Summary:
Path of Exile 2 has evolved dramatically through Early Access, but several major systems still need refinement before 1.0. From Trials and melee balance to visual clutter, gear power, and endgame challenges, these changes could define the future of PoE2.
Path of Exile 2 Is Great—but Not Finished Yet
Path of Exile 2 has changed almost beyond recognition since its Early Access launch. Major patches have repeatedly reshaped skills, items, the passive tree, combat, POE2 Currency, and endgame systems. After hundreds of hours of gameplay, it is clear that PoE2 is not a bad game. In fact, its combat, boss design, visuals, and build depth are among its biggest strengths.
However, Early Access exists for a reason. Before Grinding Gear Games reaches Path of Exile 2 1.0, several systems need meaningful improvements. The goal should not be perfection, but creating a game where every major mechanic feels polished, rewarding, and intentional.
1. Trials of Ascension Need a Major Rework
The Trials of Ascension are one of the clearest examples of an excellent concept that does not always deliver on its potential.
The Trial of Sekhemas looks fantastic and has a strong roguelike structure. Players explore rooms, manage resources, make decisions, and work toward completing a dangerous ancient trial. Unfortunately, repeated runs eventually expose a limited selection of encounters, making the experience feel repetitive.
Melee characters can also struggle more than ranged builds, while Honor mechanics can turn otherwise reasonable runs into frustrating experiences.
The Trial of Chaos has different problems. Its modifiers often feel annoying rather than strategically interesting, and the slower gameplay can make repeated runs feel tedious. More unique monsters, bosses, modifiers, and meaningful rewards could make both trials much more exciting.
These activities should feel like some of the most memorable challenges in PoE2—not chores players complete simply because they need Ascendancy points.
2. Gear Has Too Much Power
Another major issue is the current balance between gear power and passive power.
Certain equipment upgrades can completely transform a character. Powerful modifiers, especially bonuses such as increased gem levels, can create enormous spikes in effectiveness. While finding an incredible item should absolutely feel exciting, excessive gear dependency creates a difficult balancing problem.
If players can become dramatically stronger through a single item, developers must balance enemies around that possibility. This can create situations where average builds struggle while extremely optimized gear makes content feel trivial.
A healthier system would move more baseline power into the passive tree and Ascendancies. Gear could then become the tool that takes a functional character and turns it into an exceptional one.
3. Ascendancies Need More Identity
Ascendancies are arguably one of the most exciting parts of Path of Exile 2 because they can fundamentally change how a character works.
The best Ascendancies do more than provide generic damage increases. Mechanics such as the Gemling Legionnaire's unique interactions demonstrate how Ascendancy choices can influence an entire build.
However, not every Ascendancy currently feels equally exciting. Because PoE2 has changed so dramatically, some Ascendancies appear to belong to an older version of the game.
Before 1.0, each Ascendancy should receive enough attention to provide meaningful decisions, unusual interactions, and build-defining mechanics. Players should look at an Ascendancy tree and immediately start thinking about what kind of character they could create.
4. Melee Needs More Advantages
Melee is not necessarily weak in Path of Exile 2. Strong melee builds can absolutely clear difficult content. The bigger problem is that being close to enemies often feels like a disadvantage.
Endgame encounters are filled with projectiles, explosions, ground effects, delayed attacks, area denial, and dangerous rare monster modifiers. Ranged characters can frequently avoid these threats while attacking from a safer distance.
That creates an unfortunate situation where melee characters sometimes want to behave like ranged characters—destroying enemies before they can get close.
PoE2 should make close-range combat feel rewarding. Being next to an enemy should sometimes create an advantage rather than simply exposing the player to additional danger. Better defensive mechanics, improved melee interactions, and more thoughtful rare monster modifiers could help solve this problem.
