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Dahbomb

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,624
If you are starting out (even like 3 leagues deep) then it's definitely better to follow builds, especially meta/starter builds. Always a reference point if you are facing wall or are confused about something. Just make sure the build is rock solid and comes from a veritable person. A lot of builds out there that people post with questionable content or is simply outdated.
 

Number45

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,038
Yeah, my first build ended up being a dead end. The others have been fine, I'm just getting to grips with proper gearing on those.
 

Valkyr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,939
Hi all. Newbie question here. So I have about 30 hours in PoE and have been having a good time. However, I really haven been having a hard time getting up to speed on how this game works. This is my first character and I had no idea what I was doing. Just picked whatever skills sounded good, no trading, skill tree pretty random, etc. So now, I have basically hit a wall in Act 5 and I am dying a lot to random enemies.

I'd like to start a new character and follow some kind of build guide now that I have built up some currency and know a little more about what I am doing. It's not worth it to start a new character until the new league hits, right? Is there anything useful I can do with this current character in the standard league while I wait for the new league to drop? Also, what kind of build would you recommend I follow? My goal for now as a pretty casual player is just to get through the Acts.
 

Number45

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,038
If you're still SSF, you'll need to try this with the vorici trick. Basically, roll the item as a 2s with two off colors you need (2r in this case). Then, craft the 3s recipe. This does not change the first two sockets, but adds a third socket of a random color (more likely to be blue on an int item of course). If that does not roll the color you need, craft 2s on it again. This leaves the first 2 sockets alone and removes the third.

Repeat this until you get a third red socket, then craft the 4s recipe. This is the most expensive one, so save your "item appropriate" color for the last socket you need. If, by bad luck, this one rolls an off color, craft 3s and try again.
Belated thanks for this trick, much less painful than my failed method!
 

TheFatOne

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,925
Looking at legion I'm tempted to start as ED Contagion due to the mechanics of the league. Seems like that is just going to be broken for the build.

Hi all. Newbie question here. So I have about 30 hours in PoE and have been having a good time. However, I really haven been having a hard time getting up to speed on how this game works. This is my first character and I had no idea what I was doing. Just picked whatever skills sounded good, no trading, skill tree pretty random, etc. So now, I have basically hit a wall in Act 5 and I am dying a lot to random enemies.

I'd like to start a new character and follow some kind of build guide now that I have built up some currency and know a little more about what I am doing. It's not worth it to start a new character until the new league hits, right? Is there anything useful I can do with this current character in the standard league while I wait for the new league to drop? Also, what kind of build would you recommend I follow? My goal for now as a pretty casual player is just to get through the Acts.
Making another build would be worth it since you are learning more of the game. Will also help you leveling at the start of the next league since you know the game more. My suggestion would be to look at some starter build for synthesis. Check out mathils synthesis league starter video. It's a long video so just skim through it and see if anything catches your eye.


Another starter build guide. I would seriously consider the essence drain contaigon build from Ghazzy this guide shows off. Essence drain contagion will synergize well with the legion league mechanics. Should be one of the better builds to start the next league I think.

 

yagal

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,170
I hope that the Vaal Legion Jewel system will be simple and good

Will leave this here



I'd like to start a new character and follow some kind of build guide now that I have built up some currency and know a little more about what I am doing. It's not worth it to start a new character until the new league hits, right? Is there anything useful I can do with this current character in the standard league while I wait for the new league to drop? Also, what kind of build would you recommend I follow? My goal for now as a pretty casual player is just to get through the Acts.

The FatOne was faster than me :). Yes start a new character, have fun
 

Valkyr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,939
Making another build would be worth it since you are learning more of the game. Will also help you leveling at the start of the next league since you know the game more. My suggestion would be to look at some starter build for synthesis. Check out mathils synthesis league starter video. It's a long video so just skim through it and see if anything catches your eye.

Another starter build guide. I would seriously consider the essence drain contaigon build from Ghazzy this guide shows off. Essence drain contagion will synergize well with the legion league mechanics. Should be one of the better builds to start the next league I think.


I hope that the Vaal Legion Jewel system will be simple and good

Will leave this here


The FatOne was faster than me :). Yes start a new character, have fun
Thanks guys. I'll take a look at those vids and probably start a new character.
 

Wolfgunblood

Member
Dec 1, 2017
2,748
The Land
Hi all. Newbie question here. So I have about 30 hours in PoE and have been having a good time. However, I really haven been having a hard time getting up to speed on how this game works. This is my first character and I had no idea what I was doing. Just picked whatever skills sounded good, no trading, skill tree pretty random, etc. So now, I have basically hit a wall in Act 5 and I am dying a lot to random enemies.

I'd like to start a new character and follow some kind of build guide now that I have built up some currency and know a little more about what I am doing. It's not worth it to start a new character until the new league hits, right? Is there anything useful I can do with this current character in the standard league while I wait for the new league to drop? Also, what kind of build would you recommend I follow? My goal for now as a pretty casual player is just to get through the Acts.

