The Still Sane Podcast

With Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients' launch weekend behind us, I spoke to KallTorak about his league start experience, the journey through the brand new endgame, and a bunch of other patch 0.5 topics.
==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Ironbound Warbringer League Starter Review
4:19 Ritual Pinnacle Bosses and Endgame Progression
9:15 Is Ritual Farming Worth It in Patch 0.5?
11:09 New Atlas Progression and Endgame Quest Length
19:03 Why the New Path of Exile 2 Atlas Works
20:04 Atlas Passive Tree Power, Essences, and Endgame Scaling
22:40 Lineage Gems, Atlas Travel, and Discovery in 0.5
28:26 Waystone Sustain, SSF Progression, and Mapping Strategy
30:05 Patch 0.5 Bugs, Quest Progression Issues, and Build Problems
33:18 Monkey Build Meta, Companion Builds, and Balance Concerns
39:01 Supporting Fire Build Guide and 1.0 League Start Plans
44:39 Path of Exile 2 1.0 Wishlist, New Weapons, and Melee Concerns
49:26 Life vs Energy Shield, Defensive Balance, and Future Changes
55:10 Final Thoughts on Patch 0.5 and POE2's Future
Check out @KallTorak everywhere:
https://www.youtube.com/@KallTorak
https://www.twitch.tv/kall_torak
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/arwkqn3TI6U

With the epic release of Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients, I sat down with Scorpius to get his raw impressions of this brand new league.
==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5 First Impressions
2:20 New Endgame Atlas Review and Player Onboarding
7:01 Campaign Changes, Navigation Improvements, and Campaign Skip Debate
13:04 Runes of Elder League Mechanic and Campaign Integration
18:29 Best Monk Builds, Ascendancies, and Stone Fist Discussion
25:48 Runes of Elder Rewards, Crafting, and Endgame Scaling
33:16 Channeled Skill Fix, Clone Builds, and Build Experiments
37:35 Pinnacle Boss Progression, Arbiter of Divinity, and Atlas Goals
40:38 New Atlas Passive Tree Explained and Mapping Difficulty
47:12 Player Retention, League Events, and the Future of POE2
55:20 Path of Exile 2 Story, Lore, and 1.0 Expectations
1:00:25 Podcast Wrap-Up
Check out all of ScorpiusOfficial 's stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/@ScorpiusOfficial
https://www.twitch.tv/scorpiusofficial

Talkative Tri and Jazzarus jump on a call to discuss Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients, with topics ranging from the rarity and crafting power of runes in Runes of Aldur, how PoE2 is basically a game about gambling, and whether or not uber bosses should be aspirational content or beatable by all players.
Check out the yapmaster @Jazzarus_ !
https://www.youtube.com/@Jazzarus_
https://www.twitch.tv/Jazzarus_
The Wheel: https://jazzarus.github.io/game-wheel/
==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Intro + Ruins of Alder First Impressions
1:14 Rune System Problems and Resistance Swapping
3:16 1.0 Story Predictions and The Beast Theory
5:01 Why Path of Exile 2’s Story Feels Better Than POE1
7:32 Rune Rarity, Economy, and Trade Concerns
11:24 Hidden Secrets, Ascendancies, and Mystery Content
13:40 Why Ruins of Alder Solves Multiple POE2 Problems
15:54 Jazzarus League Starter Reveal for 0.5
19:43 Path of Exile Players Are Gambling Addicts
22:24 The POE2 League Start Wheel Website
28:49 Crafting Nerfs, Power Creep, and Rune Balance
32:36 Uber Bosses, Pinnacle Difficulty, and Casual Players
39:11 Why Count Geanor Is Peak Boss Design
46:48 Item Rarity Debate and Loot Philosophy
53:00 1.0 Expectations, Duelist Hype, and Final Thoughts

We're only a couple days away from Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients dropping and to bide time, Halcyonish and I hopped on a call to have a chat about patch 0.5, league starter builds, the lore in Path of Exile, the massive endgame revamp, and much more.
Check out the lovely @halcyonish :
https://www.youtube.com/@halcyonish
https://www.twitch.tv/halcyonish
==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Path of Exile 2 0.5 League Start Plans
2:02 Tame Beast Builds, Facebreakers & SSF Goals
4:01 Best Tame Beast Companions in PoE2
6:10 How Halcyonish Started Making PoE Content
8:15 First Impressions of PoE2 Early Access
10:02 Jamanra Difficulty & Flask Meta Memories
11:27 PoE2 UI & UX Problems
13:19 Left-Aligned Text & Prefix Icon Debate
16:31 Loot Filters for Dangerous Map Mods?
18:10 Regex Shopping & Speedrunning Tips
19:35 PoE2 Racing & Speedrun Rivalries
21:09 Why PoE2 0.5 Marketing Feels Different
23:06 Cinematics, Boss Intros & Console Cutscenes
25:52 PoE Lore Videos & Origins of Divinity
27:16 Ancient Lore Theories & The Beast
29:26 Skipping Campaign Lore vs Story Immersion
31:06 League Start Pace & PoE Yellow Text
33:07 Character Names, Global Chat & Community
36:17 Community Sentiment Before PoE2 0.5
37:04 Crafting Changes & Desecration Reactions
38:39 Jonathan & Mark’s Dev Interview Insights
40:10 Rare Monsters & Endgame Feedback
42:33 Why Devs Need to Play Endgame
44:04 PoE2’s Massive New Endgame
45:34 Taylor Swift Song Discussion
46:31 Atlas Strategy & League Start Economy
48:08 Target Farming & PoE2 Trade Economy
50:27 Atlas Masters & Terraforming Systems
51:29 Endgame Burnout & SSF Motivation
53:41 Endgame Goals & Infinite Progression
55:18 Diablo 2 & Discovering ARPGs
56:39 Horror Games, Elden Ring & Dark Souls
58:07 Elden Ring Difficulty & Boss Design
1:00:02 Survival ARPGs & Crafting Games
1:02:40 Zelda, Ocarina of Time & Nostalgia
1:04:14 Divine Orb Sweater Reveal
1:05:04 Final Thoughts on PoE2 0.5
1:05:44 Infinite Atlas vs Finite Atlas

As the next Path of Exile 2 expansion, Return of the Ancients draws near, CrimsonCasts and Talkative Tri take a seat to discuss the exciting new content incoming, imminent balance changes, speedrunning in PoE2, the Exilecon race qualifiers, and much more. Enjoy!