Last week we ventured into Wraeclast, the world of Path of Exile (Grinding Gear), a free action RPG in which players assume the role of a prisoner exiled in a merciless land where they will have to survive the horrors that lurk in every corner.
Everything begins in a prisoner ship where we can choose the class starting from pre-generated characters, each with its own background. We are not especially fans of not being able to create your own character and choose sex, but knowing the genre in which Path of Exile is framed, following in the wake of games like Diablo, we did not expect anything else. Of all the stories about the past of the possible characters, we opted for the witch, because the idea of being able to control the dead has always attracted us.
After an unfortunate shipwreck, we are on a beach with another survivor who soon died at the hands of creatures that are none other than those drowned in the accident. For some reason, they have returned to life and have become monsters. And that is our first experience in combat, to finish with bloodthirsty enemies and to search their corpses. Everything that is collected automatically goes to inventory, which is divided into grids with which we have to play to maximize space. A sword, for example, can occupy three squares vertically. The larger the object, the more space it occupies. Very soon you learn that you can not pick up everything you find, otherwise you have to make a huge amount of trips to the city to sell. Then we started to select the most interesting and to stay alone with the pieces that we needed or those of the highest level to sell them later.
At this point we came across a quite innovative aspect: in Path of Exile there is no gold or any type of currency. Instead, the characters use parchments. But these scrolls also serve to identify the properties of magical objects, so we found ourselves in the position of having to decide whether to use the scrolls to acquire new weapons or use them in objects that we found. It is a very interesting system, since, in addition to this, it is the community itself that is in charge of exchanging pieces, armor or gems. The latter are a fundamental element in the game. All weapons and armor parts have holes in which to set gems based on color (green for dexterity, blue for intelligence, red for strength). Each color represents the different classifications and types of abilities. For example, blue or intelligence gems are those geared to magical abilities, while red or force gems are used in physical attack abilities. Soon after wandering the beach where we started we found our first gem “fireball”, which automatically added another attack on the action bar. And after completing some missions, we were also given as a reward several gems among which we could choose one. Our choice was a gem of necromancy, which gives the ability to invoke three zombies from corpses and that proved to be vital.
The combat is sometimes quite difficult, much more than anyone who has not played Path of Exile, but is usual RPG action genre imagines. Sometimes, one is surrounded by many enemies and the situation can get out of hand, even with the help of zombie friends acting as “tanks”. In any case, reduced to its essence, the game is similar to Diablo. As you move forward, portions of the map are discovered. And by using skills and basic attacks, we eliminate enemies and complete missions to access new areas.
In general, enemies are not very difficult in the first levels, but as progress is made, the fighting tends to be complicated. The special enemies (bosses) are marked with a golden color and a silver frame, and against these it is not easy to fight. They attack with great force and force to use potions to survive. The first boss we met with caught us completely off guard with a rain of fire and it struck us almost immediately. This death taught us to be more cautious. It’s a good sign that the game offers some difficulty right from the start.
As for the combat, to say that it tends to be a bit repetitive, especially at the beginning, but as soon as new skills are unlocked and one enters the higher areas, this changes drastically. In the beginning, someone with experience can play without paying too much attention. However, at high levels, it is necessary to put all the senses into the game if you do not want to die.
After climbing several levels, we get access to the passive skills tree, a huge network of skills in which to invest points, with hundreds of options and accessible to all classes. It matters to the selection of one class or another, beyond the initial skills and attributes, is that you start at different points of the passive skills tree and you have immediate access to different skills. This being so, it is possible to start from a class of remote attacks and move towards a class of melee attacks to convert the character is a kind of hybrid.
The possibilities of customization are almost endless, from the equipment that is worn (one can be equipped with almost any piece), through the gems to the way in which the skill points are reversed. The game has a huge amount of options so that there is not one character equal to another.
The game has an impressive atmosphere. The developers have done an impeccable job capturing the essence of an abandoned place where there is no hope and where death awaits. The graphic section, with a dark touch, is overwhelming, and the stories of each class are very well developed. The key task is to look for the methods of making PoE Orbs faster. And how to level character quick and safe. If you would like to buy the service, U4GM store will be your best choice.