Designed by a group of friends frustrated by the lack of good RPG titles on the market, Path of Exile was released in 2013. Since then it has gone through several versions and expansion packs. It is expected to be patched to the 4.0.0 version during the ExileCon weekend.
Path of Exile
Even during closed beta, Path of Exile has attracted a lot of attention of the fans of the genre and received more than $2.2 million in contributions. The fact that players were willing to pay that much money for an unfinished game proves two things.
First, that the developers were right and that market sorely needed a quality RPG title. Second, maybe even more important is that they managed to produce a great game that intrigued the audience even at that early stage. Set in a dark fantasy world, the game starts as the player wakes on the coast of Wraeclast, a cursed continent that was once home of the powerful empire.
Now it is inhabited by criminals and runaways. Faced with the wilderness that surrounds him, the player must find a way to survive, while discovering the secrets of the Eternal Empire and the Vaal civilization.
Why players love the Path of Exile?
There are many reasons why players enjoy playing Path of Exile. We will try to explain the most important ones below.
Business Model
Path of Exile was envisioned as a truly free to play the game. The developers invested a lot of time and effort into creating a system of ethical micro-transactions. Unlike so many other pay-to-win games, these micro-transactions don’t offer any massive advantage to the players. They are mainly cosmetic items, like skins.
The only advantage is the semi-automatic trading inventories, which do save some clicks and time but achieve nothing non-paying players can’t do. One of the most popular paid features is the ability to create private worlds within the game, each with its own economy, separated from the main servers.
Character Development
The game features one of the most complex character development systems in gaming today. There are three main attributes, strength, dexterity, and intelligence. These determine your character’s abilities. Additionally, there are seven core classes: Marauder, Duelist, Ranger, Shadow, Witch, Templar, and Scion.
Marauder is a pure Strength class, Ranger a Dexterity one, and Witch is an Intelligence class. The Duelist is a mix of strength and dexterity, the Templar excels at Strength and Intelligence, while the Shadow represents Dexterity and Intelligence.
Finally, we have the Scion, who is proficient with all three attributes, making it the most flexible class. Each of the core classes has further three ascension classes. For example, the Templar can ascend to Inquisitor, then to Hierophant, and finally to the Guardian. The only exception is Scion, which only has one higher level, Ascendant.
This only scratches the surface of an incredibly complex character development system of Path of Exile. It offers many possibilities for customization and fine tweaking, allowing the player to create a character that fits its needs and playing style perfectly.
A new player may be baffled by all the choices they have to make early in the game, due to the rather steep learning curve. Like many other great games, Path of Exile is easy to learn, but hard to master.
Possibility to Earn Money Playing
A lot of people are using the Path of Exile as a handy source of income. You won’t get that chance as a new player, but after a while, you will discover all the best ways to earn in-game currency, which can be then exchanged for real money.
Check here to see exactly how that works. With so many people playing the game, there is always a demand for game money and items and skillful players have been taking advantage of the game’s popularity.
Exploring Wraeclast
Exploring Wraeclast and uncovering its secrets is one of the most entertaining features in Path of Exile. You can wander the wilderness, exploring the ruins of the Eternal Empire or searching for the remnants of the Vaal civilization. This leads us to the next item on our list.
Gem Hunt
Skill Gems in Path of Exile offer many enhancements for your character. They are placed in slots in pieces of equipment you have. Some items have only one or two slots, while others can have up to six. Gems provide abilities and spells your character can use.
This allows for very interesting combinations and in essence represents a clever spell-crafting system. In addition, you also develop nods on your passive tree, upgrading your stats, which in turn affect your spells.
By combining passive tree and skill gems, you can create some extremely powerful spells, able to destroy even the most powerful bosses and monsters in a single blast. Of course, you have to reach a certain level to be able to fully benefit from these combos.
Story Development
Originally, the Path of Exile started with four acts in its story. The Path of Oriath brought six more, for a total of ten. Each act has its own challenges and scenery, which greatly adds to the game immersion, as you are not forced to trudge through the same old locations over and over again.
Once finished, you will return to the regular game and pick up where you have left. This system has done wonders for connecting a whole game into one big adventure, as opposed to having fractured episodes. Developers promised more acts and then there is an endgame, which will serve as the finale of the whole game.
Path of Exile is a massive game that offers countless possibilities for character development and a huge world to explore. Each of these features on its own would ensure many hours of fun, but combined, they make sure that you are never bored with this game and that you can enjoy it for years. Add in the fact that it has no pay-to-win features and you can easily see why Path of Exile is so popular among players.
