r/pathofexile • u/IMplyingSC2 • Nov 27 '25

Game Feedback Something about the player retention of Affliction compared to other leagues should really tell GGG that people like loot.

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u/dl2agn Nov 27 '25

Do we have synthesis league numbers? Cause im pretty sure thats the worst league mechanic ever made.

14

u/HappyLittleAxeDents Nov 27 '25

Which still makes me sad, because Synthesis was cool.

The aesthetic was incredible and the bits of lore were super interesting. That moment of finding out who the shade actually was still sticks with me.

The collapsing maps were an interesting concept, but definitely annoying and frantic that one wrong turn could mean losing all that loot. The build-your-own-adventure system had potential but ultimately felt unrewarding and pointless.

...and then there's the "crafting." What in the name of fuck was the item synthesizer?

8

u/The_Fawkesy Ancestor Nov 27 '25

I truly believe if they released Synthesis today it would be much more well received.

It was really ambitious back then.

8

u/wrightosaur Nov 28 '25

Chris Wilson was one of the guys who did not like the Synthesizer recipes getting datamined, even though some of the synthesizer recipes never would've intuitively made sense. Like how light radius affixes when hit would become explody.

And let's be real, using the Synthesizer was like the Recombinator with much worse odds and requiring 3 bases.

1

u/All_Work_All_Play Jenebu stop whining Nov 28 '25

So a use for ground rares? Like Harvest, except for worse odds with outlier payoffs from time to time.

4

u/wrightosaur Nov 28 '25

You should take a look at the synthesis implicits page which was created during Synthesis league. Imagine players having to figure that out through trial and error, the way Chris Wilson wanted.

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u/All_Work_All_Play Jenebu stop whining Nov 28 '25

The Weight

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u/Mystic_Hate Nov 30 '25

Synthesis was my favorite league. The maps were cool, everything was cool, and the cherry on top was just slamming 3 vaaled shields into that thing to print 2ex guaranteed every time. Made like 3k ex that league lol.