10/10 Review. As a veteran POE player I can say im super happy to see creators like you coming to this game and giving it a proper go. POE has it flaws but its also just an incredible game at the end of the day. Hope to see you back in future leagues
What i like about the campaign is how your build take form and you start feeling your playstyle and you go faster and faster. Ofcourse mapping/boss is more fun but i dont mind doing it!
one hundred percent. My knee jerk reaction was "waaa I want to start in maps right away" but the campaign is really fun, varied in its environments (act 4 is a bit a of drudgery for me) and you build up power in an amazingly satisfying way. Labs are awesome too. the power bump is so satisfying
This exactly. The campaign is so easy to block out mentally. I like to see my characters Power progression from start to finish. The acts showcase it very well
The campaign gameplay is also similar to what you do in maps anyway, just more linear, and with a developing build which I also enjoy. Can't compare it to D4, where the campaign is a TON of very slow NPC dialogue scenes and long treks between towns in a huge map. D4 needed a skip campaign button infinitely more than PoE does so I don't agree when people say PoE needs one and use D4 as a reason.
i do wish all skills were available level one. kinda sucks when you dont get your skill gem til like lvl 28. probably would be a balance nightmare though.
@ccrider201Nyx vellum. He is currently doing a series with no build, trying things with the help of its community in youtube comments. Really great for beginners
As a very seasoned PoE player, I think you did a great job breaking things down at a basic level. I hope you get a ton of fun out of your time with PoE
The specific unique (Ventor's Gamble) you used as an example is a hilarious one, because it's a hugely variable unique based on rolls. It can be worth 1c or 5d depending on the rolls.
One of the reason most of us never get tired of doing the ten acts everytime is because of the "Character and build progression". The moment you enter Lioneye's watch, your mind starts to play in the direction of the build you have chosen to play, every single passive point makes a difference and can actually be felt in our character... which alone is already fun.. skill books are rewarding as hell.. the acts are fast pace, no unnecessary side quest, back and forth movement.. Then you reach act 3, you do lab and get your ascendancy with a hude surge in power..another dopamine boost... 2nd and third ascendancies till act 10... great.. Itemization is fun.. you are introduced to crafting, to hideout, to map system, to contents as a short quest... EVERY LEVEL UP, EVERY PASSIVE SKILLS, EVERY SKILL GEM, SOCKETS, etc etc makes a crucial change to your character that you can literrally feel in the game.. that is fun... after the acts... The real game started... and I dont have to talk about the end game.. Its endless...
I think a very underrated part of campaign is the dopamine rush of getting levels and skill points so quickly, and a lot of early nodes are super powerful so you really feel their effects
My favorite part of the campaign is the fact you start with absolutely nothing and have to work your way up. I love the fact that you are able to find gear on the ground and equip it, because that generally falls off end game. I'm hoping POE2 addresses this and making item drops more compelling.
Raxx, I cannot express how much I appreciate you. This is a SPOT on review. As someone who also enjoys the depth and complexity of play your own way, this video was a HUGE true. Hope GGG takes value in you as a creator and starts to invite/include you in activities.
I love POE''s endgame. It feels like this bottomless ocean that every time I dip into I find new depths. The headhunter is my favorite item in any ARPG. I enjoyed your hearing your thoughts as an ARPG veteran but also a new player.
Of course it is biased, all reviews are opinions which will always have bias. That's the point. Bias is not by definition bad. What is important is recognizing and making your biases known.
_Everyone_ has biases. Raxx’s take on the *copy pasta campaign* is HUGELY subjective. The new player experience in PoE is also WAY over complicated. GGG doesn’t respect your time with the _constant_ artificial revolving door of nerfing builds. Is PoE good? It is but Raxx still has the rose colored glasses on and is blind to the _many_ problems that GGG refuses to fix due to “The Vision”.
I've dabbed with PoE in the past, but I never finished the campaign. I was convinced the play for me was to wait for PoE2, but I'm in a game lull and decided to give PoE another shot. I cleared the campaign two days ago, and started doing maps. And while there's obviously a lot I still don't know, I've been having a blast. Looking forward to seeing how far into this I can get in my first real season, and I'm looking forward to Rax's take on it.
I would love a beginner guide from Raxx. POE has to be the one game in my library that I know is amazing because of everything I've watched and the opinion of people I respect. But for the life of me I still don't understand it and have never gotten to the point where I truly love it like this. I want to get there, but the ceiling is so high for some of us.
Best advice is look at league mechanics, find one that interests you. Maybe diving into the mine deeper and deeper is for you or so you go delve or maybe you like tower defense so you go blight. Just focus on only those nodes and doing that content in maps. Then next league pick another mechanic, or if you play alot, switch mid season to a new mechanic. Nobody needs to do every single mechanic and learn it quickly.
I played it since beta and loved it for many years, then they started making it overly complicated for the sake of it and it ruined the game for me. It's just too convoluted now, too bloated, too many things you have to do.
If you can find a friend or just someone to talk to that you can bounce all your questions off of while you're playing it makes the game so much more approachable.
I tried this game today for a few hours and I am extremely let down. After hearing all the fan boys rave about how amazing it is, I don't know what I was expecting, but an overly complex game with clunky controls and UI along with a seemingly enormous time investment wasn't it. If you want to spend a few hundred hours going over spreadsheets and reading tutorials, have fun. I'm out, though.
Best take of this video: if you love D4, you don't have to hate PoE and vice versa. Just play both if you can and have twice as much fun, they're both great at their own thing
You don't have to love D4 either, it's objectively shit game. Raxx pointed out something, that PoE had 10 years to develop all this ideas and mechanics themselves, and to that I say that D4 had 10 years to steal it and implement in their game.
So an ARPG can’t be casual?? Is that against the law?? If you want D4 to be exactly like PoE, than just play PoE. D4 is for people looking to blast for an hour or two a day. PoE is for No life’s.
@@kevinfinnerty8414 dude.. please.. D4 didn't have resistance working till season 2, the inventory is a mess and stash tabs apparently coming to the game with DLC's and purchase options, in a game that cost 70$, with 50$ cheapest DLC. I'm not even going to talk about all the mechanics in PoE, because Diablo wouldn't get them working anyway, according to Blizzard the technology is not there yet. I could spend half a night talking about shit in Diablo that simply doesn't work and obviously you got to be casual as hell to ignore all the problems with the game or perhaps you know no better than they're feeding you.
@@Funguspower2 well, its not 100% right :D i mean im new poe player and even when im following guide, there is so much things where i dont have any clue how to solve it. For example end gear crafting or how to choose wich base i need and where when choosing gear to pick up(this aint only one). So far i have enjoyed game but now i noticed that i dont get that feel like "i must play POE" bcs i know i need much better gear and i dont know what gear to pick or how to manipulate them 100%. Im pretty sure that if i didnt follow any guide i wouldnt be playing it anymore. Also its not easy to search info or tips from all over, bcs english aint my native language so i dont understand everything instantly or just cant search it right. (you might notice my english aint best one :D)
My favorite part of this video is when you’re talking about all the different mechanics that have accumulated over the years while hovering over the atlas passive tree, a comparatively recent addition to the game. People often say “of course PoE rules, they have ten years of development” but from a developer perspective it’s amazing that they can still add so many new systems. It’s no trivial feat to design a system that holds up so well after ten years of added content. It’s why they often face backlash when they fix longstanding or accumulated issues and it breaks someone’s build or the new solution makes encounters disproportionately difficult.
Very good and accurate review Raxx. I started playing POE in Delve league (2018) and still feel I'm a newbie to the game. I play and enjoy every league and set my own personal goals and try not to keep up with the crowd. The only frustration that I have is that I play for months and still do not acquire the currency and gear that the top players get in a couple of days and I put many, many hours into the game. I try to get better but seem to hit the same block every league and not sure how to overcome it. Other than that, POE has been my main game for over 5 years (what other game can do that?). I thoroughly enjoy and anticipate the new league launches and love following the community on Twitch/TH-cam to try to learn a bit more. It keeps the game fresh and very exciting. Also, I love supporting GGG as a game studio. They have a single game, designed by players, that you can tell is about their passion and vision and not just making corporate dollars. POE/GGG is a shining star compared to other games in and out of the ARPG genre. On a lighter note, we found an all grey, stray kitten a few years ago. We brought her into the family and needed a name. This kitten is now known as Kitava, the Insatiable. The name gets a lot of compliments from the vet and visitors and most don't know where it comes from.
@@TheGerm24picking the right guide really helped me get into the game. Try to find one that goes through the entire transition from campaign to end game and that will help you learn the different systems very fast
@@TheGerm24 3 times for me and I feel the same. I'll check out POE2 but Diablo just feels better to jump into for me as a casual with not much time to figure out games anymore.
As a PoE player it would've been nice if you explained how Supporter packs and the MTX shop work as a lot of people don't understand why there is an option for supporter packs and why they're priced this way (including the $500 one) and everything that comes with those transactions. Great video, looking forward to more PoE content.
