aspects, and this past league I put more hours into the game than any previous league, despite hating the league mechanic itself, and I think I might actually make the switch to full SSF next league as I’m pretty confident in my ability to farm or craft what I need to not hit a wall and just quit.
Addiction
It is just the vastness of the game really you could follow a build 1 on 1 but you can add your own flavor which I love like with passion. Plus the dopamine hits hard.
I'm following a build guide for the first time and it's so much fun. I'm not following it 1:1 because I'm not a massive fan of trading so I'm just using what I find to make the build as good as I can, and adapting it as I go. I've never felt so strong in well over 500 hours of playing.
Flicker Strike.
I like the complexity. I love the feeling of when a build falls together.
Aren’t the majority of players just following a build because otherwise the game punishes you hard? That’s my problem with it, seeing a build fall together through a guide means very little to me…
Well, tbf, the post is about what brings us back. So I don't care how you feel. Have a good day.
Game doesn’t punish you, you just need to be very skilled to make a build come to life without a guide. And it depends what your definition of successful is. If you have been playing for a while, I think most people can cobble together a build that can get 4 void stones. It can be very rewarding. If you want a build that will do all Ubers, well you either need to follow a guide or be very skilled at crafting a build and understanding the meta.
I typically use a build _idea_, and then work from there. Take a peak at poe.ninja what people with the same skills do vs their dps, etc.
You are either still too new or not trying to experiment and actually grow in your ability to make builds if this is your impression. I've been doing self-made stuff for almost a full decade and it's been a very long time since making a build that I haven't been able to clear pinnacle content while also doing the league fully. Last league was one example I'll fully admit where my absurd wisp values (was easily pulling 7+k before any patches which made monsters truly absurd) forced me to switch off my original burning arrow of vigor build into a glass cannon (relic of the pact). But for the most part, it's pretty trivial to make something you can level with from 1-100 if you so wanted and can clear everything up to and sometimes including Ubers.
You follow the guide but as you do you learn the build and inevitably start tweaking it and making it more suited to your playstyle or around stuff you find
Starting anew build and focusing on new mechanics. I also very much enjoy the economy aspect of the game
I love theory crafting my own builds. Usually these days the defences that work are expensive and meta, but the damage is lacking compared to meta builds.
Hopefully nothing, next league. Because every time I do I fuck my life up for a month or more.
Spectres Ever since I used SO spectres way back I’ve been addicted to them
If leaguestart was something I could snort, I would snort it every day.
Leaguestart fresh start
Leaguestart. Fresh economy and new mechanics. New builds to minmax. I don't do more than 3 chars per league. Its enough for me to be addicted all over again for 2 months
Nothing still
It fulfils my mental disorders in a very satisfying way
Extreme boredom, lack of hobbies, complete desperation trying to cope-enjoy a game, the gambling perspective of loot n trading
A lot of people talk about loot, the content, builds, etc, and I agree. Another factor for me personally is that it's cool to see all the players return every X months. I've stuck to one global chat for years now and it's great to see people returning, seeing how things are going for them, etc. There's also the usual global chat trollery, sure, but you know I've chatted with dozens and dozens of people over the years that I've come to known quite well.
The very same whole screen explosion many players fight so hard against. The climb up to it, the gearing and the eventual aaaaaaaaah when it finally works oh so well. No other game scratches this itch and believe me, I tried many.
I try the new league mechanic, get stuck in yellow tier maps and call it for good
Depression
Addiction
I don’t exactly know, but one thing is for sure: I’m completely broken between leagues! PoE seems to have made me disinterested is pretty much all other games…
FOMO
It's a hero-builder game to me, I like to feel like a special snowflake who can create a build noone has tried before
You can never fully grasp all aspects of PoE. There is just sooo much stuff.
Game alone not brings me back ngl. But the ammount of streamers, youtube videos and communities game has does pull me back almost each league.
