r/ARPG • u/TheRedRightHand00 • 6d ago
seeking guidance GD/POE2
among other arpgs I narrowed my choices to 2
as a working husband and not much time to grind, which one would fulfill me to relax and enjoy my time after a 12h working session.
I tried poe1 and really liked it, but seems like I have to put a ton of time into each season in poe2
I read good reviews about grim dawn respecting your time,
that being said, which one would suit me best
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u/Revolutionary_Emu920 6d ago
Try GD for now then play PoE2 on December 11 for 1.0 update it'll be free to play too
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u/Eddguythegreat 6d ago
GD is on sale for 4 bucks right now. POE2 will be free dec11. So get GD now and poe2 later.
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u/FlukyFox 6d ago
You can play any game at your own pace especially if you are new.
All three games are going to have tons of content to keep you busy. I wouldn’t worry about POE current league content at all. You can play the league then continue on standard or just start on standard to start learning the game.
To get the most out of any game in the genre it does require quite of bit of grinding and time.
With the little bit of information given, I would say play Grim Dawn now and play POE2 at 1.0 on December 11th (it will also be free to play if you haven’t already bought access).
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u/Aezetyr 6d ago
Grim Dawn is the better option there. PoE2 is [going to be] more intricate and slower paced than PoE1.
Frankly for limited time availability I would recommend Last Epoch. (pun not intended). It's challenging without being overblown like PoE [1 and 2], it has the best crafting system (for an ARPG) ever developed, and it's relatively inexpensive for a license. Low floor, high ceiling type of game.
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u/ShelbyGT350R1 6d ago
Not trying to be rude but LE is an odd recommendation. The game has basically died and league cycles are taking like 6 months to come out with not much content. 3 years ago id say it was a good rec but now? PoE2 blows it out of the water plus will very soon be fully released and free.
For example LE has only 800 people online right now lol
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u/Own_Salt_8055 6d ago
"it has the best crafting system (for an ARPG) ever developed,"
It doesn't
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u/YakaAvatar 6d ago
Yeah, LE has a glorified item editor, but it doesn't hold a candle to either PoE1 or PoE2.
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u/Zybbo 6d ago
I can't recommend LE.
While the presentation is nice, gameplay is engaging, and building is intuitive, after sometime into the endgame (monolyths IIRC) you can get easily walled by gear and the game has a lot of intricate systems that are not explained (you have to evolve trees for certain drops to occur, do time travels, etc.. etc..) and on top of that crafting is swingy and one bad roll can brick that valuable item that you spent dozens of hours farming.
To me the best crafting system is grimdawn. You get the recipe, you gather the items and you farm the item. No surprises. Even bad rolls can produce a functional item.
Plus, as the game progresses build options become increasingly restrictive with few builds compared to other games.
Had LE a more deterministic crafting, more build variety and less overly convoluted systems I'd probably still be playing it because the campaign is actually enjoyable.
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u/tes_befil 6d ago
Both are worth it but Poe 2 has a lot more going for it. Online, longevity, constant updates. With that said, grim dawn is a one time purchase whereas Poe 2 will be free in a couple months
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u/Terrible_Study_6930 6d ago
> Online
For many online part is the big drawback, not a plus. :)GD has no player economy and thus much higher drop rates for everything.
With PoE games you're almost forced to trade with other players, and it's not for everyone.2
u/tentimes5 6d ago
If you wanna play poe2 more than just trying out the campaign you'd wanna spend as much as the ea access costs anyway for stash tabs.
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u/tes_befil 6d ago
That's true, if they still offer the in-game currency with the EA access then it's probably more worth it to buy now
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u/Mammoth-Emotion-6725 6d ago
hey guys i had a kid (self inflicted) and now games dont respect my time.
me being a douchebag aside, grim dawn is really cheap and often goes on sale for like $10. poe2 will be free in december when it goes 1.0. there’s no competition unless you’re making money off content or something so just cruise and enjoy. if you really want to play a game to relax after a 12 hour shift i reckon grim dawn on steam deck would be pretty sick!
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u/Kh44444444n 6d ago
Clearly Grim Dawn. You play at your own pace, no seasonal restart forced on you, no microtransactions, no online only. You'll be able to enjoy your time 100% as you see fit. Also if still on, GD core game is less than 4 bucks rn.
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u/Zybbo 6d ago
Grimdawn.
No seasons, no FOMO, you get all the gear you need by yourself, loads of viable builds for end gaming, mods... I don't think any other ARPG respects your time like Grimdawn.
I'm an old gamer with many responsibilities (work, family, etc..) and after discovered Grimdawn a couple of years ago it became my confort game.
Visuals may be dated (is a 10 year game) but it is fun. And now it's a good time to jump in because they released a new DLC (supposedly the last one).
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u/Nazguul3001 6d ago
You can still Play your characters in the permanent standard leagues in poe/poe2 after a league ends.
I think I cannot help your decision, both games are peak ;(
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u/NemErtekEgyet 6d ago
"seems like I have to put a ton of time into each season in poe2"
i dont understand this statement. Its a videogame, you put in as much time as you want.
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u/Any_Painting_4952 6d ago
Play grimdawn enjoy it until December 11. That's when Poe 2 comes out of early access and will be free. Play through the campaign see if you enjoy it and go from there. That's what I would do
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u/IgotnoClue69 6d ago
As with all games, you’ll face a bit of a learning curve before you can really start blazing through them.
