[Megathread] Path of Exile

[Fencers]

What makes it tryhard?

Seems pretty sensible for actual endgame. Even in SC, you only have a few chances at a map. So can't really "death rush" a map to the same degree as Vaal or whatever.

Also map drop rates, chisel drop rates, map progression and xp penalty at endgame skew toward heavy defenses. Even for SCs where the dynamic of those factors is indistinguishable from HC.

I did not play Kripp's build to any high level myself. Though I did try a variant of the BotW Marauder Wand user. Got to about level 45 before I reworked the build as a Templar focused around wand & shield utilizing Elemental Hit + Elemental Proliferation, Eldritch Battery + 5 complete auras.

Might have been my strongest build in retrospect. Kinda boring though. I only used 1 attack and a bunch of passives. Very fast farming, super efficient, cheap to gear and very tough to kill. But still... was literally 1 attack and 5 passives.

http://tinyurl.com/a8saecy

^ the incomplete build I was working on. Might have respec'd a few things in time or worked toward Fusillade later than I did. Eventually I planned on emphasizing shield and wand somewhat equally. Just got tired of the spec before solidifying the idea.

[Repefe]

What makes it tryhard?

Seems pretty sensible for actual endgame. Even in SC, you only have a few chances at a map. So can't really "death rush" a map to the same degree as Vaal or whatever.

Also map drop rates, chisel drop rates, map progression and xp penalty at endgame skew toward heavy defenses. Even for SCs where the dynamic of those factors is indistinguishable from HC.

I did not play Kripp's build to any high level myself. Though I did try a variant of the BotW Marauder Wand user. Got to about level 45 before I reworked the build as a Templar focused around wand & shield utilizing Elemental Hit + Elemental Proliferation, Eldritch Battery + 5 complete auras.

Might have been my strongest build in retrospect. Kinda boring though. I only used 1 attack and a bunch of passives. Very fast farming, super efficient, cheap to gear and very tough to kill. But still... was literally 1 attack and 5 passives.

http://tinyurl.com/a8saecy

^ the incomplete build I was working on. Might have respec'd a few things in time or worked toward Fusillade later than I did. Eventually I planned on emphasizing shield and wand somewhat equally. Just got tired of the spec before solidifying the idea.

It's efficient build for sure. My personal preferce is for ranged classes to avoid using shield/wear heavy armor. Heavy armored ranged damage dealer is spec for real life tank. But it kind of works for shaman in WoW, so it's not that far out there.

Right now I am one of the guys who if I want to play ranger I just pick ranger and play around his strengths and weaknesses. Or hers in case of PoE.

[Fencers]

So you are saying it is "tryhard" to build away from archetype in Path of Exile? I may not be understanding you correctly. The notion is bizarre to me.

In Path of Exile wands primarily deal physical damage. Functionally a wand isn't any different from any other 1-handed ranged weapon; pistol, javelin, hand crossbow or sling for example. WHich can be seen in practice in TT games such as Dungeons & Dragons and GURPS [past]. Or video games such as Guild Wars 1 and 2 [present].

Heavy armor, shield wearing ranged capable classes goes back in gaming convention as far as the first editions of Dungeons & Dragons. The trope of a heavy armor character with a shield & ranged one handed weapon is perhaps as old as stereotypical ranger. Even though the ranger archetype was more melee orientated from Tolkein to early D&D.

[Repefe]

I was talking about one specific build. Not about builds in PoE in general. High hp + energy shield + high armor + ability to block ... to shoot a wand from safe distance = weird combination for me. But I haven't played the game on HC or all the way to the end, maybe it's really fun combo.

Just for the reference how was such class called in D&D ?

[Fencers]

I was talking about one specific build. Not about builds in PoE in general. High hp + energy shield + high armor + ability to block ... to shoot a wand from safe distance = weird combination for me. But I haven't played the game on HC or all the way to the end, maybe it's really fun combo.

I was more confused why you thought it was "trying too hard". It seemed a weird critique for the circumstance [HC character] and concept [armored ranged attacker].

Both seem totally sensible and with precedent within and without the ARPG genre.

Guess I don't understand why either is weird or unconventional.

Just for the reference how was such class called in D&D ?

Clerics, wizards and druids were able to wield magic and one handed ranged weapons. Clerics in particular wore chainmail and carried shields [even massive tower shields]. Druids did the same but used leather or hide armor.

Later iterations had monks, illusionists and mystics [iirc] that also were able to bear ranged one handed weapons and some other device in off-hand; melee weapon, buckler, ranged weapon, etc.

[Lagwin]

Their most recent announcement saying they may have partial patch notes for the open beta patch some time this week...i'm interested to see if they'll change the passive tree any just to mix it up a bit on launch, also they have apparently fixed the spell casting bug with freezing pulse.

Is anyone getting lagged out a lot the last few days...2 large DC's in the last 2 days? first one i managed to stay on but the whole server lagged out for a miniute and a load of others got DC'd the second i think almost everyone got DC'd and a lot of character/monster stuttering after it as well.

[Fencers]

Thank goodness for the fix to Freezing Pulse. Made Vaal Ruins and Church a nightmare to slog through.

[Repefe]

I was more confused why you thought it was "trying too hard". It seemed a weird critique for the circumstance [HC character] and concept [armored ranged attacker].

Both seem totally sensible and with precedent within and without the ARPG genre.

Guess I don't understand why either is weird or unconventional.

Clerics, wizards and druids were able to wield magic and one handed ranged weapons. Clerics in particular wore chainmail and carried shields [even massive tower shields]. Druids did the same but used leather or hide armor.

