[Megathread] Path of Exile

[kail]

Just means you'll have to specialize a bit more I think.

If before you could have the main design traits of:
Dual wielding, Crit striking, Minion using ice princess.

Maybe now you'll have to cut that down to just:
Dual wielding, Crit striking ice princess.

Not so bad to have more choices to specialize.

True and it can even offer more flexibility outside of a build template. There will probably be too many possibilities for authors to comment on but there are probably build enabling/upgrading notables to hunt for. I feel even sorry for whoever works on PoB, this looks to be a complex addition.

- - - Updated - - -

Well technically Wolcen was my first ! but I’m still wanting the developers to open up more build aspects for Wolcen and in the meantime I thought I’d try out PoE to see what everyone’s talking about.

And yeah PoE is complex as fuck. But slowly been following a beginner guide and watching some beginner build idea videos (Engineering Eternity), and got the Path of Building (with fork).

Idk just kinda kept grabbing my attention, also I am enjoying the storyline very much of PoE, even if that may not be a main focus for the game.

I think I’m general I'm hooked into ARPGs right now, especially with the sun setting of BFA until Shadowlands.

Also kinda funny about the “hard mode” cuz I also happened to pick starting as the Shadow first and I heard he’s one of the harder beginning classes too lol (I was like well shit that would be my ‘luck’).

I was even trying to find myself excuses to drop $40 on d3 right now ������ !

Between WoW weekly stuff and these ARPGs I’m thinking I got more than a full plate of games for the foreseeable future.

PoE will take time to fully understand. And even when you've learned most of what the game has to offer, leagues add even more mechanics, skills, and reworks to further test and research. D3 is an excellent arcade game (last I played), PoE is atm the ARPG with the most depth in terms of itemization, endgame progression and build diversity.

If you want some popular guide authors, look at ZiggyD and Zizaran's channel for some great starter builds and certain mechanics explanation. Mathil is also a popular content creator but I'd be cautious of following his builds.

[Nasuuna]

thoughts on a coc arc build for a league starter

May go life based with impulsa if its a crazy clear season, or CI with a good rare chest with -15 channeling

[Marrilaife]

Oh okay. I know there's "league starter" builds that are designed for newbs like me, but how can you sorta tell whether a build is functionally good?

Also, does someone have to follow 'the meta' in order to complete all content in the game, or are meta builds more like "if you wanna finish what you're doing faster" type builds?

Just curious how much variety there can be in building aside from what's found on guides and/or websites like poebuilds/poevault etc.

League starter builds are builds that are effective without specific unique items and with cheap gear. They might or might not be able to be expanded into expensive gear / end game build bracket, but the mark of "league starter" means you can play it as the first character in the league (no currency or hand me down items) and at least get to early-mid maps to start farming currency.

I don't think it means anything about how newbie friendly is the build, however if it doesn't rely on very specific gear, there's very low chance that's it's some gimnicky and hard to understand build.

Meta builds are usually the builds that are most effective in clearing content, they can do it faster, with cheaper gear than other builds, or both. Meta builds are also often easy to play, because it goes well in pair with being efficient, and usually also do well against current league specific mechanic that might put emphasis on specific aspects (like aoe vs single target, 1 big burst of dps vs sustained, require more survivability vs glass cannon, etc.)

Non meta builds have multiple levels of them, they can't be all put together. All of these classify as "non meta" imo, and they have different levels of playability:
1. Unpopular skills that are clunky to use (for example small range melee skills)
2. Builds that require a lot of investment while a cheaper / simpler build fulfills the same niche better
3. Skills that fell out of favour due to nerfs (some are underpowered, some are still playable but people tend to be scared that nerfed means trash)
4. Builds that are only good for 1 type of content (they can be "meta" in that content, for example deep delving or lab speed running, but they aren't used for general farming)
5. Builds that use gimnicky interactions between multiple items, often look funny on videos but impractical to use
6. Homebrew experimental builds that authors are not sure if they will even be effective

You don't have to follow the meta, but non-meta builds can vary from "a bit slower / a bit more expensive" to "failed experiment where build lacks crucial survivability or necessary damage to do content". And a newbie will have hard time discerning between the two, even harder time inventing a build that won't be a dead-end especially if they're trying to make 100% original build that is unlike anything else.

POE offers endless amounts of builds but there's probably less than 50 at any given time that are used and tested to work and don't tragically lag behind. That's still much bigger variety than 2-3 meta builds of the season.

