ExileCon 2023 - Item Design and Mechanics in Path of Exile 2

A talk by Dane Brennand, Senior 3D Artist, and Hrishikesh Sidhartha, Game Designer. Recorded at ExileCon 2023.
For more information about Path of Exile 2, please visit www.pathofexile2.com

[@MuffMVP]

Dude I LOVE the axe decision. Such an easy way to tell 1h from 2h. It's already relaxing me knowing I don't have to wonder anymore lol.

[@thorveim1174]

well never really had either thanks to one thing: the size of the item in the inventory :p

[@YBladeY]

I was blown away with Dane's explanations during the livestream.. Cant wait for more!

[@mattb6646]

Official art person of ggg

[@TimeTraveler343]

GGG, if you see this, know that you guys are fucking awesome. I still don't understand how you, Larian Studios and From Software can exist in one universe with Blizzard, EA and Ubisoft.

[@MrRafagigapr]

because fifa sells about as many copies as elden ring , and blizzard casually makes the fastest selling game of all time despite being garbage, and ubisoft makes games for NPCs .

[@Piper0185]

Because they create Quality, and Consumers know this. The tide is turning, the little guy is being recognized

[@Not____Applicable]

Stop putting isometric arpg developers in the same conversation as From Soft. That is outrageous. Baldurs hornball fest could never and isometric arpgs will NEVER compare. Keep crying loser.

[@Not____Applicable]

ISOMETRIC ARPGS THAT ARE LITERALLY THERE FOR YOU HAVE SOME WEIRD DARK TWISTED BEASTIALITY FANTASY WILL NEVER COMPARE TO FROM SOFTWARE. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!

[@miles3101]

Ying and Yang brother, Ying and Yang.

[@Quillyik]

I love the poe presentations in contrast to any other large game presentation. Just some devs wearing hoodies chillin and talking about cool stuff they're passionate about. Not some good looking mouthpiece in a suit, not some rizzmaster extreme. Just a couple a blokes and some notes. 10/10

[@Mic_Glow]

EvE devs also do similar stuff

[@markusvuori]

Most respectful roast of all time.

[@ouinur]

Everytime I am introduced to a new member of the GGG teams it feels so refreshing. With all the mediocre profit driven game studios and publishers out there it is such a tremendous thing to see the inner workings of a truly passionate and dedicated team making a game that they love and play themselves. Absolutely the best game studio on the planet, thank you for all the hard work. The art looks so amazing and I love the design around base types.

[@LaughingSkull451]

I'm just hoping GGG won't be Bungie 2.0 or Acti-Blizz 2.0 in the near future. Bungie was once like GGG around 8 or so years ago, and look how they are now. :/

[@dianshi9152]

@@LaughingSkull451 You have that with all big development companies EA wasnt a money grabbing pest all the time. They where a passionate game developing and publishing studio which made nice games. Often the developers in those companies also want to make good and wonderful games but they are hindered by the bosses which define what they have to do and try to squeeze as much money out of everyone. You cant make a good game if your company dictates what you have to do and you are not allowed to be creative or take the time it needs to do a good game.

[@WeFailAtMw2]

you see, making good stuff is profitable long term

[@ethanol5007]

All the items are so beautiful, the visual update will be insane !

[@brunohrguedes]

This was one of the greatest game talks I've ever watched. Keep up the good work!

[@batrider2985]

This is what producers need. You find a dude that is this in love with something, and you just let him do their thing. It seems like every dev is just so damn passionate about this game.

[@Mezion]

Path of exile 2 is looking and sounding better and better. I appreciate hearing & seeing the concepts, especially that what you wear is what you see on your character. That's such an awesome concept and means a lot to me that it is implementated in path of exile 1 & 2. Keep up the good work GGG!

