XP Loss is Too Lenient

Is it just me, or does it bother other people to know there are players today who are still able to make it to 96?

I would like to make a case for increasing the EXP loss penalty, and the problems it would fix.


Problems:
1. Many players are still able to reach level 96 as-is in 2.1 with omens. Unfortunately, this leads to a feeling of, "Oh great, now other players are becoming as powerful as I am," for the long-haul players like me.

2. Achieving level 93 is fairly easy with omens, but it is also doable without omens.

3. Players are beginning to get clever with HP+ES combos. As a result, the carrot-on-a-stick type AI driven mechanics where the game throttles players with random insta-deaths is becoming too obvious.

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Fixes:
1. If we could either make omens less effective, say, 25% xp loss mitigation, or increase the xp loss penalty, it would go a long way here for the lvl 96+ community. Having a nice XP barrier between the casuals is great!! I just think it makes more sense to have that barrier be larger. Say, lock them down at 91 instead of 96? If they can breach 91, they will not only earn a sense of accomplishment, they will earn a lot of respect from players like me who thought they should have just quit playing. That's serious community building.

2. Again, 93 is this brick wall and there's no complaints with that from me. If the omen barrier is lowered from 96 to 91, can we also lower the lvl 93 thing to say, 87? If players are generally skilled capped at lvl 87 instead of 93 in terms of being able to level easily, it makes hitting 88 just that much sweeter. And 88 is just fine for the lower players.

3. On this one, I love it. The one-hit unpreventable insta-death stuff makes me laugh pretty good, just like in Elden Ring!! It just needs to be hidden more so people aren't necessarily aware they are in a setup that is throttling them. It only works when players think it's their own fault. When it's obvious the game is doing something unavoidable, that Souls'like feel is lost. I'm certain that's what they were going for too because players move so slowly and monsters move so quickly.

My $0.02 worth. I hope this helps better the game for others. As for me, I'm having a lot of fun with PoE2. When I find a game so hard that you can't even level, I know I'm on the money. Challenging = rewarding. Make it harder, still!!