I was in the same boat, still am kind of. Take it slowly and chip away at understanding it through experimentation. It really doesn't matter if you don't have an optimal build or whatever. The only thing to really keep in mind that you need to know is to go for a lot of life and resists in the passive tree. Just taking someone else's blueprint for what to do robs you of the experience this game provides.
 

Valkyr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,939
I was in the same boat, still am kind of. Take it slowly and chip away at understanding it through experimentation. It really doesn't matter if you don't have an optimal build or whatever. The only thing to really keep in mind that you need to know is to go for a lot of life and resists in the passive tree. Just taking someone else's blueprint for what to do robs you of the experience this game provides.

Yeah, that is true. Guides for now are helping me learn though what is important. I picked a build in one of those videos and am going to mess around with that until the new league starts.

Another question though, when do you start trading for the gear you want? Basically as soon as you can afford it and/or use it? Is there other gear you are trading for while you work up to the final build gear or are you just using what drops? My last blind character I was only using stuff that dropped for me but I found I was not swapping gear very often, which is much different than in Diablo.
 

yagal

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,170
Another question though, when do you start trading for the gear you want? Basically as soon as you can afford it and/or use it? Is there other gear you are trading for while you work up to the final build gear or are you just using what drops? My last blind character I was only using stuff that dropped for me but I found I was not swapping gear very often, which is much different than in Diablo.

Don't think about trading. The league is dead no one will be trading low-level gear and I don't think that you have the currency or even need levelling items.
Just play the game and you will be fine with what the game will give you.

One thing that you should learn is what item you need to pick. A filter can help you
 

TheFatOne

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,925
Yeah, that is true. Guides for now are helping me learn though what is important. I picked a build in one of those videos and am going to mess around with that until the new league starts.

Another question though, when do you start trading for the gear you want? Basically as soon as you can afford it and/or use it? Is there other gear you are trading for while you work up to the final build gear or are you just using what drops? My last blind character I was only using stuff that dropped for me but I found I was not swapping gear very often, which is much different than in Diablo.
Generally speaking once you beat every act in the game and are doing maps then you should consider buying gear. You get to maps after beating every act in the game. It all depends on the build though as some builds require specific uniques, and getting them as early as possibly can benefit the build greatly. You can get by with gear you find during the leveling process and craft resists,life,etc on them as you need it.
 

Wolfgunblood

Member
Dec 1, 2017
2,748
The Land
Yeah, that is true. Guides for now are helping me learn though what is important. I picked a build in one of those videos and am going to mess around with that until the new league starts.

Another question though, when do you start trading for the gear you want? Basically as soon as you can afford it and/or use it? Is there other gear you are trading for while you work up to the final build gear or are you just using what drops? My last blind character I was only using stuff that dropped for me but I found I was not swapping gear very often, which is much different than in Diablo.

I think the gear trading board is just for deep into endgame where you're looking for a very specific thing. I still haven't found a reason to trade yet (I'm running maps in endgame).
 

Valkyr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,939
Awesome! Thanks so much guys, that is very helpful. It was confusing because most build guides focus a lot on the gear but I won't worry much about it until I beat the Acts.
 

Dahbomb

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,624
Two things about that:

*Its the Karui legion gem altering the Resolute Technique keystone.

*Other passives appear to be the same, might be a seeding thing.


This keystoneis very powerful for several reasons. Just about anyone can get 30% block which means 60% of time you take half damage. When it comes to calculating EHP this keystone doesn't change much as 30% chance to block is roughly the same as 60% chance to block 50% damage.

However, anyone who has played the game knows that consistent mitigation is better than spiky mitigation. I would rather reduce a one shot attack by half 75% of the time rather than completely avoid it 25% of the time.

This also enables more consistent on block effects. Now non Gladiators can make better use of those mechanics.

This is an extremely powerful effect but it's locked behind a jewel.

Anyone can use this and keystone to get capped attack block chance:

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rumi's_Concoction
 
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Greenpaint

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,890
I think I figured out my league starter: I might try going for SRS summoner again this league. One of main things why I never got past Shaper guardians with it were the constant interruptions where I needed to stop spamming SRS to dodge attacks. This lowered my DPS too much. I'm hoping this patch and instant movement skills and general automated animation cancelling / action queueing etc will allow me to keep that spam button pressed and just click movement skills to dodge whenever my zombies lose boss aggro. I might be finally able to perfect the build I always wanted. If it doesn't work out, it's pretty easy to switch summoner type.
 
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Number45

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,038


I don't know the fights well enough to see what's changed here, but a showcase of four bosses with improved mechanics.
 

Dahbomb

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,624


I don't know the fights well enough to see what's changed here, but a showcase of four bosses with improved mechanics.

It's just more mobs added in between phases for the most part.

