"Good combat involves some level of challenge": Jonathan Rogers on why Path of Exile 2 is harder than the first game
Path of Exile 2 is outright more difficult than the first game due to a variety of reasons. High DPS-check bosses are generally how ARPGs place down difficulty ramps, but Path of Exile 2's challenging nature originates from a more organic reason: a greater emphasis on outplaying enemy mechanics.
Jonathan Rogers, the Game Director in both Path of Exile 1 and 2, recently explained in an interview with Zizaran that the heightened challenge emerged as a byproduct of trying to improve the combat:
"I don't know that I would say the conscious choice was to make the game more difficult... because that makes it sound like the goal was to make the game more difficult. Whereas what the goal was, was to make the combat more engaging (...) We're sitting out to make the combat good, and, for me at least, good combat involves some level of challenge, so that's kind of what you end up with."
Here's the full interview with Zizaran, a well-known Path of Exile streamer and creator:
In what ways is Path of Exile 2 more difficult than PoE 1?
In Path of Exile 2, the combat is fundamentally designed around the dodge-roll, in that it's slower and more methodical. It's hard to get a build online where you'll have a steady TTK on mobs of your level range, at least early on. Naturally, a stand-and-deliver playstyle from Path of Exile 1 is much harder to recreate in the sequel, even when playing with ranged classes.
Read More: All Path of Exile 2 Classes and Ascendancies in Early Access
To spice things up, many melee, backline, and caster enemies will have perilous moves that can deal a high amount of damage. So, standing around and relying on your flask regen is much less reliable than in the first game. Strength-pumping martial classes can make use of a shield-blocking mechanic, but this too is limited by a finite stun threshold.
Thankfully, enemy attacks are telegraphed enough, giving you a scope to outmaneuver them. However, the noose tightens with boss fights due to limited arena sizes as well as stricter moves that are hard to counter. There are also potentially gotcha moves that some of the title's 100+ bosses can pull off to catch you by surprise. These make it so that a blind playthrough is not hardcore-viable at all.
In the same interview with Zizaran, Jonathan Rogers says:
"I think it would not be hardcore-viable (for your first time).... because there's gonna be mechanics on bosses that you're gonna need to learn... Everything is very well-telegraphed, but, if you don't know what's telegraphing... like, until you've seen the ability one time... What I would say is, if you were playing behind someone, and every single boss fight, you've seen a video of someone playing it first before you've fought it in hardcore, I think you could probably do it that way."
To compound on top of this stress on learning enemy moves, the game itself brings almost the same level of complexity as Path of Exile 1. The new Skill Gem system is far more beginner-friendly and streamlined, and it's likely that the accessibility will also find its way to other areas of the title.
The trial-and-error nature of learning that the first game necessitates is part of its fun. Seeing as how Path of Exile 2 carries that same design philosophy DNA, we suspect it will be just as hard, but that's not a bad thing.
Path of Exile 2 Early Access launches on all platforms this weekend. Until then, stay tuned for more MMO News and updates on Sportskeeda.