Path of Exile is one of the most popular action role-playing games right now, and the best part is that it is completely free to play. The game has tons of great gameplay elements that ARPG fans like a lot, which include exploration of the massive world and combat.
Unlike most other action role-playing games coming out today that have a 3D perspective, Path of Exile has an overhead perspective like the Diablo series. Here is our take on everything you need to know about Path of Exile.
Who Made Path of Exile?
There is a list of talented designers, programmers, artists, writers, and composers that worked on Path of Exile, including Chris Wilson, Jonathan Rogers, Erik Olofsson, Nick Jones, Edwin McRae, Brian Weissman, Adgio Hutchings, Kamil Orman-Janowski, and more.
As far as the development of the game is concerned, Path of Exile was developed by Grinding Gear Games. Grinding Gear Games is a recently founded video game development organization from New Zealand. Path of Exile was published by Grinding Gear Games, Tencent, Garena, and Kakao Games, with each of these publishers launching the game in different regions.
When Did Path of Exile Come Out?
The development of Path of Exile began in 2007. The game was being developed without any information being released to the public for about three years. The game was finally revealed to the public on the 1st of September 2010.
While it was announced in 2010, the game was released on the 23rd of October, 2013. However, this was only the PC release. The game was released for the Xbox One on the 23rd of August in 2017, for the PlayStation 4 on the 26th of March in 2019, and for the macOS on the 18th of September in 2020.
Path of Exile Gameplay Explained
Most of the gameplay in Path of Exile consists of exploration and combat with an overhead top-down perspective similar to games like Lost Ark and the Diablo series. Path of Exile is set in a dark fantasy world with tons of different caves, dungeons, and large outdoor areas that players can explore. The best thing about the world of Path of Exile is that besides the central encampments, almost everything else is procedurally generated, which means that each time you visit these places, you will see unique visuals and landscapes.
Path of Exile starts with class selection, where the player has to choose from several classes, which include the Duelist, Marauder, Ranger, Scion, Shadow, Templar, and Witch. There are three core attributes in the game, which include Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. Each class in PoE is suited for either one or two of these attributes. However, players can upgrade skills that are aligned with any of these core abilities.
The gameplay of PoE also revolves around items that players can acquire. PoE requires players to find well-balanced equipment that works best with their class and skills. There are tons of item types in PoE. Each item possesses special properties that benefit the players in unique ways. There is also an in-depth progression system for Path of Exile where players can upgrade or level up their characters and their skills.
Like most other top-down ARPG games, Path of Exile also has a hack-and-slash-style combat system. Fortunately, you will find tons of enemies in the game that you can use the PoE combat system on to the fullest extent. To improve combat, players have the option to modify their active skills, such as increasing the attack speeds of their primary attack and more.
Path of Exile Economy Explained
The economy of Path of Exile is a bit different from other action role-playing games. While other games like Lost Ark and Elden Ring have a central currency that the economy of those individual games revolves around, Path of Exile does not have one in-game currency. Instead, the economy of Path of Exile is based on a bartering system with multiple currency items. These currency items are the main currency of the game.
Another way that the economy of Path of Exile is different from the other games is that the currency items used in Path of Exile have different uses depending on the type. On the other hand, in-game currencies for other games are simply used for transactions. The use cases for currency items in Path of Exile include upgrading an item’s rarity level, improving an item’s quality, rerolling affixes, and more.
If you want to acquire some PoE currency, then you will have to farm for it or play the game. However, you can also buy PoE currency with real cash. Simply check out our list of the best places to buy Path of Exile currency, pick out a platform, and buy as much PoE currency as you want.
What’s the Point of Path of Exile?
Like most action role-playing games, Path of Exile has an end game and a diverse storyline that you can complete. So, this would mean that the main point of Path of Exile is to finish the storyline. However, there is a lot more to do in Path of Exile than simply completing the storyline.