When i first tried out PoE about half a year ago i saw those almost 500 dollar supporter packs and thought "Holy shit what kind of overpriced cashgrab bullshit is this?!?" just to realize a few minutes later that i just didn't fully read the description of what's included. Yes, almost 500 bucks a tough pill to swallow until you realize you get that exact amount of money for the cash shop PLUS all the supporter pack exclusive items of the most expensive pack and all packs before it. So the value is actually insanely good if you like the game well enough to buy one of those packs. And since the game is F2P it having a MTX shop is perfectly fine, but some of the stuff is still pretty ridiculous. Like 80 dollar armor sets and the fact that weapon glow effects and stuff like that are slot specific... so if you want to dual wield with the same weapon effect you need to buy it twice.
That would be a better separate video about how the game is free and how to support the game, if you want. Also he has to mention that the mtx he spent on this game will be carried over to POE2.
casual/vet and I still really enjoy the campaign unless I make 3+ characters in a single league. I really love the overall story and theme in PoE, a ton of the lore and voice acting is top notch and was enough to make someone who wouldn't normally get into an ARPG want to learn all they could as to enjoy it as much as possible.
Just wanted to say thanks for putting the time in to make content like this. I just started playing POE myself and I'm having a lot of fun. I learn a lot from your channel so know that its much appreciated.
As a D4 quitter here's my short PoE review : it's complex, overwhelming but ultimately fun and rewarding. And there's so many things to do you can probably play this game for years and still come up with new cool builds and strats. And even though many people don't seem to care so much, the lore is worth digging through.
So I also was a diablo main for years and have been poe for about a year/year and a half. One additional bonus of the long campaign is build craft testing. There are some major fights or spots in the campaign and if you are making a new theory crafted build you can use these as benchmarks for dmg and survival. If you are cruising along and you dmg is great and nothing touches you and then you get one shot by bosses then time to get some survivability. If your dps is great on aoe but sucks on single target or you start running out of resources etc it can be a good early warning. Just getting into trying to make some of my own builds and have found this aspect quite helpful cause all maps are different combos of mods and whatnot so gives a good consistent baseline before you hit endgame
When I was finally burntout of wow and d3 was just not ever what d2 was...I finally gave PoE a chance it was scary at first until I pushed through the pain and started following guides and streams. I felt so happy when I finished the campagn and then saw the endgame atlas omfg yes this game is for me BOOM supporter pack and 2k hours later still playing 10 straight leagues. Probably might not reach 3k hours but thats cause PoE2 here we come!
1:31 Yeah, I'm glad you stayed your opinion. My opinion is, I have run the campaign so many times over the years, that I can't stand it. I speed run it, with every new build and season.
I am a new PoE player and I'm following the same guide but it's just so much information that I don't wanna play anymore. It would be amazing if you can create a new player guide specifically on items and gems and upgrading. Thanks!!
you can follow Pohx's or Zizaran's playthroughs designed for new players. They play through the acts and explain everything. You would of course need to pause the video to be able to catch up
@@jorgephilippe1 I am basically boomer and casual and not very good at games to begin with, but I like PoE, I don't aspire to clear bosses (not good enough and not willing to learn) or learn to craft (too boring for me), I just found an endgame mechanic I like and that is what I am doing. I complete Atlas and that is basically it for me. You can find something for you in the game, if you give it a chance, but with that said, there are probably tons of other games that might work for you better, not trying to force it on you ;-)
Raxx you nailed it at the end. One of the best and fastest ways to learn the game is to keep making new characters and playing new builds. I have been playing for a couple years on and off and going into last season I still had no clue what I was doing. I made a toon and followed a build into maps. Then made another build on a different class, took it into maps, repeat repeat and through that I gain a TREMENDOUS amount of game knowledge in one single season
Good Review. I think one of the reasons I like POE is that I like games where I have to do some research to optimise characters. It just makes it feel more than just a computer game. The other big thing for me is the build diversity. At the start of each season I have a list of about 3 or 4 builds I want to try out in a season. The next season I'll have another 3 or 4 to try. The problem with this season is that I have 5 different builds I really want to try out - I just hope I have time to try them. BTW - If you ever play POE whilst your not streaming, take your time and speak to each NPC to get the lore of the game. Its really deep.
I recall my first time in POE. A friend got me & a few others join & we started in a league instead of standard. No guides, no prior knowledge, just nothing. Didn't even finish the campaign. In fact I didn't even understand the meaning of league/season game-wise. Think I dropped it after a few weeks & went back to it months after. It was only then I took the time trying to learn the mechanics - linking gems being the main subject as it was the most foreign concept to me. So many leagues since then I have probably scratched much of the surface, yet discovering intricacies of interactions between different mechanics with the help of guides found in forums. Good luck on the guide!
One of the best things that’s happened for my gaming enjoyment is D4 not being as good as I thought. I tried out LE and enjoyed it. However, I had seen Zizarran stream D4, enjoyed his content, and learned that he was a PoE player. Long story short, I’ve been obsessed with this damn game. It’s so fun! I can’t remember a game that has been so enjoyable in years. I go “OHHHHHHH” multiple times a week when cool ass shit happens on my screen.
Really good video Ryan. Can I be cheeky & make a suggestion for your new player guide? I consider myself new but not brand spanking new, more slightly soiled but I would suggest a new player absorb the conversations to start with. They are very well done & it enhances my immersion. Now I know you are a blaster & don’t need immersion but I think it might be helpful to offer that approach as well. It can make sense of some of the things you are asked to do. Whether you do or don’t I know your guide will be awesome; your track record is impressive.
I've played PoE since open beta sometime in 2013, and I still love going through the campaign. Obviously the campaign we have now is very different from the Normal/Cruel/Merciless loop we had in the start, but even back then I enjoyed it, and the switch to a 10 act structure and the removal of Normal/Cruel/Merciless has only made me love it more. I just really like the sense of progression it gives you, it feels like you gain a lot both in terms of power and new skills, and I honestly have never grown bored of it, I am far from a hardcore blaster though, I mostly enjoy taking my own sweet time and doing things my way, and I realize that if your purpose is to get to the absolute endgame and kill some Uber bosses as fast as humanly possible, the campaign may be a pretty annoying hurdle. But for me I still really like it, I'll get to those bosses in time, admittedly a lot later than most people who have played the game as long as I have. Edit: Shoutout to another great ARPG that gets overshadowed by PoE, D4 and even Last Epoch, Grim Dawn is a fantastic game, highly recommended from a random moron on the internet, I hope you enjoy it.
Really nice video for the start. I've tried PoE with the new season but stopped after few days because I got lost in the depth and didn't have time to study, learn and google everything and I didn't like to play incorrectly in a way. Maybe second chance after your beginners guide video. Game looks fun but very intimidating for a new player, even someone with experience from other games. Looking forward to the next video!
Love your videos. Always short and to the point, but with arguments and constructively. We need people like you in our arpg community. I was playing PoE a long time ago, just 2 seasons. Maybe your guide is the way to come back in this game.
I've done the campaign about 7 times now and still enjoy it. Which is weird, because I hate replaying games in general. I think improving your time through the campaign each league is a fun little game in its own right and shows how you have improved over time.
@@hulubuluhejhej2721 i have and i totally agree with this guy, and some other people have said that the feeling of getting your build progressively online is incredible
i actually love this the more i think about it. hopefully you can take learnings from PoE and pass suggestions over to the D4 team lol. i really hope the D4 team doesn’t think that just brining past mechanics back as items all the time is a good thing…. i would rather have a version of the mechanic itself
A very good and useful review. I tried PoE a while ago (2017-2019) and back then I thought "nah, this game is not for me" after ~5-10 hours of play. From time to time I wondered whether I haven't given it a "proper shot": maybe I missed something, maybe I played it wrong, maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind. Now that I watched your video I am much more confident in my initial assessment. Thank you Rax!
this is a really awesome video. i havent really ever watched your stuff because I was primarily a poe player, but I played d3 on occasion and sometimes watched your guides. im very pleased to see that one of the biggest names in diablo is giving poe such a great review despite being new. you're obviously a very smart guy, getting to this point as a beginner even with help is impressive and your takes are all fair and well said. i hope you continue to enjoy my favorite game and get others to enjoy it too to any new players, please hear raxx's point that his chat told him at 17:35. just doing the things that are necessary ("The Way Forward" quests, skill points, trials of ascendancy + lab) and skipping everything else is absolutely vital for most people's enjoyment of the game, AND it happens to be the most optimal thing to do as well, since rewards are so much worse in the early game than when you're in maps. you may even follow a walkthrough, i know zizaran has something like that. All you've gotta do is get to maps, then you'll learn the game and how all the systems work, and then when you do the campaign next league (season) it will be much easier and probably more enjoyable.
Hit the nail on the head with the veterans of the game being able to blast through the content and knowing the past league mechanics because we played it when it was fresh. I have walked several people through this game and I can only do it by slowly explaining what things do. Its so damn much and I am far from being an expert. Glad you enjoyed the game!
Yo Raxx WELCOME!!!!🥰😍🥰 So nice, you finally came to poe!!! Enyoyed your videos for a long time at D3! Can't wait for upcoming, may fresh build guides from you about poe, may poe2.🍀 I know maxxroll from your days at d3. S+ TIER BUILDER!!!💣💥❤🔥 Whatever content u like to do about poe, the bell is on again.
Thanks for the video. As a newbie another category I would add is visuals which would be like a 5/10 for me. There is some sort of visual cohesion and artistic style that other ARPGs have that PoE does not. I think I remember you echoing a similar sentiment at one point in a stream. PoE 2 seems to have radically and drastically improved visuals.
