Road to 100 and the XP issue

It just takes unreasonably long at the moment. At some point is it no longer an achievement but a diagnosis.

Theres just no content yet to properly go for 100.

I did no 5ways in poe1 and still road to 100 wasnt that bad doing mainly +xp synth maps. There are none here and tier's only go so low so it will be more like d2 :P

Couldn’t agree more on this topic.

I’m currently grinding toward level 95, and honestly—it’s exhausting. This game promotes itself as being “excited to see what kind of builds you come up with,” yet the reality is that very few players ever get to fully utilize those builds. Why? Because the level cap is so inaccessible that most never even see level 100, let alone enjoy it.

And sure, some “pro” players will jump in with the usual counterargument: “It’s supposed to be an achievement.” Spare me. That kind of gatekeeping isn’t just tired—it’s disconnected from how the majority of people actually play. More than 90% of the player base isn’t chasing leaderboard glory. We just want to play, experiment, and enjoy the systems the game offers without having our progress wiped over a single death.

Want to give the 1% something to brag about? Fine. Create extreme content just for them at level 100. But don’t punish everyone else with the risk of losing hours upon hours of XP because of one random misstep. That’s not challenging—it’s demoralizing.

This is an ARPG, and implementing XP loss on death is one of the worst ideas I’ve seen in gaming. Seriously—who asked for this? I’ve had the XP Omen on me multiple times and it didn’t even trigger properly... yet there goes 10% XP. That’s hours of gameplay just gone. For what?

Yes, I’m irritated. But it’s because I care. I like this game. I’ve spent money on it. I want it to succeed. But mechanics like this don’t make it hardcore—they make it hostile to anyone who isn’t able to dedicate 8+ hours a day without a single mistake.

And please spare the “maybe this game isn’t for you” argument. Ask yourself instead: what purpose does this system actually serve? Why make level 100 so inaccessible that only a tiny percentage of players even get close? Have you considered that players have jobs, families, and lives outside of the game?

Here’s a free fix that would be both fair and engaging:
Make each endgame map work like an XP pool. Completing the map gives you XP, and each extra activity or challenge within the map gives you a percentage bonus. If you die and fail the map, you only lose the XP from that map—not your previously earned XP.
Reach level 100? Cool—now all those accumulated XP pools get converted into extra gold or loot bonuses. It’s rewarding, encourages full map exploration, and doesn’t punish players with total XP loss.

Simple. Fair. Motivating.

I love this game. I support it. But if something doesn’t change with the current XP death system, I fear it’ll continue to alienate the very community that wants to see it thrive

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Khebeln128#7948 a écrit :

Im pretty sure most people are not that far yet to notice but the time needed to get to max lv compared to poe 1 (where it was already very very long) is totally out of hand now.

Only yesterday we only had first person reaching 100. Only 1 person.

Even reaching lv 95 is impossible for 99.9% of people.

I have 15 days played and only lv 94 today. I have only 2 deaths past lv 90.

The xp feels like in D4 on Season 1 where they put unrealistic values due to lack of endgame content.

Please fix this. This cant go like this in 1.0 version.

Adjust it to same levels of time/xp needed as in poe 1 at the very least to make it doable.

Even if you treat this game as 24/7 job is unrealistic that only 1 person reached lv 100 after a month, using best gear, most time, best build, having most funds and probably duo the account with another person.

This is unacceptable and unrealistic, and its discouraging for most players.

Bro I reached before 9 days in level 96. It was about 18 days duration after 6 deaths. I was made a buld with full armour and 55% evation. Mental perserverance, Lucidity and Heatproofing and lot other defences. A lot of investments to defence to keep walking. It cost me also 2 girlfriends! In the end i realized it doesnt worth it to spend the whole life for nothing....

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Toforto#2372 a écrit :

+1
Making the exp so slow was a mistake, its insane that only 1 person in the world is lvl100 after almost a month lol

Also the only unique map in the game Untainted Paradise sucks for exp too its laughable how little you get from it even though its supposed to be the juicy exp map. Either its values need to be made 10x or 20x or exp gain across the board needs some serious buffs.

And before anyone says "lvl100 is an achievement". No it isn't, never was and never will be. Not in Softcore Trade anyways. Nobody cares in this mode if you hit 100, so just let players passively actually reach that goal instead of it being always impossible and far away unless you pay X divines for exp carries. This is an RPG, hitting 100 should be expected not something that takes an unnecessarily long time to reach. When max level is so unattainable then people will just get bored with the game faster and quit cus they run out of goals quicker. But if 100 is actually balanced right then people will hit 100 on one build then farm what they enjoy on it and build up currency for a 2nd build.


