Path of Exile Message Board

Sometimes it takes a while to make a judgement. I spent a fair amount of time with Path Of Exile’s beta but hadn’t revisited the release version for more than seven or eight hours in total until I decided to write something about it a few weeks ago. Now that I’ve been back to the grim shores of Wraeclast for a long vacation and have stared deep into the heart of the passive skill tree’s labyrinth depths, I’m ready to tell you wot I think.

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Path Of Exile has expandamofied. The enormously successful online aRPG has been out of beta since October, with estimates showing approximately 13 billion people are playing at any one time. (These are my estimates, based on my inability to count.) And now there’s more of it. Sacrifice Of The Vaal pours in a ton of new content to satisfy hungry, hungry gamers.

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Our primary goal was to [recreate the experience of playing Diablo 2 online], rather than to make a game that everyone in the world could play. Grinding Gear Games CEO Chris Wilson, answering a fan question about the complex and somewhat casual gamer-unfriendly systems behind Path of Exile. Give a listen above.Read more...

I think that’s an accurate assessment of the situation. Since going live earlier this year, the free-to-play indie action RPG has gobbled up roughly 4 million registered users. And while accounts don’t translate directly to people clicking on things, Grinding Gear Games say that amounts to just over 250,000 daily users. Blimey! I thought it would do well, but that’s an incredibly healthy number for them to build on. Shall we all pop some champagne? No? White wine? Still no? Anyone have fizzy water? How about still water? Okay, so put a hole in the cap and squeeze the water in the air in celebration. Sheesh.(more…)

Path of Exile, aside from being the name of my freelance career thus far, is a free-to-play action-RPG which Adam liked a lot even in its early beta stages. It came out of beta just a few weeks ago, but its developers are already outlining the next four months of post-release patches leading up to the first expansion in March.

A video explaining the additions of the first patch, 1.0.1, is below.(more…)

After many moons spent slowly but surely grinding in the dank dungeons of development, Path of Exile is finally just about to launch. No more alphas, no more betas, no more gnawing uncertainty. You can just hack and slash ’til your hearts content and monsters’ hearts are strewn across the floor. Everybody wins mostly! Better still, developer Grinding Gear has released a teetering demon beast of a patch, which includes – among many, many other things – an entire guild system, a new character class, new end game areas, a new grand finale boss fight, new skills, achievements, more challenge leagues, and– *drops dead of old age from listing things for too long*

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Path of Exile, the free-to-play action MMO from Grinding Gear Games, is out now on Steam for PC. A pre-launch patch builds on the beta and today adds a guild system, six new world areas, a new character class, new challenge leagues and a ton more new features.

Path of Exile has been on our radar since 2010 as a free, Diablo-inspired action RPG, and it's lived up to the hype ever since. It's set in a dark fantasy world called Wraeclast, with seven playable, customizable classes: Duelist, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Marauder, Shadow and Scion. Path of Exile is free-to-play and Grinding Gear promises it will never be possible to gain an advantage by spending real money in-game.

Path of Exile is Now Available and Free to Play on Steam!

You are an Exile, struggling to survive on the dark continent of Wraeclast, as you fight to earn power that will allow you to exact your revenge against those who wronged you. Created by hardcore gamers, Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in a dark fantasy world. With a focus on visceral action combat, powerful items and deep character customization, Path of Exile is completely free and will never be pay-to-win.

The journey along ARPG Path of Exile’s beta has been a slippery one. It hasn’t been salted, and no-one was around to prune the thorn bushes at the side. Repeated warnings from the Local Council of Blood and a visit from their emissaries, the feared Health & Safety of Ruin, proved ineffective. A meeting was called, in which the Neighbourhood Representatives of Anger unanimously decided to send in the Handyman of Pissed Off to fix things. The owners of the Path of Exile will be receiving an invoice, written in Jubjub blood, signed by the Coven of Claws, and notorised by Kevin. And with that work completed, all that’s left is to open the Path of Exile fully, which is what will be happening at the end of the month(more…)

The free-to-play action RPG Path of Exile went into open beta this past January, and the next step is putting together a version 1.0, Grinding Gear Games co-founder Chris Wilson told us this week at GDC 2013. Starting with about 250,000 registered players, the game has since grown up to around 2 million, with the devs fixing bugs and providing weekly patches since then.

The weekly patches, which have been adding new skills and items to the game, will continue to roll out. But version 1.0 is going to be the game's full release, when the "open beta" tag comes off, and the game "will be reviewable," according to Wilson. The update will add a full story to the game's Act 3, including lots of new monsters and items, and "do the stuff we had to cut corners on" throughout the game's development, Wilson said.

