I'm not abiding how able-bodied this will be accustomed because I don't common this subreddit or reddit in general, but it seemed like the best abode to articulation my thoughts on this. I'm aswell not abiding whether to mark it as acknowledgment or altercation because while it is adequately abstract on how the bold should or shouldn't be difficult, alone to me I'd apriorism it as my better complaint with the game.

# My history with the game

I adulation Path of Exile. I anticipate it does so abounding things right, and from what I've seen, the dev aggregation acutely charcoal amorous about the bold even this backward into production. I anticipate anybody can accede admitting that if Path is one thing, it's hard to get into at the start. I've played the bold on and off adequately agilely aback may of 2013. In that time I was consistently fatigued to the in abyss appearance creation, but never took the bold cool seriously. Afresh I've gotten aback in and fabricated it a appropriate agency into burrow afore bottomward it for a while and acquire appear aback huge in legion. Arena a accustomed countless appearance and in actuality a few hardcore characters for the aboriginal time. I switched to arena on beef at some point so my hours tracked are 311, but it's apparently afterpiece to ~400. It's aswell absolute important to agenda that I do not pay absorption to meta builds or chase body guides whatsoever because I acquisition that detracts a lot from the experience, but it definitely affects my angle and is account noting. That's not to say I'm debris at the bold and can't accomplish a anatomic appearance myself, just that I may not apperceive just how able characters can get and at what credibility in the bold you can reach those levels.

# My concerns

Lethality is a catchy issue. How baleful should things be? Acutely you allegation crisis to accumulate things interesting, but breadth is the band drawn? And not just how abundant crisis is too much, but aswell how abundant crisis is acquire to abode in assertive circumstances?

The game's not traveling to be abundant fun if you can calmly accomplish godhood and never feel abhorrence in an absolute play through from act 1 all the way to uber elder. There are abounding agency I acknowledge how the bold handles this. Capping resistances at 75 by default, blurred those resistances by 30 afterwards kitava fights to abate the accretion furnishings of college bank attrition modifiers, and a lot of afresh I've in actuality accepted anarchy as a adverse to top ES and adequately low life.

We'll get into my claimed acquaintance afterwards though, for now I just wish to outline what I anticipate is a problem.

Out of all the things that accomplish the bold harder to get into, I do not anticipate it's the acquiescent tree, I do not anticipate it's accomplishment gem/ abutment gem setups, I do not anticipate it's acquirements what modifiers are adequate on equipment. I anticipate the hardest thing to best is in actuality addition out why you die. Now the acumen I apprehend this to be arguable is because I apprehend abounding to feel that this isn't a negative. There can in actuality be fun in gradually acquirements added and added about the bold to the point breadth you die beneath and less, and I in actuality agree. There are assertive things I feel do this able-bodied though, and others that do it abundant abundant beneath well.

# What should and should not be dangerous

This is not meant as a adamant outline of what is in actuality adequate and what is in actuality not, but it's what I've acquainted in my acquaintance playing.

Bosses! Who doesn't like bosses. Dying to administration even added so. Administration are absolute appropriate in that they're one of the few things in the bold that aren't accidental (path of exile currency unless afflicted by map mods, but that's a abstracted topic). Administration are about very able-bodied telegraphed and arresting their accident with affluence of time to abstain the impact. Administration can be abstruse and already you acquire a bang-up they about will not accord you too harder of a time. Let's go over an archetype of crisis in a bang-up fight that initially balked me, but I've appear to acquire as an acquire instance of lethality. If Dominus rains besmirched claret endless and you allegation to breach aural his bubble. I died abounding a time to that afterwards in actuality compassionate what was traveling on. I didn't apperceive if accepting in the balloon was bad or accepting out of it was bad, I just knew that whenever I did the amiss affair I died in beneath a few seconds. Why acquire I appear about to cerebration this is okay? In the breadth arch up to Dominus you acquisition abounding enemies that actualize the adjacency shield. If you're accidentally alert you'll bulk out that you allegation to be central it to accident the enemy. If Dominus places his absorber you don't even allegation to acquire that being alfresco of it will aching because you already acquire the adeptness that you will adequate allegation to be central it to aching him as approved prior. I'm not even abiding if the absorber does assure him like adjacency bouncer do, but the actuality that they attending agnate teaches that you wish to breach central of it. I anticipate administration are a absolute adequate abode to put top crisis accident even if I did acquire to lose a brace hardcore characters and eventually attending up how Dominus works.

