Path of Exile 2 sits at a fascinating crossroads. As Grinding Gear Games prepares to unveil large updates, refine its endgame, and reshape entire systems, the community continues to debate what truly defines the identity of the game. With players sharing their experiences across leagues—speedrunning bosses, grinding Simulacrums, chasing megalo jewels, crafting horror gear, and dodging scammers in trade—the conversations reveal a deeper picture: Path of Exile 2 Currency is becoming a game about mastery, reward, and precision, even in a world where power can scale to absurd levels.

From the difficulty of bosses to the state of crafting, from the value of loot to the quirks of the in-game economy, PoE2’s current design philosophy is evolving. And these changes reflect what players have been asking for: more depth, more fairness, more meaning—and above all, more ways to push builds to their limits.

The Modern ARPG Problem: Everyone Wants to Melt Bosses

In almost every corner of the ARPG community—from Path of Exile to Elden Ring to Lies of P—players share a curious contradiction: everyone wants hard bosses… but only until they’re strong enough to trivialize them.

The PoE2 community openly admits this. Many players love Soulslike mechanics, reacting to boss telegraphs, positioning carefully, and mastering patterns. But as soon as builds come online, the goal shifts from survival to destruction. Bosses become damage checks, not mechanical challenges. A well-optimized character reduces pinnacle bosses from “learn the fight” to “kill them before they get to use their mechanics.”

It’s part of the ARPG DNA.

Speedrunning culture is proof of this. Players aren’t satisfied with killing bosses—they want to kill them fast. They want runs where no boss lasts more than 90 seconds, where the entire screen evaporates, where movement and precision blend into pure efficiency.

PoE2 understands this mindset. And yet, there’s a growing desire from the community for bosses that remain threatening even when your build is powerful. Not by nerfing players into the ground with artificial difficulty, but by giving bosses higher ceilings, more punishing mechanics, and greater rewards for mastery.

The solution players advocate is simple:

Make bosses harder, and make doing them harder worth it.

Whether it’s Uber versions of existing bosses, reworked pinnacle encounters, or new difficulty tiers, players are hungry for reasons to engage deeply with endgame challenges rather than erasing them instantly with overtuned builds.

Pinnacle Bosses, Ceiling Raising, and Reward Structures

There is a strong community expectation that PoE2 will bring new pinnacle content, likely Uber versions of many existing bosses. Historically, Path of Exile has offered different tiers of boss difficulty, but in PoE2, the structure is more streamlined. That leaves room for expansion.

Players want:

An Uber version for every major boss

Better mechanical complexity

More punishment for sloppy positioning

Meaningful loot that justifies the struggle

And, importantly, the removal of useless loot pool fillers

Nothing frustrates players more than killing a pinnacle boss and seeing:

Lapis Amulets

Amber Amulets

Trash-tier rare bases

Worthless uniques

These items do not belong on the pinnacle loot table—and players are universally vocal about it.

Reducing loot pool garbage wouldn't just improve rewards—it would make boss-killing feel prestigious again.

Trade Scams, Anti-Landmine Systems, and Player Protection

Trading has always been one of Path of Exile’s most precarious systems. While many players are extremely careful and take the extra seconds to inspect every trade, others fall prey to what the community calls “landmine scams”:

Listing multiple cheap items at normal prices

Sneaking in one identical-looking item priced far higher

Hoping someone autopilots the purchase

PoE1’s person-to-person trade window already forces players to re-confirm what they’re buying. But hideout-based or marketplace-based trading lacks certain safeguards.

PoE2 developers have already confirmed they’re bringing an anti-landmine warning system into the new trade interface. This has been widely applauded—especially since many scams target inexperienced players.

Players argue that even adding a simple mandatory confirmation prompt (“Are you sure you want to buy this item for X currency?”) would eliminate 95% of trade disasters. Losing currency to a misclick feels worse than losing it in combat.

Simulacrum, Megalomaniac Hunting, and the Chaos of RNG

Few experiences in PoE evoke as much emotional volatility as farming Simulacrum waves hoping for a Megalomaniac jewel. It’s either:

A triumphant dopamine hit

Or dozens of closed helms and night armors that make players question their life choices

Players openly admit that the chase is both addictive and maddening. Some drop dozens of Simulacrums with nothing but junk. Others hit Divine Orbs or ultra-rare outcomes like Isolation, which is highly coveted due to its rarity.

