With the launch of Path of Exile 2 Early Access, the comparison between this game and Diablo 4 has sparked heated discussions in the player community. Although both games have their own characteristics, they both provide players with excellent gaming experiences.
However, some bold innovations in POE 2’s gameplay design show Grinding Gear Games’ determination to break through tradition. These risky decisions seem to have achieved remarkable results, and the industry and the player community have well received POE 2. Diablo 4 can draw inspiration from the success of POE 2 and try to introduce more novel mechanisms.

1. Improved Itemization To Make Gear Feel Special
Compared with Path of Exile 2, Diablo 4’s “Legendary” items often seem to lack a true legendary feel. Although these equipments are nominally called legendary, their actual effects and usage experience are hardly impressive.
In contrast, POE 2’s equipment system shows a higher level of depth and flexibility. Even Blue/Yellow drops may have extraordinary affixes, providing players with more possibilities and upgrade space.
This crafting system is far superior to Diablo 4’s equipment improvement mechanism, which is relatively monotonous and lacks creativity. Especially in terms of affix generation, Diablo 4’s equipment often only provides one or two new affixes, and these affixes are often not the attributes that players really need. Even after several updates and improvements, the equipment system still has obvious room for improvement.
2. Adjust Store Item Pricing
In POE 2, players often feel that spending money in the store is a pleasant and reasonable experience, especially considering that the game itself is free to play. This design makes players feel that spending money is to enhance the fun and experience of the game, rather than being forced to spend.
In contrast, Diablo 4 offers a variety of cosmetics and micro-transaction options, and many players have a bad feeling about these paid items. Especially when some excellent cosmetics cost more than $20, which is far higher than the quality of cosmetics normally obtained through the game, it is easy for players to feel dissatisfied.
Although Warcraft x D4 cosmetics are indeed attractive, it must be said that their pricing does seem unfair to fans. Almost all items in Diablo 4’s store are priced too high, and the prices of these items do not match the player’s return on investment.
In contrast, although POE 2 also has some expensive decorations, most of the important items are not overpriced. Especially in the core content and functional items in the game, the prices are relatively fair, making players feel that their spending is meaningful. For example, the price of Stash tabs, these items will not make players feel overly burdened, and their revenue is indeed used to support the continued development of the game.
3. Make Bosses More Interesting
Compared with POE 2, Diablo 4’s boss battles are obviously lacking in fun and challenge. The bosses in Diablo 4 can be mainly divided into two types: easy, or Godlike Uber bosses. The difference between the two is not big, which leads to the monotony and lack of variety in the battle. In contrast, the boss’ fights in POE 2 are more diverse.
Overall, the design of Diablo 4’s boss battles is still worthy of recognition, but the optional bosses seem to need more attention and improvement. Compared with the bosses in the main storyline, the challenge and design of the side bosses are usually bland, lacking sufficient depth and variety.
This makes players feel a lack of achievement when defeating these bosses, even though they can get some Diablo 4 Gold, especially when these bosses do not bring real combat challenges to players.
4. Add Cross-Class Options
One of the great things about Path of Exile 2 is its flexibility in cross-class selection. In contrast, Diablo 4’s class system is more rigid, with each class having its own clear division of labor and skill tree, which limits the freedom of cross-class selection.
Despite this, Diablo 4’s class system is still well designed. Each profession has its own unique skills, gameplay, and combat style, which makes the experience of each character significantly differentiated. Players can choose different professions to play according to their personal preferences.
But there is also a problem, there will always be a class that will perform stronger at a certain period, causing the choice of other classes to become less attractive. In the future, if Diablo 4 can add more cross-class choices, or further expand the depth and freedom of the skill tree, it will provide players with more customization options and enhance the diversity of character build.
5. Improve Paragon Board
Diablo 4’s Paragon board requires players to spend a lot of time plotting dots, randomly selecting skills and placing them in a certain position, and then constantly honing these skills to increase the level. This kind of gameplay is not only uncreative but also monotonous.
As for the skill tree in POE 2, each profession has a clear direction and goal, and players can more easily understand the branches they can pursue. In contrast, Diablo 4’s Paragon board feels like an endless “clutter” and lacks clear goals and strategy.
6. Swap Out Paragon Board For Something Like Ascendancies
Path of Exile 2’s Ascendancies showed a very interesting direction, and Diablo 4 could consider introducing similar mechanisms in future expansions, perhaps through a prestige class system that allows players to unlock new powerful abilities or unique play styles by increasing their levels.
Of course, the challenge of adding such a system is to avoid making the game too complicated or cumbersome. If something like Ascendancies can replace the existing Paragon Board, it will make the game more interesting.
I believe that by learning from the advantages of POE 2, Diablo 4 has the potential to become more complete and attractive in future versions.














