View source for Partying

[[File:party play.png|thumb|Members of the party are shown on the left.]]

'''Parties''' allow up to six people to play together. Players can create or join public parties by pressing S to open the Social window. Players can also invite someone to a party by selecting a player's name in chat, clicking on them in town, or typing <kbd>/invite playername</kbd> in the chat. 

Alterantively, up to two players can play "couch co-op" using the same player account and device on all platforms<ref>https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3587981</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X23QXjQ1CaI</ref>.

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==Effect on monsters==
[[Monster]]s gain more [[life]] for each additional player in the party.

However, the monster's default life value is used to determine the length of [[stun]]s and [[status ailments]] - this means monsters will not be harder to stun/freeze/etc when fighting in a party.

==Effect on item drops==
Items dropped from monsters are increased based on the number of players nearby when the monster is killed. [[Currency]] has a higher additional drop rate per player in the party compared to [[equipment]].

Modifiers to [[item rarity]] from [[item]] [[modifier]]s only apply from the player who lands a killing blow. 

===Item allocation===
The leader of a party can designate a specific loot allocation type, which affects how most dropped items are allocated to each player. 

* '''Free for All''' - Items can be picked up by any player.
* '''Short Allocation''' - Most item drops are allocated to a random nearby party member for a short duration. After this duration, any player can pick up the item.
* '''Permanent Allocation''' - Most item drops are allocated to a random nearby party member, and cannot be picked up by another player unless the player picks it up and drops it again.

Item allocation is removed when the player the item is allocated to leaves the area. Certain items are allocated to specific players regardless of the chosen allocation type.

====Waystones====
The chance of a [[waystone]] dropping is not affected by party size. Waystones are always allocated to the creator of the map.

==Effect on experience==


==Effect on flasks==
All nearby players will earn charges for [[flask]]s and [[charm]]s when a monster is killed.

==Effects on skills and item modifiers==
Skills and item modifiers that affect [[allies]] such as [[aura]]s affect other players who are within range of the aura's source. If multiple copies of the same aura are present, the highest effect or level version of that aura will be used.

Additionally, various synergistic skill interactions can be utilized by multiple players together, such as detonating another player's gas clouds with a fire skill.

==Benefits of partying==
Parties allow players to spread out a variety of buffs and debuffs between players, allowing players to further scale their damage and survivability than would normally be possible solo. Certain playstyles such as an "aurabot" or a "cursebot" are purely support-focused playstyles which only work in a party, specializing in stacking several [[aura]]s or [[curse]]s for a DPS carry. Additionally, it is possible to employ strategies such as a "MF culler", a player who specializes in stacking [[item rarity]] modifiers and will almost always claim the kills of monsters through the [[culling strike]] effect despite not dealing any notable damage themselves.

==Downsides of partying==
However, there are still several factors that may discourage players from engaging in party play for extended periods, and can negatively impact their gameplay experience especially in a casual setting.

* [[Curse]]s and [[mark]]s - Curses and marks have a limit of how many can be applied at once, and will overwrite each other based on curse priority rules. This means that if multiple players attempt to inflict a curse or mark, they may be competing against each other as certain curses or marks may provide no benefit to other players with non-synergistic builds.
* Pace - party play encourages players to move and fight together. This can be detrimental to players who prefer to explore or take their time playing, and supports who are left behind may die as a result of losing their carry.
* Lag and screen clutter - when more players are using skills simultaneously or players are playing from across the globe, they may experience "lag" in the form of input delays or temporary freezes. This can also put an increased strain on their device and affect the fluidity of the game. Additionally, it may be more difficult to identify hazards due to excessive numbers of skills and projectiles happening simultaneously on the screen. [[Microtransaction]]s can also add to visual clutter and lag in certain cases.
* Item allocation - especially in public parties, players who lose out on valuable drops due to item allocation may experience some negative emotions.

==Version history==
{{Version history table header}}
{{Version history table row|?|
* Introduced to the game.
}}
{{Version history table end}}

==References==
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{{Category:Game mechanics}}
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