The developers of the popular action RPG Path of Exile have also announced an experiment as part of the reveal of the upcoming Sentinel update. However, players and editor Matze very much doubt that this will go well…
The new Sentinel League for Path of Exile has been revealed – and hardly surprises with content. Once again, we’re getting mechanics that allow us to balance risk versus reward. So no need to panic, everything is the same. But in the live stream and on the official page for the Sentinel update, the developers at GGG are planning an experiment: no adjustments to the balancing. wait, please what? Suddenly nothing seems the same at Sentinel. Or, well, too much of the old!
Build-Bau is part of Path of Exile
While the developers are still happily emphasizing that playing styles from the Archnemesis league from patch 3.17.0 will also work in 3.18.0, the alarm bells are ringing among PoE veterans. Because the constantly changing meta, the new build ideas as well as dealing with nerfs & buffs are what keeps PoE fresh for many of them. New endgame challenges and special league mechanics are nice, but only part of the fun. Just look at one of the top posts on Path of Exile’s busy official subreddit, showing a crying impostor, one of the Shadow’s specializations – they need buffs and balance adjustments like few other classes right now:
In the comments, the feedback is also clear:
- “So is it 3.17 part 2?”
- “I’ll play like everyone else, of course, but the lack of balance changes kills enthusiasm a bit.”
- “I don’t think the balancing was good enough not to make changes now in this league.”
- “Meta changes are the be-all and end-all of the game for me, it changes my builds in every league, but this league will just have the same league starters from previous ones.”
- “The lack of new skills is the worst thing for me. It’s what I look forward to the most. The list of those I haven’t used is very short at the moment”adds another user – in addition to the lack of balancing, there are also no new skill gems
- “No balance changes AND no new abilities? What were they thinking? Leaving everything but the league mechanics the same is a recipe for very little game time.”
What will Sentinel’s player counts look like?
I fear that player numbers in Sentinel will suffer noticeably from this experiment. Sure, there are people who just haven’t looked at the previous league, so the builds from Archnemesis are still fresh for them. Yet the faithful core of Path of Exile (buy now ), who deals really deeply with the subject, will be bored after all. Build hobbyists and streamers have had enough of the gameplay of Patch 3.17.0 – the Sentinel mechanics and new over-bosses don’t change that much in everyday gameplay. Or how do you see it? Am I too much of a naysayer here and is the league content itself reason enough to check out PoE with patch 3.18.0? Tell me your site in the comments!
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