It's not the first time that Asmon has drawn comparisons between Path of Exile and Diablo 4. But this time we see a direct comparison of boss fights and we are confronted with undeniable facts.
Fans are very excited about Path of Exile 2, but a release date has not been announced yet. The closed beta is supposed to launch on June 7, 2024. The amusing part is that the hype around Path of Exile got a big boost from the release of another game, Diablo 4.
After all, both belong to the isometric action RPG genre, and they share similar structures. However, Grinding Gear Games, the developer of Path of Exile have done many things right, while Blizzard grapples with criticisms.
Path of Exile 2 Shines With Its Gameplay Trailers
There are already several gameplay walkthroughs showcasing the classes of PoE 2. Most recently, it was the Mercenary class, which Asmongold also took a look at. The graphics, attacks and interactions of the abilities, as well as the mobs and bosses, were so jaw-dropping that Asmon jokingly referred to it as fake or magic. Moreover, the game is still in the alpha stage.
The Streamer often pointed out that the developers actually play their own game and are real gamers, which is also a reference to one of Blizzard's past escapades.
One of the comments with the most likes says:
To be fair Blizzard is a new company and it's their first game plus a very thin budget to work with
But the best part is yet to come. The trailer confirmed that in PoE2, players can also move using WASD. A feature that the Diablo 4 community had often wished for. It will be up to the players whether they prefer to move through clicking or the keyboard. This makes the combat flow a lot smoother, letting you move during attacks. Plus, they're adding a dodge roll.
The Mercenary gameplay looked overall really cool. It's a shooter class (which, by the way, can be considered revolutionary in this genre) with different projectiles, including fiery and icy shots. It even leaves ice spikes on the ground. You can also throw oil grenades, then explode them with fire shots – which looked very satisfying.
To top it off, they showed a boss fight. Asmon compared the boss mechanics to one in Diablo 4 and the PoE2 boss seemed definitely more complex. The community especially loves the voice lines and the quirkiness of the PoE2 boss (it's an overweight zombie woman, spawning aborted baby fetuses called 'the Unwanted').
Besides, it became evident that PoE2 will be quite different from the existing Path of Exile, but after the release, players can still enjoy both games.
By the way, all of this might be Free2Play, as the current PoE is as well.
You can watch Asmongold's video here:
Classes And Weapons in Path of Exile 2
In PoE2, we can look forward to 12 classes, with 6 entirely new classes being added:
- Duelist - swords
- Druid - shapeshift spells
- Huntress - spears
- Marauder - axes
- Mercenary - crossbows
- Monk - unarmed and quarterstaves
- Ranger - bows
- Sorceress - elemental spells
- Shadow - daggers and traps
- Templar - flails
- Warrior - maces
- Witch - minions and occult spells
Visit the official website of PoE2 if you want to stay up to date.