Path of Exile 2 is finally playable, and you do not need a dev diary to tell it is still in the oven. You boot it up, you get that rush, and then you hit the bits that feel like they are held together with tape. Still, it is hard to stay mad when patches keep landing so quickly, and the game is already tempting people to plan around trading and gearing, whether that means grinding for upgrades or even choosing to buy PoE 2 Items to catch up after a nerf hits your favourite setup.

Patches That Keep You On Your Toes

The update rhythm is wild. You will log off thinking you have a clean plan for tomorrow, then wake up to notes that shift boss health, skill scaling, or some weird interaction people abused for 24 hours. It is early access, so yeah, that is the deal, but it still stings when a build you just got feeling smooth suddenly feels clunky. The upside is you can see the devs watching real play patterns, not just internal spreadsheets. When something is genuinely blocking progress, it often gets adjusted fast, which makes the whole thing feel like a public workshop instead of a finished release.

Veterans, Expectations, And A Bit Of Whiplash

Talk to POE1 lifers and you get a split reaction. Lots of them love the deeper character expression, because tinkering is half the fun. But there is also that sense the sequel is not always the straight-line evolution they pictured. The pacing is slower, sometimes in a good way, sometimes not. A few systems feel like first drafts next to the years of polish in the original, so players end up asking basic questions that used to have obvious answers. You see it most when the conversation turns to endgame direction: people are not just complaining, they are trying to figure out what the game wants them to do long-term.

The Long Campaign And The Strange Walls

The campaign can drag, especially once you realise you are repeating the same kind of problem-solving without that big spike of variety you expect later on. Maps exist, but the on-ramp into scary content feels uneven. Plenty of players are hitting walls that do not feel earned, like you are being punished by tuning rather than by your own choices. That is where the economy talk gets heated. Is a weapon actually busted, or is everything else undertuned so the "good" items look ridiculous? The market reacts fast, and that feeds the frustration when you are trying to progress honestly.

Why People Stick Around Anyway

Even with the rough edges, it is hard to ignore how ambitious POE2 is, and how loud the community is about making it better. People are testing, arguing, posting clips, and pushing for quality-of-life stuff that should not take a full league to land. If you are the type who does not want to fall behind every time a patch flips the meta, some players lean on trading services and marketplaces like U4GM to grab currency or items and keep their progress moving while the game keeps changing in real time.