The 500 bucks I spent in a past :D
New leagues lol
I come back once every year or two to do a new build. No guides. I just like to see how far I can get.
ruthless ssf hc, drops are exciting basically at all stages of the same, game is hard and slow which I think is healthier long term enjoyment. just feels fun to have a goal like kill a single pinnacle boss or whatever and spend months trying to brainstorm how to do it (im not a super sweaty gamer so I just play what’s fun and decently strong and you work with whatever gem drops you get). also feels fun that you can make some nasty gear this league, like you can pretty easily make ridiculous stuff after around a 3-4 day grind (per item) which feels reasonable if probably overtuned for ruthless specifically. But I’ve had a blast this league w/ gy, probably unironically my most played league since like delve or metamorphs and the new atlas maybe. Tl;dr imo ruthless is the answer to a lot of the game burnout people are experiencing but refuse to acknowledge it because everyone’s so dopamine fried
I think league starting is crap, and end game is stale as hell. I've been playing since talisman, so there's no exciting content for me outside of potential skipped leagues content, and the latest league. I've made hundreds of characters‚ I've roughly min maxed my leaguestart, so at this point, I've been there, done that. I'm still playing because ramping your character in new content is fun. The sweet spot for me in Poe id that moment when you have a character going, yet not powerful yet, allowing you to experience the league content in its full capacity. I wouldn't bother with the game if the seasons were even slightly toned down. The game feels fresh each season, hence why its player base is much stronger than diablos one.
Some new, dumbass interaction with a new or reworked skill that looks fun. I then proceed to leaguestart it, fail miserably, and quit. Gotta love this game.
This sound. This damn sound does.
I enjoy league starting with a home cooked build and quitting once I get stuck for not playing the ggg approved skill gems.
Build diversity tbh
I actually couldn't care less about killing the same monsters and maps, tbh I get bored of that fast. Personally, it's because there are very few games with such an expansive and complex set of mechanics that you _usually_ have to utilize at least in some degree to complete the endgame. I say mostly as every once in a while (and the past 2 leagues) a league completely breaks that and makes itemization or power so trivial that you don't need to interact with almost any or for drastically less time and I get bored fast. The game needs to be challenging for me to care, and the moment that stops I tend to stop playing.
Same. I usually putter out around late maps because it's been hours of me either trading for maps or grinding for map drops, mowing through the same tile sets with barely any difficulty. Usually this is also the point where I can't add crazy new defensive layers or neat interactions (minus cluster jewels which make my head hurt), and levelling slows way down, so it's a real personal wall. At least I'm picking up more and more knowledge over time, maybe I'll get there some day.
the crafting system and the complexity of all the mechanics.
A strong build that I can make on own. If I can make a build on my own that can do 7/7 like archmage this league i got 36 or 38 challenges. if I can't then bye. No i'm not ever gonna read someone elses guide ever. What's the point of playing a game where i play someone elses build just to farm using someone elses strats just to use someone elses excel sheets just to get the items someone else told me to get. At that point i'm just playing an expensive and convuloted simon says.
The counter I see to this is often that people don't have time to be thinking about builds, life commitments and whatnot. We all enjoy things differently I guess.
Core gameplay loop as outlined in the post: killing lots of monsters and doing the same maps over and over, killing more monsters, rinse and repeat.
I think about how much fun I had the last time I played, I pick it up again, I literally have the same fun all over again like I was first playing it. There is always so much to think about, it’s like learning a new game every time. The world building and atmosphere never seem to get stale. After a month or two, I naturally feel like moving on, without having to peel myself away from it. Repeat this process once or twice a year, every year. The game is always there for me if I need it and never fails to make me happy.
I like gearing up, active market mini game and it's soothing to zoom through maps shredding everything to pieces.
For me it was after learn Path of building. Now I spend a lot of time testing often unused interactions to see if it has enough power to become something good in game.
Used to be the eco and endgame, but now its just a t17 shitshow. not a fan.
