What Diablo 4 could learn from Path of Exile 2 — and what Blizzard is doing right

Path of Exile 2 has been in early access for nearly two months now, and having finally managed to find time to sink my teeth into the meat of the game, I wanted to write about what Diablo 4 might learn from this ARPG. Path of Exile 2 is considered strong competition for Diablo 4, and there’s a lot of positive buzz around the game now that players can check out the first three acts of the game and try half of the classes. Path of Exile has always been known for its ridiculously large talent tree, and that tree still exists in Path of Exile 2, with new options for customization. This sequel has also brought along some things that were less common in this Diablo-like genre: dodging and blocking attacks is now on the player, making the title feel more like an actual action game or almost like a Souls-lite, as your timing actually matters.
When I first pitched this article, I thought Blizzard could truly learn a lot from the other games in the genre. I’ve had trouble staying engaged in Diablo 4, but the more I played Path of Exile 2, the more I felt conflicted. There are some pretty big changes in Path of Exile 2 that I think Blizzard might learn from, but I also feel that there are some things that PoE developer Grinding Gear Games could learn from Diablo 4 as well.
But I’m not here to say that Path of Exile 2 is better than Diablo: I want to talk about things I think each game does well, and what the entire genre can learn from both of these ARPG behemoths. Here’s what I think Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 could learn from each other.
What could Diablo 4 learn from Path of Exile 2?
Even though PoE2 is in early access, some elements of gameplay already feel more polished than what’s available in Diablo 4. Here are some gameplay elements I’d like to see Diablo 4 improve on.
Make attacks feel impactful
The first thing I noticed as I moved throughout Path of Exile 2 as a Warrior was that my attacks felt meaty. When I swung my weapon, there was the feeling of actual impact when my mace hit. Using abilities that had my character slam his mace into the ground actually felt like he was wielding a large hammer, and not just swinging around a whiffle bat that made enemies explode.
This isn’t to say that Diablo doesn’t have some attacks that feel good, but rarely does it feel like the enemies are being absolutely obliterated with your attacks with a nice, crunchy noise.
Improved stash tabs for easier organization
Path of Exile (and Path of Exile 2, after official launch) is a free to play game, and you pay real money for things like stash tabs. I’m not saying Diablo 4 should follow suit, but PoE’s stash tabs do a better job of organizing your storage, with stash tabs for different items that help you keep track of your hard-earned loot: gem stash tabs hold up to 500 gems, storing and sorting them for ease of use; currency stash tabs store and sort the various types of in-game currency; flask stash tabs store and sort flasks, etc. Premium stash tabs also have customizable names and colors, making them easier to keep track of.
Diablo does some of this, but without as much depth. Instead of being catch-all containers, Blizzard could offer a little more help keeping our gear organized, with more stash space and stash tabs for easy organization of different items: i.e. your gear in one place, your gems and runes in another, elixirs and incense in another, and so on. This is similar to how your character’s inventory already works, and it would make it easier to find things and split your gains between characters.
More flexible skill options
While adventuring in Path of Exile, you gain skill gems that allow you to pick a skill they’ll become (or you’ll get gems that enhance skills). But Path of Exile 2 has changed how these gems work, letting you select skills from other classes as well as your own. That means your Warrior can have skills like Flame Wall, which gives you some interesting hybrid build options.
Diablo 4 has added a touch of this with rune words that can trigger other classes’ skills, but it’s a limited system that only offers a handful of abilities. Blizzard could certainly take cues from PoE2’s skill system and offer more build variety. Expanding on Diablo 4’s skill trees in a similar way — unless it continued to rely on things like rune words rather than being stand-alone skills — would require a substantial rework of skill trees, but we’ve seen Blizzard overhaul base game systems already. Perhaps opening up skill options should be next… or something to think about for Diablo 5.
What could Path of Exile 2 learn from Diablo 4?
I’ve played a lot of ARPGs, and usually moving through them is pretty similar, but as played Path of Exile 2, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something just wasn’t right with the game. It’s worth remembering that the game is essentially in beta through its early access period, and isn’t scheduled to launch until late this year. As such, it could make massive swings in difficulty or design — but at present, I feel like there are a few things Diablo 4 does well that PoE2 could improve on. Here’s what I hope the game works on before launch.
