My Thoughts After 200 Hours in Dawn of the Hunter

Hi GGG,

While I understand that many players have expressed dissatisfaction with this league and a fair amount of criticism has surfaced, I want to take a moment to give credit where it’s due. I still view the current state of Path of Exile 2 as Early Access (0.2), and with that in mind, I don’t expect everything to be perfect at launch as long as meaningful changes continue to happen along the way. I’m glad to see that improvements are already in motion.

Here are a few thoughts and observations from my time spent in the current version. These are in addition to the changes mentioned in the upcoming patch notes and are simply my personal findings that I hope might help enhance the overall gameplay experience:

Temporal Chains Debuff Feels Excessive
It feels like the Temporal Chains debuff becomes increasingly heavy when certain atlas passives are allocated—though I'm not sure if it's directly related. My character seems to be getting slower and slower, and it doesn’t feel like a simple 22% penalty. The gameplay pacing feels negatively impacted.

Ignite Ground Feels Overtuned Again
I remember this being one of the most complained about mechanics in version 0.1.0. It was thankfully toned down to a more manageable level after some patches. However, in 0.2.0, it seems to have come back even stronger. Despite cautious play, I find myself burning out extremely fast and it's significantly draining my EHP and feels punishing, especially in certain layouts.

Expedition Monsters Need Tuning
The ranged elemental casters in Expedition encounters, especially those that create elemental explosive ground effects, feel overwhelming. Their casts often detonate almost instantly, and in cramped map areas, it becomes almost impossible to avoid them. Getting stuck, dying, and losing progress isn't fun, and I think this could use some balancing.

Crypt Map Redesign is Excellent
I absolutely love the redesigned Crypt map and its wider layout allows for better maneuverability and opens up opportunities for more skill-based gameplay. It encourages experimenting with different builds instead of just relying on one long-range skill. I’d love to see similar redesigns for maps like Abyss, Augury, and the beautifully themed Blooming Field.

Crafting Needs More Endgame Flexibility
I appreciate the introduce of mechanics like Fracturing Orbs and Recombinators, but in the current state, they don’t seem quite impactful for endgame crafting. Given that most of the remaining player base focuses heavily on endgame content, I hope we see more versatile and rewarding crafting options moving forward.