Crossbow Reload vs Infinite Spear Throws - A Design Mismatch That Undermines Combat Balance

I've spent a good amount of time experimenting with different weapon types in Path of Exile 2, and I have to say, there's one design choice that feels fundamentally off, maybe even an oversight:

Crossbows have to reload. Spears don’t. Why?
Let’s break this down:
-Crossbows are locked behind a reload mechanic. This slows down the pacing of your combat, forces you to think and reposition, and adds a very deliberate “stop and breathe” rhythm.
-Meanwhile, Spears can be thrown repeatedly, with no retrieval, no cooldown, no limit. Just pure, uninterrupted spam.
It feels wrong . .

The Problem:
You’ve created a system where one ranged weapon (crossbow) is penalized for the sake of realism and balance . .
But another ranged weapon (thrown spear) completely ignores that same design philosophy.
That creates a disconnect, not just for gameplay, but for your overall combat identity.
You’re essentially telling players:
“We care about weight, reloads, and tactical pacing, except when we don’t.”
And trust me, once a player notices this inconsistency, it rips them out of the experience.

Why This Hurts Combat:
-The reload mechanic on crossbows feels fair until you try spears.
-Then, suddenly, it doesn’t feel like a thoughtful mechanic, it feels like a punishment.
-Why does the high-tech precision weapon have downtime, but a guy lobbing tree trunks doesn't?
This isn't a nitpick. It's a core combat philosophy problem

Two ways to fix this:
-Either remove reloads, so it’s not arbitrarily slowing down one playstyle.
-Or give thrown spears a retrieval mechanic or cooldown, so they play by the same rules.
Consistency is key. When one weapon class plays by different rules with no narrative or mechanical reason, the whole system starts to feel shaky.

Note:
You built a beautiful, weighty, immersive combat system.
But this one mismatch?
It undermines everything you're trying to achieve.

Please reconsider. This isn’t just a balance issue, it’s a design integrity issue.

Bump!

I don't mind some skills needing to reload after you use them or when you change between ammos, but doing that ALL the time feels really bad

So what about bows? Or spells?

The Act 1 situation is that "crossbow shoots immediately, other ranged weapons have wind-up time". But by maps, this disadvantage melts away. The reload disadvantage of crossbows can also be significantly mitigated but it's a big investment.

With thrown spears, the main "stop and breathe" design in Act 1 is the need to generate frenzy charges. By maps, it is very easy to generate charges in alternate ways. Still, it's not a freebie. The exact numbers to get these different weapons to be balanced needs work. I disagree that the mechanic as a whole should be thrown away because the numbers aren't tuned right at this moment.

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Schverika#2698 wrote:

So what about bows? Or spells?

The Act 1 situation is that "crossbow shoots immediately, other ranged weapons have wind-up time". But by maps, this disadvantage melts away. The reload disadvantage of crossbows can also be significantly mitigated but it's a big investment.

With thrown spears, the main "stop and breathe" design in Act 1 is the need to generate frenzy charges. By maps, it is very easy to generate charges in alternate ways. Still, it's not a freebie. The exact numbers to get these different weapons to be balanced needs work. I disagree that the mechanic as a whole should be thrown away because the numbers aren't tuned right at this moment.

You bring up a fair point about bows and spells, but the difference lies in the pacing and mechanics applied to each weapon type. Let’s break it down.

1. Bows and Spells vs. Crossbows:
The wind-up time for bows and spells creates a natural pacing element that feels consistent with the game’s design philosophy. Crossbows, on the other hand, combine this pacing with an additional reload mechanic. This effectively doubles down on the "stop and breathe" concept for crossbows in a way that feels overly restrictive compared to other ranged options.

2. Thrown Spears and Frenzy Charges:
You’re right that frenzy charges add a layer of interaction for thrown spears in Act 1. However, this mechanic becomes trivial to bypass as you progress, making thrown spears feel functionally "free" by the time you reach maps. This is not a minor tuning issue; it’s a structural imbalance where spears have virtually no downtime compared to crossbows, even with investment.

3. Mitigation Through Investment:
You mention that crossbows can mitigate their reload disadvantage with a big investment. While true, this creates a disparity in opportunity cost. Crossbow users have to pour resources into fixing a baseline weakness, while spear users can use their resources to amplify their strengths instead. This skews the playing field heavily in favor of spears, especially in late-game scenarios.

4. Balancing the Numbers:
While I agree that tuning can improve balance, the inconsistency in mechanics is more than just a numbers issue. The disparity between crossbows requiring a reload and spears having no retrieval or downtime undermines the core identity of weapon classes. Numbers alone won’t address this core design inconsistency.