If GGG care so much about this artificial boring "race to 100" they can put in this slower exp gain during events only or only in HC SSF. Buff it in the rest of the gamemodes by like 1000% and that fixes everything.

It's not the only unique map in the game.

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Toforto#2372 a écrit :

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Mouser#2899 a écrit :

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baconbyte#0146 a écrit :

any build is pretty much finished at lvl 80/85...... You can clear any content at 80, after that the extra points are just gravy.

Then they should make 85 max level.

Exactly. What's the point of having lvl100 if 99.99% of players never reach it? Why make content in a game that nobody can actually even interact with? It makes no sense at all.

Your comment here pretty much sums up your entire mentality.

If everyone cant get it then its pointless.
Also known as participation trophy syndrome.

Its fine that you dont enjoy challenges, you want everything to be easy and free.
But you have to take into consideration that your not the only person playing this game, and that there are other players that enjoy games that are challenging.

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mrfox123#7595 a écrit :

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Valsacar#0268 a écrit :

You seem to be confused about what level 100 is here. This is not D4 where 100 is where things start. In POE1/2 level 100 is an achievement and not at all required to beat any content.

The only reason people in POE1 can hit 100 faster is 5-ways and other abused mechanics that let you buy levels from other players.

Either lvl 100 is intended to be reached or it's not intended to be reached.

How it is now with the insane grind + exp-penalty on death the game literally tells you to fuck off even musing reaching it.

For all of D4's fault, the paragon system is far from one of them.

Its not intended to be reached in the same way that your not intended to complete all steam achievements in all games you try.

Its there as an accomplishment/achievement if you enjoy going for the grind or if you wanna participate in the race.
Its not a requirement that you have this as a goal and its not a necessity for completing the content in the game.

Its pretty simple, if you dont think its fun grinding for days to reach level 100, then dont do it.
Dont complain about having to do something that no one is forcing you to do.

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JoannaDark#6252 a écrit :

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Toforto#2372 a écrit :

+1
Making the exp so slow was a mistake, its insane that only 1 person in the world is lvl100 after almost a month lol

Also the only unique map in the game Untainted Paradise sucks for exp too its laughable how little you get from it even though its supposed to be the juicy exp map. Either its values need to be made 10x or 20x or exp gain across the board needs some serious buffs.

And before anyone says "lvl100 is an achievement". No it isn't, never was and never will be. Not in Softcore Trade anyways. Nobody cares in this mode if you hit 100, so just let players passively actually reach that goal instead of it being always impossible and far away unless you pay X divines for exp carries. This is an RPG, hitting 100 should be expected not something that takes an unnecessarily long time to reach. When max level is so unattainable then people will just get bored with the game faster and quit cus they run out of goals quicker. But if 100 is actually balanced right then people will hit 100 on one build then farm what they enjoy on it and build up currency for a 2nd build.


If GGG care so much about this artificial boring "race to 100" they can put in this slower exp gain during events only or only in HC SSF. Buff it in the rest of the gamemodes by like 1000% and that fixes everything.

It's not the only unique map in the game.

That comment was from like January 1st back in 0.1, then it was the only unique map in PoE 2 lol(or maybe 0.1 had 2 unique maps at most I don't remember)

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Toforto#2372 a écrit :

And before anyone says "lvl100 is an achievement". No it isn't, never was and never will be. Not in Softcore Trade anyways. Nobody cares in this mode if you hit 100, so just let players passively actually reach that goal instead of it being always impossible and far away unless you pay X divines for exp carries. This is an RPG, hitting 100 should be expected not something that takes an unnecessarily long time to reach. When max level is so unattainable then people will just get bored with the game faster and quit cus they run out of goals quicker. But if 100 is actually balanced right then people will hit 100 on one build then farm what they enjoy on it and build up currency for a 2nd build.

1. It by definition is an achievement. Its hard to do, takes alot of time and theres a leaderboard showing who has managed it. I cant think of a more text book definition of an achievement.

2. If "nobody cares" then why do you care?

3. Look at it from the other side, why is it so important to you that you reach lvl 100 even tho you apparently dont find it any fun to do?
The reason is that you also would find it fun to manage this achievement. But your not good enough so you just want them to nerf the game down to your level so that you dont have to be envious of others. You should use more of your effort on getting better at the game instead of begging them to ruin it for others.

I do think that lvl100 should be a hard thing to achieve in this game.

I just don't think that a lvl80 zone (irradiated T15) should have a 99.71% xp-gain penalty on lvl 97. Yes, I checked that ingame comparing different chars, "minimum 1%" doesn't exist in poe2.

Just make it inline with poe1, or at least not insanelly harder than that, and it would be fine IMHO.