[@omegasybers1110]

I'm sorry to inform you, but this is an update coming to PoE2. We should not expect that to also port into PoE1

[@Mezion]

@@omegasybers1110 I'm referring to the fact that the art work on unique items in POE1, show that on your character when you equip it. It is the same thing with alt-art unique items on standard. I appreciate that they are continuing this with POE2, but now they will ensure that every single unique will have its art shown when equipped as well.

[@LFPGaming]

this is how game showcases SHOULD be presented: BY the devs, not some corporate mouthpiece or twitch streamer who has zero passion for the game

[@MrMollusk7]

"Don't you guys have devs?"

[@Blacknight200]

But damn they cant dress up a little for the broadcast…got his rolled out of bed clothes on, didn’t even comb his hair😂😂😂.

[@vjthemad4852]

I prefer to see a LGBT architect press one button during stream

[@zulazhar1259]

he's a nerd. That's how you know the game is going to be good @@Blacknight200

[@Not____Applicable]

Kripparian literally manned a panel of all the devs on a bunch of arpg titles. Last time I checked that’s a twitch streamer. Nice try but stop being stupid and ignorant.

[@christiandodart9624]

I loved everything about this. Thank you for letting the designers and artists have the freedom to do this.

[@joejoehausen]

Great Panel, the 2D art guy is just great! Love the attention to detail, and a bit of logic in regards to the Lore. Thanks GGG

[@nilocblue]

So much respect for this studio. You can tell they're just gamers themselves, showing the cool stuff they work on to other gamers. No corporate BS, big money presentations, fake trailers, etc. This company needs more support and recognition.

[@Foggiedaysalways]

Dane is so fucking Great. This was my favorite presentation of exilecon. This is how things should be presented. By the people who actually do the work. Fuck department heads. Give me the people in the trenches any day of the week.

[@snynhalt]

I like the new dark historical realistic look, much more close to Diablo than Final Fantasy (which seemed the direction they were taking lasts seasons).

[@Malice1111]

Love this talk in the first 18 minutes, absolutely nothing about gameplay, nothing about balance, nothing about anything but cool art from the art team. Just leave them alone to make cool art this shouldn't be hard.

[@lyquochuy]

I can feel the love you are putting in creating POE 2, the dedication to achieve more knowledge to put into the game, damn, I bet I'll love it as well

[@bluemoondm8629]

Damn. The attention to detail, the thought put into facing different types of items different ways so you can tell what they do at a glance, that is what ground up detail oriented development looks like. I absolutely love it and this was my favorite talk out of all the outstanding panels. I'm more hyped for PoE 2 than anything else by far, even though I do have some concerns (things like normal monsters not giving flask charges anymore, the apparent issues with stunlocking etc.) Keep it up GGG, I have faith in your abilities and I don't say that often.

[@MrSmith_]

The simple change of direction to distinguish the difference between items is a huge boon. Well-thought out and should definitely be kept. This will make analysis of looting so much quicker which is what you want when playing a loot-type game. Also, the artwork is amazingly good. Really hyped for PoE 2.

[@topkephas5608]

I love these guys! I feel the same way about all of these things, especially the artwork, amazing changes

[@Xerrash]

This is awesome. Intentional and consistent design with easily recognizable patterns. Great for immersion and visibility.

[@bogdanlicarete9486]

This is awesome. that dude knows what d2 was all about, making the items feel and look amazing, something that Blizzard doesn't understand anymore. This was my favourite part of exilecon hands down. Can't wait for the game!

[@emiajaragrev419]

_Beautifull, and incredible art job!!!_ _Greatings!!!_

[@terubokmasin3247]

I'll never tire looking at the artwork. Jaw dropping stuff!

[@buggydust]

i really respect people that are particular about seemingly small things, because they do make a huge difference all together. the cohesion in the 2d art is so lovely

[@Doppe1ganger]

Damn, the art guy really earned his money.

[@TheShyOne__]

Imagine if Diablo 4 had these insane deep dive series. Oh right the devs dont actually play the game.

