Grimoire is still an indication of how much time you've spent playing. It doesn't equate to skill, but it's a reasonable indicator of how much time you'll have to spend explaining things. Sub-2000 - fairly new to the game. Expect to have to explain everything. Repeatedly. May not be able to pull their own weight. 2000-2500 - probably done most activities at least once. Provide a refresher / explain in detail if they haven't done this before. Gun skill depends on if they were good at other FPS game previously. 2500-3000 - reasonably experienced. Inquire if they've done the activity before and explain if not. Should be a good shot in PvE or they would've quit by now. 3000-3500 - veterans. They'll probably be explaining new tricks to you. Expect them to mow down enemies left and right and have your back. 3500+ - demigods. You are probably not worthy to play alongside them. Enjoy being carried scrublet. If you're lucky they're not looking down on you. By comparison: Yesterday I ran two PoE34 runs. The first one was with a couple of chill guys who were in the 2000-2500 grimoire range. We struggled through it and had to work out strats on a couple of rounds (this week is MUCH harder than last week). Qodron was a first for all of us. Took 40 minutes on the last rounds and 10+ wipes before we figured it out. Second run: two guys with 3000-3500 grimoire. I would turn around to see enemy heads popping. Situational awareness was completely evident. One wipe on an early round (bad luck on mines), and one wipe on final round due to glitchy Eye of Qodron spawn. When aware it would glitch everyone switched to shotguns to self-break bubbles on glitch. Smooth as glass second attempt. TOTAL time 40 minutes for all 5 rounds. It makes a difference because of game knowledge. It's not about skill it's about knowing the fights and enemy patterns.