Path of Exile

Derkon

Trakanon Raider
2,452
1,192
I look at the obvious fake posts for items or currency, scroll down 1/2 a page or even a whole page and buy from people really selling for 1 chaos more. I think I must be the only person in the game or this forum who has figured this out and has barely any problems buying anything.

Yeah I mean other than maps I've never really had an issue.
 

Zhro

Silver Knight of the Realm
184
77
I replaced my Haemophilias with some crafted spiked gloves to try them out, but I feel I like the extra chance to bleed + the explosions really help with clear speed. Right now I am using Herald of Ice + Hatred to freeze/shatter packs, it seems alright. I was also thinking about running a Loreweave, over my current chest, but not sure if I should just find a better rare chest or check out Loreweave.

Here is a profile link: View Profile - Path of Exile - zhr0
 

Malinatar

Lord Nagafen Raider
629
237
So I average MAYBE 15-20 hours a week for the first few weeks and I feel like that is a relatively common number. I get that this game doesn't want to be D3 and essentially hand you shit like killing Shaper/Uber Whatever, but if you are not farming currency in some shape or form at some point in time, you are not going to have long term fun, and if you are not having fun you will quit playing and this is the cycle that I'm in I find myself in every league. I get super excited for a new league, play pretty heavily for the first few weeks, then the gear wall hits and I just don't have the patience or time quite frankly to mindlessly grind it out. I get this is the tried and true ARPG formula and that PoE isn't for everyone, but dammit this game has so much going for it which is what I find so fucking frustrating and me always quitting feeling unsatisfied.

This isn't like a MMO where your stats/gear will go into perpetuity and keep building upon itself (unless you play standard to a certain degree but who seriously does that). I know if gear was a little more "accessible" I would put in more time organically/naturally and throw them a bit more money on MTXs or other shit.
 
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Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
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Or they could make crafting more consistently rewarding instead of 99.99% shit and .01% jackpot?

Or they could make crafting recipes for more leveling/start of map uniques?

Or they could make farmable uniques that didn't take 50+ hours of farming?

I feel like there are a lot of solutions to the problem, but they are a lot like Blizzard of old with WoW. They spend too much time focusing the game around the players that play all the time when they are going to be constantly re-rolling, re-leveling, and farming anyways. Shit, put an ultra-HC mode in for them or something so that streamers have a super challenge. They are just actively fucking over the non-full time players at this point.

Case in point this league is loads better than bestiary, but I stopped playing already without ever making it out of starting maps. I tried a new build, it sucked and then I leveled a second build but by that point everything was too expensive to buy so I would need to hit the jackpot or farm constantly on characters that aren't really able to farm. I'd love to play more of this league, but it is super unfriendly to all but those who invest a shitload of time.
What two builds did you try this league?
 

Pyros

<Silver Donator>
11,059
2,262
I look at the obvious fake posts for items or currency, scroll down 1/2 a page or even a whole page and buy from people really selling for 1 chaos more. I think I must be the only person in the game or this forum who has figured this out and has barely any problems buying anything.
It really depends on what you're buying and stuff, plus you have to look at it not from the perspective of someone who gets to maps in 4hours and start dealing in exalts a couple of days into the league and more from the perspective of the casual guy who has 15chaos 3days in. Yeah sure you can pay 1 chaos more for shit to get it faster, but for a lot of people that isn't really an option when it doubles the price of everything they're trying to buy. They just want 1 of the thing, not 50. They want some inexpensive unique for their build where the 1c difference is huge.

Now if we're talking currency/maps, that's a bit different.

For currency it's just price fixers and the real value of the stuff starts about halfway into the list as you mention. It does suck on a psychological level however, like knowing that all this shit is just assholes listing shit they're not selling so they can buy stuff cheaper by scamming newbs.

