Improving the Infinite Atlas

I've put together a video and document detailing how I think the infinite atlas system can be improved in POE 2 without replacing it entirely.

This post is a high level summary of 4.5k word analysis of the issues and possible solutions. Link to video and document at the bottom.


Summary of the issues:
- Direction and Distance need to matter more and be clearly signposted
- Interesting nodes on the atlas are too far apart and take too much time to reach due to the number of maps it takes to reach them.
- Progression needs to feel more meaningful, impactful and continuous.
- Saving content for later and backtracking at the least shouldn't feel necessary and at best shouldn't feel like a valid option.
- Information presented by the atlas should be easy to parse without feeling overwhelming or exhausting.

Proposed Solutions:
- Biome based traversal to drastically reduce the hops
- Agency within a biome to run whatever layout you want from that biome, with bonuses for running different layouts.
- Clear signposting for the direction that a player should be travelling to reach the next endgame objective
- At a glance information for each node with strong visual identity
- A tiering system that provides an atlas reset to prevent further overload of information and clearer progression.
- Each tier provides a greater density of interesting events in the biomes with a final infinite tier that uses towers to highlight special locations.
- Progression that ensures it is rewarding to do the events (corruption/cleanse, anomalies and anything else) as you pass through, with a strong incentive to not save content to backtrack to later.

Video going into detail on each of these points


Full Transcript of video with images used in the video

I really like the suggestions you've made in your video. I'm also one of those, who prefer the new endless atlas over the atlas in PoE1 (at least the version that PoE1 had, when I've quit the game some years ago. I don't know how it looks like now. It ended up in opening the same map over and again for almost the entire league). I've also realized that there are many flaws ofc( as you also mentioned), but for me it is still better than in PoE1.

I also loved the endless delve system, which was a real breath of fresh air for me.

My feedback from my point of view:

- You are completely on point with showing all the flaws.
- Search function is necessary but yes, it's only a bandaid
- Lots of threads in forums show that there is a huge amount of people who don't realize that distance matters (citadels and so on)
- Nice ideas with the tiers


My only gripe is that you are doing the same that I don't like in the current system as well. The full potential of your new atlas is gated behind a boss (Arbiter) where the whole fight is about dodging oneshot mechanics. I play HCSSF only and I have talked with many other HC players who dislike that point as well (rare tablets only when you killed the Arbiter). It takes some effort and time to get your first character started in the dead zone between L65 to L90ish (Yeah, Ive also lost some in this dead zone like many others did). Just to face a boss, that instakills you, when you're doing a little mistake (while being far away from being capable to trivialize the fight like many others do). So before something is gated behind arbiter again, that guy should get a kind of rework as well. The fight doesn't need to be trivial, it just doesn't need to be a chain of oneshots only.

But as I've said...I really like the rest, great work :)

Edit: I'm really excited how ther endgame overhaul in 0.5 will look like. I hope it won't be a step back to PoE1s atlas though.

Thanks for the feedback, glad you like the video :)

I agree with you that arbiter is not in a great spot balance wise, I play both HC and SC and it never feels good going into the arbiter fight knowing that even if you play well you can still get unlucky and lose your character to a bad combination of abilities.

Do you think if the progression was gated behind a more predictable boss like Xesht that it wouldn't feel as bad?

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Stangg_187#6123 wrote:

Do you think if the progression was gated behind a more predictable boss like Xesht that it wouldn't feel as bad?

Sure, I'm not against the fact, that something is gated behind a certain boss or event. It's even more the opposite: I like the idea that things have to be earned and that not everything in the game has to be a free Gimme.

Let's take Trial of Sekhemas for example. I know that lots of people don't like it at all. But I think it's really funny, when people write that they can oneshoot every Pinncale boss, the game is too easy and they are absolutely godlike players...but fail or at least hate Sekhemas, because you can fail in there no matter how good your gear is. I actually loved it from the first moment when I've entered and failed it in 0.1, because I had no clue at all (I havent played it in PoE1 btw, was implemented after I've quit that game). I mean, there were two possibilites: 1. Ranting around in forums, like lots of people do or 2. Getting better. I've decided to get better :D

So yeah, Trials of Sekhemas is one of the best examples for me for a well designed gated content which is a pure skill check but isn't unfair at all. Sure, you can brick your runs, but with some practice and maybe a little farming of the right relics (some honour res, things like you can see more rooms further away) every build can do it. Even before it was nerfed and trivialized with sprint. Zarokh who could burn your honour in no time when you got stunned in 0.1 was also a well designed boss in my opionion (sadly he got nerfed)...and yes, I do see the irony that he has a oneshoot ability which is poorly telegraphed. But let's be honest...It's an ability where you only die on the first try, because you didn't know the mechanic at all or didn't know your limits (or had too low movement speed or whatever). I actually have never died on him yet.

Arbiter on the other hand feels massively unfair, because the whole fight (when you fight is as intended) is just a chain of oneshot abitilies with a little break between them. Dying when your elbow is one millimetre outside of the safe hallway feels miserable like one guy here in the forums posted once.

So yes, I'm fine when it is gated behind something like a higher tiered Xesht, Zarokh, King of the Mist. Simulacrum wouldn't be that great in my opinion, it's quite sketchy for many builds.

Edit: As written in my first post: Everything is experienced from a HC(SSF) perspective. Killing bosses in endless tries in T0 difficulty in SC leagues is another cup of tea and not the point in the whole discussion. Just before somebody writes stuff like ololo learn o play, Arbiter easy :D I also don't mind dying, I've died so many times since 0.1 and take it sportsmanlike. But some deaths are way more frustrating than other ones...

Greetz

Cow