History VideoGame / PathOfExile

* ''[[https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/807869 Sacrifice of the Vaal]]'' (released March 5, 2014) explored the history of the first civilization on Wraeclast, including special Vaal dungeons that pop up randomly throughout the game levels which provides the player specialized loot related to the Vaal, and access to their former Queen as a BonusBoss. This expansion also introduced [=PvP=] modes and seasonal Challenge Leagues, temporary game realms allowing players to start characters within a fresh economy alongside new gameplay content.

* BonusBoss: Due to league content being optional, league bosses are this. Examples include Breachlords, Abyssal liches, First Ones' avatars from Bestiary, underground city bosses from Delve, Syndicate Mastermind from Betrayal, and Cortex from Synthesis.

** Maven's invitations put you against up to ten map bosses you've previously collected. Special invitations like "The Hidden" involve four endgame bosses, culminating with "The Feared", a five-way with BonusBoss level opponents like the Shaper.

On November 15, 2019, during their first [=ExileCon=], GGG announced ''Path of Exile 2''. Set 20 years after the fall of Kitava and the old gods, an exile ventures into Wraeclast to fight the corruption which spreads across the continent once more. ''Path of Exile 2'' features a new seven-act campaign, along with vast improvements to the engine and graphics, along with a revamped skill gem system and new gameplay additions like shapeshifting skills, new weapon types, and new Ascendancy classes. Despite its status as a sequel, it aims to overhaul the core game and shares the same game client and endgame content with the original. A mobile version of Path of Exile is also in the works, using the map system as part of its core gameplay loop.

** Almost every summon is some variation on TheUndead, making most Summoners a variation on the {{Necromancer}}.

* GlassCannon: Defied. The way damage is calculated in this game makes sure all offense and no defense simply ''won't'' work in higher levels. The closest may be the Necromancer, with more points dedicated to improve their minions, but even they are expected to have plenty of HitPoints to tank a blow or two.

* TheMinionMaster: Anyone using Minion-oriented skills, but especially the Necromancer Ascendancy Class. Minion types can include undead like zombies, skeletons, and spectres, to illusions, phantasms, animated guardians, and golems. There's even Strength and Dexterity-based minions that can summon divine Heralds of Purity, animate weaponry on the ground, raise enemies slain by supported skills as ghosts. Multiple gears and passives can turn these into EliteMooks and beyond, and there are dedicated skill gems and supports to further alter or buff minions.

* {{Necromancer}}:
** Most summon skills are based on necromancy. Several skills are based around making your zombies, spectres, and skeletons stronger, including a [[PowerAtAPrice Keystone Passive]] that transfers your shield's properties to them.
** Necromancer is one of Ascendancy classes for the Witch. Most of its abilities revolve around minions or corpses.

* NoHarmRequirement: Back when Vorici was a Forsaken Master, he would sometimes give out missions that imposed these sorts of restrictions on you - such as killing a boss enemy while keeping at least one of their guards alive or wiping out the boss's guards without killing the boss themselves. Just as long as they don't die. One of the missions was even keeping them [[CriticalExistenceFailure at low health]] for a couple of seconds. The faster clear speeds became, the more Vorici's missions became the ScrappyMechanic.
** Removed as of the Betrayal patch. There's no more Master Assassin missions and even catching beasts has been changed so you catch them by "killing" them.

* OneHitPointWonder: Chaos Inoculation passive skill sets the player's health to 1 and makes them immune to the only damage type that can bypass energy shields, meaning that if their energy shield ever runs out, they will die in one hit to anything. They can combine this with a complete lack of energy shield, Eldritch Battery, which causes energy shield to protect mana instead of life, or The Agnostic, which sets your energy shield to 0, fully becoming this trope ([[SchmuckBait they shouldn't]], but they ''can''). Remarkably, this became a useful if [[CripplingOverspecialization highly specialized]] build during the ''Trial of the Ancestors'' league. At high ranks in the Trials damage scaled so much it was considered essentially pointless to try to survive being hit, resulting in builds that invested heavily in evasion, spell dodge, and block, no investment in life or energy shield, and where immunity to a damage source was invaluable - especially due to the presence of chaos damage over time effects on some totems.

** The Scion is the first class to be introduced that requires playing through most of the campaign with a basic class to unlock her.

** Wild Strike skill works the same way, but also delivers a completely different effect based on the element: Fire creates an explosion, Cold releases a wave, and Lightning releases an arcing bolt.
** Vaal Orb impredictably modifies an item, including adding a special extra mod, completely rerolling all its mods, or doing nothing. No matter the result, the items becomes impossible to modify, meaning ItOnlyWorksOnce (per item). Altar of Corruption takes it even further, with the worst result being [[EpicFail complete destruction of the item]].

* RummageSaleReject: What any given [[AnimatedArmor Animated Guardian]] will almost inevitably end up looking like. It's true that you could invest the time into getting your guardian a decent rare set, but they're incredibly fragile even with good armor, so it's usually more sensical to just give them a decent magic weapon you don't need and then whatever's lying around for the remainder of their equipment. Players playing solo self-found characters will also inevitably look like this.

* OneHitPointWonder: Chaos Inoculation passive skill sets the player's health to 1 and makes them immune to the only damage type that can bypass energy shields, meaning that if their energy shield ever runs out, they will die in one hit to anything. They can combine this with Eldritch Battery, which causes energy shield to protect mana instead of life, or The Agnostic, which sets your energy shield to 0, fully becoming this trope ([[SchmuckBait they shouldn't]], but they ''can'').