I have over 3k clocked on PoE, and I still wholeheartedly agree; I mean the game is over 10 years old, and closer to 15 if you think about when the project was started. PoE2 is their chance to bring it up to modern standards in this area, and from what they've shown so far - they are going to nail it.
I also like completing the campaign. I have been playing the game for almost a decade, and still enjoy the ritual of rushing the campaign with the whole community. There is something nice about going through all the acts and everyone starting on the same page.
if he would have enjoyed it, he would have listen to the lore... its funny that he says he thoroughly enjoys it... also, the campaign in D4 is bad, so not sure how much you can appreciate his opinion...
@@Eustres yes, I have a problem with bad game design... if you've done something once, and its forgettable, and the second time it doesn't bring anything new, that's just bad...
As a new casual player (you and DM got me into POE), I agree with your sentiment regarding complexity. But with tools like Maxroll builds, POB, and youtube tutorials, I have had more fun with this game than any other in quite some time so I'd rate it higher. Too many games are utter carebear handholding affairs with no challenge to your thought process. Thanks for your content and unbiased opinion of games.
Raxx you're pretty on point with your review. I personally think PoE requires a lot more thinking generally than D4 which is another reason why someone might prefer D4 (other than the new player experience) - as a software dev I get quite tired solving problems you know :))
So glad to see you played PoE! Been hoping you would try it out some time. It genuinely blew me away when you started the video showing everything you had done so far because that's all a lot of work to get done for a new player in a single season. I think my first ever season a few years ago I made it to like lvl 80 ish doing about 25% of maps and 25% of all the old seasonal content. Definitely agree, the new player experience is extremely rough. It's why the most common advice anyone gives a new player is to follow a build guide. The other stuff can kinda flow out as players run into stuff, get curious, and start to do their own research, but you really need that backbone of a solid build guide to really have a smooth start imo. Regarding the campaign as a vet, yeah, it definitely gets old, but I honestly don't think I'd like leveling via maps or something any more. The only thing I can think of that would make it "better" would be getting power leveled like in D3 where you're good to go in 20mins, but even then the depth of your character builds and such in PoE kinda mandates taking it a lot slower that that. It's also fun having to work out how to level the class you want to play, when to pivot to what skills you actually end up using, etc.
Raxx I am excited about the upcoming video - all of the mapping guides are always from the point of someone who knows the game really well so they make a lot of assumptions
Great review! One thing about the campaign is that those of us who don't enjoy it have no problem with the content itself, we just don't like being weak. I personally don't like the ssf kind of gameplay where you have to pay attention to how you build your character with very limited resources. What I enjoy is minmaxing, so the campaign is just this chore I have to get through before I get to what I actually enjoy. This is why I actually enjoy the campaign on second and third characters with more expensive leveling gear, cuz im not struggling.
Nice video, Im pleasurable surprised how high score you gave PoE. Also one note: they're not moving away from linking system they're changing it so its tied to gems, not items. That way you can change your equipment freely while you only need a main skill with 5 sockets to get whats currently a 6-link. But now that PoE2 will be a separate game the new system might be only a PoE2 thing.
I've been playing POE on and off for like 8 years, and it's definitely the best end game experience. I used to hate running the campaign over and over but I was trying to blast, without paying attention to my current gear. My mindset was just get through it as quickly as possible, and any gear I'm just going to replace anyway. After I started doing gear checks and working on my gear throughout the campaign, it made it a lot more enjoyable. Excited to see more POE content from you though, thanks!
Damn dude, 10 year player here, and I have maybe 130c and 2 divs to my name, not even a 6 link yet and here is rax, someone who just started playing the game and has 20d of gear on. I think it’s about time I put the game down and focus on something else in my life, I’m not even kidding I truly think it’s time
Dude you have two options in PoE to make a tons of currency. Play until the sun comes up again or know what you do and use the time as much as efficient you can, at least for trade league. SSF is a different beast
Wow, 9/10! As a person who stands between casual and blaster, I really dig POE and i started playing 2 weeks ago. Thanks for the review! I'm so hypped for your begginer's guide! Keep up your good work!
Holy smokes! I am so happy you finally tried POE!! I’m super excited to see your guides and see you explore the possibilities! Love you man and Merry Christmas! Thank you for everything over the years I still cherish the time I spent farming keys with you GLHF.
As someone who has been a total noob at this game for years, I wish I could play for longer than an hour. The information overload is just so intense unless I'm really determined.
If you can only play for 1 hr a day I recommend d4 it's alot worse but you'll be able to complete the whole in a season with 1 hr a day you won't get past the tutorial on poe with 1 hr a day
Try to have fun is my first suggestion. Don't look to others. Actually BalorMage has an 'Playing 1h on end of league' series. Its outdated and he has a lot more knowledge of the game but still... 1h a day is enough
Appreciated your perspective, didn't know you had a math degree, a lot of what you said really resonated with me. Just wanted to share that as someone who's played since beta I still enjoy rushing through the campaign, I think it's a really well designed on-ramp for building up your character. Also, I thought PoE was great since day 1, a lot has changed but there were always interesting problems to solve and a lot of ways to do it. Glad you're having fun!!
I also started PoE this league. I watched about 50 hours of videos about the game, and took about 50 hours to finish the campaign taking my time as best I can to try to really understand things. I am playing SRS Guardian which several content creators listed as a very beginner build and good this league. I have had a blast, but yeah, it has been a very intensive onboarding process. I feel very satisfied with the time invested, but I now completely understand all the talk I heard before about onboarding being a problem for PoE. Agree with almost everything Raxx said here. I was pretty consistently overleveled throughout the campaign, which made the league mechanic a bit more palatable. I can't wait for your beginners guide. I am thankful all the videos I watched before I started, but wow, did their perspective as multi-year blasters color how they presented information for their beginner's guides. Its not bad information but it feels like it is often working on a definition of a beginner as someone with only a couple hundred hours in the game instead of someone with zero hours. I understand how it happens, as these folks often have PHD levels of experience in PoE, and its really hard to remember how little a newbie has, even if they have blasted other games in the genre. True zero-hour beginner content is definitely a niche in the content creator community that is currently unfilled though, so really looking forward to what Raxx can make for it.
Awesome video. I'm a new player to PoE as of about 6 months ago. I'm still struggling with understanding the game and its complexity, but I also love that it's not D4 and it's doing it's own thing.
Raxx, first off... I agree with you almost completely. I would give the 'newbie' ranking even a 1 or 2 compared to some other games. I have tried to get a few peeps into PoE and usually the the #1 reaction is "This is WAAAAY too complex.. I just want to have fun...' W/O all the online support from various tubers and sites like maxroll/poevault etc etc, it really is overwhelming. And EVEN WITH such 'tools' the learning curve is rather steep. One thing I would love would be for you to give your insight into the various 'seasonal' content. Granted, you are just starting out, but for some reason you love 'legion' (and since I just recently got back into poe) I not even sure what the pro/cons are for legion encounters. I am pretty sure that any vid(s) you make on this topic will be a great benefit to all. I have yet to watch a vid of yours where I don't learn SOMETHING! (: Thank you as always for your insight and and presentation.
Really looking forward to your beginners beginners guide, ive tried to get into poe a few times and always bounced off eventually. even after watching hours of guides and following a good build, id end up getting overwhelmed and feeling totally lost. your description of your guide sounds perfect for me to hopefully get my foot in the door and truly appreciate this amazing game
Welcome to the PoE club! I’m 5000 hours in and still learning new stuff about this game every single day. D4 is a great game too, I advise everyone to start with D4 and when that game get’s easy and boring, you step up into PoE.
Love the review Rax, nice to hear a fair review without being bombastic. I'm also a noob - just starting to get into crafting very high end items, about 3000 hours in and I still love to LOGIN every league
You aren't alone in liking the campaign. In fact, I still miss the days when the game was 3 or 4 acts, and you had to play through the campaign on 3 separate difficulties (like D2) to reach endgame. I loved killing the final act boss and going through a portal just to appear on the beach and do everything again in the fresh challenge of a new difficulty. Miss that.
Wow, I only learned about you (Rax) threw playing D4 in the beginning and tried to find good content creators - and you are one of them ! But as somebody who has like 15k+ hours in POE and looked at ton of videos from people rating poe over the last decade, this might be the best and honest review I ever watched. Doesnt matter for me how high your scores are, but you where rly able to talk about all the positve things that many of us POE verterans love, too. Awesome video, great explanations for a "newbie" and I wish you all the best in the future. 🙂
How TF do you rate a game that high based on fundamental stuff that only works well because of 3rd party apps pretty much half your review is about. You rate the game, not the apps. Simple truth is that the game is contrived overdone crap without those.
Awesome man, can't wait for the video. That is exactly the type of guide I want, just enough to get started and then let me figure out the rest. I think your review is about spot on for me, I am more of the blaster type and that is probably why I am bored with D4. There really just isn't any good theory crafting to be had because everything is so straight forward. Can't wait to give POE a try.
