Delve into a dark and doomed world and pulverize some monster hordes.
There are plenty of Path of Exile 2 tips that I wished I’d known before starting my Mercenary on his path of darkness and destruction because, honestly, this is a very complicated game. If you’re a veteran of the original, many of the returning mechanics will make much more sense—though there’s plenty that’s changed—but if you’re stepping into the series for the first time, there’s quite a lot to learn.
Whether it’s understanding stats, skills, and modifiers, or just realising that actually you can do whatever the hell you want with the game’s positively gigantic skill tree, you’ll have quite a bit to wrap your head around. If you want a little guidance in your fledgling hours of Path of Exile 2, these pointers should help you get going.
There are some handy shortcuts and tips about getting your character built, but also some general advice that’ll help smooth your path through the game’s initial acts.Use the minimap overlay to find your way
Feeling a little lost? Each instance of an area you enter in Path of Exile 2 is randomised, so finding your path is often a bit of a challenge. That’s not to say the area doesn’t contain the same bosses, landmarks, and paths to other regions—it’s more just that the actual layout has been shaken up a bit and your perspective has changed. While exploring, make sure to press Tab to bring up the minimap overlay, since this will help you methodically explore an area and ensure you aren’t retreading the same old paths and getting lost constantly.You can reset instances to refresh each area
As you’ll frequently be told on the loading screen, instances reset every 8-15 minutes, meaning that if you portal out of somewhere and hang out too long selling stuff, it might reset entirely. One thing you can do, however, is reset an area instance yourself or join a specific instance. Activate a waypoint and then use CTRL + left click on the area fast travel point. A list of active instances will appear and you can pick to create a new instance if you’d prefer. Joining or resetting a specific instance is handy if you’re playing other people, since it means you can choose to join their version of an area, or make an entirely new one.Inventory size is small, but it’s worth picking up and selling items early on
If you’re used to playing Diablo 4, your tiny inventory size might come as a bit of a shock in Path of Exile 2. You’ll find yourself frequently opening a portal back to town to sell things and there’s nothing wrong with this early on.
