Path of Exile: Sentinel won’t come with character balance changes

pcinvasion.com:

Grinding Gear Games is doing something different when it comes to character balance changes in the upcoming Path of Exile expansion, Sentinel: nothing. No buffs, nerfs, or anything of the like will be applied once the new content goes live. Why, you may ask? Well, the reason is simple: GGG is trying to save you all some stress.

Class balance changes come to every Path of Exile expansion, but that’s being put on pause for Sentinel. I previewed the new content ahead of today’s livestream, in which the decision was revealed. During the preview, GGG’s Chris Wilson spoke about why the developer decided to eschew said changes. The reason is because Wilson and the rest of the team want players to dive right into the expansion. Wilson said that, generally, people tend to seek out new class builds before playing a new PoE expansion, and these changes often throw a wrench into things.

When character balance gets changed, it potentially mucks up previously made class builds the community shares online. The concern for the team is that players eager to jump into Sentinel will seek said guides before jumping in, without considering that the guide is now incompatible. What follows is someone using a class that doesn’t mesh well with the new changes, which obviously would be a source of frustration. No one wants to make impromptu respecs after finding out their chosen class just doesn’t work. “Decision paralysis” is another factor that the team wants to avoid.

“Often, there’s a degree of decision paralysis, where a new release is coming out and there’s a bunch of complicated changes,” Wilson told us. “And while some of the players love exploring that and working out the best builds, others are just petrified that they maybe playing the