Summary:
Path of Exile is a free-to-play online action RPG. Starting with a couple items and skills, defeat enemies in order to level up and find loot. Using a bartering system for goods, you can trade your loot to in-game merchants or with other players.
Going deeper into some gameplay mechanics, weapons and equipment have slots for gems that can be found, collected via quests, or bought. These gems provide various abilities and stats, so weapons and equipment with more slots are more valuable.
In addition to the item system, Path of Exile also implements a huge skill tree system. While each possible class (there are seven* to choose from) starts at a different place in the tree, a player can spend his/her skill points however he/she wishes.
More specifically, there are three attributes in Path of Exile: strength, dexterity, and intelligence. Three of the classes start at the core of an attribute: Marauder (str), Ranger (dex), and Witch (int). Three of the classes start in between these attributes: Duelist (str/dex), Shadow (dex/int), and Templar (int/str). The last class is in the center: Scion (str/dex/int).
*If I remember correctly there were only six when I was playing in 2013.
Recommendation:
I really enjoyed the time I spent playing Path of Exile. For a game that's free-to-play (and not pay-to-win), Path of Exile has excellent graphics, a rewarding loot system, and well-designed, complex skill tree.
While there may be some input lag (at least back when I was trying the game), I still definitely enjoyed the combat.
Overall, I would definitely recommend the game to others. Honestly, the only reason I stopped playing was I just didn't have the time to play it.
20130206:
The first character I create is a Marauder. Using my screenshot record, I created him around 2:30AM ET and (possibly) play with him until about 4:00AM ET.
[20150502]
20130208:
The second character I create is a Ranger. Again using my screenshot record, I created her at around 11:00PM ET and (possibly) play with her until about 20130209 1:45AM ET. It also seems that I was playing for a little bit with my friend Matt (he was also playing a Ranger).
[20150502]
20130209: (Afternoon)
The third character I create is a Witch. Again using my screenshot record, I created her at around 11:45AM ET and I am almost definite that I spent time playing as her from 11:45AM ET to 12:00PM ET and from 1:47PM ET to 4:34PM ET, with the last screenshot showing her entering Prisoner's Gate (level 11 monsters).
[20150502]
20130209: (Evening)
The fourth character I create is a Templar - at around 7:15PM ET. However, while I created him today, there are no screenshot records of playing him until 11:15PM ET the next day. However, the first such screenshot has him in The Upper Submerged Passage (level 6 monsters). In other words, I most likely played with him today for at least an hour.
[20150502]
20130210:
As mentioned above, there are screenshots showing game time on my Templar character from 11:15PM ET to 20130211 1:33AM ET. The last screenshot shows the character talking to Captain Fairgraves in The Ship Graveyard (level 12 monsters, past Prisoner's Gate).
[20150502]
20130218:
Screenshots suggest I played on my Witch character for at least an hour.
[20150502]
20130224:
There is a screenshot of my Witch character.
[20150502]
20130303:
The last of the screenshots suggest at least another hour of game time on my Witch character.
[20150502]
20150502:
Today I created a new character (because it's been so long that I wanted to play from the beginning with a new character) at 1:15PM PT. I decided to create a Shadow class character and called him Naissuag (backwards for Gaussian). I played until 9:30PM PT - occasionally idling to look at various Path of Exile resources. Personally I plan to use this Shadow Skill Tree as a guideline. It comes from this Shadow Build.
As I played, I made some option changes:
Always Highlight: checked.
Always Show Socket: checked.
Join Global Chat: unchecked.
Join Trade Chat: unchecked.
Things I Began to Remember:
Use flasks, as they will refill as you are in combat. They do not empty completely either, so don't be afraid to use them.
Stash is shared across all characters in your account.
Most areas have a waypoint to quickly travel from one area to another.
It's important to check the enemy's resistances.
Learning to Trade:
Normal item with quality at 20% (Armour, Weapon, Flask, Map, Skill Gem)
Item quality of the same type (Armour, Weapon, Flask, Map, Skill Gem) that adds up to 40%
There are various ring/amulet recipes, so pick up all rings and amulets.
Flasks can be combined. Life+Mana=Hybrid, X Flask x 3 = X Flask of Next Size (e.g. three Small Life Flasks will combine to make one Medium Life Flask). Take the lowest item level of all components.
