4 links start to drop very commonly later on in the campaign. I use the occasional Alchemy Orb, Chrome, Jeweler, Fusing, and blue/magic currencies but nothing beyond this as they are valuable or not worth using this early. I also use Essences as pseudo alchemy orbs. Make sure you have the Neveesink Filter though, otherwise you will be missing out.As a new player, should I be worried about using the various orbs to improve my gear? I'm trying to follow one of the build guides but it requires a 4-link item for one of my skills at this point but I either don't have the right links or I don't have the right colors. Should I just keep trashing this gear until the right thing drops, or worry about crafting?
Also, I'm wondering how power creep plays a part in PoE and its expansions. How do they keep the game interesting after you've beaten the campaign and gotten a character to, say, Lv. 90-95? I guess you can just start over with a new build, but you're ultimately still just playing the same game again. Is there some kind of raiding component (e.g. WoW) at all, or something else that encourages you to stick with a character after you've maxed the level? If not, where does the longevity come from?
GGG keeps things fresh by having new leagues every 3 months which is like a full reset and everyone starts over fresh. There are new mechanics, items and content in the new league and the economy is the liveliest at that point (too lively at some points). Thisis what keeps getting people back leveling your character beyond lvl95 is tedious and not really needed, you can beat everything in the game well before that.
Power creep is definitely a factor though as GGG has to introduce shiny new items for players to chase after. The main power creep has been the rate at which players clear content and acquire money, allowing them to surpass the content faster than before. I dont know about others but for me this was the fastest I killed Uber Elder in a league. And it feels I am getting faster and faster every league and its not jusr my personal skill or knowledge (maybe that is too) getting better but the game having more tools available for players to take advantage of.
That said the most powerful and sought after item in the game is many years old. So old stuff doesn't always lose its value.