The main point of Path of Exile is to explore the vast world, complete quests, and fight all the enemies you come across. There is no end goal except to have fun and take in all the role-playing experience.
Is Path of Exile Hard to Play?
As compared to other video games like Apex Legends or Grand Theft Auto 5, Path of Exile is hard to play. If you have never touched an action role-playing game of this kind, then you will certainly have a ton of trouble making progress in Path of Exile.
One of the main reasons that people find Path of Exile to be a difficult game is that it requires a much deeper thought process for leveling up. Players need a balanced set of skills. Players that play the game without thinking will not have an easy time playing Path of Exile.
How to Get Better at Path of Exile?
As mentioned above, Path of Exile is a relatively hard game. However, as we have also mentioned, one of the main reasons why people find Path of Exile difficult is that they don’t spend time thinking through their strategy. Taking the time and carefully thinking about the skills that you want to level up so that everything is perfectly balanced can make the game much easier for you. If you want to be more successful in Path of Exile, knowing how each skill will benefit you in what situations and then planning how you want to play the game accordingly will help a lot.
The second and most effective way you can get better at Path of Exile is simply by playing more. Knowledge about how each skill benefits you is required for creating a balanced build. You won’t be able to get that knowledge without trying several skills out. If it’s your first character, you can try out different skills and learn them. As you play more, you won’t just learn about the skills, but you will get better at other things like combat as well. So, if you want to get better at Path of Exile, simply play more of it.
How Many People Play Path of Exile NOW?
According to the Steam player count charts for the past seven days, there were about 10,000 to 30,000 concurrent players playing Path of Exile. This average concurrent player count stays the same even if we look at the Steam charts for several months, which means that this estimate is accurate for many months to come.
However, this is just the concurrent player count for Steam. The number of players playing Path of Exile daily right now for all platforms is about 2.5 million. This number is based on an estimate from the subscriber numbers for Path of Exile, which is about 27 million.
Why is Path of Exile so Popular?
Judging by the number of players who play Path of Exile these days, there is no question that Path of Exile is a popular game. Not only that, but the game was also quite well received at launch, despite being developed by a newly founded video game development company. There are multiple reasons for that.
Firstly, one of the main reasons why Path of Exile is so popular is that there was a high demand from ARPG fans for a game like this, and no games were getting launched that often. It is also one of the main reasons why the development team behind Path of Exile was founded in the first place. They were themselves ARPG fans and were frustrated about not having a lot of new options to play.
The second reason why Path of Exile is so popular is simply that it is a well-designed and fun-to-play game. Path of Exile has tons of intricate gameplay elements, unique game mechanics, and a wide variety of content that players can explore. Path of Exile also has an in-depth skill leveling system that a lot of action role-playing game fans like.
Is Path of Exile Dying?
Path of Exile launched over eight years ago, and by this time, video games are near the end of their life cycle. Video games like Call of Duty or Battlefield usually die out after being released for so long because a new title for those games replaces previous titles in about two to three years. For this reason, it is not a far-fetched thought to think that Path of Exile is starting to die right about now. However, when we take a look at the player count numbers since the game was launched, they paint a completely different picture.
Starting from when the game was officially launched till about three years after that, the average player count for PC stayed at around 25,000 players. However, as we take a look at the average player count for later years, it starts to grow up to 150,000 players. For the past few months, the average monthly players have stayed around 60,000 to 150,000. Judging by this, Path of Exile is nowhere near dying. In fact, the game is actually growing at a decent pace. In short, no. Path of Exile is not dying.
Conclusion
Path of Exile is one of the best action role-playing games out there. Despite being launched for PC over eight years ago, the game has managed to hold up pretty well, with tons of players playing the game every day.
Path of Exile is full of things to explore, with a massive world that has hidden secrets. The best part is that certain parts of the world are procedurally generated, which means you will get to see a unique landscape every time you enter those areas. If you haven’t played Path of Exile, you should definitely try it out.