Better map readability
Maps in Path of Exile 2 are absolutely gigantic, which makes exploring them time consuming, particularly if you’re the type to dig in every nook and cranny like me. PoE2’s biggest issue with these maps is visibility: it’s hard to tell which paths are walkable and which aren’t without keeping an eye on your mini-map to see if that opening in the brush is something you can walk through or an invisible wall. This is particularly prevalent in The Red Vale and The Grim Tangle, where I had to constantly watch my mini-map to see if I could walk up what appeared to be a small rock walkway, or across some water that I simply could not tell if it was a puddle or a lake.
While Blizzard could certainly take lessons from the variety seen in PoE2 maps, Path of Exile 2 could do a better job of making is maps easy to parse without having to split your attention to your mini-map.
Faster movement across the map
Here’s my hot take that will likely cause some contention. Path of Exile 2’s maps are massive, and without a specific build for it your movement speed is fairly limited, so it takes approximately forever to get across a map. This is even more apparent after you’ve walked the outline of the map and begin working towards the center to see if there’s anything you missed — walking from one corner of the map to the other feels like it takes an eternity, and I was absolutely dying for the ability to mount up and zoom across the terrain.
While Diablo‘s mount system has its own problems (many of which have been fixed in the year since launch, though I still find it flaky at times), it does make traversal quite a bit quicker, especially if you’re running between zones. Hopefully PoE2 will look into some kind of speedy transportation of its own.
More difficulty levels
Deep down, my heart belongs to the Souls genre. I feel I need to mention this because, despite the fact that I love a challenge, I find the difficulty in Path of Exile 2 to be pretty rough early on. I found myself dying to the first quest boss in the Mud Burrow multiple times before I teleported back to town and spent the whole 220 gold I had earned up until then to buy a 2-handed mace from a vendor. I’m not complaining that Path of Exile 2 is difficult, but the early difficulty feels particularly demanding compared to Diablo 4. In D4, there are multiple difficulty levels to let players pick the difficulty that’s comfortable, and slowly push up from there when they want more challenge. I don’t expect this to change as the developers at Grinding Gear Games have stated that the difficulty is part of the experience, but this is a place where I think Diablo 4 and its many difficulty levels feels better, particularly when getting started.
Is Path of Exile 2 better than Diablo 4?
“Which is better?” is likely the question that everyone’s asking, but the answer depends on what you’re looking for in a game. Diablo 4 has grown in the year since its launch, with core game system overhauls and balance changes based on player feedback, so it isn’t surprising that it feels more polished than PoE2 does right now. Diablo offers you difficulty selection and multiple things to do at endgame — and if you ever get stuck wondering what to do next, game systems are well known and guides are available. It’s a very accessible game that’s casual-friendly.
Path of Exile 2 is a more difficult game in general, but because it’s in early access it’s likely to see plenty of changes throughout the year to add that polish. Currently you can only play half of the announced classes, and only two of their three ascendancies. With the game still in active development, a class/ascendancy that you really love today could be completely reworked next week, which is a hazard of playing a game in a beta state. Finding actual information on game systems and builds is also a little more difficult with the game itself in flux, so you’ll find some guides written not long after launch that are already inaccurate. If you jump into PoE2, expect a more DIY environment.
If you want an experience you can pick up and play immediately, grab Diablo 4. The gameplay has been polished over the last year, the seasons (usually) add interesting new mechanics, and the expansion recently added new quests to play through and a new zone to explore. If you want to help shape a game in development, test classes and features while they’re added, and create builds that might not survive through the next few patches, grab Path of Exile 2. Despite both being ARPGs, they’re very different games in very different stages of development, and that informs how they play.
Thankfully both can exist in the same space, and both are worthy of your time.
On the fence about Path of Exile 2? While the final game will be free to play, you need to pre-order an early access supporter pack (starting at $30) to get into early access. But you can play the original Path of Exile for free to see if you jive with the game in general (though there are some major changes between Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2, it’s still worth giving it a shot). If you find that you like the feel of the world in Path of Exile, you can just wait until Path of Exile 2 hits its 1.0 release and comes out as a free to play title. It’s not as if the genre itself doesn’t have a bunch of other neat games you can play while you wait.
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