Hi Rax, used to watch you play d3, moved on to poe before you. Its great to see you try this out. It wont take you long at all to get to the top 3% of players. I followed tunas guide last league and yeh, its really good. im sure any video you make for starting will be full of good advice, I remember trying your way of starting d3 and didnt find anyone who actually had a better one. wp to you. Best of luck. i will gladly check out your future vids and leave you a view. cheers
Thanks for your review. As someone who hadn’t played path of exile, I am intrigued. I think I’m going to wait and try path of exile 2 when it releases next summer. Thanks for the content.
I started poe for the first time, last league. I was so impressed I immediately gave them $100 supporter pack and probably will buy more eventually. My only gripe is that is so unbearably mind meltingly complex as a new player, BUT its what makes it good. There's always a good feeling to progressing or figuring things out one step at a time. I do wish crafting was a bit less gamble like and a little more straight forward like last epoch. But then the trade economy is what really makes the game worthwhile because of how its setup. I promise anyone, take the game slow, don't stress out to much and you will enjoy it, more and more and more.
Raxx, I'm a Diablo player since D1, played D2 for years and all I want to say is I can't wait for your beginner's guide to PoE as I've never played that game before too. Thanks for all your videos and all your work on ARPGs
FINALLY YOU SWITCHED. you are so good at details this IS the game for you. empyrean is a mainstay player POE is so deep you have a lot of things to do. as a former diablo player. you will be surprised how good POE is. you are a gem all diablo related content. but im happy you discovered POE. like seriously. i know how meticulous of a player you are. i look forward to your builds once you get a hold of the game.
cant wait for that video, Raxx... I played POE while it sent shudders down everyone's spine to even hear the games name. once new players know how the basic and crafting mechanics work...its a far more superior endgame experience than you-know-who-4
I tried POE around the beginning (when game just released or during end of beta, can't remember). The game was hard... I would say even punishing you... I played it until end of first 5 act (only 5 act at that time) and the map were hard. Really hard. I wasn't able to move on, make money, progress in maps. I was dying... a lot ! Finally I stopped playing. D3 came, I played some, time to time game was way easier, not really punishing. And I stopped. D4 came, I played the campaign. The campaign was damn great. The endgame, at the beginning, was cool. But the enjoyment quickly died. I stopped playing. I was a bit angry at the game. For a game costing that much, having such a "lame" endgame, as if it was never played by the game designer, was a bit outrageous. I had some hope for it, then some bad patch, then some mediocre patch. I uninstalled. But... It made me remember a game, a game I had tried a long time ago, that was free... I moved back on POE and ... ho well... This game was what I was looking for. Yes it's hard, yes there is way too much when you start. But you craft the gameplay the way you want. I don't think, in the end, that D4 is bad. I think most of us had a great expectation for a game that would be called D4. Sadly most of us got disappointed by what we got. The hopes were too high, the game not good enough to support those hopes. In a sense, I'm kinda grateful to D4. Because it made me rediscover POE, otherwise I wouldn't have. In the end I'm hoping for POE2, praying it won't be the same launch that D4 had !
thankyou raxx, love this video and also share the same thoughts about not having to hate one game to love the other, the way you phrased it perfectly describes the experience and what I had been thinking about diablo/PoE for a while.
Congratulations... I'm definitely not jealous of a new player trying poe and managing to get all 4 void stones, plus multiple mirrors 😱 I been playing this for years and only once managed to get all 4 void stones, but never had a mirror and probably never will 🙈😂 That's a impressive achievement fairplay 👌👍
Hey Raxx I'm glad your enjoying POE. I also had alot of fun with it once you get yourself past the noob stage. Great economy, crafting and community. I only ever asked for help once and someone responded right away and helped me do the most difficult map and wanted nothing in return. Great vid man.
As a PoE veteran I agree with your takes on this. The most fun is indeed to look at PoB to create the ultimate build, but most of the time there is a hidden catch somewhere that you have forgotten about. Then it continues to figure out to solve that problem and so on. It's very hard and takes a lot of knowledge and creativity to make something unique functioning. For example I looked into Neversink's stream the other day, he was playing frostblink (a movement skill) that is used by his totems lol and it works. Who could have thought of that? The only thing I would like to add is that a lot of current league mechanics are overtuned at the start of a season, usually it gets some fixes a few weeks in and when they reintroduce it (going core) it's most of the time pretty balanced.
I started this game yesterday - thnx to your Begginner guide :) I was surprised how good the graphic looks :) I remeber it from 10 years ago and it is night and day difference. :D Maybe because I got HD7970 back in the past and now RTX 3080 but I think there is much better lightning and atmosphere than before :)
Thanks Raxx. I've tried PoE many times and never make it off the beach. I want to like it, and git good, but I feel like I am hitting brick wall every time. Can't wait to check out your beginner video, maybe I'll finally be able to get off the beach. if anyone reading this comment has suggestions on where to start please lmk
I tried 5 times and hated it. 6th time the build I tried clicked for me. My advice is don’t force yourself to do something if you are not having fun. Try a season, try to learn something new each time, try a new build. But when you are not having fun it’s ok to stop. You can always give it a new try the next league. Eventually you learn enough to access the fun part of this game.
Came here from Steelmage's "roast" of this video, I gotta say this is one of the most measured takes of PoE I've heard from a new player in a long, long time. I have my own thoughts about jumping into the game with a full guide before trying it out blind but that's neither here nor there. Tuna's LA Ranger is a great build for anyone who's looking for a glasscannon bow character, it does what it promises to do and nothing else. I can guarantee you'll reconsider your opinions on the campaign once you've run it 30 times, but that's more on us who play this game an unhealthy amount (scratches wrists). Again, very measured and grounded take on this game. It has a crazy insane difficulty curve and any "new player oriented" content is always welcomed. We've lost a few of the really good ones over the years (you are forever missed @EngineeringEternity). Welcome to Wraeclast Exile, now get blown up by a triple empowered rare monster with a bunch of exponentially scaling modifiers.
Can't wait for the guide Raxx! I finished the PoE campaign but I'm pretty lost in the endgame now...I've watched a few guides but I need a guide from somebody like you, who is new to the game as I am
![[PoE] 40 Path of Exile Tips & Tricks - Things I wish I knew earlier - Stream Highlights #658](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zJNhy6NPsZ0/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm glad you're having fun with POE. The new player oriented guides are always welcome, good luck with that!
10/10 Review. As a veteran POE player I can say im super happy to see creators like you coming to this game and giving it a proper go. POE has it flaws but its also just an incredible game at the end of the day. Hope to see you back in future leagues
What i like about the campaign is how your build take form and you start feeling your playstyle and you go faster and faster. Ofcourse mapping/boss is more fun but i dont mind doing it!
one hundred percent. My knee jerk reaction was "waaa I want to start in maps right away" but the campaign is really fun, varied in its environments (act 4 is a bit a of drudgery for me) and you build up power in an amazingly satisfying way. Labs are awesome too. the power bump is so satisfying
This exactly. The campaign is so easy to block out mentally. I like to see my characters Power progression from start to finish. The acts showcase it very well
The campaign gameplay is also similar to what you do in maps anyway, just more linear, and with a developing build which I also enjoy.
Can't compare it to D4, where the campaign is a TON of very slow NPC dialogue scenes and long treks between towns in a huge map. D4 needed a skip campaign button infinitely more than PoE does so I don't agree when people say PoE needs one and use D4 as a reason.
Yep, it's a proper progression. I wouldn't want to just start mapping.
i do wish all skills were available level one. kinda sucks when you dont get your skill gem til like lvl 28. probably would be a balance nightmare though.
i cant get enough of all the diablo players discovering PoE. you did an amazing job analyzing everything the game has to offer
i cant wait for poe2 but for now i stick to diablo xD i tried poe but i am a casual bob and that game just isnt for casuals
@@CoL_Drake casuals follow a guide to play, wich is the best first experiencie if you ask me, but i get what you say
Thank you for supporting One China.
- POE Devs
@ccrider201Nyx vellum. He is currently doing a series with no build, trying things with the help of its community in youtube comments. Really great for beginners
Takes too much time
As a very seasoned PoE player, I think you did a great job breaking things down at a basic level.
I hope you get a ton of fun out of your time with PoE
The specific unique (Ventor's Gamble) you used as an example is a hilarious one, because it's a hugely variable unique based on rolls. It can be worth 1c or 5d depending on the rolls.
lmao high roll ventor in this league may up to 100div bro 😂 this league mechanic buff magic find to the moon.
I found this funny too, his had pretty decent rolls and he way underpriced it I think :)
very good ventor's gambles get copied using the kalandra's touch ring that's like 100 div on its own :D
Ventor's Gamble with the perfect roll is priceless (and doesn't exist)
@@ЕгорКорин-ч2б Perfect roll is a ventor with just the implicit mod and no explicit modifiers at all. 0 life, 0 quant, 0 rarity, 0 resistances xD
One of the reason most of us never get tired of doing the ten acts everytime is because of the "Character and build progression". The moment you enter Lioneye's watch, your mind starts to play in the direction of the build you have chosen to play, every single passive point makes a difference and can actually be felt in our character... which alone is already fun.. skill books are rewarding as hell.. the acts are fast pace, no unnecessary side quest, back and forth movement.. Then you reach act 3, you do lab and get your ascendancy with a hude surge in power..another dopamine boost... 2nd and third ascendancies till act 10... great.. Itemization is fun.. you are introduced to crafting, to hideout, to map system, to contents as a short quest... EVERY LEVEL UP, EVERY PASSIVE SKILLS, EVERY SKILL GEM, SOCKETS, etc etc makes a crucial change to your character that you can literrally feel in the game.. that is fun... after the acts... The real game started... and I dont have to talk about the end game.. Its endless...
sounds terrible
@@digital2701361its not for smooth brains
@@digital2701361 sounds like a you problem
Acts fucking suck dawg.