[@MrRafagigapr]

i would love to know who made the item afixes on diablo 4 , and ask them if they played any arpg before

[@CCSplinters]

They have done the same but D4 is just shallow so we can't say 'Deep' Dive. Just a splash.

[@consonaadversapars]

Imagine if Diablo 4 had developers who understand game systems and what they are doing.

[@CCSplinters]

@@consonaadversapars i think they actually does BUT management passed down very late for the current D4 team. They have to work with what was left of them. So they keep hyping season 2 will be different because this time, they now have the time to reconfigure or reorganize what they have. It's scummy to call it a full release, obviously it's still in a beta state. They could just advertise as beta release early access to players and people would still play.

[@DoPtRiGGa]

Yep when you direct compare this to that play thru D4 channel posted that absolutely bombed and you really see WHY D4 feels lifeless, bland, and careless. These guys are passionate, engaged, and pouring what could only be described as love for their work, their art, just channeling their creativity, fuckin A this video has me hyped. This is what game companies are missing these days, people who love their game, love their work, love the project their working on and you know... people who play the game. That's also what made the OG Diablo and Diablo 2 so great, if you go back and dig some videos out of the ancient archives you can find a video of the Diablo 1 team, they all worked all day on the game, then stayed and played endless hours of the game afterwards, it was always a love, a passion project, and an adventure. Thank fuck there is at least one company still operating this way and not purely driving a corporate profit based machine to bring us entertainment. THANK YOU GGG.

[@Rav2705]

To me that was one of the best presenations I had pleasure to watch during Exilecon. The refined approach to design and mechanics is truly amazing, especially the way how itemization is reworked. Can't wait to play PoE2!

[@tullyparker]

It took me a second at 10:50 because I was like "what item is that?" when look at the two orbs in the lower middle of the screen--only then realizing what he was saying how the uniques get special lighting and treatment as item art to accentuate the flavor of the item. Very cool!

[@tigerseye1202]

Dane is my spirit animal. He's like "Aight if you don't give me directions I'll just paint stuff and let you figure out what to do with it afterwards."

[@hellowill]

This is awesome. I always liked the symmetry/consistency depth in this game. Not just on items, but on the passive tree and things like auras etc.

[@andyb9664]

Dane's presentation was so good and makes sense how he approached naming and art, and the crowd just sits there. I would've been applauding every slide 👀👏🏼

[@crunks420]

I'm loving the simplification/clarification in PoE2. I hope that theme continues.

[@antokankaras]

oh yes, art style consistency! GGG really knows and loves what they are doing. this is what all talents are synchronized perfectly. you get a perfect game that is a pleasure to even just look at.

[@viperadenis]

the art guy is such a chiller

[@aternias]

God they look so good. After all these years seeing the 2D images, seeing them in 3D is glorious

[@OG_BeeRad]

It's great to see a game company giving a presentation that isn't obviously over scripted and just fake. This is like a real conversation we are getting to have with them.

[@Furska.]

best example of "let him cook" i saw all month

[@IvanIvanov-oo7bx]

absolutely amazing ! Everything looks very very good ! I love that it looks realistic and not cartoonish at all !

[@TheUlf]

God, this talk in particular has me so excited for getting to explore all the amazing new things we'll have to learn and play with in PoE2

[@user-J2GH]

I really like this. Fighting!!! 정말 좋다 이런거 앞으로 화이팅!!!

[@thorveim1174]

the presenter at the start is clearly not in his element talking in public. And I love that, because it shows he is a dev that knows what he is talking about and not a professional moutpiece that's put in a closer when not doing PR. Makes it more authentic. This here is someone who works by passion and is presenting HIS work here, not a salesman trying to make you buy his product.

[@DarkCrusade3]

Loved this talk so much! Rewatching now to see if I missed anything during the initial livestream. It really is amazing to see how far the game has come over the years, and all the potential it still has!

[@michaeltihon3485]

I'm so glad to see people caring about so many details and leveling stuff by the top. PoE 2 is gonna be so cool !