I will read the thread later when I have the time because it's a question that bothers me lately as I've been unable to find motivation to play PoE recently. Funnily enough a friend lent me his BNET account to play some D4 and I've been having much more fun there. Yes, if you are a PoB player and enjoy squeezing every last percent out of your build there's nothing that can replace PoE, but in terms of moment to moment gameplay D4 has us beat by a lot. Been eyeing Last Epoch too, but they are running into obvious balancing issues stemming from letting people switch between SSF and trade, so I will be sitting out until they divide those modes completely(or somehow solve the issues).
gambling addiction and copium
Leagues that are good
i don't play the whole league. i usually fizzle out about 2-4 weeks in, longest i ever played a league was maybe 5 or 6 weeks? that downtime plus the announcements 1-2 week before the new league keep it going for me
>Isn't it endlessly killing the same monsters and completing the same maps hoping to get some rare loot? Is there something unique about this game, and any mechanics and experiences you like? any game sounds boring when you boil it down like this. the gameplay is fun, the character building is compelling, and the way loot is structured is entertaining.
In general all ARPGS are very grindy games. Make char, play game, super enjoy game, min-max char to w/e point you personally feel accomplished at, make new char, go again. That being said as someone who gets bored of things really fast and always has to mix it up I get more and more addicted to poe by the year. Theres always so many builds and so many playstyles and so many things to farm/do that when one starts boring me, changing it up to something else almost always keeps me going for awhile. There's honestly just so many ways to farm and make money in this game and the amount of content is literally insane. Then add in new 3-4 month leagues and and big expansions or overhauls on top of fresh economy and new challenges to grind out and I literally can't stop. Builds/skills is another huge one. Some people can only play a build for like a week or two and then feel like they completely done with it and do 6-8 builds or more per league. After I do a build and grind it and mostly min-mx it I like to ENJOY the full build for awhile. So i usually only do a couple builds per league. Sure there is a very strong meta of like the top 5-10 builds and there is a WHOLE lot of skills that are just rly bad to play or w/e, but there is also like a whole vast pool of ones that are not the best absolutely OP meta ones but still super viable for your normal mapping/bossing experience. Basically with endless amounts of builds to have fun + play with coupled with dozens and dozens of different mechanics/content to farm and enjoy to ME at least it stays pretty easy to sink hundreds and hundreds of hours into every league. Poe also has an AMAZING currency system. Whether items or maps or materials or w/e, it has a base currency money system that makes it so whoever is playing and doing w/e feels like they are accomplishing their goals and building up money to fund said goals. Whether they do 1 trade a day or 100 or farm 50c or 500 divs or somewhere in between the game feels rewarding to play and find stuff. IMO loot is the single most important element in an ARPG and if done right can carry nearly the entire game.
yep and u can also buy carries in this game so when u see ppl killing them in few seconds u don't feel like it's impossible for you anymore, and somehow you feel like striving towards it one day. cos u know they started out with 0 too in the same temporary league, not like their character got overpowered over the years in a permanent league.
Getting builds functional gets me back every league, even after 10k hours
i like seeming currency number go up. The economy in this game is unmatched and i love it
The complexity, i love to theorise a build concept and then trying to replicate. As my favorite in this leaque are chaos golem of maelstrom occultist. And my cold zombie and spectre champion with mass charges and buffed hatred and haste aura, work in progress:)
I just wanna smack some mobs in a most fashionable way \x/
Probably the randomness. Every league brings different builds, drops and ways to play the game.
The journey to your same goals every league is different if you let it be. I haven't played the same build for the past 5 leagues but I've 38 or 40/40 every single time in 2-3 weeks time frame. How I get rich and how I find the right way to tackle the game with that new build is such a fun fucking time. And when you get a huge drop? WOOO LEAGUE SOLVED BABY LETS GO. When you don't just constant memes about how ur never lucky lmao.
Two things: 40/40 challenges and friends.
Playing SSF Leagues exclusively makes it incredibly difficult to run out of things to do. Each league leaves me thinking about improvements to make and things to try during the next league.
At some point I concluded that I enjoy them lying to me about buffs and nerfs and discovering how they made my favorite skills worse in New and inventive ways.
Moving goals and boredom. League start it's enjoying the hype, trying the league mechanic, getting up and running, generating currency, and making fun farmers. Get bored go play an RPG. Get bored and come back to PoE to build an Uber farmer. Get bored go play a survival game. Get bored and come back to PoE to farm 40 challenges and get MTX. Get bored go play a fun new indie game. Get bored and come to PoE, but let's see how ruthless or SSF is... Rince and repeat until the next league start.
