Path of Exile 2 is in early access now, and you can feel the weird mix of comfort and danger right away. It's still the same addictive chase: clear a map, hear that drop sound, then lose half an hour comparing rolls you swore you'd vendor. But the sequel isn't just a fresh coat of paint. The skill gem changes and the expanded passive options make you pause and rethink habits you've had for years, especially once you start planning around PoE 2 Items cheap deals and what that means for how fast a build comes online during a new league rush.

When Balance Hits Your Routine

If you've been running the same "easy money" routes, the recent tweaks probably stung. The Vaal Temple hotfix is the kind of change that sounds reasonable on paper, then feels awful when you're the one watching your profits drop. Diminishing returns on specific layouts shuts down repeatable patterns, and players are split on whether that's healthy or just killing a fun niche. It doesn't help when the area already feels shaky: people have reported temple features not spawning the way they should, and the Smithy behaving like it's on a timer that nobody can see. When your whole plan is tight runs and clean resets, little glitches turn into big arguments fast.

Classes That Actually Pull You Back In

Even with the complaints, it's hard to stay mad when the new classes click. The Druid is the obvious example because it's not a "press button, get form" gimmick. You swap into a bear or a wyvern and the fight rhythm changes, like you're switching gears mid-combat. You'll see players testing defensive layers the moment they hit harder content—Shield Wall setups, recovery tricks, and then the usual question: how much damage can I stack without getting deleted. That's the good kind of stress. The kind that makes you open your tree again, sigh, and respec one more time.

Community Mood and the Long Game

The relationship with GGG feels tense but not hopeless. After the pushback around Dawn of the Hunt, a lot of folks weren't just complaining—they were tired of leveling pain points being waved off. What's different now is the response. More direct chats, more acknowledgement, and more willingness to say "yeah, we missed this." It doesn't fix the rough edges overnight, but it changes the tone. People still worry about how the endgame will settle, and whether future seasons will keep pace with player expectations, but the hype hasn't died. If anything, it's become more cautious and more specific.

Why We Keep Logging In

At the end of the day, PoE 2 is still that game where you tell yourself "one more map" and suddenly it's late. The messy parts are real, and the nerfs can feel personal when they hit your favorite loop, but the depth keeps winning. You're always chasing the next idea, the next gear upgrade, the next weird interaction you can turn into a build. And for players who want a smoother gearing path—especially when time's tight—services like U4GM can help you pick up currency or items without derailing the whole week's grind.