4Th Ascendancy Trial of Chaos feedback: Fate drops

The Problem:

Boss RNG Dictates Progression:
The fact that Fate drops are tied to the specific boss you encounter at the end of the trial means that progression is left entirely to chance. Despite completing four trials (failing only one), I’ve faced the same boss three times in a row.

This is where the frustration lies: because I need three distinct Fates to open the door, I should already be able to progress. Instead, RNG has locked me out, despite my time and effort.

Punishment for Repeated Effort:
Completing a trial is no small feat—it demands skill, preparation, and sometimes significant time investment. Being unable to progress because of duplicate Fates feels like being punished for bad luck, not for lack of effort or capability.

No Control Over Boss Encounters:
There’s no system to influence or predict which boss you’ll face, leaving players at the mercy of randomness. This feels out of place in a game that rewards preparation and strategy.

Suggestions for Improvement:

Unique Fate Guarantee per Trial Completion:
Ensure that each trial completion grants a Fate tied to a boss the player hasn’t defeated yet, at least until all three required Fates have been collected. This would eliminate the frustration of repeat drops while maintaining the challenge of completing the trials.

Token System for Duplicate Fates:
If a duplicate Fate is dropped, allow players to trade it for another boss’s Fate via an in-game vendor or crafting system. This would mitigate bad RNG while still preserving the reward system.

Boss Selection Options:
Add a mechanic that allows players to influence or choose which boss they’ll encounter. For example, players could craft or consume a trial modifier item to prioritize a specific boss encounter.

Cumulative Progression:
Introduce a progression system where trial completions, regardless of boss RNG, count toward unlocking the door. Even if the required Fates haven’t been collected yet, this would ensure that all effort leads to eventual progression.

Completely agree this needs to be addressed.

In my case I completed 3 trials but had a duplicate fate. I thought so much for tyrying to do this without trading, teleported from the trial, and bought the required fate from Alva. I immediately went back to the Trial of Chaos, which was still open from my third completed attempt. I had to then walk through the ten areas where I had completed the trial to get back to the boss door, which I could then open. How stupid that the game could involve having to walk through 10 completed boss rooms - but at least I didnt need to run the trial again!

Simplest solution - the Trialmaster at the end of a trail should offer the option to swap any fate for another. It just appears as another option if you talk to him at the end of a trial. You select the "Swap fate for another" option, put a fate in a box, and the game offers you a choice of the other two. That way you can always make sure you have access to the final boss fight if you have 3 fates.

Bump.

This is an understated HUGE waste of time. I over leveled just to rush through this tedious content I never wanted to engage with in the first place and got a huge slap in the face when I received a duplicate fragment.

This forces players to result to the trade market to save time. No one has time to spend hours of RNG chance to get the right fates. This is why we avoided Sekhemas. The content is not difficult, it's just long and tedious and not everyone enjoys these games modes.

I bought POE2 because GGG was good at giving players the choice on how they want to play the end game. This is not it chief. That being said, I won't even touch SSF until they don't waste our time anymore with RNG mechanics.

completely agree on this one.

Temple of chaos is just tedious and infuriating. It should at least be that 3 trials guarantee passage to the final boss.

I had 5 eligible ultimatum, down to one with one fate missing and two duplicates. It feels very bad and a waste of time.