* ActionRPG

** Aukuna, the Black Sekhema, the Maraketh general in the Legion league, has a raptor mount named [[VideoGame/{{SuperMarioBros}} Shiyo]].

** ''Siege of the Atlas'' replaced the Conquerors with two new end-game bosses: The Searing Exarch and the Eater of Worlds. To challenge them, you need to draw out their influence and challenge their second-in-command first, then draw further influence to them in the highest tier maps to receive and Invitation to challenge them.

** The Shaper was the first post-game boss to be added to the game. He's guarded by the four Guardians of the Void located in the highest-tier maps, who needed to be slain for their four fragments used to open a poral to the boss fight.

** The monster ''Hammerstorm'' attacks with spiraling glowy hammers, just like ''Diablo II's'' Paladin skill "Blessed Hammer".

* AscendedMeme: Kuduku, the False God, while normally an underwhelming unique totem enemy in Act 1, gathered pagan worship from players as a RandomNumberGod, who sacrifice crappy unique items in front of him in hope of his favor so they may six-link an item. In the Prophecy league, one of the prophecies requires you to kill Kuduku, who is with the prophecy assisted by Kadaka, the Goddess of Luck, which rewards you with Orbs of Fusing that are used for linking items. The act of sacrificing bad uniques was later given a nod in the Incursion league; one of the modifiable rooms in the Temple of Atzoatl is a Sacrifical Chamber, with has the express purpose of sacrificing uniques to obtain a different unique (with its loot pool getting narrowed down based on the chamber's upgrades).

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: The Vastiri Deserts in Act 9 are full of raptor-like creatures called Rhex. There are Maraketh archers using them as ''mounted cavalry''.

** Flavor texts of replica uniques in ''Heist'' expansion sound a lot like experiment logs from ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. Replicas are referred by numbers, they are tested on expendable "type delta" (i.e. class D) subjects, and there are several recurring named researchers.

** AnAxeToGrind: Axes require strength and small amounts of dexterity, are one or two-handed, and are one of the few categories without an inherent mod (inherent mods being things like swords providing an accuracy bonus), with a higher base damage to compensate.

* WeaponOfChoice: Each type of weapon requires different attributes and most have an inherent modifier.

** This also happens with [[spoiler:The Elder]] in the endgame maps. When you win against either his Guardians or [[spoiler:The Shaper when they fight together]], he causes the corruption to violently bloom within them, ripping them to shreds.

* DifficultySpike:
** The Vaal Oversoul in Act 2, and then the Lunaris Temple in Act 3, both considerably step up the difficulty from what came before. Then you get to the Scepter of God, where even normal enemies start gaining powerful effects like range-nullifying bubble shields. Of particular note is the level boss who turns the screen into Lightning Trap BulletHell. And, of course, Dominus himself is no pushover.
** Act 4 pretty much turns the difficulty curve into a difficulty wall, with both Daresso's Dream and Kaom's Dream throwing swarms of particularly nasty enemies at you, and every boss fight - particularly [[LightningBruiser Daresso]] - is likely to either [[FinalDeathMode bring your hardcore run to an early end]] or simply cause your death count to skyrocket.
** If you enter the Labyrinth right after you unlock it, then you are guaranteed to be underleveled for it (without twinking). Even if you're thorough in earlier acts, the highest level you're likely to be upon reaching the Sarn encampment, from which you can access the Labyrinth, is 28; the Labyrinth itself is 33. (If you haven't done the act 3 trials yet, you will be a little higher, but still.) The game isn't going to hand over those Ascendency Points and Enchantments that easily. On the bright side, if you ''do'' have a good build and/or are well-equipped you can level ''very'' quickly inside the Labyrinth.
** Hitting Act 5 in ''Fall of Oriath'' sends the difficulty skyrocketing; rare enemies can kill you in a few seconds if you're not on your toes, unique enemies become extremely deadly cases of BossInMooksClothing, and ''actual'' bosses become BulletHell titans with massive health pools and incredible damage output that can kill even a well-built end-game character in an instant. It's not uncommon for players to remark upon how easy later acts seem.

** Ruthless Mode is a character flag, much like Hardcore and Solo Self-Found, that greatly increases the game's difficulty by introducing a number of gameplay changes. Item drops are extremely scarce in this mode, to a point where even normal rarity equipment are hard to come by, crafting options are extremely rare or not available at all, support gems are only found as random drops and deterministic item drops like Divination Cards aren't available, you don't have access to mobility skills, your experience gain is diminished, and flask are weaker.

** Ruthless Mode is a character flag, much like Hardcore and Solo Self-Found, that greatly increases the game's difficulty by introducing a number of gameplay changes. Item drops are extremely scarce in this mode, to a point where even normal rarity equipment are hard to come by, crafting options are extremely rare or not available at all, many items including Divination Cards and support gems can't be found deterministically, you don't have access to mobility skills, your experience gain is diminished, and flask are weaker.

** Most summon skills are based on necromancy. Several skills are based around making your zombies, spectres, and skeletons stronger, including a [[PowerAtAPrice Keystone Passive]] that transfers your [[DeflectorShield energy shield]] buffs to them.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: Throughout the Delve areas, you'll run into wetas as enemies. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C4%93t%C4%81 wētā]] is basically a [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant flightless cricket]] that is native to New Zealand, where the game's developer Grinding Gear Games is located.