Path of Exile 2 crashed into Early Access, and has managed to cause a bit of a schism in the PoE community. As someone who tends to stay away from Early Access, that is all going over my head while I, for the first time, got proper into PoE 1.

I know I can’t be the only one looking into the series with all the buzz (both good and bad) around it right now, and so I wanted to provide some reassurance and validation that starting PoE 1 right now…is absolutely fine.

Path of Exile Seasonal or Standard?

The first choice you’ll face in this mammoth ARPG is whether you are creating a Seasonal or a Standard character. The differences are as follows:

• Seasonal Characters benefit from limited time mechanics and events that are part of the game’s “Season”. Currently, that means you’ll be delving into “Breaches” and feeding blood to a loot-giving tree. Wonderful.
  
  
• Standard Characters do not have access to Seasonal content from the current season, but can still access “Standardised” versions of previous seasonal content.
  

So, always choose Seasonal, right?

Basically, yes.

Seasonal characters have access to a healthier economy (as Seasonal characters start fresh and can only trade to other seasonal characters) and more diverse gameplay.

Even if you start in-season, the character can be ported to Standard after the Season ends anyway so you never lose anything for playing a Season.

The main reason you play Standard is to pool the equipment and progression from multiple Seasons together (Once they have ended) and create a more permanent endgame build capable of walking through everything.

For a new player, like I was, starting Seasonal is pretty much a no-brainer. Even if you fail to get to the endgame before the Season ends, you haven’t lost anything and get ported to Standard (which is where you would have started anyway!)

How Long it Took Me to “Get” Path of Exile

Around 100 hours.

I know, that’s like an entire Divinity: Original Sin 2 Playthrough!

It’s nothing for a veteran PoE player, but for a new player looking into starting yes, it can seem like a lot.

Bear in mind you might get hooked faster than I did, things might “click” sooner, but for me it was around the 100 hour mark.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy that time with the game, obviously I did or I’d have stopped at 2 hours! But, it was only after around 100 that I felt myself “lock in” as the kids say.

By that point I’d finished “Acts” (Basically the campaign of the game) and reached “Maps” (Basically the endgame grind). I was presented with an “Atlas Skill Tree” which changes how my maps would be generated.

When your build clicks, your abilities are fun to use and you find a piece of optional content to focus on with the Atlas (Harbingers, my Beloved) PoE 1 is as engaging, fun, rewarding and deep as any paid ARPG.

The Atlas tree allowed me to choose how often additional content spawned and how rewarding it was, while modding the maps themselves with crafting materials let me find modifiers I knew I could cope with.

I got to tier 6 or so and realised…I’m doing it. No fixed build to follow, no OP traded equipment. Just the gameplay and game mechanics and me.

At that point I was what’s called Solo Self Found, I’d never traded on the character. So getting to tier 6 maps comfortably, with equipment I’d made or looted myself, was a real eye-opener.

It’s similar to the experience of getting to Anor Londo in Dark Souls 1, getting an S rank in Death Stranding or winning a Battle Royale as #1. The moment of validation, of “Oh…I can do this”, which just spurs you on to want to do it again!

You Can Play PoE 1 Your Own Way

New players to PoE hear a lot about how 100 hours is nothing, and trading is done in “Divs”, and you need to “recomb then slam x 2” and that if you don’t follow a PoB (Path of Building, a community PoE build site) then you’ll have a bad time.

Turns out, that’s mostly just elitism, and mostly applies to the top 10% of players. Since that isn’t us noobs, it really doesn’t affect us.

You can have an enjoyable, complete PoE 1 experience in 2025, even in Standard with the competitive economy! You don’t have anything to worry about.

I had to use some respec orbs to sort my survivability out, and I had to craft for a while to max my resistances, but beyond that? It’s not as inaccessible as you are led to believe.

I have imported my character into PoB, and it is a helpful tool of course, but the persistence with which new players are force-fed the “FOLLOW A POB GUIDE OR YOU’LL LITERALLY DIE” rhetoric is exhausting and, after my first 150 300 hours of PoE 1, inaccurate.

Maybe those comments become accurate after 151 hours, but why tell a brand new player then?

There’s a sort of dissonance between veteran PoE players prescribing the “right” way to play, and your actual gameplay experience of the first 150 hours, which I highlighted in my Steam review:

The Journey is Full of Destinations

Now obviously all this comes with the caveat that I’m “only” at tier 12 maps now, so I have a ways to go, and I did have to spend a good hour or two planning my equipment and skills…but to me that’s just part of the game.

To craft at the highest-end of the game you need thousands of resources and hundreds of failed attempts, but the journey to get anywhere near that point is, in itself, fantastic fun.

Sometimes I can play PoE 1 for two hours and my only goal is to look for a Bone Helmet that has Cold Resistance. All I’m doing is grinding maps, getting currency, exp, and looking over the mountains of loot for “Bone Helmet” to click on.

The game lets you make your own progression and choose your own goals, and all of it is, on some level, helpful. Either you’ll get currency you need or an item to trade, or just exp for your character. And of course, you get the joy of endless spouts of loot.

The One Thing You NEED To Do in Path of Exile 1

I truly believe newcomers shouldn’t be scared, and should just play the game. Look over the skill tree in advance and pick some big nodes that sound fun, look through the skill gems and pick one resonates with you, and it’s almost certain you can play that way.

However, there is one piece of prescriptive advice I will give, which is for the love of all that you hold dear, please, install the Neversink Loot filter from the official PoE website once you are logged in.

You only need to do this once you’re into Act 8+, but don’t forget! I was into Maps before downloading a Loot Filter and my time was absolutely miserable without one.

Not only do they highlight items more easily, separating currency from gear from quest items etc, but they also add unique colouring and borders for rare and powerful rolls. This adds even more serotonins to the loot mill, so you can enjoy those drops even more!