For maps the issue is it's not worth moving your ass for 1map sales, but it's hard to buy bulk maps unless you're buying one single map. Like buying a bunch of burial chambers? Fucking easy as fuck, easily can find some fuckers having 500 for sale and you can buy 64 if that's the money you have. But buying 3 T4, 2 T5s, 4 T6, 1 T7, all different and all specific, for atlas completion? A fucking disaster. There's that script thing that was linked earlier in the thread to help you a bit, but the basic tools don't support that. So you have to message a ton of people, a bunch who won't sell a 2chisels map because it's not worth the 15secs getting out of a map and waiting for a trade(in the best cases) for just 2chisels and those that don't actually want to sell maps at that price and are just price fixing. And yeah sure, you can spend 1 or 2c instead to get the maps quicker, but it adds up early in the league for a casual player. You're overpaying like 30chaos to complete your white maps, when that money could go towards getting better gear. Not a big problem if you're floating in currency already and your upgrades are in the 5ex+ range, but that's not everyone.
 
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Vorph

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
11,002
4,740
So I average MAYBE 15-20 hours a week for the first few weeks and I feel like that is a relatively common number. I get that this game doesn't want to be D3 and essentially hand you shit like killing Shaper/Uber Whatever, but if you are not farming currency in some shape or form at some point in time, you are not going to have long term fun, and if you are not having fun you will quit playing and this is the cycle that I'm in I find myself in every league. I get super excited for a new league, play pretty heavily for the first few weeks, then the gear wall hits and I just don't have the patience or time quite frankly to mindlessly grind it out. I get this is the tried and true ARPG formula and that PoE isn't for everyone, but dammit this game has so much going for it which is what I find so fucking frustrating and me always quitting feeling unsatisfied.

This isn't like a MMO where your stats/gear will go into perpetuity and keep building upon itself (unless you play standard to a certain degree but who seriously does that). I know if gear was a little more "accessible" I would put in more time organically/naturally and throw them a bit more money on MTXs or other shit.
This is pretty much my exact beef with the game, except that I play maybe 3-4x that amount at the start and I still have the same issues because I refuse to do anything but actually play the game. Then I get to the point I'm at now where I remember that I still have 50+ games in my backlog that I could be playing instead and I quit PoE having accomplished less than half of what I would like to because I just can't justify investing any more time in it for so little return. I love about 90-95% of this game, depending on how well the actual league is designed, but goddamn that last 5-10% really chaps my ass.

The same goes for MTX. A video game company isn't a fucking charity, and that goes 1000x for one now owned by Tencent, but that's what I feel like I'm doing whenever I spend money on the game. Slash those prices and actually give me something remotely approaching fair value and I'd spend a hell of a lot more than I do. But when I see them churning out $42 armor sets that are just recolors of old sets I know that I am clearly not their target market. It also doesn't help that the only thing I'm actually interested in buying (skill MTX) have been shown to often have a severe impact on fps. Looking at you, herald MTX.
 
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Korrupt

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,832
1,228
Its crazy with just MTX in general how much smoother mapping is in a group when everyone takes it all off, including armor cosmetics.

BV + Herald of Ice people are the devil this league to be in groups with
 

Vorph

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
11,002
4,740
Yeah, the only armor set I ever use is the Outlaw one from Fall of Oriath supporter packs. It's not gaudy like almost all the $42 sets and it has that sweet hat.
 
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Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
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Herald MTX are the best! Fuck you haters.



Also, I don't group with people, so I don't get FPS issues. Unless my Elementalist is blowing up 3 screens of mobs at the same time, but I consider that a badge of honor.
 

Korrupt

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,832
1,228
Herald MTX are the best! Fuck you haters.

Also, I don't group with people, so I don't get FPS issues. Unless my Elementalist is blowing up 3 screens of mobs at the same time, but I consider that a badge of honor.

Oh I love me some gloom heralds but only alone. This game rewards you so strongly for group play though, its tough to not group and be in a social guild. Splitting map costs and rolling them is a huge help when you split the load. Also the quantity bonus is ridiculous for having people with you.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
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Oh I love me some gloom heralds but only alone. This game rewards you so strongly for group play though, its tough to not group and be in a social guild. Splitting map costs and rolling them is a huge help when you split the load. Also the quantity bonus is ridiculous for having people with you.
Gloom Herald of Ice with that crunchy shatter, mmmmm.

I know group play is superior, never going to do. I like listening podcasts in the background, alt tabbing to...uh, other stuff. Group play feels tiring.

