[Megathread] Path of Exile

[Fencers]

You should probably not be playing melee in POE without an advanced understanding of the game mechanics. There is no such thing as choosing a "melee class" in POE; so by choosing to play melee one is effectively making a play style decision that requires as much prep as any other style at the least and robust game knowledge at the most.

Path of Exile punishes ignorance.

[Deleted]

At the same time tho ranged spells tend to be so boring, standing afar rightclicking 24/7. It´s nice to get up close sometimes but i agree that being melee is harder

[Fencers]

Well, Chris did just recently say that GGG like and intend for players to specialize their characters; "This is my general farming character, this is my Atrizi character, this is my maps character, etc"

GGG do not intend for any build to be able to do anything.

You kinda can't "wing it" in the long term playing Path of Exile. The game is all about planning, strategy, forethought, thinking long term, etc.

[haxartus]

I'm fairly new with this, what level maps are worth using alchemy orb on ? Currently doing 69 and 70 maps.

[Redblade]

I'm fairly new with this, what level maps are worth using alchemy orb on ? Currently doing 69 and 70 maps.

I'd say around 72-74 depending on how your map pool is progressing. 75+ you always want to chisel and alch.

[Fencers]

So I re-rolled a SRS Scion with minions. Using MoM & EB. It's, okay. Very easy progression but I am far more squishy than I'd like to be.

[Tommy T]

Made a mistake on my first char.

Onto my 2nd char who is much beefier. Yes...I rolled Duel Flame Totem. I regret nothing (in both meanings!)

[Deleted]

I rolled Duel Flame Totem. I regret nothing

It's funny how if a build works and is optimal, people who roll a character and play that build are hated, and the later in the game they roll it the more they're hated. It's like a select few who happen across a working build are allowed to have them and nobody else should roll anything similar.

Dual FT works, it's as simple as that. I left mine at level 83, a marauder, using the LiftingNerdBro spec. Worked fine from the get go. Rolled a marauder because I was bored of witches and because templars don't have pants. High armor, max resists (I think they're at over 100% on merciless, although capped at 74% due to a couple uniques, -5% and +4%), some 300 life regen, 12K or so DPS on FTs level 19 (zero quality), 6L armor, no Infernal Mantle. I think the DPS can go up to about 15K or so. 5000 life before herald.

Amazing trick which the spec doesn't utilize at all; use phase run with increased duration. Drop two totems, and you'll have three targets (totems and golem) the monsters are concentrating on (including bosses), while you're vanished and faded and nothing touches you. My phase run lasts around 3 seconds while the cooldown is 4, so just re-cast totems every 3 seconds and that's it. Then got cwdt-ic, endurance and flame dash, curse and totems, vaal haste, herald of thunder, and as an added utility and fun spell since I had the room, frost wall. Drop a wall and totems behind it, totems shoot and melee can't get to them.

If I had maps and/or interest it'd be smooth sailing to 90-95.

[Lysah]

Using emberwake with 95% ignite chance fireball and righteous fire. Still low level but seems to work fine, can't wait to see how much better it is with leveled gems and a full skill tree. Time to set a new trend (probably not, very squishy build even with high health)!

[Fencers]

I doubt Flame Totem is "hated" by the players. Lots of people play the build and it's highly recommended- veterans just view it as a "noob" build.

"Edgemaster" builds are what vets usually are contrasting Flame Totem, Arc and Cyclone builds against. Though people are generally cool with edgy variants of the latter; Arc Witch with Fortify on Flicker is well regarded by "vets" over the spam-a-thon Arc-ers, for example.


Unrelated: I am in the mood for a go at a Low Life EV/ES COC Barrage build. Got an Honorhome today and it turned my mind to rolling another LL build. It's been a while since my PCoC Spark Shadow.

[haxartus]

It's a good leveling build, that's it. I started with it and didn't die until normal Malachai, and this is because I didn't know the mechanics.
For maps it seems to work fine but I think that there must be much better map builds. It's also cheap, I don't think that my gear even costs 1 exalt.

[Deleted]

I doubt Flame Totem is "hated" by the players. Lots of people play the build and it's highly recommended- veterans just view it as a "noob" build.

Well, come visit 5055 some time.

Anyway, your second comment goes to my point exactly; people who a) don't intentionally gimp themselves and play "hard mode" by using some utterly useless and pointless build to prove something to someone, or b) don't happen to stumble on an excellent build themselves but rather do the research (which typically is seen as a good thing, go figure) and roll a build someone else already created - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know? - seem to be the scum of the earth in the eyes of some people.

I mean sure, it's fun to try shit out and experiment, but I doubt very many people have the time or the patience to roll characters and level them to 70+ to see if their "on a whim" -builds actually work or not, when they can just spend two minutes doing a search and finding tried and tested setups. It's not exactly easy or cheap to do full respecs in PoE anyway, so when you start to build your character, either be ready to bin it, or be sure you take the correct paths so you're not spending 50-100 regrets just to fix it.

Anyways, that kind of mentality of superiority towards people that seems to prevail even in PoE regarding builds and thinking people dumb and "noobs" is exactly why it's the players, not development decisions and developers, who ruin all pretty much all multiplayer games.

[Fencers]

Well, come visit 5055 some time.

No thanks.

a) don't intentionally gimp themselves and play "hard mode" by using some utterly useless and pointless build to prove something to someone

b) don't happen to stumble on an excellent build themselves but rather do the research (which typically is seen as a good thing, go figure) and roll a build someone else already created - if it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know? - seem to be the scum of the earth in the eyes of some people.

