Path of Exile housands of passive skills are available in PoE's extensive skill tree, which players may use to create their characters. Players can concentrate on various playstyles, skills, and combos thanks to the tree's large diversity of character builds.

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Gem System: In Path of Exile, skills are earned by socketing skill gems into equipment rather than being associated with certain character classes. Players can mix and match skills using this approach to create distinctive character builds.

Dark Fantasy Setting: The game's setting, Wraeclast, is a bleak and merciless locale with frightening undertones. Players have a greater sense of peril and intrigue as they explore the game's locales because to the atmosphere.

League Rules: Each temporary challenge league in PoE has its own set of rules for gameplay and rewards. These leagues keep the game interesting and new since they frequently add features and new material that are not present in the main game.

Continuous Updates: Grinding Gear Games is known for continuously maintaining and upgrading the game, delivering expansions and new updates on a regular basis that keep players interested and coming back for more.

Free-to-Play: Instead of using pay-to-win mechanics, the makers of Path of Exile commercialize the game through cosmetic microtransactions.

Path of Exile has a devoted following and is still a top pick among fans of action role-playing games because of its intricate character customization options and demanding gameplay. Players that appreciate theorycrafting and investigating various build options may find the game's depth and complex mechanics to be rewarding.

Action role-playing video game Path of Exile was created and released by Grinding Gear Games. The game was made available for Microsoft Windows in October 2013 after an open beta period.[3][4][5][6][7] Versions for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were launched in August 2017 and March 2019, respectively.

In the dark fantasy setting of Path of Exile, the government of the island nation of Oriath banishes its citizens to the continent of Wraeclast, which was formerly home to numerous ancient deities.

The seven character classes available to players when controlling an exile are Marauder, Duelist, Ranger, Shadow, Witch, Templar, and Scion. After there, it is up to the players to fight their way back to Oriath, vanquishing powerful enemies along the way.

A follow-up is being created. Path of Exile 2, which was initially announced in 2019 as a sizable update for the original game, was later revealed to be a standalone title in 2023.

ameplay

Exploring vast outdoor spaces, tunnels, and dungeons while controlling a single character from an overhead perspective, the player faces off against creatures and completes quests from non-player characters (NPCs) to earn experience points and gear. The Diablo series, especially Diablo II,[8] from which Path of Exile has been dubbed the spiritual heir, is prominently referenced in the game.[9] For greater replayability, all places other than the major encampments are procedurally produced. While encampments allow all players on a same server to freely interact, gameplay outside of encampments is heavily instanced, giving each player or group their own free-to-explore map.[10][11]

Seven classes are offered for players to choose from: Duelist, Marauder, Ranger, Scion, Shadow, Templar, and Witch.[12][13] One or more of the three primary attributes—Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence—are associated with each of these classes. The Scion, a former closed prestige class that was released in 2013, stands out since it is in line with all three characteristics. The various classes are not prohibited from investing in skills that are not consistent with their core competencies, but they will have easier access to those that are.[14][15] Items with special characteristics and gem sockets are produced at random from a large range of basic categories. They have varying rarity and increasingly potent characteristics.

Due to this, a significant portion of gameplay is now focused on gathering equipment that is both balanced and effective. A skill can be activated by inserting a skill gem into the gem socket of certain types of rings, armor, and weapons[8][16]. The skill gems that are equipped gather experience as the character develops and levels up, enabling the skills to level up and become more powerful.

The so-called Support Gems are items that can alter active skills.[17] A player's primary attack or skill may be upgraded with greater attack speed, quicker projectiles, numerous projectiles, chaining hits, life leeching, auto-cast spells on critical strike, and more depending on how many linked sockets they have. Players must prioritize gem usage due to socket count restrictions.[18] Every time a character levels up and occasionally as a quest reward, players can choose one of the 1,325 passive skills that are available to all classes[19]. The main traits are enhanced by these passive abilities, which also provide additional benefits like improved mana, health, damage, defenses, regeneration, speed, and other improvements.

The passive skill tree has various starting positions for each character. With different trunks for each class (aligned with the permutations of the three fundamental qualities), the passive skill tree is set up in a convoluted network. The player must therefore take care to choose the most effective route through the passive skill tree in addition to concentrating on optimizing all bonuses linked to their primary offense and defense. The highest number of passive skill points was 123 as of the 3.0 Fall of Oriath Release (99 through leveling and 24 from quest rewards).[19] The Ascendancy class, which offers far more potent, specialized perks, is also available to each class. 

Except for the Scion, who only has one Ascendancy class that mixes the components of all other Ascendancy classes, each class has three Ascendancy classes to choose from. Out of 12 or 14, a maximum of 8 Ascendancy skill points may be allocated.

When it comes to action role-playing games, Path of Exile is unique in that there is no in-game money. The economics of the game is built on exchanging "currency items."[21] These items, as opposed to conventional game currencies, have their own inherent functions (such raising an item's rarity level, rerolling affixes, or enhancing an item's quality), which acts as their own money sinks to curb inflation. Although some of these things can be used to identify goods, build town portals, or give skill refund points, the majority of them are used to modify and upgrade equipment.

Setting

The game takes place in a grim fantasy setting. The game begins with the player awakening on the shores of Wraeclast, a continent that formerly served as the capital of a powerful empire but is now a cursed place that houses undesirable residents from the nearby Island of Oriath. Regardless of the cause of their exile, players must now contend with the harsh environment and its hazardous denizens while also navigating the crumbling ruins and terrible secrets of the previous Vaal and Eternal Empire civilizations in order to survive.