Path of Exile

[DefinitelyNotMe]

ok ive changed my build a bit
molten blast with scatter shot is a goat, before i had about 7.6k dmg from one projectile and now i have 2.5k from 5 projectiles and 5x shrapnel
also perfect strike with consternated effect is a straight up upgrade in terms of damage by 40% and now it deals about 70k dmg if you time it right

 

[30+GameOvers]

I've heard people talking about this game and it's sequel. As far as I know, it's just a free to play RPG, one of many, so I wanna know what makes this one special. Sell me on Path of Exile, bros.

 

[DefinitelyNotMe]

I've heard people talking about this game and it's sequel. As far as I know, it's just a free to play RPG, one of many, so I wanna know what makes this one special. Sell me on Path of Exile, bros.

if you like diablo and building autism then this is a game for you
the fact that you can mix and match skills with support gems makes building things really fun
you have a ranged attack? turn it into a shotgun that also bounces between enemies
or you can make the thing having piercing and wider projectile
melee attack? you can crank its damage with close combat gem
aoe attack? make it so its slows down enemies and lights them up in flames
and skill tree not as intimidating as you can think at first you can just type the thing you want to have bonuses in and route the path to them
making your own murder machine is fun and my at least is very satisfying to use

 

[Kane Lives]

I've heard people talking about this game and it's sequel. As far as I know, it's just a free to play RPG, one of many, so I wanna know what makes this one special. Sell me on Path of Exile, bros.

It has vaal kiwis.

It's probably also the purest diablo clone after grim dawn and torchlight in this godless time.

 

[Jack Hoffman]

It has vaal kiwis.

It's probably also the purest diablo clone after grim dawn and torchlight in this godless time.

I noticed the Kiwi pet yesterday, pretty based.

 

[TrainWreckWatcher]

I've heard people talking about this game and it's sequel. As far as I know, it's just a free to play RPG, one of many, so I wanna know what makes this one special. Sell me on Path of Exile, bros.

No time to sell you on it, too busy playing it.

 

[30+GameOvers]

if you like diablo and building autism then this is a game for you
the fact that you can mix and match skills with support gems makes building things really fun
you have a ranged attack? turn it into a shotgun that also bounces between enemies
or you can make the thing having piercing and wider projectile
melee attack? you can crank its damage with close combat gem
aoe attack? make it so its slows down enemies and lights them up in flames
and skill tree not as intimidating as you can think at first you can just type the thing you want to have bonuses in and route the path to them
making your own murder machine is fun and my at least is very satisfying to use

It has vaal kiwis.

It's probably also the purest diablo clone after grim dawn and torchlight in this godless time.

No time to sell you on it, too busy playing it.

What's the catch, then? If it's free to play, then there definitely is one, GAAS perhaps? I see the second one actually costs something, which makes me wonder what the difference is between the two.

 

[Kane Lives]

What's the catch, then? If it's free to play, then there definitely is one, GAAS perhaps? I see the second one actually costs something, which makes me wonder what the difference is between the two.

I mean, yeah, I thought it was implied already to be online-only. There is no offline mode for this game (though in all my time playing POE1, there's rarely any actual server hiccups that might disconnect you. Helps that they do spread their servers all over the world.)

Also, GGG is owned by Tencent, if that makes any difference to you. And of course, there's the usual slew of monetisation for cosmetics, and you probably need to also drop cash for extra stash tabs if you really want to be efficient (and trading properly). There are no actual gameplay gated by money, however. Everything a paid player can do, a free one can too.

POE2 is also only paywalled for the beta. The actual release in six months is likely to be F2P like its predecessor.

 

[30+GameOvers]

I mean, yeah, I thought it was implied already to be online-only. There is no offline mode for this game (though in all my time playing POE1, there's rarely any actual server hiccups that might disconnect you. Helps that they do spread their servers all over the world.)

Also, GGG is owned by Tencent, if that makes any difference to you. And of course, there's the usual slew of monetisation for cosmetics, and you probably need to also drop cash for extra stash tabs if you really want to be efficient (and trading properly). There are no actual gameplay gated by money, however. Everything a paid player can do, a free one can too.

POE2 is also only paywalled for the beta. The actual release in six months is likely to be F2P like its predecessor.

Yeah, the Always Online element and Tencent kill it for me. Sorry, might have been more interested if it was a single player game.

 

[Kane Lives]

Yeah, the Always Online element and Tencent kill it for me. Sorry, might have been more interested if it was a single player game.

