In the Path of Exile: Lake of Kalandra expansion, we introduced 15 new divination cards designed by our supporters! For today's post, we asked Kezlyr to share their story about their card "Doryani's Epiphany". Check it out below!
Like many of the supporters, I've been playing Path of Exile for a number of years. I played off and on before finally settling in and really exploring what PoE had to offer in Bestiary League (3.2). This was the first league I watched the reveal, read up on all the patch notes beforehand, and discovered that other people had created build guides, which opened up so many new options and ideas. At this point, I was hooked.
However, despite PoE being an incredibly deep game, it's far less fun experiencing it on your own. My brothers and I had played games together most of our lives, but fell out of touch for a few years as we all moved out and did some growing up. We talked occasionally and played some games together once in a while, but that was really it. But then we all started playing Path of Exile together, as we all enjoyed action RPGs and deep customization games. We made a guild in game so we could quickly chat with each other instead of having to rely on whispers back and forth. That worked fine for a league or two, but is ultimately inefficient. We then made a Discord server that's just us so we could communicate outside the game, share build ideas, show off drops and victories, etc. And once we had an easy mode of communication, we began talking almost daily. It's not at all an exaggeration to say that my family is only as close as it is because of Path of Exile.
Consequently, I knew I wanted to have something in the game that I could always look to as a reminder, even if we all eventually move on to another game. The card that was added to the game was the last iteration (obviously), but the first version was actually intended to be built off of this concept. I had wanted a 6L white socket Death's Oath because I loved the build, and I wanted the art and flavor text to reflect the three of us struggling to achieve even a minute victory (we did an SSF run one league and my entire league plan was to find/chance a Death's Oath, get it to 6S, then temple slam it to white sockets; I did this in 4 days in Synthesis and actually chanced it in the middle of a fight, and very few experiences top it).
Since such a reward goes against Divination policy (and for good reason), I turned to heist which is one of my favorite league mechanics (don't tell anyone, but I even loved the version where killing monsters increased the alert level). I wanted to do a card for a replica unique, but by the time I had submitted that version, someone had beaten me to it. My next favorite heist mechanic was the alternate gems, but since I mostly play SSF, it felt kind of bad to just reward an alt quality gem (no offense to that card/supporter as it is still super handy to have in the game). I wanted people to have the chance to reroll their own gems, and try to get the version that they really wanted to enhance their build or to roll the next one, which is a lot easier with a bit of agency involved over pure luck (but still some rng).
Coincidentally, I had been checking for teasers for the upcoming league right after my card was revealed. I was so proud that I wrote up a quick post on reddit and showed the card to my son (8) and had him play through the Twilight Strand before introducing him to div cards and trying to explain that I designed the one in the picture.
I know this game means a lot to a lot of people, and to me it's been a way to connect with my family. I'm honored to have a small part in the game's legacy and hope it imparts some lasting, positive effect for others, as well. Thanks for all the hard work, GGG.
