Path of Exile 2 is great but it can't match the dopamine hit of a good Diablo 4 loot drop
I'm around 20 hours into Path of Exile 2 and all my gear sucks. I'm wearing clothes even a zombie would refuse to wear with bonuses I'm not even sure I can tell are doing anything. There are so many different stats in this game and most of them don't seem to be that important when you're still below level 30. I'm not exactly suffering when it comes to clearing dungeons and PoE 2 might be one of the best action RPGs I've played, but the loot situation is kind of a drag this far in.
Diablo 4's loot is way more satisfying to pick up even before you've hit max level. When Blizzard cut most of the miscellaneous stats out of the game, the value of items shot up. Instead of trying to figure out if "damage to injured targets" matters, you can glean how powerful an item is within seconds. Almost everything has maximum life and some kind of damage increase on it. And, even though they're more rare than they were just before the release of the expansion, legendary items still give you a jolt of dopamine when they drop.
The problem is that I've only found a few things that have neatly slotted into my build.
Basically every item has some kind of value to you in Diablo 4, even several hours into a season. PoE 2's approach is to flood you with bunk options until you finally find something good. The problem is that I've only found a few things that have neatly slotted into my build. Most of the stuff I find is garbage or for an entirely different class. One of the first Unique items I found was a bow, which went straight to my stash because I refuse to play anything but a spellcaster. I did, however, find a low-level ring that ignites packs of enemies when I toss a fireball their way and I don't see myself replacing it for a long time. But that's the best item I've found so far. Everything else I couldn't use. I now realize how smart it was of Blizzard to lock Diablo 4's loot to what your class can actually use so you never feel like you picked the wrong class.
PoE 2 is, admittedly, a very different game than Diablo 4 when it comes to building your character. Every class isn't really a class at all: You can be a witch with a crossbow or a monk with a shield. The passive skill tree lets you trace a line of points where you want too. So it makes sense that any item in the game can drop for you. But however it's tuned behind the scenes isn't quite cutting it and leaves you playing for long stretches without finding anything remotely powerful.
The whole reason the beginning of Diablo 4 seasons never get stale is how flexible the early game can be.
I'm sure that PoE 2's endgame is where the real loot drops. Diablo 4 isn't actually any different in terms of being able to target the loot you need. It just does a better job at feeding you fun items to play with as you climb your way up, teasing you with build ideas to chase later on. Uniques, for example, have a high chance of appearing from the NPC who lets you gamble for items. Spiritborn can easily find Sepazontec, a staff that makes your basic skills absurdly powerful and unlocks one of the most ridiculous builds in the game—which doesn't require anything else to get going. Blizzard often gift wraps new uniques in its seasonal cache rewards to spark build ideas way before anything in the game is hard enough to even need a fully functioning build.
The whole reason the beginning of Diablo 4 seasons never get stale is how flexible the early game can be. You could be playing a crossbow rogue and stumble into a Unique dagger that triples the damage of your melee abilities. Drop a little bit of gold on swapping your skills around and you get to ride that wave of power for another few hours.
PoE 2 seems to reserve a lot of this for players who are way deeper into the game, and maybe that's a good thing with how complex it is. Having the time to learn and understand what is and isn't good is valuable homework for what comes later. But the simplicity of Diablo 4's buildcrafting allows loot to feel more powerful as soon as you start playing because it's so easy to adapt your character to it on the fly. Sometimes PoE 2 brings me back to playing old World of Warcraft where the only thing keeping me going was the single talent point I'd get after hours of grinding. Diablo 4 is a much better fit for someone who only has an hour or two to play. PoE 2 is all about the journey, and while I appreciate the slower-pace, I'd kill for some good loot a little more often.