After that, "we intend to do expansions over the next five to ten years," Wilson told us. The team has no set plans for releases, and if they can put a major feature together in less time, then Wilson says they'll do it. The game already had a lot of success with "races," which are special events that challenge players to speedrun the game under special conditions. But in general, he said, given the current player base, "adding a new act to the game is probably a once a year thing."

You might see the oft-maligned specter of F2P hanging over Path of Exile and fear the worst, but you’d be missing out on what’s quietly becoming the smartest hack ‘n’ slash in the business. Between socketable everything (including maps and skills!) and difficulty that’s not afraid to eat a bowl of nails and steal its powers, PoE’s slowly but surely pushing the needle forward. Which brings us to brand new, ultra-fast-paced “race” events. In short, they toss players into fresh economies – doughy and naked minus whatever quantities of luck and skill they’re dual-wielding – and task them with out-leveling everyone over the course of an hour or a week. And now Grinding Gear’s put together a race league that comes with special, event-only rewards. Of course, the system is not without its flaws, but GG’s got a few plans to work out the kinks.

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Path Of Exile sounds like something you’d find on a demon’s GPS. “Go straight for 666m, turn right at Pentagram Lane. You have reached your destination, have a horrible existence.” I checked and it’s not on Google Maps, so the real world is safe. It is, of course, a game. An action RPG that people angry at Diablo III and all clicked out at Torchlight 2 have been waiting for. It is also going to be free, which both of those are not. Next week it’ll head into open beta, and to prepare you for it a new trailer has been released. Are you going to go down the Path Of Exile, or are you going to join me of the Path Of Welcoming Craig With Cake And Bundaberg Ginger Beer?(more…)

Path of Exile, the free dungeon crawler from independent New Zealand studio Grinding Gear Games, is entering open beta on January 23, following a few months of a closed, pre-order beta. Those who want to jump on the Path of Exile closed beta while it still lasts can buy in for $10 to $1,000 right here. The more you pay, the better goodies you get, but don't expect any gameplay advantages. Path of Exile will never be pay-to-win, Grinding Gear makes clear.

Path of Exile throws players into the fantastical world of Wraeclast as one of six character classes: Duelist, Ranger, Witch, Templar, Marauder and Shadow. Each character focuses on strength, dexterity or intelligence, and the world itself is "a dark, brutal continent," Grinding Gear writes. "Scarred by mysterious catastrophes of the past and inhabited by creatures of nightmare, the very environment challenges exiles who dare explore it.

"We're sick of the recent trend towards bright, cartoony RPGs. The art style we chose for Path of Exile is dark, gritty and realistic." See if you can handle Path of Exile's scary realism via these videos.

Well now, here’s a pleasant surprise. Diablo-but-possibly-better ARPG Path of Exile‘s been trapped deep in the dungeons of closed beta since the year 1483 – occasionally poking its head out for stress test weekends – but now it’s finally on the path to real completion. Naturally, then, an open beta’s right around the corner, and Grinding Gear’s even gone so far as to give it an exact date. Unfortunately, that means it’s going to miss 2012 – but only by the narrowest of margins.

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#pathofexile In a year filled with addictive action-RPGs with names like Diablo, Borderlands, and Torchlight, it might seem insane for another contender to jump into the fray. But the people behind Path of Exile don't mind a little insanity. More »

The year of the ARPG marches on, cannily disguised as its more enigmatic and unpredictable cousin, the year of the Kickstarter. Diablo III managed to be more exciting as something I was excited about than something that was actually (sort of) on my hard drive, but now that Torchlight 2 actually has a release date and Path of Exile is frequently testing its stress levels by mixing with the general public, I’m preparing for a few more days lost in the lands of loot. This weekend, free to play Path of Exile is open to all once again, so download the client in advance and prepare to add to the servers’ strain. It’s all for the good of the eventual release. The details are all here.

Weekends are such joyous things – so full of freedom and possibility, and utterly devoid of unpleasant obligations. Unless, of course, you’re an unreleased multiplayer videogame. Then your weekends are all about crushing, senses-overwhelming stress. Well, stress tests, anyway. This time around, it’s Path of Exile‘s turn to see whether or not its servers will groan and creak under the weight of the stampeding masses’ electronic masses. Would you like to scream, stampede, and stab many, many things for a good cause? Then read on.

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This might actually be brilliant. I mean, everything in Diablo-ish ARPGs is ripe for the socketing, right? Maybe you stick some molten rock into your blade and get a fire sword. Or perhaps you imbue a hammer with lightning bonuses and make Mjolnir. So, in essence, Path of Exile‘s saying, “OK, well, why can’t we use that idea on places?” The promising-looking pulverizer’s solution? Portals to procedurally generated maps can be stored in your inventory, and a series of hyper-specific, maniacally murderous mods can, for instance, make their monsters stronger, resize locations, curse your character, or make the ground sprout unquenchable tongues of flame. See the diabolically smart system in action after the break.

