Summary
- Campaign Launch: The group successfully navigated the Path of Exile 2 campaign launch, managing connection queues and initial server instability.
- Group Strategy: Emphasized coordinated play in a six-player group, specifically splitting up during boss encounters to avoid shared failure mechanics.
- Build Mechanics: Experimented with “Oil Barrage” and “Lingering Illusions,” noting that standard “Barrage” mechanics do not currently interact as expected with channeled spells.
- Technical Issues: Experienced recurring bugs, including respawning in the wrong location (King’s March), sound filter issues, and a lack of proper quest/league selection at startup.
- Progression: Concluded Day 1 after reaching Tier 15 maps, achieving level 85, and securing significant loot, including a “Right of Passage” drop.
Campaign Launch and Server Issues
- Launch: The stream began moments before the 0.5 update “Rise of the Ancients” went live.
- Connectivity: Initial attempts were met with “Operation timed out” errors and lengthy queues (46K in queue).
- Bug Reports: Upon entering the game, the team noted issues with the league selection menu and character creation, as well as recurring bugs that consistently respawned players in the wrong area (King’s March) throughout the campaign.
Group Combat and Boss Tactics
- Coordinated Strategy: To mitigate the risk of group failure, the team split up for challenging boss encounters where taking damage penalized the entire party.
- Communication: Utilized precise callouts (e.g., “Right armpit”) to coordinate positioning during boss fights to avoid lethal projectiles.
- Efficiency: Despite technical hurdles and the need to catch up members who joined late, the group completed the campaign in approximately 8–10 hours.
Build Observations and Tech
- Skill Interaction: Attempted to incorporate “Oil Barrage” into the build. The team noted that standard Barrage does not function well with channeled spells.
- Visual Optimization: To track specific game elements, the group employed a “group tech” strategy:
- Press
Alt over the item (e.g., “lyricast”).
- Click the “presence” icon.
- Drag the overlay to the corner of the screen to maintain a constant visibility circle around the character.
- Loot: A “Right of Passage” item was identified as the group’s most valuable drop of the day, valued at approximately 25–35 Divine Orbs, found in a Tier 1 map.
Progression Summary (End of Day 1)
- Map Tier: Reached Tier 15 maps.
- Character Level: Players reached level 85.
- Atlas Status: The team began working on the Atlas progression and collecting points, with plans to refine builds and continue mapping in the next session.
Key References