Combining rarities of the same base item type (normal, magic, rare) (save the unidentified ones, see next line)
Combining rarities of the same base item type, if the magic and rare items are unidentified, then you get two Orbs of Augmentation instead of one.
Useful Links:
Exchange Rates for the Default League
Vender Recipe System (Path of Exile Wiki)
Noperative's Beginner's Guide to Path of Exile
Summary of My Characters:*
*All the characters are Standard League.
[20200822 Edit]
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Good voice work (in most - if not all - situations, you can scroll all the way down through the text and leave, but the voice over will continue).
+ Good graphics (environment, water, player model) and story.
+ Well-designed map
+ Free to play and not pay to win.
+ Easy to join a party (look on the noticeboards).
+ Can pay for cosmetic changes.
+ The armor worn is directly reflected on the character model.
+ There are many resources available online such as a skill tree planner and player builds.
Neutral:
~ Stash tabs are reasonably priced (wait for the Stash Tab Bundle or Premium Stash Tab Bundle to go on sale)
Minor Con:
- The way that the passive skill tree is designed, a new player who doesn't use a guide can easily find him/herself "wasting" points which can only be reallocated with re-specification points obtained through quests and crafting. Players must either be careful from the start with respect to the skill tree or simply create a new character after learning from their first character.
Cons:
- Trading system (recipes) takes time to learn.
- Cosmetic changes cost a lot.
[20150502]
20191115 Comment:
Steam says that I last played 20171006 and there are some screenshots on this date for the game as well. I don't however know how much time I spent playing the game on that day. However, I will infer (at least) 8 hours 16 minutes of gameplay occurred on 20150502 via screenshots which appear to fully span the game session. Further assuming that I only played Path of Exile through Steam on 20150502 and 20171006, then it would follow that I played on 20171006 for (at most) 2 hours 26 minutes.
Steam Game Time: 10.7 hours (total game time)
20200322 to 20200614:
I played the Delirium league. My detailed notes for the league have been moved to a separate post: Path of Exile - Delirium.
20200619 to 20200914:
I played the Harvest league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Harvest.
20200918 to 20210111:
I played the Heist league. During this time I also played a little during the Mayhem event. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Heist.
20201207 Comment:
At one point I deleted all my old standard characters except for Uoylliki. Their names (time played and level) are as follows: Otwencaas (1:41:46; 5), Nibornairam (3:52:05; 10), Gniogteg (5:09:46; 13), and Naissuag (8:31:54; 13). Around the same time I also deleted characters which I made in a (failed) attempt to farm Oni-Garoshi: Deezire (6:19:09; 8), Janepa (5:01:22; 8), Falilia (2:58:52; 7), Geegeedabadgee (1:12:40; 6), and ZZeennaa (1:35:07; 7).
Summary of My Characters:
*Age from approximately 20201207 3 PM Pacific.
20210327 Comment:
Today I deleted Suzeelee, ZoeZana, Sharkla, BFBB_ALPHA, and BFBB_BETA. In addition, the following table is an addendum to my list of characters above.
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20210327 12 AM Pacific.
20210115 to 20210412:
I played the Ritual league. My detailed posts can be found here: Path of Exile - Ritual (Echoes of the Atlas). By the end of Ritual, Benderdondat had 11 days 7 hours 53 minutes played (Joallabee remained as above).
20210417 to 20210718:
I played the Ultimatum league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Ultimatum.
20210802 Comment:
Today I deleted AprilMayJune. In addition, the following table is an addendum to my list of characters above. For reference, Joalla is 317 days old (237 days since Table 1) and Benderdondat is 198 days old (128 days since Table 2).
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20210802 3:45 AM Pacific.
20210802 to 20211015:
I played the Expedition league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Expedition.
Summary of New Characters:
In addition to the two characters above, I made a ranger during Expedition as practice for Scourge Arrow - leveling with toxic rain, a shadow in Standard as practice for Essence Drain Contagion - leveling with orb of storms and stormblast mines, and a witch in SSF Standard as practice for Bane with Essence Drain. They were deleted on 20220401.
*Age from approximately 20210926 9:50 AM Pacific.
20211022 to 20211205:
I played the Scourge league, but I stopped partway through and switched to Standard. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Scourge.
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20220401 5:40 PM Pacific.
