Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 are both top-down dungeon crawlers that will have you facing huge waves of enemies to get loot and build your best character. While the basic gameplay of each game may seem similar, there are lots of differences.
At the time of writing this article, Diablo 4 has a full DLC, and Path of Exile 2 is only in early access, but there are still many things both games do better than the other. This article will only focus on the early access of Path of Exile 2 along with the content mentioned that will be added with the full release. We also won’t be comparing the stories as Path of Exile 2‘s story is incomplete and we can’t determine which is better.
What Does Path of Exile 2 Do Better
Free To Play
To play the early access of Path of Exile 2; you will have to buy some version of the game that costs money. That being said, once the game fully releases it will be completely free to play.
More Classes & Flexibility
Another promise of the full release, but Path of Exile 2 will have up to 12 classes once the game is fully released. Even with just the early access, this game has a total of six classes to play, as the sixth Diablo 4 class is locked behind the paid DLC. Each class also has an incredible amount of flexibility, as the exact skills you’ll be using are more based on the weapon you choose, while your class determines where you start on the massive single passive skill tree.
The singular passive skill tree is huge, and no matter where you start you can grow to unlock any passive you want, giving you a level of creativity not found in Diablo 4. Path of Exile 2 also offers a permanent boost for completing quests and defeating optional enemies; rewarding players for more than just leveling up.
Ascension Classes
On top of the base classes, each one can ascend into multiple Ascension Classes after a few hours of gameplay. You can choose not to Ascend and stay as a base class, or go into something new and offer more replayability even within the same class.
Randomized Maps
Every time you enter a location in Path of Exile 2 aside from towns, it will be a randomly generated Instance. This guarantees you’ll never run through the same maps no matter how many characters you play with or how many hours you put into one character.
What Does Diablo 4 Do Better
Seasonal Content
To play seasonal content you’ll need to create a seasonal character, who will be deleted at the end of the season. While it is temporary, each season brings new content and a focus on various aspects of the game to make things that are already good even better, along with new free new content, temporarily. While seasonal characters are timed, you’ll always have access to the base game and can make permanent characters that won’t get deleted, though you won’t be able to access the seasonal content.
Piles Of Loot
Diablo 4 specializes in giving players tons and tons of loot to sift through in order to find the perfect build for you. There are many more tiers of loot in Diablo 4 compared to what Path of Exile 2 has made public. While it will vary in quality, defeating bosses will often see huge piles of items drop on the ground which can be part of the fun when building your character.
More Varied Classes & Character Creation
While Diablo 4‘s classes have less overall freedom, there are still many ways to build each class. Each class plays very differently with all sorts of class-specific skills that make them all feel very different from each other. Mixing these varied classes as seasonal characters makes each season feel like new as you’re always playing very play styles in different content.
Diablo 4 also lets you completely customize your character’s appearance when first making them. You can then hide your character’s helmet to make sure you can see the face that you created without losing out on a gear slot.
- Franchise
- Path of Exile
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer , Online Co-Op
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Nudity, Violence
- Early Access Release
- December 6, 2024