People keep asking if Path of Exile 1 has been left behind now that PoE 2 is soaking up the early-access hype. It hasn't. PoE 1 still feels like the faster, wilder sibling, and that's the point. You log in, your stash is a mess, your atlas is calling, and five minutes later you're chasing another upgrade like it's a personal emergency. If you want to skip the broke phase and just get a build online, plenty of players quietly buy poe currency so the fun starts sooner instead of three weeks from now.

Why It Still Hooks You

The loop is familiar, but it hasn't gone stale. You try a skill, it feels scuffed, you swap one support gem, then suddenly the whole thing snaps into place. That moment is still unmatched. Bosses that used to bully you turn into loot piñatas, and you don't even notice you've been mapping for two hours. PoE 1 is good at that. It keeps handing you tiny problems to solve—resists, mana, ailment immunity—and when you fix them, your character doesn't just get stronger, it feels smoother.

The Tree, The Gems, The Risk

That passive tree is still the big flex. It's not "pick a class and follow the arrows." It's more like building a weird machine that either works brilliantly or explodes in your hands. And honestly, that's why people stick around. You can turn a humble projectile into a screen-wide chain reaction, or make a melee skill feel like you're playing a spellcaster. But you can also brick a character if you chase the wrong idea too hard. The game doesn't rescue you, and it shouldn't. You learn, you reroll, you come back smarter.

Endgame Is the Real Game

The Atlas is still where PoE 1 earns its reputation. You'll tell yourself you're only running one map, then you're deep in a rhythm: loot, stash, roll another, repeat. On top of that you've got side worlds to live in—Delve when you want that tunnel-crawling grind, Heist when you feel like being a thief, and whatever league mechanic is currently breaking the rules. The economy helps too. Trading isn't always pretty, but it gives your drops a purpose, and that keeps the endgame feeling alive.

Getting Over the Wall

New players still bounce off, and it's not because they're dumb. The game throws a lot at you, fast. Most people end up using a guide, at least for the first serious character, and there's no shame in that. If you're short on time, it's also common to grab currency or items through a marketplace that's built for it, with quick delivery and clear listings, like eznpc—it's simply a way to spend more time playing maps and less time scraping together basics.