Why You Should Be Playing Path of Exile on Steam Deck if You Love Diablo

I absolutely love the gameplay loop of Diablo. Running around, fighting enemies, leveling up, grinding for the best loot, all within a top-down view and gritty, gorgeous visuals. It's a fantastic game and, with Diablo 4, it is truly great to see it come back into form. While the new game runs on Steam Deck, it isn't on Steam, which means it is a process to get and performance has some stutters here and there. It is still definitely playable, but it isn't as smooth as it could be. It also carries a hefty price at $70. But if you want that Diablo-esque gameplay directly on Steam, let me tell you about Path of Exile.

With ExileCon in full swing, and Path of Exile 2 becoming a full standalone game, this is as great a time as ever to dive into one of the best top-down, hack and slash RPGs on the market now. And the best part is all of this is FREE, so there's no financial commitment needed to get started, just download the game off of Steam and dive right in on-the-go.

It might seem daunting and a bit complicated on the surface, but I assure you, Path of Exile is a game worth sticking out. Some have even called it better than Diablo 4, especially in relation to the endgame content of D4, but there is a lot of things that make the game really stand out like:

Insane Character Customization

Probably one of my personal favorite aspects of Path of Exile is its character customization, or really, how expansive it is. First you have skills, which utilize an awesome gem system. While the game does have a starting class, the gems are what truly defines your playstyle and the skills you will use. On top of skill gems, which give you abilities, you also have support gems that modifies and enhances skills, giving you more room to experiment.

Then we have the MASSIVE skill tree. This tree, which features thousands of options to passively upgrade your character. Planning exactly how you want to build your fighter this way is so much fun as you explore, decide, and plan out even further. You won't be able to unlock the entire tree due to a level cap (100) and limited skill points that are given (some come from quests), so planning is even more important.

Both of these aspects combined really ensure that no 2 characters are alike. There are so many combinations of abilities, support gems to enhance and modify, and the massive skill tree to really define the way you play.

An Engrossing, Lore-Filled World

Like Diablo, Path of Exile has a dark, gritty style taking place in a fantasy world. The environments are varied and spread across a campaign taking place over 10 acts! According to How Long to Beat, the main story has taken on average 30 hours to complete, and that doesn't include the end game, which has its own story. There are also sidequests, with some having different ending possibilities that could influence character development.

Becuase of how big the story is, the lore along with it is massive. There is a lot to learn about the continent of Wraeclast (where the game takes place) and the history of it.

Just So Much Content

Within this free game, there is a ton of content that you can access. Other than the main quests, there are side quests you can do, fulfill prophecies, defeat the Pantheon, take on the Azure Mine (an infinite dungeon, go through the Labyrinth (randomly-generated dungeons), build your own hideout, take on missions from Masters, take part in Leagues and race events, and much more. This is all free content too, none of it is locked behind any purchases.

As for microtransactions, all of the purchases are either cosmetic or expand character slots or your stash. None affect gameplay, which makes the game even more enjoyable to know that all of the content can be played without paying a dime.

The developers also bring in loads of expansions over the 10 years Path of Exile has been around, with another one, Trial of the Ancestors, coming next month. There will be no shortage of things to do in this game.

SEAMLESS MULTIPLAYER

On top of all of this, the cooperative multiplayer Path of Exile has is well-implemented and makes the game feel even more enjoyable. You can easily team up with friends, join others, or go through a matchmaking system where you will work together to strategize and get better loot. This will be even more necessary as you play through the endgame content, which will have extremely challenging maps and unique boss encounters, both of which will provide a challenge to even the veterans of the game.

As someone who started the game with a friend, it has made the decision to keep coming back to Path of Exile much easier. It's also super cool to be able to work together and create characters that complement each other.

And it Runs Beautifully on the Steam Deck

Diablo 4 runs really well on the Steam Deck, but it still does have some rough edges. Path of Exiles, however, runs beautifully! It can't hit 60 FPS without changing some settings and a chunk of battery drain. 40 FPS is definitely possible and how I have been enjoying, but as you grow your skills and expand your abilities, as well as have others with you, the game could easily need to stick to 30 FPS. Regardless, I have encountered no issues thus far and it is awesome.

For keeping at 40, I would recommend going to the lowest settings, which don't really show much difference, and you will have a decent 3 hours of play time at 40 FPS! I will admit, sitting on the couch in between game testing to play Path of Exile was wonderful. There might be some minor drops when there are a ton of enemies on the screen, but this lasted half a second.

So what are you waiting for? Path of Exile is free and waiting on Steam! It is a fantastic Diablo alternative that really has a ton of depth in every corner. And if you are worried about what will happen when Path of Exile 2 releases, well don't worry, any microtransactions will carry over and the game won't cease to exist! Both games will be alive simultaneously, so you won't lose your well-earned characters. The endgames will also be shared in both games, so there will be reason to play both!

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