20211205 to 20220204:
I stopped playing Scourge league and spent some time in Standard. I mostly used my Vortex + Cold Snap character (originating from Ultimatum) and I mostly tried to burn through various prophecies, which were being eliminated from the game on release of 3.17.
20220409 Comment:
The current league is Archnemesis and I've been playing it but I'm thinking about calling it for other games and activities in life. As such, I felt like I would recap on my experience across the leagues.
In terms of pure hours at day 86 (which is a roughly a common number of days I've spent for each league), Delirium takes the lead. This is in part due to the number of characters I ran, the amount of time I wasted, and a everything else that may be associated to playing the game for essentially the first time. Second is Ultimatum, which surpassed Ritual at around Day 59. I personally really liked the simplicity of Ultimatum, but disliked the lack of encounters with the league boss. As mentioned, third place is Ritual, which is interesting, because I don't remember being so interested in the league mechanic. In particular, I rarely used the blood-filled vessels. Fourth and fifth are Heist and Harvest, respectively, with Heist surpassing Harvest at Day 81! Despite it's place at fourth, I enjoyed the league's theme and continued to enjoy it's inclusion in the subsequent leagues. Next is Archnemesis which is still in progress at day 41, and would need at least 60 hours to advance beyond Harvest. Falling behind is Expedition, which has less hours in it's conclusion at Day 80 (148 hours) than Archnemesis currently has at Day 31 (153 hours). Expedition is actually a profitable mechanic, but I personally have yet to run a logbook. Finally, pulling up the rear is Scourge whose hours ended at Day 41 with just 104 hours.
Putting hours aside, I like certain mechanics more than others. In general, I like not having to backtrack, not having to read a lot, and simpler choices. That's why Ultimatum tops the chart:
20220204 to 20220510:
I played the Archnemesis league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Archnemesis (Siege of the Atlas).
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20220401 5:40 PM Pacific.
**I made characters throughout 20220402, 20220408, 20220409, 20220410, and 20220411.
20220513 to 20220816:
I played the Sentinel league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Sentinel.
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20220516 7:50 PM Pacific.
20220819 to 20221206:
I played the Kalandra league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Kalandra (Lake of Kalandra).
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20221231 7:30 PM Pacific.
20221209 to 20220404:
I played the Sanctum league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Sanctum (The Forbidden Sanctum). From 20230313 to 20230319, I played Ruthless with Gold and made it to Act 5. From 20230320 to 20230321, I played SSF Ruthless Sanctum (though for some reason I don't have a character entry for this).
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20230320 6:00 PM Pacific.
20230407 to 20230815:
I played the Crucible league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Crucible.
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20230815 11:20 PM Pacific.
20230818 to 20231205:
I played the Ancestor league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Ancestor (Trial of the Ancestors).
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20231205 10:00 PM Pacific.
20231208 to 20231226:
I played the Affliction league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Affliction.
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20241128 1:30 AM Pacific.
20240330 to 20240416:
I played the SSF Necropolis league. My notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Necropolis.
Summary of New Characters:
*Age from approximately 20241128 1:30 AM Pacific.
20241124 to 20241203:
In preparation for the release of Path of Exile 2, I told my friend to play Path of Exile. I took an old character, a level 18 Witch (Uoylliki) with 11 hours played and 0 deaths,* through the campaign.
I also briefly played using Ladalista, my Scourge Arrow Pathfinder character from Affliction league, for nine hours from 20241128 to 20241129.
Various hours were spent just cleaning.
*The character had only made it up to the Southern Forest in Act 1, a level 13 area. As such, I was 5 levels over the zone level area.
20250613 to 20250621:
I played the SSF Mercenaries league. My notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Mercenaries (Secrets of the Atlas).
20260316 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 3674.9 hours (cumulative game time) / 3674h 51m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20251124
20260316: Start: Uoylliki - played 3 days, 6 hours, 18 minutes, and 10 seconds; Died 14 times; Killed 413242 monsters. Cleaning standard tabs.
20260318: Start: Ladalista - played 2 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes, and 44 seconds; Died 83 times; Killed 222070 monsters.
20260319: End: Ladalista - played 3 days, 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 32 seconds; Died 88 times; Killed 231236 monsters. Finished a set of incubators.
20260319: Start: Vortexada - played 17 days, 7 hours, 38 minutes, and 51 seconds; Died 532 times; Killed 8788 monsters.