[@kgreen242424]

My brother does UI design. He once told me that if I didn't immediately understand how to use something just by seeing it, that was a failure by the designer. For instance, when you walk up to a door, you should not have to think about which way the door swings. The handle of the door informs you about how to operate the door. A horizontal bar tell you the push without a sign and a small vertical handle tells you to pull. There are many subtle things that we take from how something looks. I'm very excited to see that GGG is paying this much attention to the art and how it reads overall. It may seem small but it can make a huge impact. Keep it up, I can't wait. Log in

[@fireinpoe9317]

I love those items, it just looks awesome.Cant wait to drop those items and wear it on my character.What I like the most is amulets and body armour details.

[@joelhodoborgas]

Man its just awesome listening to passionate people to speak.

[@SmexyPancake]

this presentation is awesome! keep up the good work. love the amount of passion going into this

[@MinhLe-ev4wc]

wow! These new mechanics are awesome

[@dkozel]

man i missed this in actual exilecon, glad i caught it here

[@305killer]

new chaos orb actually makes sense, i wonder what happened to annul and divine

[@phinguyen6399]

Divine might be still there for minmaxing

[@monawoka97]

These two are the bomb

[@DoPtRiGGa]

Seriously, you contrast these two legends and their passion for the game, the items, the design and overall vision with the failed D4 playthrough video with the two Devs and it's very clear WHY the games turned out the way they did. PoE 2 is going to be so freaking cool...

[@SuperFluidFerroFluid]

Holyyyy shii... PoE 2 looks amazing!!! The artwork is just spectacular and the whole idea of rewamping the stats this way is mind blowing, sucha fresh take and i cant wait to try this game out!

[@absence9443]

these presentations are so much better than others :D

[@BarackObamerHimselfEXCLUSIVE]

Bros rockin the STR hoodie and DEX beanie

[@SkywalkerG1o]

This was my favorite talk from Exilecon

[@jerryberry447]

Just WOAH.. AMAZING

[@user-ls2bo2xq1n]

기대가 됩니당~~~~^-^ GGG 항상 감사합니다

[@nataschajordan6053]

damn i just like the way that artist thinks! making bucklers face different than dex/str shields is just brilliant. i mean, its kinda not this important, but damn it makes stuff so much easier to check out.

[@andvan5171]

Hype!

[@pgcorps3901]

He sounds nervous, which is a good thing. You want people like him to work on your game.

[@MrRafagigapr]

he is actually talking about things , not vague ideas to apease stock holders

[@LaughingSkull451]

Nervous, but still confident, and knows exactly what he's talking about.

[@redmond4643]

I'm so fucking HYPE for PoE 2 while enjoying PoE 1 to its fullest. In GGG, I have absolute trust

[@tiagodagostini]

What a coincidence, I am also a 3D guy, I have height, depth and width!

[@diabloomega425]

Hell yeah!!

[@DoPtRiGGa]

15 minutes in this is brilliant, beautiful, unique, creative... I fucking love it. I might play thousands of hours in the game and never really notice things like the art TOO much, but I love it anyways.

[@DanieboyTV]

Love this dude.

[@TheRalouch]

his fit says it all, great video

[@TortellionVSkniveS]

I love how he calls out the stupid spikey weapons at 14:10 they instantly make me think of a bullshit mobile game's idea of cool.

[@william421]

This talk was my favorite, art homie was so fuckin cool.

[@drandana3661]

Oh god what a lovely bunch of nerds im so happy my favorite game is still creating and fulfilling dreams.

[@descriptiondescriptiondescript]

This is the game I would gladly pay $70 for

[@mattb6646]

Good news you don't have to pay anything, but $70 donation will get you alot of storage space and some supporter cosmetics

[@elroyb3766]

Awesome art

[@tinyrogue1320]

Damn, these armours look _fine_

[@johanstrang4373]

God i Love this, them, all of it.

