Path of Exile

Yeah, the total cost of the build should be somewhere around 150 ex, not 25 ex, and then it's fine.

You can't make a build cost 125 more ex by changing the rarity of one item. It'd have to be so rare that they might as well remove it from the game entirely.

Just give it the same treatment Shimmeron got and call it a day.

Nah, there's several items he uses for that build that should be rarer, but in general Poet's Pens are too common. Dual wielding them should be seen as a luxury akin to dual wielding Mjolners back in the day, and no one should think about having two sitting on a weapon swap.

I'm in Act 10 with my Molten Strike build now, hit 70, equipped most of the end game build gear. Using two Grelwood Shank is insane DPS compared to using the 1 and a shield.

What would be a good starter build for 3.5 league? Something cheap, capable, and fun?

My 0 planning, 0 guide zombie/pet build is clearing act10 currently without much issue. Almost level 70, kinda curious how far I can go before I hit a wall someplace.

Anyone got any of those skeletan mage jewels they wanna sell? Sick of my normal skellies.

James said:

Nah, there's several items he uses for that build that should be rarer, but in general Poet's Pens are too common. Dual wielding them should be seen as a luxury akin to dual wielding Mjolners back in the day, and no one should think about having two sitting on a weapon swap.

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Mjolner was still nerfed multiple times despite its rarity. Rarity might work for a mildly OP item like Lycosidae, but in terms of other recent 'rarity nerfs' PP is more like Bisco's Collar (except about an order of magnitude worse for the game) and rarity didn't do a damn thing there until they nerfed Bisco a couple more times.

And besides, why should PP be left alone when Shimmeron was nerfed into uselessness? Shimmeron wasn't even remotely in the same league.

make pp main hand only problem solved.

Vorph said:

Mjolner was still nerfed multiple times despite its rarity.

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Well yeah, but after years and only because server performance was taking a hard nosedive. The real problem is that they've reduced the rarity of chase items quite a bit, to the point that they've actually stated they regret doing it. The Shimmeron nerf does seem out of place (traps/totems/mines bypassing "on kill" effects is a mechanic widely exploited with other item/ability interactions), but ultimately I think they intended Shimmeron/Nebuloch/Hopeshredder to be used with their downsides in mind rather than totally circumvented.

Make poet's pen proc on hit rather than attack. Done!

Fun haters? For saying a build that is stronger than anything in this game has ever been is OP and needs to be nerfed? But it's just "for the good of the game/balance" to nerf stat sticks? rockeyeroll.gif

Gave this game another try after the Diablo Immortal announcement, liking it enough that I just bought a new Graphics Card so that the fucking spell spam stops killing my shitter comp.

Yeah, I really don't get the stat stick thing. Stat sticks make a fair number of borderline builds completely viable. The only argument I ever see against them is that they make 2H weapons trash... but the vast majority of 2H weapons are still trash even if stat sticks get taken away. All that changes is that now a bunch of skill gems will be suboptimal again too.

Plus, some random <1ex scepter or dagger that has less than 60% conversion is barely even OP at all; most people will never see a stat stick that has triple T1 conversion and costs more than an entire PP/Zerphi build for just one of your weapon slots.

I don't think anyone has a problem with a 2-mod stat stick, my opinion is that when you want to go past that point...what options does 2h have? Melee skills in general are weak especially when compared to poet's pen/BV/ranged builds, and the only bridge to that gap is insane DPS that stat sticks bring. What options does 2h have once you want to scale past Starforge/Voidforge? And this is coming from a guy that loves his damn 2handers!

There are indeed issues greater than what stat sticks cause in this game, but it doesn't invalidate what stat sticks do to the melee market. Especially when it gets to mirror tier...but I guess so few of us get there. I don't think a stat stick should have more than 3 bonus damage mods, and that you should not get the dual wield bonus if you don't actually attack with your wielded weapon.

Whether or not stat sticks get nerfed the only 2H builds I'd consider playing are ones that involve Dancing Duo, Soulwrest, Ngamahu's Flame, or Whispering Ice (lol no, not until someone pulls their head out of their ass and fixes Ice Storm's gpu-crushing spell fx), and it's obviously no coincidence that those are all 6S weapons with a built-in skill. Even then it's really only DD that's actually competitive with meta builds, imo anyway. Soulwrest was a lot of fun for mapping and delving, but it's hard not to be squishy and phantasms are annoying to use against endgame bosses. Ngamahu was my favorite item in the game up until the end of Harbinger but now it's pretty lackluster.

Ah I thought you were one of the guys arguing with me about how stat sticks nerf was a good thing. I don't even mind PP cause as far as I know it's the zerphi flask that makes it retarded and even that I don't have a problem with. I would much prefer they just buff other shit to be good too instead of nerfing a few random things every league for "trivializing content" but ignoring the shit that actually trivializes content.

When I respecced to ele hit on my scion this league, uber elder with 8-10ex of gear was 10000 times easier than he was on my blade flurry claw/stat stick char who had probably 30ex of gear and would've needed 15+ex to upgrade either of his weapons, each.

As far as 2h scaling goes, not sure what might pass voidforge since I've never used it or looked at builds for it but i'm pretty sure you can craft a rare that would beat starforge. The problem is literally nobody loots/sells or crafts 2h bases in leagues that I've ever seen but tons of people do it for 1handers.

By the way, everyone needs to vote for GGG as developer of the year at the bare minimum. The Steam Awards

Vorph said:

Yeah, I really don't get the stat stick thing. Stat sticks make a fair number of borderline builds completely viable. The only argument I ever see against them is that they make 2H weapons trash... but the vast majority of 2H weapons are still trash even if stat sticks get taken away. All that changes is that now a bunch of skill gems will be suboptimal again too.

Plus, some random <1ex scepter or dagger that has less than 60% conversion is barely even OP at all; most people will never see a stat stick that has triple T1 conversion and costs more than an entire PP/Zerphi build for just one of your weapon slots.

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This times a thousand.

I've played primarily melee builds lo these many years (to my partial dismay) and all stat sticks do at the moment is bring melee builds up to caster/ranged power.

All the calls for nerfs is simply the ranged classes begging for complete dominance again, it is retarded. You get rid of stat sticks and several builds immediately return to mediocrity and unplayability.

2H has needed a buff for years. It is a symptom of the neglect melee has received in this game almost from the beginning. There was a time a build like EQ was a powerhouse, but you can't have a 2H skill anywhere near the top so it had to be shit-canned.