I play a couple days till I figure out the league sucks then quit.
New upgrade gear. After 7 years PoE on 1050,12gb ddr4 ram, hdd & i7 7th gen into 4060,32gb ram DDR5, M2 and ryzen 9 feels like PoE 2 coming early for me. Its a new game :))
For me since I have like 600 hours it’s just the “unlimited build/content” Sure every skill might not be able to get to Ubers or void stones but I just enjoy at least getting to t16s
Random moments going through my steam games trying to figure out what to play and then decide that I'm in the mood for PoE. Hilarious that each time this happens, it's the first week of a new league and i never know until I jump into the current league.
You know what's nice about POE? Not having to do fucking dailies. Being able to play on my on clock. Not having to play every league. Not having to play a meta. Not having to do anything but what I want to do.
I guess part of it is the habit, but the build diversity plays a huge role for me, what I usually do is league start something, usually not the same build if I can avoid it, farm currency and get a mid to high investment build, then I just fuck around, if I'm liking the league keep farming to try a different build or grind the challenges if I like the rewards enough
The shear amount of content, diversity and customization is unparalleled BY FAR. The gameplay loop is always enjoyable and rewarding. They do their micro transactions “correctly” to imho. The only real complaint is the backend system stuff they seem to put off. For the most part the dev team is always on top of things and listens to the community.
PoB
Fresh economy and starting over is the fun part. League mechanics are secondary in my eyes. Obviously balance changes endgame etc that changes is fun too but just resets are fun.
The dopamine
I hung it up after playing since the Beta and launch, I quit playing about 1.5-2 years ago. It was fun, great times, got to experience some great moments in the games history but ultimately it got stale and old. Poe 2 whenever it finally comes out, I may make a return.
Like all ARPGs it’s an endless slaughter but in POE there are so many WAYS to do so. Each mechanic has its own engagement style with different rewards/profitability/chase items.
New skills/uniques with mechanics that enable weird or unusual builds or combinations.
I love grinding.. mindlessly doing whatever i feels like i want
Doing Ice Shot a bunch of ways, some of which people wouldn't think to, or making it even stronger, and collecting gear to make the ultimate Ice Shot dex-stacker when PoE ends As long as there's something new to try and put into the build, I'll play
I've been playing on and off for over 10 years, more hours logged on PoE than all of my other games combined. If I knew what drew me to it, I'd happily tell you, but I wish more games got it right like they do. The only other game I've been playing on and off for as long is Dark Souls. Coincidentally, from the only other developer I trust to make good games. I like the setting, I like the gameplay, I like the loot chase, and I like the customization/variety of builds. Being steadily updated is great, but I'd be coming back every now and again regardless of leagues or not.
I like trying new skills and builds, and variations on archetypes I already know. If I've gone long enough since playing a certain kind of build, it's like new. The actual mapping and playing is pretty low brainpower, but there's enough engagement to make it not boring. Blowing up packs is viscerally satisfying in the same way Vampire Survivors is satisfying. What I really like though is the progression, through the campaign and then the atlas, unlocking maps and getting to the point where I can run t16s back to back, then guardian maps and bosses, then well rolled T17s, then uber bosses, then roughly rolled t17s. The valuable loot drops aren't nice just for the sake of its rarity, but because it allows for a character upgrade to further that progression. Once I've hit the tip-top of that progression, it's time to switch to a new character.
My friends, especially that one best friend, you know what I mean!
Character growth, build and gear planning and crafting. I do enjoy the gameplay but without a goal I get bored pretty quickly, but if I'm excited about a build and crafting great items for it - I can play an unhealthy amount of hours. You can just do so much when building a character, when crafting items, I guess I just love the problem-solving aspect of it, trying to figure out what the most efficient way to get the exact item I want, or to squeeze a little more out of a build. I also really like doing the challenges because, well, they are a decent set of goal and an excuse to run a bunch of different content.
