It's 2026 and Path of Exile 1 still hasn't gone quiet. If you jump in now, you'll see why people keep coming back: it's fast, it's messy in the best way, and it rewards stubborn curiosity. A lot of new players start by grabbing a solid starter build, then smoothing out the early grind with a few trades, and some even choose to Buy Divine Orbs so they can test real gear setups sooner instead of limping through Act progression on scraps.

Combat That Doesn't Ask Permission

You'll notice it pretty quickly: once your links and gems line up, the game stops feeling like "combat" and starts feeling like you're running a high-speed route. Pop a flask. Hit your movement skill. The screen goes. That's the hook. PoE doesn't really try to slow you down so everything looks fair on paper. It lets you get strong, then stronger, then ridiculous. And when a build finally "turns on," it's hard to go back to slower ARPGs where every pack is a small negotiation.

Build Crafting Is the Real Endgame

People joke about the passive tree being a nightmare map, and yeah, it can be. But the point isn't memorising it. It's finding a path that fits what you want to do. The gem system is where the personality shows up. You don't pick "wizard" and call it done. You pick a skill, then you tweak it, then you break it, then you rebuild it because you found a weird support interaction that changes everything. You'll end up doing what most players do: spend ten minutes fighting, then forty minutes in your stash thinking, "Wait, what if I swap this."

Why It Still Works Beside PoE2

PoE2 existing hasn't erased the first game's identity. They feel different. PoE1 is still the wilder sibling: faster clears, more legacy systems, and a meta that shifts hard when leagues rotate. That also means the learning curve can feel like a brick wall. Heist, Delve, Atlas progression, crafting benches, scarabs, sextants—there's a lot. The game won't explain it cleanly, so you learn by copying, failing, then gradually making your own calls. Trading helps, too, because your random drops aren't just junk; they're leverage.

Skipping the Pain Without Skipping the Game

Not everyone wants to "earn" every upgrade the slow way, especially if you're juggling work, other games, or you're just here for endgame mapping. That's why some players use services that focus on speed and safety—currency, items, the stuff that lets you run the content you actually care about. If you want that option, eznpc is commonly used for buying game currency and items so you can get into proper builds sooner, instead of spending a week stuck in awkward budget gear.