Path of Exile Preview

The latest preview for the free-to-play Diablo-like Path of Exile comes via the folks at RipTen, and offers a look at some of the game’s features and selling points, including its impressive number of skills:

The skill tree is fairly large as well, but only includes passive abilities. By fairly large I mean 1,500+ skills. Yes. 1,500+. Many of the skill nodes are basic stat increases or special properties such as spell casting speed or critical chance, but there are unique skills that will completely change how your character plays. The developers plan to add even more and with the size and scope of the tree they are working on making it much more user friendly. Path of Exile is still in closed beta, so things will be changing quiet a bit. Already, the tree is amazing, so with time I can only imagine what it will become.

The game currently includes five player classes with a sixth on the way soon. Each class uses one or two of the three main stats in the game; strength, intellect and dexterity. Three classes will focus on one particular stat as their main focus, while the other three will combine two of the stats as their primaries, though slightly lower than the specialized classes. Because of the modular ability of the spell and item system, any class can fill any role in a group. The witch (PoE’s version of a wizard) could be a heavy armor wearing warrior if she wanted, or an archer, or a full on wizard. The choice is up to the player and with all of the customization Grinding Gear Games gives to players, you can expect a huge variety in builds.