Yeah, lol no worries. Always good to be informed on what a game entails.

I'm only really interested in POE2 because I already have a GGG account anyway, and Tencent probably already have all my data so fuck it.

 

[Burning Bridge]

though in all my time playing POE1, there's rarely any actual server hiccups that might disconnect you. Helps that they do spread their servers all over the world.)

Sounds like somebody never played in the dark Before Times, when you had to have an /oos macro running on like a 500ms delay because desync was almost constant. Back before ascendencies, even. Back when flickerstrike was just a fancy way to teleport around doing no damage because none of the mobs are where they say they are, and neither are you. If it sounds like I'm shitting on GGG, it's because I am, but it only serves to illustrate how far they've come with their garbage netcode.

 

[Quioui]

Sell me on Path of Exile, bros.

The single best game when it comes to build variety and player freedom in making those builds. (PoE 1)

In PoE you're not assembling one of the builds the developers pre-made for you like in Diablo 3, or going down a barebone and soulless skill tree tacked on a Ubisoft-like light-RPG openworld.

I've always been a fan of skill trees and power progression, and PoE's mix of skill gems, support gems, huge passive tree with a few unique items sprinkled on top is simply unmatched. The wide range of interactions and mechanics you can fit in a build trigger the autism in a good way.

One of the strength of PoE 1 is that it has over a decade of updates with pretty varied and somewhat personaliseable content to play, but the downside is that very little of it is explained and it's quite daunting as a new player.

For PoE 2, it's an amazing upgrade in graphism, the option for WASD movement feels awesome, the first 3 acts of the campaign we got so far are cool, and it's much more welcoming to new players.
Bad points: the game is unfinished (Early Access), the mapping system (endless end game content) was rushed and some 'new' design choices work poorly. The build diversity and player freedom in making builds is only a shadow of PoE1's, but a big part of that is due to the game still missing half its classes and their associated skill gems and weapons.


To get into modern Hack'n'Slash I would recommend starting with PoE 2 (30€, free in a year or so), its current flaws are easy to overlook for a good 100h and many updates are to come, or Last Epoch (34€).

About Last Epoch: Very easy to pick up for new comers, worth playing whether you're an experienced H'nS player or not, many neat systems such as mostly deterministic crafting or in-game loot filter. Its one glaring weakness is the very barebone endless endgame system, but it should get there given a couple more years. Currently I would say you can play ~50h on a single character before it start losing purpose, more if you're new to the genre.


If you get annoyed with PoE's 2 current system of setting up towers only to lose your one portal map by dying to a barely visible on-death-effect then check out PoE 1 (free, you need to buy some stash tabs to have a confortable experience tho. Those you buy are shared across PoE 1 & 2), it won't be as overwhelming once you're familiar with PoE 2 systems.

A couple nitpicks that makes PoE good, and makes many other Hack'n'Slash feel somewhat unplayable:
- It has move-only bindable to left click.
Not move and attack, not move and interact, not press this key then click to force-move. Move only. On Left click.
It's infuriating to die because you lost control of your character and it walked into enemies attacks because the game decided you clicked on an empty crate while holding down left click to move around. An astonishing amount of H'n'S mess up this basic feature!

- You can overlay the area's map in transparent over the center of your screen, with your character's feet being at your current position on the map. With procedural area generation and quick action this trick is very comfy to save on eye travel time, and going back to not having it is a pretty big downgrade. (Note: you can disable map's terrain in the option to only display the map outlines)

The PoE-Like H'n'S ARPG I found that meet those two criteria of playability are PoE, Last Epoch, Torchlight: Infinite, PoE 2.


If you play PoE 2 check out item filters to color valuable items on the ground (go to game options and click the folder button next to filter, put the .filter file there) and Exile Exchange, a third party tool to quickly check the price of random items and uniques.


EDIT:

Yeah, the Always Online element and Tencent kill it for me. Sorry, might have been more interested if it was a single player game.

Took a while to type this, Last Epoch has a true offline mode!

What's the catch, then? If it's free to play, then there definitely is one, GAAS perhaps?

It has widely overpriced cosmetics, but they know their audience of 30+ males can afford it. You also want to spend 30-60€ on extra storage space if you're a dedicated player. (The 30€ EA comes with 30€ of coins to offset that.) Surprisingly fair game for non-paying players.