If you're a newbie I'd say follow a guide and before you decide on which guide to follow, check 2 things, first is the estimated cost of items for the build to achieve full functionality (prices vary but guide authors usually hint whether it's expected to be expensive or cheap), and second are testimonies of what kind of end game / hard content the build completed. Also videos are helpful to see how does the skill look like, how fast does it clear maps, etc.

[FlubberPuddy]

PoE will take time to fully understand. And even when you've learned most of what the game has to offer, leagues add even more mechanics, skills, and reworks to further test and research. D3 is an excellent arcade game (last I played), PoE is atm the ARPG with the most depth in terms of itemization, endgame progression and build diversity.

If you want some popular guide authors, look at ZiggyD and Zizaran's channel for some great starter builds and certain mechanics explanation. Mathil is also a popular content creator but I'd be cautious of following his builds.

Thanks, yeah seems like they update often to keep things fresh. I like that, it's pretty neat. Especially with the standard league being there as a form of perma progression (though I know people say it has very inflated economy because it's where everyone's old league stuff goes and accrues).

Thanks for the recommendations, I will for sure check those guys out! Yes I have heard of Mathil, but I also heard he's apparently a god at PoE so his builds are atypical from the most average PoE playerbase. I don't even want to see what he cooks up yet!

- - - Updated - - -

If you're a newbie I'd say follow a guide and before you decide on which guide to follow, check 2 things, first is the estimated cost of items for the build to achieve full functionality (prices vary but guide authors usually hint whether it's expected to be expensive or cheap), and second are testimonies of what kind of end game / hard content the build completed. Also videos are helpful to see how does the skill look like, how fast does it clear maps, etc.

That was all good to hear, thank you. I'm glad with the amount of build diversity and how variable off-meta builds can be. I think right now I am just soaking the game in (still in Act 2 after starting about a week ago with haphazard play time) and what it's got to offer. I have been following a guide from the website poe-vault that was recommended to me because it's got a whole guide for fresh new players. Doing a Caustic Arrow Trickster currently, but already the passive skill tree I look at things and go "huh that would be interesting!!".

Still sticking to my guide though and it seems like a lot of builds tend to spread out as far as they can within the passive tree, is it because there's often node clusters/keystones you want that are never near your tree? Is it intentionally designed that way? I haven't seen many tree builds where they stay near their beginning, they're almost always spreading far! :O

[Marrilaife]

That was all good to hear, thank you. I'm glad with the amount of build diversity and how variable off-meta builds can be. I think right now I am just soaking the game in (still in Act 2 after starting about a week ago with haphazard play time) and what it's got to offer. I have been following a guide from the website poe-vault that was recommended to me because it's got a whole guide for fresh new players. Doing a Caustic Arrow Trickster currently, but already the passive skill tree I look at things and go "huh that would be interesting!!".

Still sticking to my guide though and it seems like a lot of builds tend to spread out as far as they can within the passive tree, is it because there's often node clusters/keystones you want that are never near your tree? Is it intentionally designed that way? I haven't seen many tree builds where they stay near their beginning, they're almost always spreading far! :O

Well tbh that's a good question, I see a lot of newbies spend points in the closest vicinity of their class starting area because "this could be useful, and this, and this too..." but this often ends up with inefficient builds.

Usually a build will want to pick specific notables (medium sized nodes) and keystones (big sized nodes) and then path efficiently between them, but the nodes itself can be between 1/4-1/2 wheel away. Good idea is download "path of building" program it's free and allows you to preview / plan / manage build offline (by either making one from scratch or importing existing character). Then you can see if a big node is let's say 10 points away but gives you a lot more damage per point even counting travel nodes than a closeby node, it's worth it. Some builds might need specific amount of specific stat, for example crit multiplier, or spellpower, or attack speed so they will target biggest nodes that provide it.

Also nearly every build will want to path in a way to get enough life or energy shield % increase (depending if the build relies on life or energy shield to survive), for example life based builds will want 150-200% increase (depends on type of build, "facetank" builds will want more, glass cannon builds tend to have less), and this cannot be gained in 1 spot of the tree because the nodes are spread apart.

With websites be careful, some of them are fine but some of them only exist to spam people with advertisement of illegal trade (gear / currency for irl money), don't get tricked.

Most builds will have guides on official POE website / forums, for example as you said about Caustic Arrow Trickster, there are few threads covering it:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/vi...2497657/page/1
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2778181

I'm pretty sure if you're interested in other builds you can find most common ones, and forums are sorted by class and ascendancy if you want to narrow your choice.