20260319: End: Vortexada - played 17 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds; Died 546 times; Killed 20545 monsters.
20260320: Start: - played 11 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes, and 20 seconds; Died 270 times; Killed 0 monsters.
Path of Exile (PC) (2013)
Relevant Links:
Path of Exile Website
Path of Exile (Wikipedia.org)
Path of Exile (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Path of Exile Wiki
Path of Exile is a free-to-play online action RPG. Starting with a couple items and skills, defeat enemies in order to level up and find loot. Using a bartering system for goods, you can trade your loot to in-game merchants or with other players.
 |
| The Maurader |
Going deeper into some gameplay mechanics, weapons and equipment have slots for gems that can be found, collected via quests, or bought. These gems provide various abilities and stats, so weapons and equipment with more slots are more valuable.
In addition to the item system, Path of Exile also implements a huge skill tree system. While each possible class (there are seven* to choose from) starts at a different place in the tree, a player can spend his/her skill points however he/she wishes.
More specifically, there are three attributes in Path of Exile: strength, dexterity, and intelligence. Three of the classes start at the core of an attribute: Marauder (str), Ranger (dex), and Witch (int). Three of the classes start in between these attributes: Duelist (str/dex), Shadow (dex/int), and Templar (int/str). The last class is in the center: Scion (str/dex/int).
 |
| The Witch - admiring the view |
*If I remember correctly there were only six when I was playing in 2013.
Recommendation:
I really enjoyed the time I spent playing Path of Exile. For a game that's free-to-play (and not pay-to-win), Path of Exile has excellent graphics, a rewarding loot system, and well-designed, complex skill tree.
While there may be some input lag (at least back when I was trying the game), I still definitely enjoyed the combat.
Overall, I would definitely recommend the game to others. Honestly, the only reason I stopped playing was I just didn't have the time to play it.
 |
| The Witch - attacking a necromancer |
20130206:
The first character I create is a Marauder. Using my screenshot record, I created him around 2:30AM ET and (possibly) play with him until about 4:00AM ET.
[20150502]
20130208:
The second character I create is a Ranger. Again using my screenshot record, I created her at around 11:00PM ET and (possibly) play with her until about 20130209 1:45AM ET. It also seems that I was playing for a little bit with my friend Matt (he was also playing a Ranger).
[20150502]
 |
| The Templar |
20130209: (Afternoon)
The third character I create is a Witch. Again using my screenshot record, I created her at around 11:45AM ET and I am almost definite that I spent time playing as her from 11:45AM ET to 12:00PM ET and from 1:47PM ET to 4:34PM ET, with the last screenshot showing her entering Prisoner's Gate (level 11 monsters).
[20150502]
20130209: (Evening)
The fourth character I create is a Templar - at around 7:15PM ET. However, while I created him today, there are no screenshot records of playing him until 11:15PM ET the next day. However, the first such screenshot has him in The Upper Submerged Passage (level 6 monsters). In other words, I most likely played with him today for at least an hour.
[20150502]
 |
| The Ranger |
20130210:
As mentioned above, there are screenshots showing game time on my Templar character from 11:15PM ET to 20130211 1:33AM ET. The last screenshot shows the character talking to Captain Fairgraves in The Ship Graveyard (level 12 monsters, past Prisoner's Gate).
[20150502]
20130218:
Screenshots suggest I played on my Witch character for at least an hour.
[20150502]
20130224:
There is a screenshot of my Witch character.
 |
| The Witch - standing on a bunch of corpses |
[20150502]
20130303:
The last of the screenshots suggest at least another hour of game time on my Witch character.
[20150502]
20150502:
Today I created a new character (because it's been so long that I wanted to play from the beginning with a new character) at 1:15PM PT. I decided to create a Shadow class character and called him Naissuag (backwards for Gaussian). I played until 9:30PM PT - occasionally idling to look at various Path of Exile resources. Personally I plan to use this Shadow Skill Tree as a guideline. It comes from this Shadow Build.
 |
| Passive Skill Tree - zoomed in |
As I played, I made some option changes:
Always Highlight: checked.
Always Show Socket: checked.
Join Global Chat: unchecked.
Join Trade Chat: unchecked.