BTW, did you try that Apep Flicker Strike build you posted earlier? I had some comments on it.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
24,646
32,010
I replaced my Haemophilias with some crafted spiked gloves to try them out, but I feel I like the extra chance to bleed + the explosions really help with clear speed. Right now I am using Herald of Ice + Hatred to freeze/shatter packs, it seems alright. I was also thinking about running a Loreweave, over my current chest, but not sure if I should just find a better rare chest or check out Loreweave.

Here is a profile link: View Profile - Path of Exile - zhr0

I change my haemophilias with other gloves for boss/single target just like the 2 other gems in my body armor. Sucks but I like the bleed explosions while mapping, especially doing incursions. Only change it for the higher end maps just like the gems. Otherwise it's normal gloves all the time. Only stuff that I think the boss fight might be "close". So as of right now tier 14 and up.
 
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Korrupt

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,832
1,228
Gloom Herald of Ice with that crunchy shatter, mmmmm.

I know group play is superior, never going to do. I like listening podcasts in the background, alt tabbing to...uh, other stuff. Group play feels tiring.

BTW, did you try that Apep Flicker Strike build you posted earlier? I had some comments on it.

I didnt try it but it looks cool as hell, I am not sure what I am going to do once I level. Was thinking of GC mines / Fire Trap or maybe going blade flurry to speed through challenges?
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
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I didnt try it but it looks cool as hell, I am not sure what I am going to do once I level. Was thinking of GC mines / Fire Trap or maybe going blade flurry to speed through challenges?
Depends on what you plan on doing for challenges. I'm doing 36 and there's surprisingly little needed for boss killing that I already abandoned my Double Strike Jugg(idk, just hated the clear speed/style after getting use to a arc/lw pp elementalist). I'm hoping this Flicker Strike build can be at least a competent boss killer(haha, stop laughing). The only thing that really holds back that arc/lw pp build is that it doesn't have a great movement skill _while_ it is doing boss damage because you have to weapon swap back to lightning warp. Otherwise, it has great boss dps and survivability.

If you plan on doing 40, fire trap sounds like a good idea. I like Octavian's Rainbow Trapper and I'd probably be leveling one now if I thought I was going to be killing bosses enough to play a clunky trapper. My plan for 36 doesn't even need to kill shaper, so I'm not going to level a trapper.

About the Apep Flicker build, I can figure out why that guy decided to use Voidheart. Seems like such an odd choice just to get bleed chance.
 

Korrupt

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,832
1,228
Depends on what you plan on doing for challenges. I'm doing 36 and there's surprisingly little needed for boss killing that I already abandoned my Double Strike Jugg(idk, just hated the clear speed/style after getting use to a arc/lw pp elementalist). I'm hoping this Flicker Strike build can be at least a competent boss killer(haha, stop laughing). The only thing that really holds back that arc/lw pp build is that it doesn't have a great movement skill _while_ it is doing boss damage because you have to weapon swap back to lightning warp. Otherwise, it has great boss dps and survivability.

If you plan on doing 40, fire trap sounds like a good idea. I like Octavian's Rainbow Trapper and I'd probably be leveling one now if I thought I was going to be killing bosses enough to play a clunky trapper. My plan for 36 doesn't even need to kill shaper, so I'm not going to level a trapper.

About the Apep Flicker build, I can figure out why that guy decided to use Voidheart. Seems like such an odd choice just to get bleed chance.

Gonna "try" 40/40 now that the end game challenge is easier. I seriously would rather grind to 100 every league over doing 100 Atziri's and Izaro. Ive already almost completed the end game grinds and am 29/30 without even trying for anything specifically yet. Ive done 5 of the 40/40's but got real sick of those same grinds every league for only a totem pole.

You're experienced enough now where you can look at a guide and gear and see whats going on. I wouldnt stress things like a voidheart or anything that you can accomplish in other ways. The fun for me is making weird ass but effective builds and i'm not being original. I am copying a lot of people MUCH smarter than me and tweaking or adding in my own interactions.
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
4,899
11,323
What two builds did you try this league?

