PoE2 Needs to Rethink XP Loss – Here’s a Simple Fix

XP loss in Path of Exile 2 is killing the sense of progress.
Right now, dying can wipe out your entire progress toward the next level, making it feel like you’re stuck in place no matter how much you play. It’s discouraging and punishing in a way that feels outdated—especially in a game that already has such a high skill ceiling.

A better approach? Cap XP loss to a single segment of the full xp bar per death. That way, mistakes still hurt, but they don’t completely erase your effort. Or better yet—consider removing XP loss entirely and find more engaging penalties for death.

Grinding shouldn’t feel like gambling your time. Give players the chance to improve without fearing they’ll lose an hour of progress from one mistake.

Hell, i bet half the population decline is due to this alone. lol.

The other half... probably the lack of any fuckin loot. I love hearing the word 'crafting' used in a game that has absolutely not one ounce of crafting, and only a seriously heavily weighted against you RNG system. Which doesnt even give you enough currency to try and toy with on any level. Seems RMT driven, honestly.

But Yea... it sucked in POE1, and it still sucks in POE2.

Especially when they intentionally stack the odds against you on every possible fucking level already.

xp loss wouldn't be a problem if you are not in danger 24/7 to randomly die from off screen bs, bullet hell spam of doom, getting body blocked with no way out or any of the other things currently being so frustrating with poe2.

The xp loss is not the problem in my opinion it being super frustrating is just a side effect you get when there is so much bs going on. If death would always be your own fault than xp loss on death would be a nice incentive to try and die less. But unless you drastically outgear everything or play something like LS spam which kills everything before any danger even comes in range then xp loss is a problem.

AFAIK you only lose 10% of the Exp bar on each death. So at worst you only lose "your entire progress" if you die 10 times in a row at near 99% full bar.

You can also use the Omen of Amelioration to prevent 75% of that xp loss, so you would only lose 2.5% XP if you have it active in your inventory. It costs about 6 ex, so you are trading currency for xp, in a way.

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CaerbanogWalace#2169 wrote:

AFAIK you only lose 10% of the Exp bar on each death. So at worst you only lose "your entire progress" if you die 10 times in a row at near 99% full bar.

You can also use the Omen of Amelioration to prevent 75% of that xp loss, so you would only lose 2.5% XP if you have it active in your inventory. It costs about 6 ex, so you are trading currency for xp, in a way.

Well unless you don't have 6ex for every death or play ssf. Then you can't and depending on your build you may die a lot more compared to others. Melee feels super painful in a lot of scenarios which happen way to often.

Like i said in my previous post I don't have a problem with the xp loss itself its just a side effect of the game being clearly unfair in a lot of scenarios if you can't screenclear with 1 spell.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ZVfw6z684 Something like this for example. Yes its on the more extreme side but damn this sucks. I do no damg if I can't break armor via the mark. But I can't even stay 1 second near the boss without the risk of dying either. So its just hit and run hit and run until you fuck up and die in 1 second

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CaerbanogWalace#2169 wrote:
AFAIK you only lose 10% of the Exp bar on each death. So at worst you only lose "your entire progress" if you die 10 times in a row at near 99% full bar.

You can also use the Omen of Amelioration to prevent 75% of that xp loss, so you would only lose 2.5% XP if you have it active in your inventory. It costs about 6 ex, so you are trading currency for xp, in a way.

A big part of the problem is that a lot of the systems GGG is introducing in PoE2 just aren’t fun for the majority of players. It’s becoming overly tedious and creates this constant feeling of choice overload—like you’re always worried about making the “wrong” decision instead of just enjoying the game.

Most of us just want to dive into fun systems, feel like a badass in combat, and see consistent progress. That core combat loop in PoE2? It’s actually awesome. The way your character flows through fights, the improved storytelling—there’s so much potential. But all of that gets buried under layers of punishing mechanics and complexity that feel more exhausting than rewarding.

GGG really needs to focus more on fun-first design. Let the depth come from mastery, not from punishing the player at every turn.

That being said, there really needs to be a standard league or mode in PoE2 that dials things back a bit—less ruthless, less punishing, and more focused on accessibility and fun. Not everyone wants a hardcore, brutal experience every time they log in.

Give casual players or those with limited time a space to actually enjoy the systems, experiment with builds, and make progress without feeling like they’re being punished constantly. At the same time, keep the hard-core or ruthless modes for those who thrive on that challenge and want that edge-of-your-seat experience.

There’s room for both in PoE2. Not every system needs to be turned up to 11 by default. Give people options to enjoy the game the way they want to play.

EXP loss, especially at higher levels is one of the primary reasons why I quit.

I have no purpose to grind. Because I will inevitably die once every 1 hour or so. Even with Omens of Amelioration, the death will wipe my progress.

Zero purpose. No power fantasy. Even Dark Souls games allow you to pick up your lost experience after death. A waste of my time.

And I know that if I make a lightning spear amazon, that **** will get bricked at the end of season too giving me TWO high-level bricks instead of the ONE high-level brick I currently have.

Waste of my time.

At this point with this sad state of the patch (0.2) they should definitely remove it - or at least temporarily until they fix the shit that they broke, especially with the buggy af mob that shoots a laser 3 screens away which by the way is still not fixed and hasn't been since launch.

Awful design, awful QA (if it even exists).

agree with everyone in this thread posting about what an absolutely horse shit mechanic xp loss is. the game is just horrible to play.