If you are new to PoE, then you might be wondering how you can play with others in the game.

When playing Path of Exile, there are a lot of key factors that make the game as popular as it is. You aren’t just focusing on getting new items on PoE trade, or earning as much PoE currency as you can. It is also about sharing the experience with others. So, if you are ready to slow down your search for Exalted Orbs and focus on checking out multiplayer, here’s what you need to know.

Getting Started in Path of Exile

The first thing we will want to know is how to get in a group with our peers. This is super easy for you to do, so don’t worry about having to jump through too many hoops. Hit the S key to get your social menu up, then look for the Friend Invite option. Put your friend’s character name in, and add them to your friend’s list to get started. You can then add them to your group when they appear online.

Don’t panic if you cannot find your friend right away. You firstly need to play the game a little bit, so get up to at least Lioneye’s Watch before you try and find them. There is also a chance that they are in a separate instance from where you are, so try and get yourself to a questing area. If you are still struggling even in the questing area, then trying clicking on the portal near their portrait. This will take you to their instance so you can find each other.

If you are looking to host or join a public party instead, then that is also an option. This is the Path of Exile version of having an open invite approach to multiplayer. It’s worth mentioning that playing in a group does make the game more difficult than before. That said, even though enemies have more health, there is more loot that compensates for their being more players.

How Do Levels Work?

This can be a bit tricky at first glance. If you have friends that you want to play with that are either a higher or lower level than you, then you will need to make adjustments to your level downscaling settings in the game. If you already have it switched on and your friends are at a lower level than you, then your level will adjust your level accordingly and grant the experience to your friends.

However, if you have it disabled, then you will remain at your level and this will punish your friends with an experience point penalty. In this instance, they won’t be able to earn as much as they normally would. With that in mind, if you have friends at higher levels, then just get them to create a party that has the level downscaling option adjusted.

Looting Rules

This is a big factor in the multiplayer experience. You have the choice of how looting works within your party. You can choose Free for All for example, which means that you just need to be the quickest person to pick up that piece of loot.

Alternatively, there are also allocation options for you to choose from. The Short Allocation will offer the loot to nearby team members, though they only have a short time to pick up the loot. There’s also the Permanent Allocation, in which it won’t become loot for anyone to pick up. So if one of your friends is assigned certain loot, then they will have to drop it themselves if anyone else wants it and they don’t need it.

Naturally, there is a great experience to be had when you are playing Path of Exile, and thankfully the multiplayer aspect doesn’t have too difficult of an approach to it. It has a pretty fair system where looting is concerned, providing that you set it to the right settings that work for you. The same goes for the level system. As long as you can make the most of it, and you avoid incurring the experience penalties that you want to avoid, then you should be fine.

Perhaps most importantly, it isn’t too hard to join up with friends and go out adventuring together. If you can find each other, then there is a lot for you to discover with your peers. So if you are ready to hunt down that precious PoE currency and slay monsters with your pals, or join up with random players online, you now have the knowledge to do so.

Have you tried out the multiplayer in Path of Exile? Let us know in the comments section below!