But even when players hit a mega jewel, there’s no guarantee it’s good. Many roll with off-meta skills like unexpected dagger traits that do nothing for the build.

In PoE2, the appeal of Simulacrum persists because:

It’s fast

It’s dense

It’s rewarding (in theory)

And it taps into the thrill of high-stakes gambling

But frustration also remains. Too often, the loot table feels padded with items that no player wants.

Again, the loot pool problem resurfaces.

Sanctified Items Need Better Visibility

Sanctified items—one of the newer item types—carry special implicit effects. But community feedback has been nearly universal:

They are too difficult to identify at a glance.

Unlike corruption, which is visually bold and instantly recognizable, sanctification is subtle. Players buy items not realizing they’re sanctified. Loot filters miss them. Trades become confusing.

A simple visual enhancement—perhaps a color tint—would dramatically improve clarity.

The Crafting Meta: Horror Boots, Gloves, and the Decline of Rarity

Crafting in PoE2 is simultaneously more accessible and more punishing than in earlier iterations. With the drop in price for many essences and materials, crafting high-end pieces like:

Horror gloves

100% socket-effect boots

High evasion chests

Specialized resistance suffixes

…has become much cheaper. Simple essence-spam crafts that used to cost dozens of divines now can be completed for a fraction of the price.

And yet, certain items feel meaningless to craft because demand is low. Boots in particular—once a staple high-value craft—have seen reduced interest. Build requirements have shifted. Itemization has evolved. The meta’s focus swings toward charms, weapon implicits, and specialized jewels.

Still, for many builds, especially evasion-stackers and hollow palm monks, crafting remains one of the strongest ways to push power.

And with hysteria essences at bargain-level prices, players can craft top-tier gear faster than ever.

Lightning vs. Fire vs. Chaos: The Elemental Balance Problem

Players have noticed something that has held true for years:

Lightning damage is almost always good.

It scales well. It synergizes with shock. It has strong support gems. And even moderate investment turns spark or conduit builds into boss-melting machines.

Players reminisce about the glory of Spark in early PoE2 versions—the “Cadillac build” where clearing felt smooth, powerful, and lazy in the best way possible. Lightning Conduit builds could annihilate bosses in two procs.

Meanwhile:

Chaos needs huge investment.

Fire feels underpowered unless heavily stacked.

Cold is strong utility-wise but often secondary.

The game doesn’t need lightning nerfs, players argue—it needs fire and chaos buffs. Balance through elevation, not subtraction.

Looking Forward: New League, Timelines, and Community Hype

Speculation is running high regarding the next league:

December 5th?

December 12th?

Either date would create an unusually tight reveal schedule, meaning trailers, interviews, and teaser season would be compressed. That’s exciting—but it also puts pressure on GGG to deliver content in quick succession buy Path of Exile 2 Currency.

Regardless, the community is eager. Players want:

Broader endgame reworks

New pinnacle content

Crafting improvements

More trading safeguards

Better loot pool curation

And yes… fewer closed helms

The cycle of hype, disappointment, confusion, elation, and grinding is what defines PoE’s identity. PoE2 carries that torch with an expanded vision and a promise to refine long-standing frustrations.

Conclusion: A Game Defined by Mastery and Madness

Path of Exile 2 continues to evolve into a game where difficulty, power, and loot collide in fascinating ways. Players want bosses they can’t trivially destroy. They want rewards that feel meaningful. They want safety in trade and clarity in item design. They want builds that scale beautifully and crafting systems that reward investment.

And in the process, they want the freedom to chase megalo jewels, speedrun boss kills, and melt endgame encounters with spark or conduit—because that’s what makes PoE… PoE.

PoE2 doesn’t need to reinvent itself; it simply needs to refine the experience that players already love. If GGG can tighten loot pools, improve difficulty scaling, support fair trading, and maintain deep build diversity, PoE2’s future looks incredibly bright.

The community is ready. The only question is whether the next league will give players the bosses, loot, and chaos they’ve been starving for.