Things I Began to Remember:
Use flasks, as they will refill as you are in combat. They do not empty completely either, so don't be afraid to use them.
Stash is shared across all characters in your account.
Most areas have a waypoint to quickly travel from one area to another.
It's important to check the enemy's resistances.
 |
| The Shadow - talking to Nessa, an NPC |
Learning to Trade:
Normal item with quality at 20% (Armour, Weapon, Flask, Map, Skill Gem)
Item quality of the same type (Armour, Weapon, Flask, Map, Skill Gem) that adds up to 40%
There are various ring/amulet recipes, so pick up all rings and amulets.
Flasks can be combined. Life+Mana=Hybrid, X Flask x 3 = X Flask of Next Size (e.g. three Small Life Flasks will combine to make one Medium Life Flask). Take the lowest item level of all components.
Combining rarities of the same base item type (normal, magic, rare) (save the unidentified ones, see next line)
Combining rarities of the same base item type, if the magic and rare items are unidentified, then you get two Orbs of Augmentation instead of one.
Useful Links:
Exchange Rates for the Default League
Vender Recipe System (Path of Exile Wiki)
Noperative's Beginner's Guide to Path of Exile
 |
| The Shadow - using a bunch of fire traps (against a necromancer) |
Summary of My Characters:*
| Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Maurader | Otwencaas | Reverse of "(I)saac Newto(n)" |
| 10 | Ranger | Nibornairam | Reverse of "Marian Robin" (Maid Marian + Robin Hood) |
| 16 | Witch | Uoylliki | Reverse of "I kill you" |
| 13 | Templar | Gniogteg | Reverse of "Get Going" |
| 13 | Shadow | Naissuag | Reverse of "Gaussian" |
*All the characters are Standard League.
[20200822 Edit]
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Good voice work (in most - if not all - situations, you can scroll all the way down through the text and leave, but the voice over will continue).
+ Good graphics (environment, water, player model) and story.
+ Well-designed map
+ Free to play and not pay to win.
+ Easy to join a party (look on the noticeboards).
+ Can pay for cosmetic changes.
+ The armor worn is directly reflected on the character model.
+ There are many resources available online such as a skill tree planner and player builds.
 |
| Passive Skill Tree - zoomed out |
Neutral:
~ Stash tabs are reasonably priced (wait for the Stash Tab Bundle or Premium Stash Tab Bundle to go on sale)
Minor Con:
- The way that the passive skill tree is designed, a new player who doesn't use a guide can easily find him/herself "wasting" points which can only be reallocated with re-specification points obtained through quests and crafting. Players must either be careful from the start with respect to the skill tree or simply create a new character after learning from their first character.
Cons:
- Trading system (recipes) takes time to learn.
- Cosmetic changes cost a lot.
[20150502]
20191115 Comment:
Steam says that I last played 20171006 and there are some screenshots on this date for the game as well. I don't however know how much time I spent playing the game on that day. However, I will infer (at least) 8 hours 16 minutes of gameplay occurred on 20150502 via screenshots which appear to fully span the game session. Further assuming that I only played Path of Exile through Steam on 20150502 and 20171006, then it would follow that I played on 20171006 for (at most) 2 hours 26 minutes.
 |
| Selling some inventory. |
Steam Game Time: 10.7 hours (total game time)
20200322 to 20200614:
I played the Delirium league. My detailed notes for the league have been moved to a separate post: Path of Exile - Delirium.
20200619 to 20200914:
I played the Harvest league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Harvest.
20200918 to 20210111:
I played the Heist league. During this time I also played a little during the Mayhem event. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Heist.
20201207 Comment:
At one point I deleted all my old standard characters except for Uoylliki. Their names (time played and level) are as follows: Otwencaas (1:41:46; 5), Nibornairam (3:52:05; 10), Gniogteg (5:09:46; 13), and Naissuag (8:31:54; 13). Around the same time I also deleted characters which I made in a (failed) attempt to farm Oni-Garoshi: Deezire (6:19:09; 8), Janepa (5:01:22; 8), Falilia (2:58:52; 7), Geegeedabadgee (1:12:40; 6), and ZZeennaa (1:35:07; 7).
