Feedback on Path of Exile 2 Co-Op Experience

The co-op experience in Path of Exile 2 has been frustrating, especially in the endgame. While the campaign is fun and feels great to play with friends, co-op in the endgame falls apart and leaves everyone feeling unrewarded. Multiplayer often feels more like a hindrance than a feature, which is disappointing considering how fun it could be.
A major issue is loot distribution in specific mechanics. For breaches, delirium, and ritual, the host gets almost everything, while the non-host players receive very little—or in the case of ritual, nothing at all. It’s frustrating to contribute equally to a fight and walk away with almost no rewards. This makes these mechanics feel completely unrewarding in co-op and discourages party play. For mechanics like breaches and delirium, at least some of the rewards should be shared among the party members, and for ritual, it’s baffling that only the host gets all the rewards. This creates a situation where permanent loot allocation becomes mandatory because on short allocation, you often don’t see who the drops are for before needing to move away due to on-death monster effects. These effects also contribute to the frustration by making you constantly reposition and, in some cases, miss rewards entirely.
Atlas progression is another big issue. While loot in co-op may scale, none of the progression elements like Citadels or Pinnacle Bosses scale for the party. Only the host gets credit for these, which makes co-op progression feel terrible. I understand that some of these choices are likely made to prevent power leveling or cheesing the system, and if there needs to be separate achievements for solo vs. co-op completion, that’s understandable. I’m not asking for the game to be easier or for co-op to become mandatory, but right now, co-op feels punishing. A potential solution could be requiring two fragments or tokens for co-op Pinnacle Bosses, so everyone in the party gets credit. That way, the experience is more rewarding for everyone without making it too easy or exploitable.
Scaling also feels off in co-op. Bosses gain so much HP that fights feel drawn out and tedious, especially with larger groups. My friends and I have largely stopped playing together because of how much more difficult and time-consuming co-op feels compared to solo play. On top of that, co-op introduces so much visual clutter. For example, I played with a friend running a summoner while I was on a Monk build, and I couldn’t see anything on the floor due to the number of minions and effects. I ended up dying repeatedly to mechanics I couldn’t see, losing a ton of XP, and eventually had to stop playing with him. Sitting in the hideout while your friends finish maps feels terrible, but it’s often better than dealing with the frustration of dying over and over because you can’t see what’s happening.
Level scaling is another source of frustration. It’s clear that it’s meant to prevent power leveling and keep things balanced, but it feels overly punishing for the higher-level player. When scaling is turned on, not only does my DPS drop, but my survivability is gutted, and I start dying to trash mobs in lower-level content. For example, when helping a friend in Act 2 Normal, I was dying to basic enemies because the scaling made me too weak. If I turn scaling off, my friend gets no XP, so it feels like there’s no good solution. Scaling shouldn’t completely destroy survivability or cause the higher-level player to feel punished. It’s fine if it reduces DPS slightly, but the current implementation makes co-op feel terrible.
Right now, co-op endgame feels like solo self-found with trade. The scaling, loot distribution, and lack of Atlas progression for non-hosts make it feel like the game is designed to push players into playing solo. I don’t want the game to require co-op or make things easier, but it would be great if playing with friends was as fun and rewarding as playing solo.
Suggestions to Improve Co-Op:
Loot Distribution: Mechanics like breaches, delirium, and ritual should share rewards more evenly among all party members. Ritual especially needs changes so the rewards aren’t exclusive to the host.
Boss Credit: Consider making Pinnacle Bosses cost two fragments or tokens in co-op so all party members can get credit while maintaining balance.
Scaling Adjustments: Rework level scaling to balance DPS without gutting survivability or causing excessive XP loss for the higher-level player.
Visual Clarity: Reduce visual clutter in co-op, especially with builds like summoner, to make floor mechanics and on-death effects easier to see.
Atlas Progression: Scale Atlas progression rewards in co-op so that non-host players can progress their Citadels and other objectives without feeling left behind.
Loot Allocation: Improve loot allocation systems so that players can see who the drops are assigned to, even during hectic fights with heavy repositioning.
I understand that many of these decisions are likely made to prevent power leveling or exploits, and I don’t want co-op to be mandatory or to trivialize the game’s difficulty. But as it stands, co-op feels punishing and far less rewarding than playing solo. It would be amazing if playing with friends felt as good as playing alone, without compromising the balance or integrity of the game.

I agree with the points raised here and will add some of my own.

For the most part, resources are specific to an individual. Health, mana, spirit, etc., obviously. Corpses however, are not. I have been in at least 1 situation where a friend was using grim harvest as his survivability mechanic and I was consuming them as my damage mechanic. As a result, our builds directly countered one another and one of us (me) had to respec into an entirely different build that may or may not work and may or may not be as much fun. This was not a positive experience.

I'll also add that I'd like to see a loot drop option for trusted friends where it days what dropped for who, but active can pick it up. This would be more consistent with the play style of my group.

Yeah, its frustrating. Thanks for reading. I hope GGG will give some attention to the co op experience because Its absolutely terrible currently. I would also like to say i really love the guild stash and guild hideout additions they are amazing features and I hope they have plans to improve the co op experience.