It was a bit successful with the Desert Springs scorpion fight as the adds in between had good loot drops and more importantly could drop maps so you could sustain Desert Springs very well. If they employ a similar strategy here then these maps/bosses would be worth running just so you could sell those expensive maps as surplus.
 

Dahbomb

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,624
There is always a need to be able to test your build against earlier game mechanics. I want to see how my build performs when act 10 Kitava is of an equivalent power level. The act bosses have the tougher mechanics so it's a good check of your progression as a character.

Though at this point map bosses have become a joke and rarely pose a real threat anyway. They are in maps because every boss you faced in the game is in maps one way or the other, many times as repeats. It's hard to come up with 150 unique and new bosses.
 

DWarriorSN

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,135
PA
Theory crafted a Akunas Will build focused on flesh binder from necro.

I get 7 zombies with Mon'Tre Gul's and the caustic cloud does around 2.3 mil dps (i'm 99% sure multiple clouds dont stack) with max wither stacks (multiple totems wither), despair and vaal blight, the zombies themselves do around a combined 300kish (might be more or less bc of the slam) damage, taunt/blind and have 70k hp with max res.

The plan is to simply ressumon the to trigger their death whenever i need the single target since they'll be on top of whatever i need to kill and clear with a solar guard elder helmet setup (leaving a space open for the +1 zombie craft), it'll be clunky tho since zombies are dumb af but convocation should help a lot.

I don't think it'll be better than regular zombies and i haven't messed around with theory crafting the DD variant (which i think is the clunkiest variant) but it should be a cool alternative summoner style.
 

Dahbomb

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,624
Looks like there is going to be a Sulphite Scarab divination card.

Ideally there should be one for each of the 5 major ones.
 

Surfinn

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,590
USA
Delve is so awesome. I wish I could just play it all day without penalty, but I understand why there are limitations.
 
Oct 27, 2017
1,650
San Francisco
Started playing PoE on the PS4, just hit act 6 with a molten strike jugg. My gem situation needs fixed because I'm super squishy. It's the Diablo Ive always wanted. Wish it was couch coop though.

Small question, the synth league is ending soon and so are characters worth playing outside of a league?
 

Greenpaint

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,890
Started playing PoE on the PS4, just hit act 6 with a molten strike jugg. My gem situation needs fixed because I'm super squishy. It's the Diablo Ive always wanted. Wish it was couch coop though.

Small question, the synth league is ending soon and so are characters worth playing outside of a league?

How are your resistances? In Act5 you get a permanent -30% to ALL resistances. If you have almost no resistances to begin with, elemental mobs in A6 and beyond can hurt BAD. Resistances are found in gear, not in gems. Ignore chaos resistance (for now at least) and focus on elemental resistances: fire, cold, lightning. ALSO remember to include +maximum life gear pieces.

Usually playing characters outside league is done when you play PoE only occasionally. Meaning you don't have any meaningful game time to develop your char over the 3-month duration of the league.
 
Oct 27, 2017
1,650
San Francisco
How are your resistances? In Act5 you get a permanent -30% to ALL resistances. If you have almost no resistances to begin with, elemental mobs in A6 and beyond can hurt BAD. Resistances are found in gear, not in gems. Ignore chaos resistance (for now at least) and focus on elemental resistances: fire, cold, lightning. ALSO remember to include +maximum life gear pieces.

Usually playing characters outside league is done when you play PoE only occasionally. Meaning you don't have any meaningful game time to develop your char over the 3-month duration of the league.

My resistances are fine, I think my HP is too low and my gear outside of my weapons is not correct. I'm debating just grinding out the last part of the story before the end of league then starting over. I've done a lot of reading today and I think I misunderstood what I should have focused on stat wise. I should have gone with claws for better health on hit and done a better job stacking HP to reduce the volatile swings in health. I needed more Intel on my gear to do so.

I can't wait to fix it.
 

TheFatOne

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,925
Hit 1:13 for Acts 1-3. I'm at the point now where the gains in time are going to have to be from layout recognition. So the next couple of days I'm going to compile all the layouts for Acts 1-4, and then see if I can build some tool to help me out.
 

Dahbomb

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,624
Hit 1:13 for Acts 1-3. I'm at the point now where the gains in time are going to have to be from layout recognition. So the next couple of days I'm going to compile all the layouts for Acts 1-4, and then see if I can build some tool to help me out.
I think tools already exist for layouts and speed running.

Some layouts easier to recognize than others.
 

Dahbomb

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,624
xr7xio3fnf031.jpg


This replaces Point Blank on the tree.

This is another well made/balanced keystone IMO.

You are giving up an item slot which can have powerful bonuses (Vaal implicit, Helm Emchants, insane EHP, offensive/utility bonuses through uniques) for something that could give you insane damage consistency.

Your damage is lucky is huge for 2H and lighting builds because of the huge damage rolls. This is roughly a 30% more damage multiplier on average for builds like that at the code of effectively making you squished.

This is fairly niche still but this is the right way to make something like this. Keystones usually have always been about big upside with big drawback.