 |
| Joalla - Scourge Arrow Pathfinder |
Summary of My Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2858 days | 11 hours | 18 | Witch | Uoylliki | |
| 259 days | 2.3 days | 71 | Witch - Elementalist | Topawla | Delirium main #1; Arc |
| 258 days | 7 hours | 36 | Templar - Hierophant | Eroster | Delirium side; Ancestral Warchief |
| 256 days | 7.2 days | 90 | Scion - Ascendant | Adaben | Delirium main #2; Slayer/Raider + Cyclone + Oni-Goroshi |
| 241 days | 1.4 hour | 12 | Witch | Suzeelee | Delirium side #2 |
| 219 days | 8.6 days | 96 | Duelist - Slayer | Triagano | Delirium main #3; Cyclone |
| 171.9 days | 1.9 hours | 13 | Witch | ZoeZana | SSF Hardcore; practice for Arc |
| 171.1 days | 10.3 days | 93 | Witch - Necromancer | Denaba | Harvest main; Arc + Archmage + Righteous Fire |
| 142 days | 3.6 hours | 28 | Witch | Sharkla | Harvest side; Minions |
| 80 days | 9.2 days | 96 | Ranger - Pathfinder | Joalla | Heist main; Scourge Arrow + Divine Flesh |
| 3 days | 7.3 hours | 50 | Ranger - Pathfinder | AprilMayJune | Mayhem main; for Scourge Arrow |
*Age from approximately 20201207 3 PM Pacific.
 |
| Benderdondat - Bladefall Blade Blast Assassin |
20210327 Comment:
Today I deleted Suzeelee, ZoeZana, Sharkla, BFBB_ALPHA, and BFBB_BETA. In addition, the following table is an addendum to my list of characters above.
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 days | 3.8 hours | 18 | Shadow | BFBB_ALPHA | SSF Standard; practice for Bladefall + Blade Blast |
| 71 days | 3.7 hours | 17 | Shadow | BFBB_BETA | Standard; practice for Bladefall + Blade Blast |
| 70 days | 10.2 days | 94 | Shadow - Assassin | Benderdondat | Ritual main; Bladefall + Blade Blast (Physical) |
| 44 days | 1.7 days | 85 | Ranger - Pathfinder | Joallabee | Ritual side; Scourge Arrow |
*Age from approximately 20210327 12 AM Pacific.
20210115 to 20210412:
I played the Ritual league. My detailed posts can be found here: Path of Exile - Ritual (Echoes of the Atlas). By the end of Ritual, Benderdondat had 11 days 7 hours 53 minutes played (Joallabee remained as above).
20210417 to 20210718:
I played the Ultimatum league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Ultimatum.
 |
| Vortexada - Vortex Cold Snap Occultist |
20210802 Comment:
Today I deleted AprilMayJune. In addition, the following table is an addendum to my list of characters above. For reference, Joalla is 317 days old (237 days since Table 1) and Benderdondat is 198 days old (128 days since Table 2).
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 106 days | 14.1 days | 97 | Witch - Occultist | Vortexada | Ultimatum main; Vortex + Cold Snap |
| 55 days | 1.4 days | 87 | Ranger - Raider | Benderdondatbee | Ultimatum side; Bladefall + Blade Blast (Lightning) |
*Age from approximately 20210802 3:45 AM Pacific.
20210802 to 20211015:
I played the Expedition league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Expedition.
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 days | 3.1 days | 90 | Witch - Necromancer | Somunada | Expedition main #1; Summoner |
| 21 days | 2.6 days | 90 | Duelist - Gladiator | Specshielthrowada | Expedition main #2; Spectral Shield Throw |
 |
| Specshielthrowada - Spectral Shield Throw Gladiator |
In addition to the two characters above, I made a ranger during Expedition as practice for Scourge Arrow - leveling with toxic rain, a shadow in Standard as practice for Essence Drain Contagion - leveling with orb of storms and stormblast mines, and a witch in SSF Standard as practice for Bane with Essence Drain. They were deleted on 20220401.
*Age from approximately 20210926 9:50 AM Pacific.
20211022 to 20211205:
I played the Scourge league, but I stopped partway through and switched to Standard. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Scourge.
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161 days | 3.3 days | 91 | Witch - Occultist | Banebenadada | Scourge main #1; Bane + Essence Drain |
| 146 days | 1.1 days | 83 | Duelist - Champion | Niarcixota | Scourge main #2; Toxic Rain |
*Age from approximately 20220401 5:40 PM Pacific.