"Edgemaster" builds are not typically gimped. They are usually the most powerful variation of a build but require either higher skill or much greater costs.

Some people just view certain builds as "too easy". Typical human desire for differentiation via elitism. Nothing new or unique.

However, you are sorta suppose to be re-rolling characters all the time. Part of the reason "full repsecs" are costly or unfeasible in most circumstances is because GGG want players experiment or roll a new characters frequently. This part of the game design and you as a player are expected to buy into the premise- which I think most serious POE players do actually.

I think the player base of POE is generally pretty serious about theory crafting, shifting metas and research. With many counting those aspects as important if not more important than right clicking some zombie mobs. The game banks heavily on the intellectual consideration of gameplay.

[Tommy T]

I would like to get into the theory crafting side after I experience endgame. Flame totem is getting me there fast.

[Deleted]

The game banks heavily on the intellectual consideration of gameplay.

Yeah... Except, it doesn't require it. What I mean by that is you can always go on the web, get the best spec right to the last passive, get the right gear, skills, and so on, and not think a single thought. The game does nothing to prevent this, or promote anything different.

So, what's "wrong" with doing that? If people are thinking everyone should figure shit out for themselves, then why are guides popping up constantly, and why are they so loved by the community? That's the paradox here; people love those guides and the people who make them, but if you say you went to a guide to look up a build, they despise you for not being, borrowing your word here, "intellectual" and not figuring the build out yourself.

Also, while the passive tree is very complex, it does boil down to an optimal build almost every time, where you can pretty much whittle down every single last passive to the "correct choice." So if someone does it right the first time, why not do what they did, instead of trying to go around reinventing the wheel.

However, you are sorta suppose to be re-rolling characters all the time.

Well, besides the challenge requiring three archetypes to 3, besides the fact that leagues require rerolls, and besides the game getting insanely boring for me personally once I hit 80 or so as the actual fun of it - building the characters and getting advancements that way - is pretty much done by then, I see nothing in the game suggesting you're supposed to be rerolling constantly, and I'll take this just as your own, personal assertion, and I'll agree to disagree.

[Fencers]

Yeah... Except, it doesn't require it.

It does. That which is not expressed in gameplay is not a designer's problem. it is yours.

I see nothing in the game suggesting you're supposed to be rerolling constantly

You just listed a bunch of stuff to that effect. Expressed in gameplay.

I'll take this just as your own, personal assertion, and I'll agree to disagree.

Don't. When I give my opinion I make it clear as such. Otherwise, I am telling you what the design, gameplay and developers have said directly. The latest State of Exile podcast had the lead developer on, Chris Wilson.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/vi...1356089/page/1

He says the devs intend for players to roll new characters all the time. There are other podcasts with Rory, Qarl and so forth where they also state the game is designed to have multiple builds and reroll a lot.

Not my opinion. Stated by devs, expressed in gameplay; temp leagues, league resets, races, pvp only characters, permissible log out macros, no full respecs, unregulated economies, instant death mechanics, ladder tracking, xp penalties, et cetera.

[Lysah]

I've made 7 characters already this league.

[RobertoCarlos]

I've made 7 characters already this league.

Thats impressive! Do you like the playstyle of the game? Or just like theorizing/making builds? I'm finding it hard to keep my interest in PoE because I think the game play is a bit too simple.

[Lysah]

Thats impressive! Do you like the playstyle of the game? Or just like theorizing/making builds? I'm finding it hard to keep my interest in PoE because I think the game play is a bit too simple.

I died twice at level 70, so that accounts for 3 of them. I have a character in warbands for challenges, and I have an alt on tempest for the 82s challenge and another for a dreamfeather build that I somewhat ditched for now because of how hard it is to survive as an evasion melee now. I'll probably be making an alt on warbands for an ice spear build idea soon.

I do like theorycrafting quite a bit, most people who know me can tell you that I come up with stupid build ideas pretty much daily. If you want some help coming up with stupid builds I can do that for you

I do generally enjoy leveling in PoE, it only starts to feel tedious for me around mid 50s-60s when it starts slowing down but you're still so far from the final vision of your build (since most build enabling end game uniques are mid-upper 60s). I'd still rather level a new character than grind 250 maps to go from 89 to 90 while finding nothing of value along the way.

[RobertoCarlos]

I died twice at level 70, so that accounts for 3 of them. I have a character in warbands for challenges, and I have an alt on tempest for the 82s challenge and another for a dreamfeather build that I somewhat ditched for now because of how hard it is to survive as an evasion melee now. I'll probably be making an alt on warbands for an ice spear build idea soon.

I do like theorycrafting quite a bit, most people who know me can tell you that I come up with stupid build ideas pretty much daily. If you want some help coming up with stupid builds I can do that for you

I do generally enjoy leveling in PoE, it only starts to feel tedious for me around mid 50s-60s when it starts slowing down but you're still so far from the final vision of your build (since most build enabling end game uniques are mid-upper 60s). I'd still rather level a new character than grind 250 maps to go from 89 to 90 while finding nothing of value along the way.

Ohok cool. You know your stuff on dota 2 so I'm sure you smash this game. I made a marauder and didnt have any problems, but literally only used the spells molten strike and flame totem so was a bit boring. May consider a summoner to be able to cast more different spells? Thats my main problem, want a strong, fun build that uses more than 1-2 attacking spells.