Btw Mathil videos from my perspective are a great source of ideas for build variety and nearly every build of his is "viable", i.e. he always goes and kills end boss (Awakener now, Uber Elder before 3.9) to prove his build doesn't suck. But he's a very efficient farmer and crafter so many of his builds tend to require moderate to semi-high investment to get similar results.

[Wildmoon]

Well technically Wolcen was my first ! but I’m still wanting the developers to open up more build aspects for Wolcen and in the meantime I thought I’d try out PoE to see what everyone’s talking about.

And yeah PoE is complex as fuck. But slowly been following a beginner guide and watching some beginner build idea videos (Engineering Eternity), and got the Path of Building (with fork).

Idk just kinda kept grabbing my attention, also I am enjoying the storyline very much of PoE, even if that may not be a main focus for the game.

I think I’m general I'm hooked into ARPGs right now, especially with the sun setting of BFA until Shadowlands.

Also kinda funny about the “hard mode” cuz I also happened to pick starting as the Shadow first and I heard he’s one of the harder beginning classes too lol (I was like well shit that would be my ‘luck’).

I was even trying to find myself excuses to drop $40 on d3 right now ������ !

Between WoW weekly stuff and these ARPGs I’m thinking I got more than a full plate of games for the foreseeable future.

Don't get D3. Blizzard abandoned that game. The meme is there's 1 person working on it.

[Gorsameth]

Thanks, yeah seems like they update often to keep things fresh. I like that, it's pretty neat. Especially with the standard league being there as a form of perma progression (though I know people say it has very inflated economy because it's where everyone's old league stuff goes and accrues).

Thanks for the recommendations, I will for sure check those guys out! Yes I have heard of Mathil, but I also heard he's apparently a god at PoE so his builds are atypical from the most average PoE playerbase. I don't even want to see what he cooks up yet!

Mathil plays nothing but PoE and switches characters every few weeks so he goes through a lot of builds in a league and gets atypical yes, but the starter builds he puts out at the start of a new league are generally just solid builds that are suitable to new players.

[Gallahadd]

I don't know... I like the IDEA of customisable skill tree extensions, but given how hard it is to respec in this game, it seem like this is going to encourage spending the bare minimum to get your build workiing, and pooling the rest of your points, until you get the right extension. Seems INCREDIBLY unintuitive, and potentially anti-fun.

[Craaazyyy]

Don't get D3. Blizzard abandoned that game. The meme is there's 1 person working on it.

1? that person is doing fuck all then lol.. 1 is too many

[bloodwulf]

I don't know... I like the IDEA of customisable skill tree extensions, but given how hard it is to respec in this game, it seem like this is going to encourage spending the bare minimum to get your build workiing, and pooling the rest of your points, until you get the right extension. Seems INCREDIBLY unintuitive, and potentially anti-fun.

I dont think that is true in the least. Respecing is easy to do in this game, and a gem should not require you to respec more than 10 points, 20 tops. Even in SSF, regrets are not hard to obtain. This will encourage you pathing to your required nodes efficiently, and then spending points as you normal would. The only difference will be if you get a jewel that offers a lot of power for your build, you compare to an equal number of points on the tree, regret them and add the new piece. No one will be saving unspent points in the hopes of getting a gem, that would be poor play. Why would you pool points when you can spend them for power now and respec them later when you have the gem.

[Craaazyyy]

I don't know... I like the IDEA of customisable skill tree extensions, but given how hard it is to respec in this game, it seem like this is going to encourage spending the bare minimum to get your build workiing, and pooling the rest of your points, until you get the right extension. Seems INCREDIBLY unintuitive, and potentially anti-fun.

how is respeccing hard? it's really not, you get tons of regrets by just playing and you can always buy some from vendors/other players..

also permanent choices matter in ARPGs

[Gallahadd]

Why would you pool points when you can spend them for power now and respec them later when you have the gem.

Because not everyone pools resources and has 50+ regrets, to allow them to respec parts of their tree every time they get a new gem that gives them a large upgrade.

Sure, most players that have been in the game for a while will easily be able to play around it. But you have to remember a LARGE chunk of the playerbase don't use guides for their builds, plan out what they're doing before hand, and spend every point optimally.

If you're keeping all your regrets, so you can tweak your build for new gems, what about when you just make a genuine mistake and have to correct your build?

[Onikaroshi]

1? that person is doing fuck all then lol.. 1 is too many

Still more updates than OW >.>. New sets have been a decent amount of fun.