20211205 to 20220204:
I stopped playing Scourge league and spent some time in Standard. I mostly used my Vortex + Cold Snap character (originating from Ultimatum) and I mostly tried to burn through various prophecies, which were being eliminated from the game on release of 3.17.
20220409 Comment:
The current league is Archnemesis and I've been playing it but I'm thinking about calling it for other games and activities in life. As such, I felt like I would recap on my experience across the leagues.
In terms of pure hours at day 86 (which is a roughly a common number of days I've spent for each league), Delirium takes the lead. This is in part due to the number of characters I ran, the amount of time I wasted, and a everything else that may be associated to playing the game for essentially the first time. Second is Ultimatum, which surpassed Ritual at around Day 59. I personally really liked the simplicity of Ultimatum, but disliked the lack of encounters with the league boss. As mentioned, third place is Ritual, which is interesting, because I don't remember being so interested in the league mechanic. In particular, I rarely used the blood-filled vessels. Fourth and fifth are Heist and Harvest, respectively, with Heist surpassing Harvest at Day 81! Despite it's place at fourth, I enjoyed the league's theme and continued to enjoy it's inclusion in the subsequent leagues. Next is Archnemesis which is still in progress at day 41, and would need at least 60 hours to advance beyond Harvest. Falling behind is Expedition, which has less hours in it's conclusion at Day 80 (148 hours) than Archnemesis currently has at Day 31 (153 hours). Expedition is actually a profitable mechanic, but I personally have yet to run a logbook. Finally, pulling up the rear is Scourge whose hours ended at Day 41 with just 104 hours.
Putting hours aside, I like certain mechanics more than others. In general, I like not having to backtrack, not having to read a lot, and simpler choices. That's why Ultimatum tops the chart:
| League | Theme | Backtrack? | Read a lot? | Deters flow? | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimatum | Okay | No | No | No | This was such a simple mechanic, and I think that made it pure fun. |
| Heist | Great | No | No | No | While I love Heist, I don't like how picking up the final item always triggers the alarm. |
| Delirium | Okay | Usually | No | No | The mechanic benefits from certain maps |
| Ritual | Okay | No | Medium | No | The mechanic lacked transparency regarding the reroll and blood-filled vessels. |
| Harvest | Good | No | Yes | Yes | The original implementation is different from how Harvest exists now. Both have their pros and cons. Original Harvest was good because the user can invest in keeping mods. |
| Expedition | Great | No | Yes | Somewhat | I hate having to read the Remnant Mods and subsequently planning out a suboptimal set of exposives. |
| Archnemesis | Okay | No | Little | Somewhat | Lack of inventory space and limited to using four per map. |
| Scourge | Good | Built in | No | No | The mechanic just didn't seem as useful as it could have been |
20220204 to 20220510:
I played the Archnemesis league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Archnemesis (Siege of the Atlas).
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 days | 4 hours | 30 | Witch | Ameliarca | Archnemesis main #1; Arc; deleted on 20220401 |
| 55 days | 15 days | 97 | Witch - Elementalist | Amexplada | Archnemesis main #2; Explosive Arrow |
| 0** days | max: 7 hours | max: 23 | Witch or Duelist | Explosada[A to S] | Archnemesis Gauntlet; Splitting Steel / Shattering Steel (for Explosive Arrow); deleted on or before 20220817 |
*Age from approximately 20220401 5:40 PM Pacific.
**I made characters throughout 20220402, 20220408, 20220409, 20220410, and 20220411.
20220513 to 20220816:
I played the Sentinel league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Sentinel.
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.25 days | 3.0 days | 90 | Witch - Elementalist | Amexpladabee | Sentinel main #1; Explosive Arrow; deleted on 20221203 |
*Age from approximately 20220516 7:50 PM Pacific.
20220819 to 20221206:
I played the Kalandra league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Kalandra (Lake of Kalandra).
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 134 days | 3.5 days | 90 | Witch - Elementalist | Caladaben | Lake of Kalandra main #1; Lightning Conduit |
*Age from approximately 20221231 7:30 PM Pacific.
20221209 to 20220404:
I played the Sanctum league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Sanctum (The Forbidden Sanctum). From 20230313 to 20230319, I played Ruthless with Gold and made it to Act 5. From 20230320 to 20230321, I played SSF Ruthless Sanctum (though for some reason I don't have a character entry for this).