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Path of Exile, the upcoming free-to-play Diablo-esque dungeon crawler, is currently going through its second public stress test. The game is available to download and play right now through the next day and a half. Developer Grinding Gear Games began its closed beta back in August and is planning to go open beta sometime this summer (or winter, since the team is in New Zealand).

Path of Exile was easily responsible for one of our oddest preview "appointments" ever and you can learn a lot more on the developer's detailed public stress weekend FAQ.

[Thanks, Repeats]

There’s no reason in the world that anyone reading this would know how much I love dual wielding but let it be known that I’ve just finished eating a bowl of cereal, a spoon in each hand, and immediately afterwards I gripped brushes akimbo as I cleansed my mouth-rocks. Last night was mostly about dual wielding as well, as I prepared myself to share some details about Path of Exile’s soon-to-be just-this-moment revealed sixth class, the Shadow. With the instrument-laden, blood-stained appearance of a man keen on the unanaesthetised study of other fellows’ entrails, he’s often seen surrounded by maiming traps, a metal claw on each hand, although more often he isn’t seen at all.

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In the weekend family get-together of the fantasy RPGs, Uncle Diablo is hanging around, talking to his niece Torchlight about her new tattoos. She’s just asked where Path Of Exile is. “He’s suffering from stress and couldn’t make it”, said Uncy D. Abstractly, of course: what’s actually happening is that Path of Exile, Grinding Gears’ isometric online action-RPG is actually holding a stress test this weekend, from Friday to Sunday, and everyone’s invited. Now the closed beta members might be a bit sniffy at the sudden influx of unlevelled scum, but if you just follow these simple rules we’ll all get along famously: left mouse for hitting; right mouse for also hitting. Got it?(more…)

If you enjoy loot-heavy RPGs like Diablo and Titan Quest, you'll definitely want to check out the Path of Exile open beta this weekend. The open beta runs from 5 p.m. PST on March 30th, and ends 11:59 p.m. PST on April 1st. A longer open beta will come in the coming months, but developer Grindin...

The entire internet has filled up with discussions, videos and arguments about the Diablo III beta this week. Just to even things out, I’m reserving this little corner to talk about a different line of hacking and looting RPG though. Path of Exile, which will be free to play at launch, is also in a playable beta state at the moment and I’ve been walking its desolate beaches with naught but driftwood to protect me. I’ve brought back thoughts.(more…)

We last wrote about online-only, free-to-play ARPG Path of Exile in April and it was already looking like an interesting proposition. It’s in closed beta now and there’s a terribly agonising countdown clock on the website to inform the world of when another lucky player will be allowed in. It’s like a cruel competition that I never win. Has anyone had any luck and if so can you bring back any reports from the entirely lootable dark and gritty world (that’s the official description) in which you have found yourself? There’s several feature length films worth of beta footage after the jump as well as a trailer for the Templar class.

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Who knows when Diablo III is coming out? At this point your guess is as good as ours, but there is hope in the short run. Enter Path of Exile, the upcoming free-to-play Diablo clone that offers just enough twists on Blizzard's formula to make it unique, while staying true to the same mouse-button-destroying gameplay that we all love...

Gameplay of the templar class in action!

I’m loving the swell of action RPGs in development at the moment. Another we’ve recently discovered is Path Of Exile, from independent developers Grinding Gears Games. It’s to be an online-only, free-to-play game (no, wait, come back! – this one looks very different), which they describe as a “competitive online action RPG”. So while the game’s hubs will have very many players, the randomly generated instances will be played by smaller teams, capped at 4-8 people (they don’t seem to have decided yet.) And most interestingly (to me, at this stage) is the darker, gloomier tone. We’re not in cheery Torchlight any more. I’m also intrigued by the sound of “ethical microtransactions”.

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Meet the duelist, a lone wolf warrior who wields a mighty staff.

Look what washed up on shore! Something wicked indeed.

A man with a lightly-accented voice taps my arm as I wander the PAX exhibition hall.

"Excuse me, but what media outlet do you represent?"

"Joystiq," I tell him, and he lights up, says he's been looking for me and insists he has a game he needs to show me with a title I've never heard of. He starts pressing through the throng of people and I follow as best I can, stifling the fear that he's taking me to some remote corner of the convention to rob and murder me.

My preview of Path of Exile was not, in case you've never covered a convention, how these things normally happen.