Quick Tips for Returning Players

Given a lot of people are likely to be coming back after a break or skipping a league or two, thought it would be worth sharing a few tips. Please add your own to the list.

1) Sprinting.

Huge change to the speed of the game. Initial reactions were mixed, and it's easy to miss the best way to sprint, which is (on PC, playing as WASD):

- press and hold your roll key (default Space) to enter a sprint

- release your WASD keys while continuing to hold your roll key, use your mouse pointer to steer

- key your eyes open - you do NOT want to sprint into a pack of mobs or into the terrain.

- if you need to take a sharp turn, release and re-hold your roll key. You'll do a roll but immediately re-enter sprint. Bit like pulling a hand-brake turn.

- try not to trigger a sprint while in combat. You will, everyone does.

2) Support Gems.

The system was completely overhauled. You can use the same support gem for multiple skill gems (i.e. you can socket Rapid Attacks against every attack). They also come in 5 tiers - 1 per act. What we found last league is that the uncut supports were relatively scarce, so think twice before cutting them. There are quite a few that drop from the side quests, so maybe don't skip them.

Lots got renamed to be more self-explanatory (i.e. Rapid Attacks makes you attack faster).

Don't sleep on fist of war if you are using slams.

3) Tiered Crafting

Basic blue crafting orbs, essences, runes (now to be called augments?) got split into tiers. This basically means you can use your low tier crafting resources with no regrets. An essence or a rune that you get in act 1 or 2 won't be of much value when you get to end game. Exalted / Chaos / Vaal orbs etc are probably still worth thinking twice about using... Especially in trade, where you might be able to buy something better than you can craft for the same resources... But you do get enough not to regret using some exalts as you play through the campaign.

4) Asynchronous trade

You've probably already heard about this, but just in case:

- you can now buy a special type of trade tab - "Merchant's Tab" - think of it like a store front.

- if you had premium tabs you bought before August 29th 2025, you can convert them to Merchant's Tabs - log into the POE2 website, navigate to 'My Account', and find the 'Merchant's Tab Upgrade' option for eligible tabs. Don't see any? They probably aren't 'eligible'.

- once you get to Act 4, you can put things in your store, then anyone can come to your hideout and buy from it. You set the price when you list the item.

- you can access a trade UI in game (default key is /) which makes the process of finding and buying gear even slicker. You'll want to select "Instant Buyout Only" from the drop down list at the top right hand corner of the menu that pops up (unless you want to deal with other people)

I think the introduction of instant buyout / async trade more or less killed the traditional market, so you probably will want some of those Merchant's Tabs if you want to sell stuff.

Do you have tips for returning players?