Grinding Gear Games has nerfed some incredibly overpowered Path of Exile 2 skills, but has been doing it for a good reason. At launch there have been multiple PoE 2 skills that have made almost everything else feel redundant, so to make more builds and abilities viable GGG has had to do some nerfs. These skill nerfs won’t be the last we see across the early access launch, either, so I’d be prepared to watch your abnormally strong builds crumble sooner rather than later.
“Well we’ve finally hit that point where a skill with unacceptable balance has been discovered!” Grinding Gear Games writes of Path of Exile 2 on Twitter/X. “Supercharged Slam is unfortunately dealing far too much damage than was intended given the short channel window required to hit maximum stages. We are imminently going to be reducing its damage.” This won’t be the last of the game’s nerfs either, alongside plenty of Path of Exile 2 high-priority issues that GGG is looking into.
Grinding Gear Games also makes a point of how it is “trying to avoid nerfing skills and builds” across PoE 2, but adds that “it is important that a wide variety of skills feel viable and fun to play.” Supercharged Slam is so powerful in the RPG right now that it makes trying any other Path of Exile 2 builds feel pointless by comparison. That’s why a new hotfix reduces Supercharged Slam’s damage by 60% (at maximum stages), with adjustments to how the skill builds up charges coming further down the line.
Supercharged Slam isn’t the only skill that’s been nerfed in a quick hotfix, either, as Grinding Gear Games has also found that Magnetic Salvo is too powerful. That’s why Magnetic Salvo’s explosions have had their damage reduced by around 40%. “Note that this isn’t the only skill on our radar right now but we’re really just trying to address egregious cases at the moment,” Grinding Gear Games adds.
“We’re currently playing alongside you all and are also collating a lot of your feedback that we’ll be addressing as much as possible in the upcoming week once the team is back in the office before the holidays.”
So the Supercharged Slam and Magnetic Salvo nerfs are just the first of many for Grinding Gear Games, but the studio’s philosophy isn’t to just nerf what’s fun. Instead, GGG wants to ensure that there aren’t a handful of skills or builds that completely dominate the meta and make everything else feel useless by comparison.
Make sure you check out our very own Path of Exile 2 early access impressions if you want to know even more about the ARPG and how it’s different from the pack.
If you want to 100% the game we’ve got a complete Path of Exile 2 quest list you need to check out, otherwise you’ll want to brush up on the best Path of Exile 2 classes to play as.
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