100% on skill books are rewarding as hell hahaah
I think a very underrated part of campaign is the dopamine rush of getting levels and skill points so quickly, and a lot of early nodes are super powerful so you really feel their effects
We're all just perpetually chasing the dragon that is the act 2 double skill point reward from eramir
My favorite part of the campaign is the fact you start with absolutely nothing and have to work your way up. I love the fact that you are able to find gear on the ground and equip it, because that generally falls off end game. I'm hoping POE2 addresses this and making item drops more compelling.
Raxx, I cannot express how much I appreciate you. This is a SPOT on review. As someone who also enjoys the depth and complexity of play your own way, this video was a HUGE true. Hope GGG takes value in you as a creator and starts to invite/include you in activities.
I love POE''s endgame. It feels like this bottomless ocean that every time I dip into I find new depths. The headhunter is my favorite item in any ARPG. I enjoyed your hearing your thoughts as an ARPG veteran but also a new player.
Very unbiased, clear, fair video Raxx. Well done
Absolutely agree. I believe modern ARPGs would be much better if Blizz and others hired Rax as consultant.
Of course it is biased, all reviews are opinions which will always have bias. That's the point. Bias is not by definition bad. What is important is recognizing and making your biases known.
_Everyone_ has biases. Raxx’s take on the *copy pasta campaign* is HUGELY subjective. The new player experience in PoE is also WAY over complicated. GGG doesn’t respect your time with the _constant_ artificial revolving door of nerfing builds. Is PoE good? It is but Raxx still has the rose colored glasses on and is blind to the _many_ problems that GGG refuses to fix due to “The Vision”.
I've dabbed with PoE in the past, but I never finished the campaign. I was convinced the play for me was to wait for PoE2, but I'm in a game lull and decided to give PoE another shot.
I cleared the campaign two days ago, and started doing maps. And while there's obviously a lot I still don't know, I've been having a blast. Looking forward to seeing how far into this I can get in my first real season, and I'm looking forward to Rax's take on it.
As someone with a couple thousand hours in POE, great video. I agree with all your rankings. Fantastic game if you want to sink hungreds of hours in.
"Hungreds"
Hundreds? I'm thankful I have thge standalone client so I can't see how many thousands of hours I've put into the game over 10 years.
Same. The only one I disagree with is bosses. I'd put it closer to a 9, and a flat 10 if it's only being compared to other ARPGs.
@@zachlebold6827well, you can login on every char you ever created and type /played . that way you can calculate the time yourself
That's because he yet "hungry" to spend more time in it 😉 @@jyynnxx3551
I think any game company should be lucky that Raxx makes a project like this about their game. What a mountain of work this must have been. Bravo Raxx
I would love a beginner guide from Raxx. POE has to be the one game in my library that I know is amazing because of everything I've watched and the opinion of people I respect. But for the life of me I still don't understand it and have never gotten to the point where I truly love it like this. I want to get there, but the ceiling is so high for some of us.
Best advice is look at league mechanics, find one that interests you. Maybe diving into the mine deeper and deeper is for you or so you go delve or maybe you like tower defense so you go blight. Just focus on only those nodes and doing that content in maps. Then next league pick another mechanic, or if you play alot, switch mid season to a new mechanic. Nobody needs to do every single mechanic and learn it quickly.
I played it since beta and loved it for many years, then they started making it overly complicated for the sake of it and it ruined the game for me. It's just too convoluted now, too bloated, too many things you have to do.
If you can find a friend or just someone to talk to that you can bounce all your questions off of while you're playing it makes the game so much more approachable.
I tried this game today for a few hours and I am extremely let down. After hearing all the fan boys rave about how amazing it is, I don't know what I was expecting, but an overly complex game with clunky controls and UI along with a seemingly enormous time investment wasn't it. If you want to spend a few hundred hours going over spreadsheets and reading tutorials, have fun. I'm out, though.
but you dont need to do all the stuff @@phixi0n
Best take of this video: if you love D4, you don't have to hate PoE and vice versa. Just play both if you can and have twice as much fun, they're both great at their own thing
💯 💯 💯 💯💯💯
You don't have to love D4 either, it's objectively shit game. Raxx pointed out something, that PoE had 10 years to develop all this ideas and mechanics themselves, and to that I say that D4 had 10 years to steal it and implement in their game.
So an ARPG can’t be casual?? Is that against the law?? If you want D4 to be exactly like PoE, than just play PoE. D4 is for people looking to blast for an hour or two a day. PoE is for No life’s.
And last epoch which in my opinion is better then d4 in my opinion
@@kevinfinnerty8414 dude.. please..
D4 didn't have resistance working till season 2, the inventory is a mess and stash tabs apparently coming to the game with DLC's and purchase options, in a game that cost 70$, with 50$ cheapest DLC.
I'm not even going to talk about all the mechanics in PoE, because Diablo wouldn't get them working anyway, according to Blizzard the technology is not there yet.
I could spend half a night talking about shit in Diablo that simply doesn't work and obviously you got to be casual as hell to ignore all the problems with the game or perhaps you know no better than they're feeding you.
Ive been holding off starting my journey in PoE ever since you first mentioned you would be making a beginners guide, looking forward to it cant wait
this@@XCygnusX
@@XCygnusXpalsteron has amazing guide for very beginners
Check out the other maxroll guides!
It's okay to be a new player... why ruin it with a guide
@@Funguspower2 well, its not 100% right :D i mean im new poe player and even when im following guide, there is so much things where i dont have any clue how to solve it. For example end gear crafting or how to choose wich base i need and where when choosing gear to pick up(this aint only one). So far i have enjoyed game but now i noticed that i dont get that feel like "i must play POE" bcs i know i need much better gear and i dont know what gear to pick or how to manipulate them 100%. Im pretty sure that if i didnt follow any guide i wouldnt be playing it anymore. Also its not easy to search info or tips from all over, bcs english aint my native language so i dont understand everything instantly or just cant search it right. (you might notice my english aint best one :D)
My favorite part of this video is when you’re talking about all the different mechanics that have accumulated over the years while hovering over the atlas passive tree, a comparatively recent addition to the game.
People often say “of course PoE rules, they have ten years of development” but from a developer perspective it’s amazing that they can still add so many new systems. It’s no trivial feat to design a system that holds up so well after ten years of added content.
It’s why they often face backlash when they fix longstanding or accumulated issues and it breaks someone’s build or the new solution makes encounters disproportionately difficult.
It was about showing different mechanics by hovering them in the atlas. Atlas tree is not mentioned as mechanic, its contents are.
@@denistalalae3360 yep, nowhere did I say it was a mechanic.
@@xTobsecretx ah, now I see
Very good and accurate review Raxx. I started playing POE in Delve league (2018) and still feel I'm a newbie to the game. I play and enjoy every league and set my own personal goals and try not to keep up with the crowd. The only frustration that I have is that I play for months and still do not acquire the currency and gear that the top players get in a couple of days and I put many, many hours into the game. I try to get better but seem to hit the same block every league and not sure how to overcome it.
Other than that, POE has been my main game for over 5 years (what other game can do that?). I thoroughly enjoy and anticipate the new league launches and love following the community on Twitch/TH-cam to try to learn a bit more. It keeps the game fresh and very exciting. Also, I love supporting GGG as a game studio. They have a single game, designed by players, that you can tell is about their passion and vision and not just making corporate dollars. POE/GGG is a shining star compared to other games in and out of the ARPG genre.
On a lighter note, we found an all grey, stray kitten a few years ago. We brought her into the family and needed a name. This kitten is now known as Kitava, the Insatiable. The name gets a lot of compliments from the vet and visitors and most don't know where it comes from.
😻
POE is the Goat!, you hit the nail on the head, I like playing Diablo when i just wanna chill, and I play poe to go more in depth , love it! :D
As a new player POE is very good. Wish I started sooner.
I've tried it twice and still can't get into it. Maybe I'll try again. I definitely think I will check out PoE2 when that comes out.
@@TheGerm24picking the right guide really helped me get into the game. Try to find one that goes through the entire transition from campaign to end game and that will help you learn the different systems very fast
same here
@@TheGerm24 3 times for me and I feel the same. I'll check out POE2 but Diablo just feels better to jump into for me as a casual with not much time to figure out games anymore.
@@TheGerm24 I tried 3 times but the last time was around 2017 or so. The games A LOT different now of you haven't tried it lately.
As a PoE player it would've been nice if you explained how Supporter packs and the MTX shop work as a lot of people don't understand why there is an option for supporter packs and why they're priced this way (including the $500 one) and everything that comes with those transactions.
Great video, looking forward to more PoE content.
When i first tried out PoE about half a year ago i saw those almost 500 dollar supporter packs and thought "Holy shit what kind of overpriced cashgrab bullshit is this?!?" just to realize a few minutes later that i just didn't fully read the description of what's included.