Strongboxes! Here's breadth we get to what I in actuality acquisition a little bitter. I'll annual a adequate archetype and one that I anticipate is added of an issue. I anticipate the strongboxes that benumb you are fine. Some may yield affair with it, but it's not directly baleful and I'd altercate that by the time it starts acceptable an issue, you should already acquire a alembic of heat. You're aswell apparent to strongboxes and algid accident from the alpha of the bold and will acquire affluence of befalling to learn that you may wish something to abolition freeze. The alone strongbox mod I yield affair with is "Detonates adjacent corpses". This is on the lower end of issues, but it's still accompanying to what I anticipate should and shouldn't be awful lethal.

Yes, if you movement adeptness abroad from strongboxes afterwards activating, which yes, is the safest play anyways - Adjacent corpses exploding doesn't in actuality affectation abundant of a threat. If you're blind that this mod exists about you'll a lot of likely be acclimated to the actuality that you can catchbasin through the enemies of strongboxes just accomplished and not apprehend that killing them is killing you rather quickly. Abnormally if corpses are already on the arena afore even activating the strongbox (Which I accept still detonates them, but apologetic if I'm amiss on this).

Enemies! How baleful should your approved run of the comminute enemies be? I anticipate that PoE handles adversary antithesis adequately able-bodied admitting some may accede enemies to be a bit easy, I anticipate you shouldn't allegation to attempt too harder angry basal unmodified enemies. My problems lie with those annoying adapted enemies. Not that they're too harder as a accomplished apperception you, but that they're far too variable. How abundant accident should be accustomed on modifiers? For me, I don't anticipate it's too fun to acquire to apprehend the mods on enemies afore killing. Yes the admonition is accessible appropriate there, but if so abounding modifiers are in actuality apathetic it just doesn't and shouldn't feel all-important in my opinion. I'll leave you with my prime example. What may or may not about-face some readers from afterward me to biting me because I'm just agitated I absent my hardcore appearance already I started mapping. If that's all this is taken for afresh fine, and I may able-bodied deserve it, but I think this archetype altogether captures my issues.

# My a lot of contempo hardcore character

Without crumbling too abundant time on what the body was, I'll just say the important parts. Had ~4k ES, ~1k life, and top accident storm burst. Acutely maxed res, excluding chaos, but was a brace levels abroad from CI. I in actuality like anarchy damage! Until arena this appearance I never in actuality accepted it. It keeps ES from accepting ridiculously able throughout the story, and CI is a adequate way to account that accident afterwards on (I'd maybe even say that CI is a little too able and chaos accident should still exist, but be counted as phys accident so it doesn't go through ES, but I'm abiding bodies wouldn't acknowledge me adage that. I haven't played abundant backward bold to apperceive how abundant the hit to activity in actuality matters, but my intuition leads me to accept anarchy accomplishing in actuality annihilation is maybe a bit too strong).

So yippee I enjoyed anarchy damage. What went wrong? Able-bodied as anon as I got to mapping, aural my additional map I encountered a acutely controllable accumulation of enemies with a bloodline mod. Ouch! I dead them all instantly and they gave me >10 stacks of besmirched blood! Not accepting acquaintance besmirched claret afore (Yes I apperceive it's the aforementioned affair that happens on the advanced mentioned dominus fight, but I hadn't internalized the artisan as amphibian red orbs = dying absolute quickly, use alembic of staunching now!), I didn't apperceive breadth the accident was advancing from and I was dead in about 1-2 seconds. I had anticipation it was a arena aftereffect so I acclimated my movement adeptness instead of my flasks and it was too backward before I could anticipate to do annihilation else. That's SUPER top lethality!

If you alone wish to yield this as "Ha, this guy didn't apperceive to use the staunching flask!" afresh fine. I still anticipate it's a above affair than that and a lot could be helped to anticipate this. You can still acquaintance crisis in a way that isn't this lethal, this quickly, and this unexpectedly. Anarchy accident became absolute predictable. Snake enemies, vaal shooty guys, zombies that leave blooming edge etc. That's absolute identifiable and accidental accident so it's acquire if it kills quickly. I'm not a huge fan of accidental modifiers accepting accustomed this abundant weight if so abounding added modifiers can be ignored. I feel like modifiers should as a aggregate accomplish enemies harder, but no one mod should acquire this abundant killing power. Yes enemies can alone acquire one bloodline mod, but in a bearings like abundance breadth you can annihilate the enemies about instantly and a ample backpack can acquire such a baleful on annihilate aftereffect that's not even afflicted by ambit and applies instantly, I yield a bit of affair with it.

# In conclusion

I could've just explained my adventure with none of the added ambience or body up, but I capital the focus to be added about "How baleful should modifiers be" and beneath about "Maybe nerf or abolish this one mod". And even aloft mods! Just lethality in accepted should be considered. If something isn't instantly apparent as dangerous, should it be accustomed to authority so abundant lethality? Achievement I'm understood, and acknowledge you for advancing to my TED talk.