Path of exile

Reason I'm writing about this is since I got my first PC I have been a huge Diablo fan but after the community totally died in D2 I begun looking for something similar but couldn't find anything until 2012 when I found Path of Exile and joined the closed Beta and was very happy what they had created. Since then I have been playing in almost every new league they release and the game just keeps getting better. 

Some of you might be unfamiliar with Path of Exile so here is something for you. Path of exile is an online hack and slash rpg developed and published by Grinding Gear Games. Its totally free to play with ethical micro-transactions, meaning even if you are broke or don't want to pay you can still enjoy the full game without missing anything. Path of exile's micro-transactions offer cosmetic item skins, extra stash tabs and additional character slots.

You control your character from an over head perspective and explore the continent of Wraeclast, which serves as a penal colony for criminals and other unwanted individuals who are exiled from Oriath. You battle  through sandy shores, underground caves, jungles and many dozens of other places gaining experience points and fulfilling quests. The story is actually pretty good if you follow it carefully and the dialogues are well written.   

Gameplay

You can choose from 7 classes to play as, Marauder, Templar, Witch, Shadow, Duelist, Ranger and Scion. The class you choose effects where you start from the passive skill tree and what are your core attributes: Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence. All classes share the same selection of 1,325 passive skills. Each class have their own unique ascendancy skill tree as well. You can choose to play Standard or Hardcore which I always play. Unlike in other games when you die in hardcore you are transferred to  standard and you can still play with your character.

The power of your character is mostly based on how good your gear is and how well you placed your points in the passive skill tree.

Items you find come in different rarities and different number of sockets depending on the item level.

Sockets in items are for active skill gems which will be your main way of attacking or buffing your character in various ways. If I'm not totally wrong there are around 159 active skill gems in the game. There are also 89 support skill gems which will buff your active skill gems in different ways. 

Active and support Skill gems are attribute based and have different colors: red,(Strength) Green,(Dexterity) and Intelligence,(blue). Sockets also come with the same attribute colors and only same color gems fits in the same color socket.   

 

Active and support skill gems also have levels from 1-20, gems gain experience while they are equipped in your items and you are slaying monsters. gems can also have quality up to 20% which buffs the skill even more.

The game now has 4 acts and huge amount of end game maps that you can playthrough. There are 3 difficult settings Normal, Cruel, and Merciless. Every time when you beat the game you get to higher difficulty. 

Grinding Gear Games are making a new expansion that would add 6 more new acts to the game and one playthrough. No more Cruel and Merciless = less grinding the same places over and over again.

The game is also going to be released on Xbox one later this year.

Its pretty amazing how they mange to keep this game free to play and still add more content all the time. 

Good job Grinding Gear Games!!

Go check the game out here. Its also in Steam.