Moving to Elite/Ultimate Difficulty Without Restarting The Base Game

[anachoret]

I assume you have played since 1.2.0.0, and so your feedback is taking into account all difficulties at least scaling (in most areas) up to level 100?

@Zantai

V1.2.0.0

[Major New Features]

• You can now play the entirety of the game up to the level cap on the difficulty that’s enjoyable to you. To support this, level scaling has been updated on Normal and Elite difficulty. Many areas on Normal now scale up to level 100. Elite difficulty now scales up to level 100 in all areas. Loot quality and experience gains remain higher on higher difficulties.
• Defeating the Loghorrean on Normal/Veteran difficulty now unlocks Elite and Ultimate difficulty for that character (note: this difficulty unlock is not retroactive). Players can proceed to the difficulty they feel most ready for.
• Completing a quest that grants Skill or Attribute points on a higher difficulty (Elite or Ultimate) will now reward you the Skill and Attribute points from the lower difficulties as well (ex. completing Kasparov’s Pocket Portal on Ultimate will also grant skill points from the Normal/Elite difficulty quests if you skipped them).

If so, best practice is currently to unlock the ability to buy Merits, and just start a new playthrough from level 1 on either Elite or Ultimate and do as much of the game as you want there. I get that it is more awkward to arrange for a multiplayer group where not everyone is in the same place or able to jump through the hoops, but it is relatively easy / doable / a workaround.

Three times through for three difficulties is the classic setup throughout the ancient past, and I get that it may look as weird to PoE players as PoE’s mid-game difficulty jumps did to me the first time. At least being able to start a new character on Elite or Ultimate (which can be tricky!) is a workaround or kludge for what you’re looking for.