# Path of Exile

15 Hacker News commenters recommended Path of Exile and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free-to-play action RPG praised for frequent free content updates and strategic depth. Most common caveat: heavy pressure to buy stash tabs in later game.

## Why people recommend it

- Runs well, even at high refresh (3 comments): "my favorite game of all times (Path of Exile 1) runs fantastically on it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46502771)) "it plays better than the native release" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46142376)) "PoE at 144Hz is incredible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50274201))
- Frequent free content updates (2 comments): "PoE is still getting new content 3 times per year, the dev is committed supporting both games for a long time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49531801)) "maybe the game that has received the most updates and content of any game in existence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530523))
- Lots of game for little money (2 comments): "Around $20 and you've got yourself a meaty beast of a game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45951357)) "having probably the softest freemium model in existence" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45949657))
- Long-lasting fun and social play (2 comments): "can eat a lot of time and still give you social connections" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47305953)) "I would rather play Path of Exile than Diablo 2" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49528412))

## What people warn about

- Pressure to buy stash tabs (2 comments): "There is pretty heavy pressure to buy stash tabs once you hit the later parts of the game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45949838)) "Stash tabs are de facto required for trade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45951260))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Elden Ring](https://hackerapproved.com/p/elden-ring.md): 25 recommend
- [Dark Souls](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dark-souls.md): 23 recommend
- [Diablo II: Resurrected](https://hackerapproved.com/p/diablo-2.md): 19 recommend
- [Mass Effect](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mass-effect.md): 19 recommend
- [Diablo 4](https://hackerapproved.com/p/diablo-4.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Path of Exile", https://hackerapproved.com/p/path-of-exile/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).