In Summary:
I’m not saying the mechanic should be thrown away entirely. However, there needs to be a more consistent application of the “stop and breathe” philosophy across weapon types. Either 'ease the reload penalty on crossbows or remove it' or 'add a retrieval or cooldown mechanic to thrown spears'. Without this, crossbows feel like they’re designed with constraints that spears completely ignore, making the system feel lopsided rather than intentionally balanced.

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Vyend#2601 wrote:

Bump!

I don't mind some skills needing to reload after you use them or when you change between ammos, but doing that ALL the time feels really bad

Totally agree. Having to constantly reload feels bad, especially when the loop becomes: change ammo, reload, use skill, change ammo again, reload again. It kills the pacing. Reload should feel tactical, not like a tax on every action. No other weapon punishes you this much just for playing normally.

So I can see how they look mismatched at a glance, and I've played both, but I think crossbow reloading isn't a problem in itself. There are ways the entire crossbow gameplay has advantages that counterbalance the downsides. For instance, the support that increases damage after reloading for each bolt loaded. For the rapid fire types it's a huge damage bonus. Don't have that with spears. Crossbows have both great single target ammo and wide target ammo. Spears have mediocre single target long range skills. Grenades can be so strong some rely solely on them. Ballista with rage font. Tactician's pin seems broken. Witchunter's explosions clear screens. Spear skills rely on getting up close and jumping out, the downside is the risk of going close - crossbows can stay away all you want, so reloading is the downside. Otherwise there's no risk and without risk there's no game.

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Gorbarr#2442 wrote:

So I can see how they look mismatched at a glance, and I've played both, but I think crossbow reloading isn't a problem in itself. There are ways the entire crossbow gameplay has advantages that counterbalance the downsides. For instance, the support that increases damage after reloading for each bolt loaded. For the rapid fire types it's a huge damage bonus. Don't have that with spears. Crossbows have both great single target ammo and wide target ammo. Spears have mediocre single target long range skills. Grenades can be so strong some rely solely on them. Ballista with rage font. Tactician's pin seems broken. Witchunter's explosions clear screens. Spear skills rely on getting up close and jumping out, the downside is the risk of going close - crossbows can stay away all you want, so reloading is the downside. Otherwise there's no risk and without risk there's no game.

I get where you're coming from, and it's true that crossbows have strong supports and ammo variety. But you’ve tried both, right? So tell me honestly, in the current patch, do you think it’s balanced between the two? And when it comes to late-game mapping, do you personally prefer crossbow or spear?

Also, curious, why bring up Ascendancy skills like Witchhunter explosions or Tactician pin when I can use a spear on Witchhunter too? The class doesn’t lock you into one weapon, so it still comes down to how the weapons themselves function. And right now, spear just plays smoother with fewer restrictions. That’s the issue.

Taken in isolation I don't mind the crossbows reload time too much -- I'm maining a Crossbow Tactician this league. I think (?) what GGG was going for is that Bows, Spears, etc. were supposed to be light & consistent damage while Crossbows, similar to mace slams, were supposed to be about finding windows for big damage (and paying for that with downtime to even out the DPS).

The problem with spears, if that's the metric of comparison, is that they seem overtuned and with GGG being reluctant to nerf wild overperformers mid-league it results in a continued skewed perception of what spears are supposed to be.

I have no idea why "reload" was implemented in POE2. POE2 is an action RPG. "Reload" has no place in the game, especially when, one, the implementation makes zero sense, and is inconsistent. And two, the concept of reload can be completely controlled by the weapon's attack speed.

Crossbow reload is just silly, and completely unnecessary.

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KingAlamar#4071 wrote:

Taken in isolation I don't mind the crossbows reload time too much -- I'm maining a Crossbow Tactician this league. I think (?) what GGG was going for is that Bows, Spears, etc. were supposed to be light & consistent damage while Crossbows, similar to mace slams, were supposed to be about finding windows for big damage (and paying for that with downtime to even out the DPS).

The problem with spears, if that's the metric of comparison, is that they seem overtuned and with GGG being reluctant to nerf wild overperformers mid-league it results in a continued skewed perception of what spears are supposed to be.

Good point, but I don’t quite feel that way. Here’s why:

-Map clear: Bow and spear definitely feel faster for map clearing. The pace just seems much more consistent, while crossbow reloads interrupt that flow too much (same, i main crossbow previous patch and current path. "how many times you die because you have to reload?").

-Boss kill: When you invest heavily into all three, I don’t see a huge difference in how fast bosses go down. The reload time on crossbows doesn’t seem to translate into faster boss kills, especially considering how smooth spear and bow can perform in comparison.

So, while the crossbow’s design "maybe" aiming for big windows of damage, it just doesn’t seem to match the reality of how effective other weapons can be for both clearing and bossing.