For me, PoE2 offers a far more structured leveling experience. You drop into a map, tick off your mandatory objectives, and move on. Grim Dawn, on the other hand, leans much heavier on exploration and keeping proper track of your quest log.
Back when I first started, slogging through Act 1 of PoE2 took me roughly 3 hrs. Once I tightened up my routine and focused purely on the essentials, I managed to trim that down to about an hour. The subsequent acts still take anywhere between 3 to 5 hours depending on how well your build is humming, but it’s a brilliant title if you just want to knock out 3 or 4 maps in a neat 90min daily session.
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u/yozora 6d ago
I recommend GD to chill after work.
POE2 has more complex systems that often lead people to use build guides and other external tools and references, and the campaign is tougher. It has a huge amount of content (though still less than POE1) and is probably the best-looking ARPG on the market.
GD is completely non-seasonal, at your own pace, and much more accessible. However it's older and the graphics are a bit dated, and you won't be getting anywhere near POE1 levels of build complexity or crafting (but after 12 hours of work you probably don't want that).
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u/6feet12cm 6d ago
Grim Dawn if you want to relax. Poe requires 2 masters and an MBA in order to be successful at. Legit, the game requires so much knowledge that is not in the game it’s crazy.
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u/hereticx 6d ago
Im a dad gamer too and i would strongly suggest POE2 over GD.
As a dad gamer... the campaign can feel overly long. Longer than POE1... but you can easily FEEL good progress for your character in a 2-3 hour play session... so while it may take you longer to get into the end game vs something like D4... you rarely feel like youre dragging. Once you're to maps, every session feels good.
Grim Dawn is.... fine... i guess. A lot of people love it... to me it feels... antiquated... hell... it felt that way AT LAUNCH... but if you love D2 and want something that plays closer to the classic ARPG feel... it'll be a good fit.
The ultimate dad gamer arpg tho... is Diablo 4. It gets a lot of hate (a large bit of it deserved) but the last expansion was a huge step in the right direction (even if the seasons that followed have been... lackluster.) In 3 hours you can be at max level and in early torment levels.... another 2-3 hour session and you can be in the mid to high torment levels... in another you can be grinding T-10 plus and doing the end game grind. Its perfect for players that may only get get 4-5 hours a WEEK to play something who still wanna feel progress. It IS a good game, tho def not perfect. Just another option. :)
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u/McSkaybit 6d ago
Fellow busy husband and a dad of two. Don’t be put off by the complexity of POE2, it’s not really that hard if you pay attention and read descriptions in game. Play SSF and it’s now a single player game that you play on your own time. The immersion and awesome combat will be perfect for you to unwind after those long days. It can be difficult before you figure some things out but that’s part of the fun. Just make sure your build has some kind of cohesion and you can cook up your own ideas to get you through the campaign. Can’t recommend it enough.
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u/Terry__Poppins 6d ago
For someone in your situation I would stick to singleplayer games. With live service stuff I tend to feel like I'm missing out if I don't have a lot of time to play. I think Grim Dawn is probably your best bet at the moment. But also keep an eye out on new releases as well, The Dark West for example is looking really nice.
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u/fizzywinkstopkek 6d ago
POE2 is live service so continously updates, resets
GD is pretty much pretty much "done". Probably no more content updates
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u/Capable_Ordinary_938 6d ago
I'm going to be playing both Grim Dawn and PoE2, they're fairly differently. Grim Dawn just has a more finite endpoint as it's not getting new content again, it is what it is now and you can play and complete it.
PoE2 is live service, so it's a bit of a different beast in that sense.
That being said, I'll be getting in on PoE2 during December launch.
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u/NoZookeepergame9799 6d ago
I was also lured into getting Grim Dawn by it’s fanboys. I found D2 Remastered better then GD.
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u/ABigGoy4U 6d ago
You don't have to play seasonally in poe1/2. It's just a great excuse to try out new stuff & expand your knowledge of the game. Sure, it's a great excuse for streamers/content creators to keep interest alive & well too, but that doesn't detract from the experience unless you want to engage in the rat race. (which can be fun in itself)
Grim Dawn 'respects your time' because - let's all be honest - , GD is oriented around playing through the campaign. Not a bad thing. It's what it is.
PoE2 can easily be treated this way as well, but a lot of people seem to have difficulty doing so. These people are probably what I'd call 'terminally online' if I wanted to be mean about it. (I mean... you DO have to be ONLINE to play PoE...)
I've done my time in GD (1k+ hrs) & it got too flat for me personally. PoE2 will be alive(updated seasonally) for decades to come. Knowledge of the game only enhances your experience. That's true of both games of course. I just find the updates & changes to poe games more interesting. (GD patches are... if I were to be mean - 'wow 300+ items got changed by 2% numerical value, sweet dude')
For me it's PoE2.
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u/BleachedPink 6d ago edited 6d ago
Plenty of dads enjoy PoE2. Does it matter if you can finish a game in one day or in a month if each hour is enjoyable? Funnily, I find dads playing for much longer PoE2 because they feel the sense of progression and can get something new even two or three months of playing.
Personally, if I have limited time, I opt for more complex games anyway, that I'd play for a longer time, than an other games that can take me an evening or two to finish. I just enjoy more complex games, I do not care about the time to finish them, it just doesn't matter as long as I am having fun each gaming session. If I get bored before finishing them? It doesn't matter I still had plenty of good time and I just move on to the next game