I tried a 2h-sword lacerate build first and then went to kinetic blast wander.

I know that I fucked up picking my first build, but that is the point. I am a medium-core gamer these days. I am way more than casual, but I have a job and kids. I'm more than happy to grind for a goal to a point. The fact that I picked a solid build with a known build path and am stuck at early mapping to grind currency to buy better gear or fusings to try to 5L or 6L my QotF is a huge problem for the gear. Added on that the game is so complex to make significant smaller upgrades impossible to determine without thousands of hours of experience or more currency to test with and you get a situation where I don't care when I'm this far behind.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,404
7,399
Gonna "try" 40/40 now that the end game challenge is easier. I seriously would rather grind to 100 every league over doing 100 Atziri's and Izaro. Ive already almost completed the end game grinds and am 29/30 without even trying for anything specifically yet. Ive done 5 of the 40/40's but got real sick of those same grinds every league for only a totem pole.

You're experienced enough now where you can look at a guide and gear and see whats going on. I wouldnt stress things like a voidheart or anything that you can accomplish in other ways. The fun for me is making weird ass but effective builds and i'm not being original. I am copying a lot of people MUCH smarter than me and tweaking or adding in my own interactions.
Definitely. I'm not creative enough to come up with my own builds but I love tweaking other's. I took daridar's lw/arc pp build and added chill/freeze/blind in a reliable way, huge improvement for survivability. This Apep Flicker build, I'm thinking of dropping voidheart and getting bleed from either a support or changing one of the curses to vulnerability. He's using Punishment and that seems like such a weird choice since it requires the mob hitting you.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,404
7,399
I tried a 2h-sword lacerate build first and then went to kinetic blast wander.

I know that I fucked up picking my first build, but that is the point. I am a medium-core gamer these days. I am way more than casual, but I have a job and kids. I'm more than happy to grind for a goal to a point. The fact that I picked a solid build with a known build path and am stuck at early mapping to grind currency to buy better gear or fusings to try to 5L or 6L my QotF is a huge problem for the gear. Added on that the game is so complex to make significant smaller upgrades impossible to determine without thousands of hours of experience or more currency to test with and you get a situation where I don't care when I'm this far behind.

2H sword Lacerate is probably "fine". And by fine, I mean you should have been able to work your way into red tier maps easily. It's not a build I would have gone with, but I don't particularly like Lacerate nor 2H builds(too slow). I think sticking with that build would have been fine, or based on what you wanted to switch into, probably could have been done with a modicum of regrets.

As for your situation with which upgrades to get first...that's a tough one. Unfortunately, that just comes with time and experience. If you aren't already, PoB is extremely helpful in this regard. When I plan a build, I make 2 profiles in PoB. 1 for level 90 with "average" level gear, nothing that should be too expensive unless it has to be. And then another at level 95 where the desired affixes are turned up and maybe some more uniques slotted into the build.

You did make two mistakes though. Switching into Kinetic Blast before stockpiling enough currency. For some reason, despite no changes in mechanics, KB is extremely meta. I'm selling shit tier Pisctor's for 5c, it's unreal. Maybe it's the MTX, maybe it's Underground Sea(probably), maybe it's that every streamer is playing it for their farm build. But for casuals, I would not recommend it. KB is frustratingly dependent on density and map layout too. If you're not doing a shaped map strategy, I wouldn't recommend KB even if you're hardcore.

Trying to 6-link your QoTF with fusings. That's just asking for heartache. If the 6-link is important and you don't have the currency to support failure, I just live with a 5L until can straight up buy a 6L. And I don't even 5L my gear with fusings either, I buy those directly too. What's the average cost to 5L, 150 fusings? That's 100c! I can find a 5L chestpiece for much cheaper than that.
 

Korrupt

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,832
1,228
I didnt use a 6L in my first 3 years playing this game, they used to be 10x more expensive and rarer. Even now I have shit 5L's into the mid 90's and then I normally buy a very basic 6L for 20c, roll it to something wearable myself until I can afford my builds 6L. This league I wore a 5L until 95 or 96 on purpose so I wouldnt torment myself into aiming for a 6L so early in the league.