Later iterations had monks, illusionists and mystics [iirc] that also were able to bear ranged one handed weapons and some other device in off-hand; melee weapon, buckler, ranged weapon, etc.

I did say it makes sense for HC. Cleric is probably the best fit for such character though I am still picturing him with a mace in his hand rather than a sling. Ever since BW abandoned the concept of the old school classes ala BG or NWN it's harder to find games where cleric or bard for that matter is well represented.

Why it's weird for me. In my mind ranged weapons don't work in melee range as well as melee weapons. Otherwise there would be no point to melee weapons. So to take full advantage of ranged weapon you want to stay at range. But heavy armor and shield don't scream mobility do they ... they make you slow, hard to stay away from your enemies. So why the ranged weapon.

[Lagwin]

But heavy armor and shield don't scream mobility do they ... they make you slow, hard to stay away from your enemies. So why the ranged weapon.

Not necessarily...you want heavy armour for the sheer physical mitigation particularly when your up against bows...there's also the astral plate and the end game that comes with elemental resistances as standard before you even roll normal resist on it.Equipping a shield opens up 2 skills that i can think of lightning shield...every block you make deals damage(with a crit build a lot of damage) and shield charge which is superb for movement and some of the heavy hitting bosses...charge in from max distance they get stunned and you can get a shot in before shield charging back out

---------- Post added 2013-01-08 at 12:44 AM ----------

Thank goodness for the fix to Freezing Pulse. Made Vaal Ruins and Church a nightmare to slog through.

I only recently tried a witch and yes, indoors is a nightmare slog through atm...quite glad they are fixing it

[Fencers]

So why the ranged weapon.

Typically so that one can absorb/deflect a lot of ranged attacks. Ranged attacks which are traditionally meant to hit the back line.

In original D&D, the artillery board pieces [D&D was sprung from war board games] were called "wizards" or "magic wielder". The idea of a front mid and back line in RPG gaming followed by course.

If you want to see an elegant example of this in modern games look at Guild Wars 1. Where one does have a distinct front, mid and back line to group composition. With the mid line Paragons using one-handed ranged weapons, equipping shields and wearing heavy armor. Paragons also healed and buffed allies. A quintessential mid-line fighter.

Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, Dragon Age, Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgea, Suikoden and Final Fantasy 11 also had representations of the concept.

I only recently tried a witch and yes, indoors is a nightmare slog through atm...quite glad they are fixing it

Yea, around Cruel I gave up on FP indoors. Just swapped to a poor man's Spork and ran my butt off. Not deal with those stupid snakes.

[Deleted]

Hey guys. I'm really interested in this game and would like to ask someone for some spare beta key. I know OB starts in 2 weeks but it would be really nice to test the game tonight.

[Zani]

hehe i would buy a beta key ...but for those last 2 weeks of CB ... i'll wait !
Life is already expensive enough !

[nightshark]

Ignoring that this is a "pretty damn good game because it's free to play", I'll say that I don't care if a game costs me money, only that I get enjoyment out of it. That being said, I recently paid 10 bucks to check out POE. Some parts of it impressed me, other parts were disappointing. Overall: I didn't like the game enough to continue playing.

The problem I had with the game is it feels kind of unresponsive and not as fluid as playing say, Diablo. Regularly it would feel like my character was aiming in a direction I didn't want it to, was moving when I didn't want it to or just plain missing monsters when I believe the hit detection system should have killed the monster I was fighting. The lack of sound effects for some monsters and the animations often meant I couldn't tell if a monster was dead or still alive, whether I'd just missed a swing or if I was lagging. It was enough to make me lose interest in the game pretty fast, played it for about 4 hours.

That being said, this game does a lot right. Many of the features are amazing. The skill tree was fun to fill out, the currency and special effect consumables were great. Itemization was fun and comparing loot drops interesting. The gem system was great. It constantly felt like I was advancing in one way other another.

If I could mix the graphics/fluidity of D3 with the skill, currency and loot system of POE, I think there would be a game that would keep me entertained for a long time.

[Rooflesstoofless]

If anyone would like to trade a Firefall key for a PoE key I'd be grateful (or if anyone just wants to give me one but has to interest in Firefall...either way).

[yack346]

I was actually thinking about playing it when open beta comes around. Hope I like it, because a lot of people on Utube seem to

[Schmiggy]

I was actually thinking about playing it when open beta comes around. Hope I like it, because a lot of people on Utube seem to

Definitely give it a shot - you'd be doing yourself an injustice to not try it. I personally didn't particularly like it, for reasons mentioned in a post of mine a page or two back (similar to nightshark's reasons), but there are a large number of people really enjoying it.

[Repefe]

It's worth noting that the HC mode of the game is much more welcoming. If you die your character simply drops to softcore league, but you don't lose it. Even if you plan to play a softcore character you can start in HC mode and see how far you can go.

[starkey]

Krip is streaming PoE Alpha he can stream some stuff he has permission from GGG

http://www.twitch.tv/nl_kripp

[Edge-]

Krip is streaming PoE Alpha he can stream some stuff he has permission from GGG

http://www.twitch.tv/nl_kripp

Erm, it's in beta yo, with open beta later this month (the 23rd). You've been able to record/stream the game for months and months now.

[Fencers]

Erm, it's in beta yo, with open beta later this month (the 23rd). You've been able to record/stream the game for months and months now.

Nope.

Kripp is streaming the Alpha at the moment. As I type Kripp is in crematorium map.

No one has been allowed to stream the alpha until today. Kripp is the first. He got permission from GGG-- it was even announced in game in global chat by GGG.

Also the co-founder of GGG is in Kripp's chat answering questions for what is 3~ or so hours now.