About this Tool
This build-randomizing tool is intended to inspire creativity and experimentation within the world of Path of Exile 2. Hopefully it will provide some relief to the general 'meta fatigue' and unlock more possibilities and fun within the game. Feel free to use this to set a challenge for yourself, or as more of a springboard for some new build ideas.
The tool itself is hopefully self-explanatory. Clicking the 'Roll Your Fate' button will conjure up a randomized build, selecting a class, ascendancy, weapon(s), common ailments and tactics, primary defensive layer, and a secondary defensive layer. The randomness or cohesion of these selections can be customized with the slider at the top of the page for a more streamlined build vs. a more creative build. Along with these selections is a display indicating which attributes a build leans toward, a pair of recommended skill gems, and a set of possibly helpful unique items that may go well with the build.
Now this tool is far from perfect. The data this sits on top of may not be perfectly accurate, and it is possible you may see skill or unique items that don't align 100% with what's in the live game. However, it's probably 90% there. This is more of a fun prototype that I've been playing around with.
If you have any thoughts, feedback, suggestions for features, bugs, etc. feel free to reach out to poerandomancer@gmail.com. I would love to hear your thoughts.
About Me
I found myself daydreaming about my Path of Exile 2 'LeechBreak Crossbow Titan' build one Tuesday afternoon, during a very slow and very boring sprint planning meeting at work. Like many of you I am a recent Path of Exile 2 convert (the 1st one didn’t quite hook me) and now often find myself obsessing over complex and enigmatic mathematical interactions between obscure mechanics and poorly-explained optimization opportunities, all draped in fantastical grimdark pageantry. My dorky imagination has truly been hijacked by this incredible game.
Several months ago, I slowly began to realize the true open-ended potential of buildcrafting and theorycrafting, and why so many people have been enjoying the first Path of Exile for so many years. And seeking inspiration for unusual and creative approaches to playing the game, I stumbled upon the asmology Build Roulette tool (found here: https://www.asmology.com/path-of-exile-ii/build-roulette/). A nifty little online widget to randomize one ascendancy and one skill, to inject some challenge and creativity into the experience for those burned out on the same “Super-Meta” “S-Tier” build guides.
Back to my boring Tuesday afternoon meeting, it occurred to me that there is some more opportunity here for creative inspiration. The breadth of interactions to explore within POE2 feel nearly endless, and I was looking for something new to try.
So I made this.
At the same time, I had a general curiosity regarding the software capabilities of ChatGPT. Yes, this was built with the aid of AI. Sorry. I am a software developer by trade, and I had a clear vision and general technical notion of how I would accomplish this, so it seemed like a decent sandbox to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, if you have a very specific end goal in mind and a fairly simple project, AI is kinda like having a junior developer in your back pocket. A junior developer who is great at brainstorming, but also has debilitating short-term memory loss and a frustratingly unshakable misplaced optimistic confidence. Great for a quick dry-run on concepts, horrific at iteration and refinement. I ended up needing to intervene at several points with some manual refactors, but ultimately... this is what I ended up with. A pretty fun little project, and an interesting development cycle.
This is a non-profit, fan-made project and is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Grinding Gear Games the creators of Path of Exile and Path of Exile 2. All rights to the original intellectual property (IP), including but not limited to characters, settings, and storylines, belong to their respective owners. We do not claim ownership of the original IP. This work is created for entertainment and transformational purposes only, under the principles of Fair Use. No commercial use or profit is being made from this project.