- - - Updated - - -

how is respeccing hard? it's really not, you get tons of regrets by just playing and you can always buy some from vendors/other players..

also permanent choices matter in ARPGs

Minor respecs maybe, but if you have to do a major one (more than just rerouting for CI or LL) you might as well roll a new character. You really don't get THAT may regret orbs through normal play.

[bloodwulf]

Because not everyone pools resources and has 50+ regrets, to allow them to respec parts of their tree every time they get a new gem that gives them a large upgrade.

Sure, most players that have been in the game for a while will easily be able to play around it. But you have to remember a LARGE chunk of the playerbase don't use guides for their builds, plan out what they're doing before hand, and spend every point optimally.

If you're keeping all your regrets, so you can tweak your build for new gems, what about when you just make a genuine mistake and have to correct your build?

Make sure your filters show Regrets, and you will find on average 2-3 a map (least from my experience). Make sure it shows Scours cause you can buy regrets for scours off a vendor. Save chances (which most people have TONs of) to buy scours to buy regrets. Yeah the exchange rate is bad going strictly vendor, but you never have to deal with a person or you can do it in SSF. Most people horde currency for no reason, and in SSF i used over 200 regrets switching my necro to occultist back to necro and my ranger switched as well. These gems are not offering any type of cumbersome experience and you should never pool unspent points period. If you can not manage a 3-10 point respec when you get a game changing gem, then ignore the gems because they are not designed for you.

- - - Updated - - -

Minor respecs maybe, but if you have to do a major one (more than just rerouting for CI or LL) you might as well roll a new character. You really don't get THAT may regret orbs through normal play.

Except, you do. If your filter is set to show them and the orbs that can be used to purchase them you should never hurt for Regrets. If you play trade league people are always selling regrets as well. I switched my Witch from Popcorn Skele to Cold Occultist back to 1000 Str Zombros in SSF and had no issue funding the regrets. I typically level a few classes i like each league and then respec them over and over as i get new items to try.

[keldarepewpew]

Still more updates than OW >.>. New sets have been a decent amount of fun.

- - - Updated - - -



Minor respecs maybe, but if you have to do a major one (more than just rerouting for CI or LL) you might as well roll a new character. You really don't get THAT may regret orbs through normal play.

last season i had enough regrets after mapping to 90 that i could probably respec entirely twice...

[Onikaroshi]

Make sure your filters show Regrets, and you will find on average 2-3 a map (least from my experience). Make sure it shows Scours cause you can buy regrets for scours off a vendor. Save chances (which most people have TONs of) to buy scours to buy regrets. Yeah the exchange rate is bad going strictly vendor, but you never have to deal with a person or you can do it in SSF. Most people horde currency for no reason, and in SSF i used over 200 regrets switching my necro to occultist back to necro and my ranger switched as well. These gems are not offering any type of cumbersome experience and you should never pool unspent points period. If you can not manage a 3-10 point respec when you get a game changing gem, then ignore the gems because they are not designed for you.

- - - Updated - - -



Except, you do. If your filter is set to show them and the orbs that can be used to purchase them you should never hurt for Regrets. If you play trade league people are always selling regrets as well. I switched my Witch from Popcorn Skele to Cold Occultist back to 1000 Str Zombros in SSF and had no issue funding the regrets. I typically level a few classes i like each league and then respec them over and over as i get new items to try.

last season i had enough regrets after mapping to 90 that i could probably respec entirely twice...

Ya'll must just be more lucky, I never get more than like 20 by the time I hit 90

[Tang0]

Ya'll must just be more lucky, I never get more than like 20 by the time I hit 90

You better check your filters then. I had tons of regrets in metamorph ssf. Partially because metamorphs were real loot piñatas, but even without them there was never any shortage.

[Onikaroshi]

You better check your filters then. I had tons of regrets in metamorph ssf. Partially because metamorphs were real loot piñatas, but even without them there was never any shortage.

My filter makes a huge noise whenever a regret drops

[kail]

Ya'll must just be more lucky, I never get more than like 20 by the time I hit 90

That sounds strange. You alching and vaaling ur high lv maps?

[Onikaroshi]

That sounds strange. You alching and vaaling ur high lv maps?

always lol, i've got a shit ton of those usually, think when I quit the season I had like 200+ vaal orbs. I play trade league so of course I can just buy peoples regrets, but that currency seems better spent on gear so usually if I have to do major reworks I just re-level, not like it takes long.