[@DeepBlueWaves]

This is what you call a deep-dive!!!

[@yokyopeli1104]

I don't know, but these GGG 'talks' are so fascinating.

[@lewiemarks6418]

Genius level game designers

[@4323dustin]

love seeing a guy in a beanie and his hoodie being his occasionally awkward self on stage than a guy in a suit trying to sell you some bullshit, these guys are gamers for gamers, love it.

[@thedevilgamer3411]

Amazing game, amazing design and amazing devs. But please I don’t want to google for hours for a build

[@tuclance]

Going to be nice, happy they seperate the two games.

[@X25183028]

Looks epic

[@ratouau]

Its so fucking amazing!!!!!!!!

[@ziimbrotmg3981]

its nice to see that there are still devs which are playing their game and know what gamers want. Also i would like to hear about optimalization in poe 2 cuz its kinda lacking in poe for now, a lot of stutter and lag can be experienced, i hope that changes.

[@user-mz5ik8me5n]

holy fuck these looks so good

[@likskirtspleetscreen]

Watching this while doing Monolith in LE... Maximum power.

[@GregPlittAlive]

Finally some proper melee class, now I can play.

[@cserpir]

I found very refreshing to see a presentation with a dude who regularly says "Or I don't know" and vaguely gestures to the screen.

[@Bleuce]

It the Dude from The Fool Divination card! :D

[@julienbrown5877]

u are blessed by the touch of god GGG

[@appleonsauce2035]

I have never been so impressed by the thoughtfulness of a games design. holy shit POE. Im ready to play POE 2 for the rest of my life.

[@consonaadversapars]

A free game I'll happily spend my money on. All the designs look amazing! You guys rock!

[@taylon5200]

As a new and addicted poe 1 player, my hype skyrocketed for this game. Everything is SO GOOD

[@nataschajordan6053]

damn thats SO MUCH MORE consitant than D4 its a blessing, cant wait for poe2

[@Krzysztof.....................]

Finally a good design without rainbows and lights like in the Christmas tree we have now in Path of Exile 1.

[@UncleJay69]

The thing with POE is, everytime someone talks about anything in the game/the new game, they feels like someone who cares about the game is talking. When anyone from another indie company talks about their 2nd, 4th or immortal "game" they made, it just feels like corporate talk, regardless of the quality of the content they delivered

[@hannibalcorps6384]

GGG One Love!

[@Enzo-kb4oj]

Dane is the boy of the card "The fool"? His clothes are too similar haha.

[@NonnyStrikes]

This really hits home. I've always said, gamers should be making games. True gamers. People that know what it's like to fail time and time again for that taste of success. Defying the odds, staying up when friends go to sleep after nearly gaming for 24 hours straight already, just to get a little more than the guy next to you. I know I'm speaking for a lot of us out there that play this amazing game and are looking forward to the future of 2 and 1. You guys should really have a developer with public session. Draw out random names that are put in a pool and stream it all from 0 - 100. No matter the time it takes, it would really bring people in that have not the will to stare POE in the face. Thank you all. Truly. From me, from all of us. LETS FUCKING GO!

[@NonnyStrikes]

I have a strong feeling if the team keeps being built upon core principles, new ideas will come in that won't be restricted or ignored by anything or anyone. The fact he mentions "I'm sure there will be tons of broken builds that come from this" just screams out brilliant development. Break the game. That's part of the fun!! And they know it!

[@mrsrefrigerator]

Bringing logic to item icons is the most POE thing ever. I really like it and think you're on the money. The AXE one to me is the biggest thing I liked since I consistently couldn't tell between 2h and 1h axes without looking at the info for a bit.

[@mattb6646]

How not? 2 handed axes are 8 squares and 1 handers are 6 squares. Works the same with almost all 2 handers and 1 handers, wands and daggers are 3 squares but also all 1 hander

[@fedegr0x]

idk if there are any other users wishing for claws style fight, i still looking for games with claws hope there are others here