Feedback - Casual Player Experience

Dear GGG,

I’m aware that many aspects of the game will be addressed in future patches, and I also consider the possibility that the campaign may be shortened once the endgame has more content. That said, I’d like to start by saying that I really enjoyed Path of Exile 2 — there are many areas where the game absolutely succeeds in terms of combat, atmosphere, and identity.

The purpose of this feedback is simply to share the perspective of a casual player, someone who can usually play 2–3 times per week for a few hours. I understand that the topics below are complex and multifactorial, so I’ve tried to include a practical suggestion for each point, even if modest.


1. Area length and repetition

Some campaign areas feel overly long and repetitive, which can become tiring. In several moments, the experience feels like “walking to the fun” rather than actively engaging with it.
In some maps, I end up skipping monster packs (unless the screen is full and the XP feels worthwhile) and simply running forward to progress, because the layout and encounters feel repetitive — similar to the Mao Kun map experience.

Suggestion:
Reduce the overall size of some areas.
Increase the frequency of larger monster encounters.
Reduce small, isolated packs (3–4 monsters).
Make layouts less fragmented and more straightforward.


2. Non-intuitive paths and map readability

Some areas have progression paths that are not very intuitive. Often, the minimap only shows a tiny opening indicating where the player should have gone, which is easy to miss.
I understand this may be intentional to discourage excessive rushing, but after exploring 70–80% of a map, having to search for the exact corner you missed becomes tedious.

Suggestion:
Use lighting, environmental objects, or landmarks to clearly signal critical paths.
Limit non-obvious progression paths to specific areas instead of making them common.


3. Knockdowns regardless of damage dealt

Being knocked down by almost any hit, regardless of how much damage it deals (while sprinting), often feels frustrating. I understand the intention to punish greed or careless movement, but in the current state sprinting feels like a necessity rather than a choice, especially for players with limited time.

Suggestion:
Introduce a damage threshold for knockdowns (e.g. only hits that deal 5–15% of max life).
Hits below that threshold could simply interrupt sprinting or have no knockdown effect.


4. Low relevance of dropped items during the campaign

During the campaign, it rarely feels worth picking up weapons or boots from the ground. For casual players, buying items from other players becomes the obvious choice in almost all cases, not just occasionally.
Having a weapon with 2–3 good mods can lock you into it for multiple base tiers. Risking an Exalted Orb to improve a campaign weapon doesn’t make sense when the same currency can reliably buy something far better through trade.

Suggestions:
More radical:
Adjust the skill tree so it has a stronger impact in the early game, reducing extreme dependence on perfect weapon mods.

More conservative:
Improve weapon base stats while weakening affixes.
Increase the frequency of meaningful rare drops.
Provide early access to basic crafting options (e.g. movement speed on boots, basic resistances).


5. Life regeneration is overly punishing early on

Life regeneration, especially in Act 1, feels extremely punishing and can remove enjoyment for casual players. Also the flask recovery amount looks too short
I understand that the game leans toward a more challenging experience, but having no passive life regeneration at all and constantly returning to town due to empty flask charges makes it feel like time is being spent inefficiently.

Suggestion:
Add a meaningful base life regeneration (e.g. 0.5–1.5 HP/s).
Introduce flat regen nodes early in the passive tree.
Increase early-game access to regen on items.
For the flask, An increased amount for the early acts


6. Annul modifiers and wasted item bases

I understand that the rarity of Annulment Orbs is intentional, but losing an entire item base because it started with 1–2 bad mods feels like a system that could be refined, especially during the campaign.

Suggestion:
Introduce low-level Transmutation/Annulment-type orbs that can remove modifiers only from normal or magic items.


7. Overall pacing and animation speed (personal opinion)

This point is more subjective and does not discourage me from playing, but I believe the experience would feel better with slightly more fluidity.
Even understanding PoE 2’s different design goals compared to PoE 1, movement and initial animations for both players and enemies feel slow, making combat more sluggish than necessary.

Suggestion:
Increase initial animation speed and base movement speed by roughly 15–25% (based on in-game stats).