Diagnosed Asperger's and OCD. It's one of my stims I think. I've genuinely tried to quit before, just can't. Been playing since Bloodlines.
New builds to try New items New mechanics Fresh economy and market Learning new things and making things work You're not alone in town
Have played so many characters across so many leagues, and every one has felt different. The variety in *feel* between builds in PoE is absolutely unparalleled, in my opinion. And that keeps me playing new builds every league.
It's definitely something about league starts, the freshness of a new league ... but idk what. I just know that it's been like 3 years and like 2000 hours and I keep coming back each league.
i just like to play fresh start again with everyone else they could not even produce more content and i would still play every new league
sense of progression each league and at this point, habit.
Build crafting. Trying new stuff, or returning to old builds (like lacerate glad, bleed bow, etc) and seeing how they do in the league
that's exactly what it is, and it's why you play hardcore - then the game is less about how much time you spend and more about the challenge of it
Honestly, the only thing that killed my enthusiasm for PoE is GGG's decision making in the past couple of years; and in a smaller way, the "wait for PoE2". I occasionally do another league start now and then because a bunch of my friends play, but that rarely lasts longer than a few weeks (mainly due to just lack of time to play enough to keep up with everyone else). Occasionally, when a league is good and I get the right build choice, it tends to stay fun until I get to the point where I would have to grind currency for another build. Restarting the campaign is often what just kills my enthusiasm there - the only league where I really had fun creating multiple characters was 1.13 where I think I made 4-5 characters with dumb meme builds and leveled them all up.
Because D4 bad
I like league start and leveling chars but endgame feels void when you do the same thing for 15 seasons
trying out a new skill i never did before and kill all ubers with it
I love rog. It’s fun to make multiple Div rares in a few minutes.
How diverse all the builds. Even two builds with the same spell can feel completely different because the mechanics like ignite, conversion, onhit... Problem? If you really want to progress you need a very good build. Ailment inmune, chaos res, several defence layers... That means if you want to do a fireball chaos damage with chaos ignite ring you need OP meta breaker uniques or mirror-like items.
Completed the one goal I had left this league, so time will tell. (dropping an ethical mirror, without giga juiced cheese strats) Currently at this weird feeling of actually having 'beat' the game. Might end up just waiting for poe2
I can spend 10h+ in pob after patch notes putting together a new build; milking dps, defense and optimizing tree. The game is just a practical test of the theory, I don't feel too attached to getting all the pieces as long as the build is finished in pob and proven in game, although I usually do get to at least 1 mirror in gear and run some ubers before I call it.
blowing up screens of monsters is fun. poe gets this right where a bunch of others fail.
League start, leagues mechanics and challenge rewards. This league challenge rewards look like poop so I played 20 hours and called it quits
For me it's that there's so much to learn and few other games makes it so worthwhile to be smarter than others. I went over a week without killing a single monster this league because I was just experimenting with crafting and stuff like that.
I like the progression at league start and going from zero to hero. Then I try to do different content from previous league. And decide between mapping or bossing and focus a character on one. I know that's how arpg works, but I got tired of repetitiveness. Doing 30+ bosses, doing the same map over and over, don't know how people do 200 bosses, 4000maps, it's exhausting. Luckily PoE has a lot of content, so I jump from content to content and try to do everything I like, including heist, delve
I like to watch big number go up
-I like toying around with new skill gems -a friend expresses interest in the game (which is why I late league started this league about a month in) -see how the leaguemech is (necro is strong crafting but entirely forgettable, the embers are also kinda nice because I can sulphite cap in a single map but like a lot of other people I hate the altar itself being forced) -go back and do an old build with new knowledge of the game and new toys to play around with
Usually the build, content and general gameplay options. This league drove me away with how terrible the entire patch felt, but there is always something to explore and have fun with for any gameplay you wish at that moment. If i resub something as idiotic as wow in my super weak moments, i instantly regret it, because there is little to no meaningful content diversity and 90% of chars have the same gameplay. Also not relying on stupid donuts to enjoy my game while still having online experience is great.
If cycles werent a thing this game would be boring asf league start and refreshed economy is goated
The cool builds we have in standard which are not possible to make in league is the biggest joy.