Yes, almost 500 bucks a tough pill to swallow until you realize you get that exact amount of money for the cash shop PLUS all the supporter pack exclusive items of the most expensive pack and all packs before it. So the value is actually insanely good if you like the game well enough to buy one of those packs.
And since the game is F2P it having a MTX shop is perfectly fine, but some of the stuff is still pretty ridiculous. Like 80 dollar armor sets and the fact that weapon glow effects and stuff like that are slot specific... so if you want to dual wield with the same weapon effect you need to buy it twice.
Just ignore it. Doesn't effect the game at all.
That $500 pack is like $150 now for me since I've bought some other packs over the years, some purchases knock it down.
That would be a better separate video about how the game is free and how to support the game, if you want. Also he has to mention that the mtx he spent on this game will be carried over to POE2.
@@Gharon Supporter packs have the best value relatively speaking, but it is not great value. The MTX stuff are overpriced. For $60+ I expect more tbh.
casual/vet and I still really enjoy the campaign unless I make 3+ characters in a single league. I really love the overall story and theme in PoE, a ton of the lore and voice acting is top notch and was enough to make someone who wouldn't normally get into an ARPG want to learn all they could as to enjoy it as much as possible.
Just wanted to say thanks for putting the time in to make content like this. I just started playing POE myself and I'm having a lot of fun. I learn a lot from your channel so know that its much appreciated.
As a D4 quitter here's my short PoE review : it's complex, overwhelming but ultimately fun and rewarding. And there's so many things to do you can probably play this game for years and still come up with new cool builds and strats.
And even though many people don't seem to care so much, the lore is worth digging through.
So I also was a diablo main for years and have been poe for about a year/year and a half. One additional bonus of the long campaign is build craft testing. There are some major fights or spots in the campaign and if you are making a new theory crafted build you can use these as benchmarks for dmg and survival. If you are cruising along and you dmg is great and nothing touches you and then you get one shot by bosses then time to get some survivability. If your dps is great on aoe but sucks on single target or you start running out of resources etc it can be a good early warning. Just getting into trying to make some of my own builds and have found this aspect quite helpful cause all maps are different combos of mods and whatnot so gives a good consistent baseline before you hit endgame
When I was finally burntout of wow and d3 was just not ever what d2 was...I finally gave PoE a chance it was scary at first until I pushed through the pain and started following guides and streams. I felt so happy when I finished the campagn and then saw the endgame atlas omfg yes this game is for me BOOM supporter pack and 2k hours later still playing 10 straight leagues. Probably might not reach 3k hours but thats cause PoE2 here we come!
L2Engrush!
1:31 Yeah, I'm glad you stayed your opinion. My opinion is, I have run the campaign so many times over the years, that I can't stand it. I speed run it, with every new build and season.
Great vid! Im looking forward to your beginner guides Raxx, I just find your teaching really simple and easy to understand.
I am a new PoE player and I'm following the same guide but it's just so much information that I don't wanna play anymore. It would be amazing if you can create a new player guide specifically on items and gems and upgrading. Thanks!!
Yh I’ve tried a few times and I also get bored and give up
you can follow Pohx's or Zizaran's playthroughs designed for new players. They play through the acts and explain everything. You would of course need to pause the video to be able to catch up
i try this game maybe 5 or 6 times in the past, never got me. thats simply too much for a casual gamer
@@iam-geoffreytheelite5275bored because your brain doesn’t comprehend the game? Yikes
@@jorgephilippe1 I am basically boomer and casual and not very good at games to begin with, but I like PoE, I don't aspire to clear bosses (not good enough and not willing to learn) or learn to craft (too boring for me), I just found an endgame mechanic I like and that is what I am doing. I complete Atlas and that is basically it for me. You can find something for you in the game, if you give it a chance, but with that said, there are probably tons of other games that might work for you better, not trying to force it on you ;-)
Raxx you nailed it at the end. One of the best and fastest ways to learn the game is to keep making new characters and playing new builds. I have been playing for a couple years on and off and going into last season I still had no clue what I was doing. I made a toon and followed a build into maps. Then made another build on a different class, took it into maps, repeat repeat and through that I gain a TREMENDOUS amount of game knowledge in one single season
Good Review. I think one of the reasons I like POE is that I like games where I have to do some research to optimise characters. It just makes it feel more than just a computer game.
The other big thing for me is the build diversity. At the start of each season I have a list of about 3 or 4 builds I want to try out in a season. The next season I'll have another 3 or 4 to try. The problem with this season is that I have 5 different builds I really want to try out - I just hope I have time to try them.
BTW - If you ever play POE whilst your not streaming, take your time and speak to each NPC to get the lore of the game. Its really deep.
I recall my first time in POE. A friend got me & a few others join & we started in a league instead of standard. No guides, no prior knowledge, just nothing. Didn't even finish the campaign. In fact I didn't even understand the meaning of league/season game-wise. Think I dropped it after a few weeks & went back to it months after. It was only then I took the time trying to learn the mechanics - linking gems being the main subject as it was the most foreign concept to me. So many leagues since then I have probably scratched much of the surface, yet discovering intricacies of interactions between different mechanics with the help of guides found in forums.
Good luck on the guide!
One of the best things that’s happened for my gaming enjoyment is D4 not being as good as I thought. I tried out LE and enjoyed it. However, I had seen Zizarran stream D4, enjoyed his content, and learned that he was a PoE player.
Long story short, I’ve been obsessed with this damn game. It’s so fun! I can’t remember a game that has been so enjoyable in years. I go “OHHHHHHH” multiple times a week when cool ass shit happens on my screen.
Really good video Ryan. Can I be cheeky & make a suggestion for your new player guide? I consider myself new but not brand spanking new, more slightly soiled but I would suggest a new player absorb the conversations to start with. They are very well done & it enhances my immersion. Now I know you are a blaster & don’t need immersion but I think it might be helpful to offer that approach as well. It can make sense of some of the things you are asked to do.
Whether you do or don’t I know your guide will be awesome; your track record is impressive.
I've played PoE since open beta sometime in 2013, and I still love going through the campaign. Obviously the campaign we have now is very different from the Normal/Cruel/Merciless loop we had in the start, but even back then I enjoyed it, and the switch to a 10 act structure and the removal of Normal/Cruel/Merciless has only made me love it more. I just really like the sense of progression it gives you, it feels like you gain a lot both in terms of power and new skills, and I honestly have never grown bored of it, I am far from a hardcore blaster though, I mostly enjoy taking my own sweet time and doing things my way, and I realize that if your purpose is to get to the absolute endgame and kill some Uber bosses as fast as humanly possible, the campaign may be a pretty annoying hurdle. But for me I still really like it, I'll get to those bosses in time, admittedly a lot later than most people who have played the game as long as I have.
Edit: Shoutout to another great ARPG that gets overshadowed by PoE, D4 and even Last Epoch, Grim Dawn is a fantastic game, highly recommended from a random moron on the internet, I hope you enjoy it.
Really nice video for the start. I've tried PoE with the new season but stopped after few days because I got lost in the depth and didn't have time to study, learn and google everything and I didn't like to play incorrectly in a way. Maybe second chance after your beginners guide video. Game looks fun but very intimidating for a new player, even someone with experience from other games. Looking forward to the next video!
Very good video, Raxx. I like it when people take the time to articulate and say things in a direct and clear way.
Love your videos. Always short and to the point, but with arguments and constructively. We need people like you in our arpg community. I was playing PoE a long time ago, just 2 seasons. Maybe your guide is the way to come back in this game.
I've done the campaign about 7 times now and still enjoy it. Which is weird, because I hate replaying games in general. I think improving your time through the campaign each league is a fun little game in its own right and shows how you have improved over time.
Give me a comment again when u have done it 200+
@@hulubuluhejhej2721 i have and i totally agree with this guy, and some other people have said that the feeling of getting your build progressively online is incredible
im currently taking my phd just to understand poe's skill tree system. few more yrs & i'll be able to play poe & maybe fully understand it
i actually love this the more i think about it. hopefully you can take learnings from PoE and pass suggestions over to the D4 team lol. i really hope the D4 team doesn’t think that just brining past mechanics back as items all the time is a good thing…. i would rather have a version of the mechanic itself
A very good and useful review. I tried PoE a while ago (2017-2019) and back then I thought "nah, this game is not for me" after ~5-10 hours of play. From time to time I wondered whether I haven't given it a "proper shot": maybe I missed something, maybe I played it wrong, maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind. Now that I watched your video I am much more confident in my initial assessment. Thank you Rax!
Really good and balanced take. It's always nice to hear from the newer players 👍
Yes heist is still good 😀
this is a really awesome video. i havent really ever watched your stuff because I was primarily a poe player, but I played d3 on occasion and sometimes watched your guides. im very pleased to see that one of the biggest names in diablo is giving poe such a great review despite being new.
you're obviously a very smart guy, getting to this point as a beginner even with help is impressive and your takes are all fair and well said. i hope you continue to enjoy my favorite game and get others to enjoy it too
to any new players, please hear raxx's point that his chat told him at 17:35. just doing the things that are necessary ("The Way Forward" quests, skill points, trials of ascendancy + lab) and skipping everything else is absolutely vital for most people's enjoyment of the game, AND it happens to be the most optimal thing to do as well, since rewards are so much worse in the early game than when you're in maps. you may even follow a walkthrough, i know zizaran has something like that. All you've gotta do is get to maps, then you'll learn the game and how all the systems work, and then when you do the campaign next league (season) it will be much easier and probably more enjoyable.