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 106 days | 5.5 hours | 18 | Shadow | SeismadaPrac | Standard practice #1; Orb of Storms + Mines (for Seismic Trap) |
| 102 days | 1.5 hours | 16 | Shadow | SeismadaPracB | Standard practice #2; Poisonous Concoction (for Seismic Trap) |
| 101 days | 3.4 days | 97 | Shadow - Saboteur | Seismada | Forbidden Sanctum main #1; Seismic Trap + Exsanguinate |
| 38 days | 0.8 hours | 8 | Templar | Rewindniwer | Ziz Sanctum HCSSF Class Gauntlet #1; Spark |
| 8 days | 11 hours | 45 | Witch | Ruthada | Ruthless with Gold main #1; Arc |
*Age from approximately 20230320 6:00 PM Pacific.
20230407 to 20230815:
I played the Crucible league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Crucible.
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130 days | 1.5 hours | 10 | Witch | FrobadaPrac | Standard practice #1; ??? |
| 130 days | 5.5 days | 95 | Witch - Elementalist | Frobada | Crucible main #1; Fire Trap + Frostblink |
| 97 days | 5.5 days | 96 | Ranger - Deadeye | Garowada | Crucible main #2; Lightning Arrow + Artillery Ballista |
| 66 days | 4.3 hours | 37 | Ranger | Harowada | Crucible main #3; Rain of Arrows + Artillery Ballista |
*Age from approximately 20230815 11:20 PM Pacific.
20230818 to 20231205:
I played the Ancestor league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Ancestor (Trial of the Ancestors).
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109 days | 6.7 days | 96 | Shadow - Saboteur | Kolbhexblok | Main #1; Hexblast |
*Age from approximately 20231205 10:00 PM Pacific.
20231208 to 20231226:
I played the Affliction league. My detailed notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Affliction.
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 355 days | 2.6 days | 92 | Ranger - Pathfinder | Ladalista | Main #1; Scourge Arrow of Menace |
*Age from approximately 20241128 1:30 AM Pacific.
20240330 to 20240416:
I played the SSF Necropolis league. My notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Necropolis.
Summary of New Characters:
| Age* | Played | Level | Class | Name | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 242 days | 1.7 days | 83 | Witch - Necromancer | Miadaben | Main #1; Detonate Dead of Chain Reaction |
*Age from approximately 20241128 1:30 AM Pacific.
20241124 to 20241203:
In preparation for the release of Path of Exile 2, I told my friend to play Path of Exile. I took an old character, a level 18 Witch (Uoylliki) with 11 hours played and 0 deaths,* through the campaign.
I also briefly played using Ladalista, my Scourge Arrow Pathfinder character from Affliction league, for nine hours from 20241128 to 20241129.
Various hours were spent just cleaning.
*The character had only made it up to the Southern Forest in Act 1, a level 13 area. As such, I was 5 levels over the zone level area.
20250613 to 20250621:
I played the SSF Mercenaries league. My notes can be found here: Path of Exile - Mercenaries (Secrets of the Atlas).
20260316 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 3674.9 hours (cumulative game time) / 3674h 51m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20251124
20260316: Start: Uoylliki - played 3 days, 6 hours, 18 minutes, and 10 seconds; Died 14 times; Killed 413242 monsters. Cleaning standard tabs.
20260318: Start: Ladalista - played 2 days, 23 hours, 8 minutes, and 44 seconds; Died 83 times; Killed 222070 monsters.
20260319: End: Ladalista - played 3 days, 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 32 seconds; Died 88 times; Killed 231236 monsters. Finished a set of incubators.
20260319: Start: Vortexada - played 17 days, 7 hours, 38 minutes, and 51 seconds; Died 532 times; Killed 8788 monsters.
20260319: End: Vortexada - played 17 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds; Died 546 times; Killed 20545 monsters.
20260320: Start: - played 11 days, 0 hours, 21 minutes, and 20 seconds; Died 270 times; Killed 0 monsters.
Path of Exile (PC) (2013)
 |
| The Witch - getting started. |
Relevant Links:
Path of Exile Website
Path of Exile (Wikipedia.org)
Path of Exile (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Path of Exile Wiki
Date/Time
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
@
13:00
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