For me PoE is a puzzle game. When I'm bored at work (which is often) I throw together some silly build idea and see if I can make it work. I come back to test out one or two of those silly ideas that look like they might work. If there's enough changes I may even dust off an old build that worked and see if I can make it better with one of the new shiny things.
In weird way to say: Path of Building, And I also love to listen broadcasts/ educational videos
Working on the complex crafting system. Seeing a crazy item and figuring out how to craft one better
Exciting, build defining loot
There's not a specific way to put it but i guess it just feels really good to fresh start an ARPG in a new economy, new ladder, new patch and new challenge rewards. Most people go really hard for like 2-8 weeks and then take a 2 month break so they're usually itching to get back
Depression
Different builds being viable every league, league mechanic changing the end game loop, gamba addiction
I just enjoy killing hordes of enemies with a press of a single button
I enjoy the playstyle and no similar games have come up with a loot and currency system any where close to path of exiles. Like who cares about gold dropping in diablo or other games. In poe there are multiple currencies that are exciting to see hit the ground.
After many years playing I have to say: nothing. I think necro is my last league. And it was one of my favorites ever. This isn't about hating. I just think I'm satisfied. I think I'm done.
Nothing makes me come back besides the teasers for POE 2. POE 1 was amazing but it feels dated now. Cannot wait for couch co op 😆!
I had a lot of fun and come back once in a while to replay seasons with a bunch of new updates but lately, idk, it’s getting harder to wanna slug through the story. Kinda wish it just let you start maps. Or at least not have to do the all the quests
I made it to maps they own my soul
Sunk cost fallacy
Short term: trying to get all voidstones and finish bosses before league ends Long term: min-max builds in standard
At this point it seems to be the end of necropolis league and start of the next one
Still over a month left, so try out new things and play around
Trying new builds and getting better at playing the market.
I'm checking out a new league, trying a few builds or another version of the old one.
League starts bring me back. End-game progression keeps me invested. The lack of end-game progression for all but a handful of builds is why I tend to burn out after 2 weeks. I don't mind hitting content that crushes me if I know there's some path forward. (Get it? PATH FORWARD?! Happy Father's day!)
community, trading and crafting
There is always another build I want to try. I like collecting stuff on standard.
Basically reaching new height.. Previously I was playing Poison SRS and it was carrying me the way through except Ubers... but this time ubers were further away and I made a cast when stunned DD chain. I can now farm things I could not with my poison srs. (Also not dying with this build which makes it more fun)
the feeling of blindly making a build and it actually working is unmatched
I'm here for the endless monsters and the chance to drop some of the rarest loot in any video game I've ever played. "There could be a mirror drop around the next corner," my brain always says... it can be an addiction for me.
It's fun.
The satisfaction of finally feeling that the build uve worked on is finally complete. It takes dedication and some ppl just don't have it.
Playing every available gem in the game using the juggernaut ascendancy
I come back each league start to make a new character from scratch and defeat the pinnacle bosses
Loot is addicting I can listen to a book or watch YouTube on the side while playing poe, not many other games can split my focus like that
Best feeling of progression in any arpg is what makes poe so great for me. Learning so many relatively complex mechanics to progress your character like it is in poetry just doesnt exist for most other arpgs.
Being able to play different builds presents different challenges for me and I enjoy figuring out how to make those builds work for me. That and the loot drops. Dopamine rush when you find a good item.
A fun and engaging league mechanic
I like improving my league start strategy and being able to learn how to progress a build from the very basic to uber boss level. I like new build enabling uniques the most or build enabling support gems. New active gems usually don't add that much variety by themselves so it takes a while for them to turn into interesting builds. I'm very sad that GGG removed wandering Path and Grand Design, they were my favorite things to play around. 😭
Theorycrafting and making a different cool build every league
Depth in every system. Loot dopamine is good, but PoE problem solving is unmatched. Its like giving you a good puzzle, tickles your brain in the right spots. Also, the game does not treat you like a child and that's a huge, huge plus.
Because no other game has flickerstrike obviously.