PoE is probably the greatest ARPG to date
Correction :-) PoE IS the greatest ARPG to date
The greatest but also the most overwhelming for most new players.
Hit the nail on the head with the veterans of the game being able to blast through the content and knowing the past league mechanics because we played it when it was fresh. I have walked several people through this game and I can only do it by slowly explaining what things do. Its so damn much and I am far from being an expert. Glad you enjoyed the game!
Just hopped on for the first time last week and it’s a bit overwhelming at first but this game is too good! 🔥
Yo Raxx WELCOME!!!!🥰😍🥰
So nice, you finally came to poe!!!
Enyoyed your videos for a long time at D3!
Can't wait for upcoming, may fresh build guides from you about poe, may poe2.🍀
I know maxxroll from your days at d3.
S+ TIER BUILDER!!!💣💥❤🔥
Whatever content u like to do about poe, the bell is on again.
Thanks for the video. As a newbie another category I would add is visuals which would be like a 5/10 for me. There is some sort of visual cohesion and artistic style that other ARPGs have that PoE does not.
I think I remember you echoing a similar sentiment at one point in a stream. PoE 2 seems to have radically and drastically improved visuals.
I have over 3k clocked on PoE, and I still wholeheartedly agree; I mean the game is over 10 years old, and closer to 15 if you think about when the project was started. PoE2 is their chance to bring it up to modern standards in this area, and from what they've shown so far - they are going to nail it.
I also like completing the campaign. I have been playing the game for almost a decade, and still enjoy the ritual of rushing the campaign with the whole community. There is something nice about going through all the acts and everyone starting on the same page.
Glad you enjoyed the campaign, I loved it the first 10 times, accepted it the next 100 times, now I kinda look forward to poe 2 :)
Campaign feels like walking simulator fixing res till maps haha
if he would have enjoyed it, he would have listen to the lore... its funny that he says he thoroughly enjoys it...
also, the campaign in D4 is bad, so not sure how much you can appreciate his opinion...
@@2impgaming Word of the day: Subjective
@@ReconWafflez "also, the campaign in D4 is bad, so not sure how much you can appreciate his opinion..." He clearly has issues with this concept
@@Eustres yes, I have a problem with bad game design... if you've done something once, and its forgettable, and the second time it doesn't bring anything new, that's just bad...
As a new casual player (you and DM got me into POE), I agree with your sentiment regarding complexity. But with tools like Maxroll builds, POB, and youtube tutorials, I have had more fun with this game than any other in quite some time so I'd rate it higher. Too many games are utter carebear handholding affairs with no challenge to your thought process.
Thanks for your content and unbiased opinion of games.
Raxx you're pretty on point with your review. I personally think PoE requires a lot more thinking generally than D4 which is another reason why someone might prefer D4 (other than the new player experience) - as a software dev I get quite tired solving problems you know :))
So glad to see you played PoE! Been hoping you would try it out some time. It genuinely blew me away when you started the video showing everything you had done so far because that's all a lot of work to get done for a new player in a single season. I think my first ever season a few years ago I made it to like lvl 80 ish doing about 25% of maps and 25% of all the old seasonal content.
Definitely agree, the new player experience is extremely rough. It's why the most common advice anyone gives a new player is to follow a build guide. The other stuff can kinda flow out as players run into stuff, get curious, and start to do their own research, but you really need that backbone of a solid build guide to really have a smooth start imo.
Regarding the campaign as a vet, yeah, it definitely gets old, but I honestly don't think I'd like leveling via maps or something any more. The only thing I can think of that would make it "better" would be getting power leveled like in D3 where you're good to go in 20mins, but even then the depth of your character builds and such in PoE kinda mandates taking it a lot slower that that. It's also fun having to work out how to level the class you want to play, when to pivot to what skills you actually end up using, etc.
Raxx I am excited about the upcoming video - all of the mapping guides are always from the point of someone who knows the game really well so they make a lot of assumptions
Great review! One thing about the campaign is that those of us who don't enjoy it have no problem with the content itself, we just don't like being weak. I personally don't like the ssf kind of gameplay where you have to pay attention to how you build your character with very limited resources. What I enjoy is minmaxing, so the campaign is just this chore I have to get through before I get to what I actually enjoy. This is why I actually enjoy the campaign on second and third characters with more expensive leveling gear, cuz im not struggling.
Looking forward for the beginner guide, I feel there are tips that are put in complicated way and can be more accessible to new players.
Nice video, Im pleasurable surprised how high score you gave PoE. Also one note: they're not moving away from linking system they're changing it so its tied to gems, not items. That way you can change your equipment freely while you only need a main skill with 5 sockets to get whats currently a 6-link. But now that PoE2 will be a separate game the new system might be only a PoE2 thing.
Really locking forward to the beginners guide 😊
I've been playing POE on and off for like 8 years, and it's definitely the best end game experience. I used to hate running the campaign over and over but I was trying to blast, without paying attention to my current gear. My mindset was just get through it as quickly as possible, and any gear I'm just going to replace anyway. After I started doing gear checks and working on my gear throughout the campaign, it made it a lot more enjoyable. Excited to see more POE content from you though, thanks!
Damn dude, 10 year player here, and I have maybe 130c and 2 divs to my name, not even a 6 link yet and here is rax, someone who just started playing the game and has 20d of gear on. I think it’s about time I put the game down and focus on something else in my life, I’m not even kidding I truly think it’s time
Dude you have two options in PoE to make a tons of currency. Play until the sun comes up again or know what you do and use the time as much as efficient you can, at least for trade league. SSF is a different beast
You are either extremely casual or learned nothing at all.
Wow, 9/10! As a person who stands between casual and blaster, I really dig POE and i started playing 2 weeks ago. Thanks for the review! I'm so hypped for your begginer's guide! Keep up your good work!
I'll start playing POE once your beginner's guide is released, Raxx
Watch zizarans guides
I couldn’t agree more with you guys. Thank you! But I trust this man with my life LOL
Holy smokes! I am so happy you finally tried POE!! I’m super excited to see your guides and see you explore the possibilities! Love you man and Merry Christmas! Thank you for everything over the years I still cherish the time I spent farming keys with you GLHF.
As someone who has been a total noob at this game for years, I wish I could play for longer than an hour. The information overload is just so intense unless I'm really determined.
If you can only play for 1 hr a day I recommend d4 it's alot worse but you'll be able to complete the whole in a season with 1 hr a day you won't get past the tutorial on poe with 1 hr a day
look into Lailloken-UI it will help you at least get through the campaign quickly
Try to have fun is my first suggestion. Don't look to others. Actually BalorMage has an 'Playing 1h on end of league' series. Its outdated and he has a lot more knowledge of the game but still... 1h a day is enough
Appreciated your perspective, didn't know you had a math degree, a lot of what you said really resonated with me. Just wanted to share that as someone who's played since beta I still enjoy rushing through the campaign, I think it's a really well designed on-ramp for building up your character. Also, I thought PoE was great since day 1, a lot has changed but there were always interesting problems to solve and a lot of ways to do it.
Glad you're having fun!!
You need to try a slammer, it's a very fun and active melee playstyle.
I also started PoE this league. I watched about 50 hours of videos about the game, and took about 50 hours to finish the campaign taking my time as best I can to try to really understand things. I am playing SRS Guardian which several content creators listed as a very beginner build and good this league. I have had a blast, but yeah, it has been a very intensive onboarding process. I feel very satisfied with the time invested, but I now completely understand all the talk I heard before about onboarding being a problem for PoE.
Agree with almost everything Raxx said here. I was pretty consistently overleveled throughout the campaign, which made the league mechanic a bit more palatable.
I can't wait for your beginners guide. I am thankful all the videos I watched before I started, but wow, did their perspective as multi-year blasters color how they presented information for their beginner's guides. Its not bad information but it feels like it is often working on a definition of a beginner as someone with only a couple hundred hours in the game instead of someone with zero hours. I understand how it happens, as these folks often have PHD levels of experience in PoE, and its really hard to remember how little a newbie has, even if they have blasted other games in the genre. True zero-hour beginner content is definitely a niche in the content creator community that is currently unfilled though, so really looking forward to what Raxx can make for it.
Blown away by people not liking the campaign. Great story, especially sea hag’s is a sad one.
It's unfortunate how many people skip all the dialogue. The game has some of the best voice acting you'll find
Have fun.....else where.
Awesome video. I'm a new player to PoE as of about 6 months ago. I'm still struggling with understanding the game and its complexity, but I also love that it's not D4 and it's doing it's own thing.
only thing missing from Poe for me is the graphics/worlds feel which seems to be much better in Poe 2, such a great game and great team behind it
Raxx, first off... I agree with you almost completely. I would give the 'newbie' ranking even a 1 or 2 compared to some other games. I have tried to get a few peeps into PoE and usually the the #1 reaction is "This is WAAAAY too complex.. I just want to have fun...' W/O all the online support from various tubers and sites like maxroll/poevault etc etc, it really is overwhelming. And EVEN WITH such 'tools' the learning curve is rather steep.
