Is Path of Exile pay to win?

It does not sell direct combat power. Paid stash tabs provide substantial organization and trading convenience for serious players.

Does PlayBound use Steam?

No. Path of Exile has an official standalone Windows installer and patcher.

Should a beginner follow a build guide?

Yes. A beginner guide prevents expensive passive-tree mistakes while teaching why defenses, links and support gems matter.

What happens when a league ends?

League characters and items move to the appropriate permanent mode, while a new league begins with a fresh economy.

40.0 GB

Path of Exile controls

Default bindings for every input method Path of Exile supports. These are the game's own defaults — anything you have remapped will differ.

Mouse & keyboard

Default keyboard and mouse bindings.

Movement — Mouse & keyboard
Action	Default input
Move / interact / primary skill	`Left Mouse`

Combat — Mouse & keyboard
Action	Default input
Secondary and tertiary skills	`Middle / Right Mouse`
Additional skills	`Q, W, E, R, T`

Inventory — Mouse & keyboard
Action	Default input
Use flasks 1–5	`1–5`
Inventory

Interface — Mouse & keyboard
Action	Default input
Character panel	`C`
Passive skill tree	`P`
World map	`U`
Overlay map	`Tab`
Options	`O`

Controller

Default gamepad layout, using the standard face-button names.

The exact face-button skill layout follows the skills assigned by the character. Select Controller or Auto Input Method Detection under Input Options.

Movement — Controller
Action	Default input
Move	`Left Stick`

Combat — Controller
Action	Default input
Use assigned skills	`A, B, X, Y`
Use alternate skill sets	`Left Trigger / Right Trigger + face buttons`

Interaction — Controller
Action	Default input
Interact / pick up	`A`

Inventory — Controller
Action	Default input
Use flasks	`D-pad`

Interface — Controller
Action	Default input
Open menu	`Menu`

Source: Grinding Gear Games controller announcement