One thing I would love would be for you to give your insight into the various 'seasonal' content. Granted, you are just starting out, but for some reason you love 'legion' (and since I just recently got back into poe) I not even sure what the pro/cons are for legion encounters. I am pretty sure that any vid(s) you make on this topic will be a great benefit to all. I have yet to watch a vid of yours where I don't learn SOMETHING! (:
Thank you as always for your insight and and presentation.
would love to see you do Grim Dawn since it's massive update.
Amazing review, for months I kept begging you to play poe on stream. I am so happy your having fun and playing this amazing game.
Really looking forward to your beginners beginners guide, ive tried to get into poe a few times and always bounced off eventually. even after watching hours of guides and following a good build, id end up getting overwhelmed and feeling totally lost. your description of your guide sounds perfect for me to hopefully get my foot in the door and truly appreciate this amazing game
its so strange, i knew him as the guy who defended Diablo Immortal. And now he is also playing PoE. What a character arc :D
Welcome to the PoE club! I’m 5000 hours in and still learning new stuff about this game every single day. D4 is a great game too, I advise everyone to start with D4 and when that game get’s easy and boring, you step up into PoE.
i would love the D4 world/look with Poe game/endgame systems
Love the review Rax, nice to hear a fair review without being bombastic.
I'm also a noob - just starting to get into crafting very high end items, about 3000 hours in and I still love to LOGIN every league
Also like Asmon said - I spend $100 on d4 and i feel sad, I spend $750 AUD on PoE and i feel happy
You aren't alone in liking the campaign. In fact, I still miss the days when the game was 3 or 4 acts, and you had to play through the campaign on 3 separate difficulties (like D2) to reach endgame. I loved killing the final act boss and going through a portal just to appear on the beach and do everything again in the fresh challenge of a new difficulty. Miss that.
The copy-pasta of Acts 5-10 is just an artificial barrier to mapping. I HATE the campaign after playing it for 10 years.
Wow, I only learned about you (Rax) threw playing D4 in the beginning and tried to find good content creators - and you are one of them !
But as somebody who has like 15k+ hours in POE and looked at ton of videos from people rating poe over the last decade, this might be the best and honest review I ever watched.
Doesnt matter for me how high your scores are, but you where rly able to talk about all the positve things that many of us POE verterans love, too.
Awesome video, great explanations for a "newbie" and I wish you all the best in the future. 🙂
How TF do you rate a game that high based on fundamental stuff that only works well because of 3rd party apps pretty much half your review is about. You rate the game, not the apps. Simple truth is that the game is contrived overdone crap without those.
Awesome man, can't wait for the video. That is exactly the type of guide I want, just enough to get started and then let me figure out the rest. I think your review is about spot on for me, I am more of the blaster type and that is probably why I am bored with D4. There really just isn't any good theory crafting to be had because everything is so straight forward. Can't wait to give POE a try.
Hi Rax, used to watch you play d3, moved on to poe before you. Its great to see you try this out.
It wont take you long at all to get to the top 3% of players. I followed tunas guide last league and yeh, its really good.
im sure any video you make for starting will be full of good advice, I remember trying your way of starting d3 and didnt find anyone who actually had a better one. wp to you.
Best of luck. i will gladly check out your future vids and leave you a view.
cheers
Thanks for your review. As someone who hadn’t played path of exile, I am intrigued. I think I’m going to wait and try path of exile 2 when it releases next summer. Thanks for the content.
I started poe for the first time, last league. I was so impressed I immediately gave them $100 supporter pack and probably will buy more eventually.
My only gripe is that is so unbearably mind meltingly complex as a new player, BUT its what makes it good. There's always a good feeling to progressing or figuring things out one step at a time. I do wish crafting was a bit less gamble like and a little more straight forward like last epoch. But then the trade economy is what really makes the game worthwhile because of how its setup.
I promise anyone, take the game slow, don't stress out to much and you will enjoy it, more and more and more.
Raxx, I'm a Diablo player since D1, played D2 for years and all I want to say is I can't wait for your beginner's guide to PoE as I've never played that game before too. Thanks for all your videos and all your work on ARPGs
FINALLY YOU SWITCHED. you are so good at details this IS the game for you. empyrean is a mainstay player POE is so deep you have a lot of things to do. as a former diablo player. you will be surprised how good POE is. you are a gem all diablo related content. but im happy you discovered POE. like seriously. i know how meticulous of a player you are. i look forward to your builds once you get a hold of the game.
Ayyyy, +1 to chat for the suggestion. The Dunes/Glacier map runs are some of my favorite!
cant wait for that video, Raxx... I played POE while it sent shudders down everyone's spine to even hear the games name. once new players know how the basic and crafting mechanics work...its a far more superior endgame experience than you-know-who-4
I tried POE around the beginning (when game just released or during end of beta, can't remember). The game was hard... I would say even punishing you... I played it until end of first 5 act (only 5 act at that time) and the map were hard. Really hard.
I wasn't able to move on, make money, progress in maps. I was dying... a lot ! Finally I stopped playing.
D3 came, I played some, time to time game was way easier, not really punishing. And I stopped.
D4 came, I played the campaign. The campaign was damn great. The endgame, at the beginning, was cool. But the enjoyment quickly died. I stopped playing. I was a bit angry at the game. For a game costing that much, having such a "lame" endgame, as if it was never played by the game designer, was a bit outrageous.
I had some hope for it, then some bad patch, then some mediocre patch. I uninstalled.
But... It made me remember a game, a game I had tried a long time ago, that was free... I moved back on POE and ... ho well... This game was what I was looking for. Yes it's hard, yes there is way too much when you start. But you craft the gameplay the way you want.
I don't think, in the end, that D4 is bad. I think most of us had a great expectation for a game that would be called D4. Sadly most of us got disappointed by what we got. The hopes were too high, the game not good enough to support those hopes.
In a sense, I'm kinda grateful to D4. Because it made me rediscover POE, otherwise I wouldn't have.
In the end I'm hoping for POE2, praying it won't be the same launch that D4 had !
thankyou raxx, love this video and also share the same thoughts about not having to hate one game to love the other, the way you phrased it perfectly describes the experience and what I had been thinking about diablo/PoE for a while.
Congratulations... I'm definitely not jealous of a new player trying poe and managing to get all 4 void stones, plus multiple mirrors 😱 I been playing this for years and only once managed to get all 4 void stones, but never had a mirror and probably never will 🙈😂 That's a impressive achievement fairplay 👌👍
Hey Raxx I'm glad your enjoying POE. I also had alot of fun with it once you get yourself past the noob stage. Great economy, crafting and community. I only ever asked for help once and someone responded right away and helped me do the most difficult map and wanted nothing in return. Great vid man.
As a PoE veteran I agree with your takes on this. The most fun is indeed to look at PoB to create the ultimate build, but most of the time there is a hidden catch somewhere that you have forgotten about. Then it continues to figure out to solve that problem and so on. It's very hard and takes a lot of knowledge and creativity to make something unique functioning. For example I looked into Neversink's stream the other day, he was playing frostblink (a movement skill) that is used by his totems lol and it works. Who could have thought of that?
The only thing I would like to add is that a lot of current league mechanics are overtuned at the start of a season, usually it gets some fixes a few weeks in and when they reintroduce it (going core) it's most of the time pretty balanced.
I started this game yesterday - thnx to your Begginner guide :) I was surprised how good the graphic looks :) I remeber it from 10 years ago and it is night and day difference. :D Maybe because I got HD7970 back in the past and now RTX 3080 but I think there is much better lightning and atmosphere than before :)
Thanks Raxx. I've tried PoE many times and never make it off the beach. I want to like it, and git good, but I feel like I am hitting brick wall every time. Can't wait to check out your beginner video, maybe I'll finally be able to get off the beach. if anyone reading this comment has suggestions on where to start please lmk
I tried 5 times and hated it. 6th time the build I tried clicked for me. My advice is don’t force yourself to do something if you are not having fun. Try a season, try to learn something new each time, try a new build. But when you are not having fun it’s ok to stop. You can always give it a new try the next league. Eventually you learn enough to access the fun part of this game.
Came here from Steelmage's "roast" of this video, I gotta say this is one of the most measured takes of PoE I've heard from a new player in a long, long time. I have my own thoughts about jumping into the game with a full guide before trying it out blind but that's neither here nor there. Tuna's LA Ranger is a great build for anyone who's looking for a glasscannon bow character, it does what it promises to do and nothing else.
I can guarantee you'll reconsider your opinions on the campaign once you've run it 30 times, but that's more on us who play this game an unhealthy amount (scratches wrists).
Again, very measured and grounded take on this game. It has a crazy insane difficulty curve and any "new player oriented" content is always welcomed. We've lost a few of the really good ones over the years (you are forever missed @EngineeringEternity).
Welcome to Wraeclast Exile, now get blown up by a triple empowered rare monster with a bunch of exponentially scaling modifiers.
Can't wait for the guide Raxx! I finished the PoE campaign but I'm pretty lost in the endgame now...I've watched a few guides but I need a guide from somebody like you, who is new to the game as I am