 

[Kane Lives]

Sounds like somebody never played in the dark Before Times, when you had to have an /oos macro running on like a 500ms delay because desync was almost constant. Back before ascendencies, even. Back when flickerstrike was just a fancy way to teleport around doing no damage because none of the mobs are where they say they are, and neither are you. If it sounds like I'm shitting on GGG, it's because I am, but it only serves to illustrate how far they've come with their garbage netcode.

I think I came in right some ways before Ascendancies came out (yes, I still remember the three difficulties we used to have, and Act 4 Merciless Dried Lake farms were considered legit, and were still using the old music for most of the areas.).

 

[DefinitelyNotMe]

Speaking of it being always online, did anyone tried to play it with the friend?
How do trials, maps and chaos chelenges go?
Do you have shared pool of honor? If 1 dies does it just spits you out of you would have to do the rest by yourself?

 

[Burning Bridge]

Speaking of it being always online, did anyone tried to play it with the friend?
How do trials, maps and chaos chelenges go?
Do you have shared pool of honor? If 1 dies does it just spits you out of you would have to do the rest by yourself?

Honor is shared, if a friend dies from lack of honor, it doesn't boot you out but you only have 1.

 

[TrainWreckWatcher]

What's the catch, then? If it's free to play, then there definitely is one, GAAS perhaps? I see the second one actually costs something, which makes me wonder what the difference is between the two.

There really isn't one just stash tabs you run out of space. You can buy like 10 and be fine though.
Best part is tabs carry over to the second game. Second game isn't done that's why its costing money early access perk. The game will be free on release.. Comes with in game currency you can use in either game too.
People genuinely give them money cause they like the games. The only caveat is Tencent has a share of their company.

 

[Quioui]

Reddit exposé about Elon Musk flaunting his gamer skillz in PoE 2 while using obviously bought accounts. (A) [sublinks to a couple youtube videos with timestamp, if someone can archive or mirror those]
At a glance the various characters he claim as his would take about three skilled and knowledgeable peoples playing the game full time since release. While Elon plays like someone with at most 20h spent in the game and is clueless about about fairly basic things any PoE 1 or 2 players would know.
More PoE comments on Elon's thread

The jannies from r/poe2 are insufferable, they're power tripping morons. "Y'all can't behave" + locked in 3 hours despite the post strictly adhering to their rule of being factual with no name calling.

Honor is shared

Worse, damage is shared, your maximum Honour is personal (based on your max Life/ES, or something like that). This can make carry service pretty painful if the person fighting the boss falls to 4500/7000 Honour while the person getting carried reaches 0/2400 and get kicked out of the trial without having taken any damage as they were waiting the in the previous entrance room.
It's unclear to me if Honour resistance is applied per player or if the resistance from the player taking damage is applied.
I also suspect you would get instantly kicked out if you tried to enter a friend's run who had low honour remaining and more maximum honour than you.

 

[DefinitelyNotMe]

It's unclear to me if Honour resistance is applied per player or if the resistance from the player taking damage is applied.
I also suspect you would get instantly kicked out if you tried to enter a friend's run who had low honour remaining and more maximum honour than you.

can you stack 100% honor resist?
if so wouldnt it make you invulnerable? is there even a cap?
also whats the point of unique gear stats are so fucking low on these
and corruption of the items doesnt make much sense to me

 

[Bonesjones]

can you stack 100% honor resist?
if so wouldnt it make you invulnerable? is there even a cap?
also whats the point of unique gear stats are so fucking low on these
and corruption of the items doesnt make much sense to me

Corruption gets you a random bonus in exchange for being unable to alter it further

 

[Quioui]

@DefinitelyNotMe
Pretty sure Honour resist works like the others. Default 75% cap, which can be raised up to 90% max with maximum honour resistance relics.

The most common unique gear you find is garbage only worth disenchanting at a vendor for the Chance shards. Some of them are decent leveling gear depending on the build. Very few of them are good or even building defining items that can be very valuable.
GGG has a philosophy of "you need bad items for the good items to shine even more", but with their general low balling on everything stat-wise in PoE 2 most of them are straight up garbage. There have been quite a few cases of forgotten bad uniques becoming worthwhile or build defining years down the line when a new build found a use for them in PoE 1, but with the low numbers in PoE 2 I'm not holding my breath.

Exemple good unique: Three Dragons helmet, it shifts around your elemental damage ailment. The interesting one being 'Your Lightning damage can now Freeze', which also lets you use Electrocute support or Kitoko's Current gloves (your lightning damage can electrocute) for double dip crowd control.
Exemple build defining unique: Hand of Wisdom and Action which lets you scale flat lightning damage and attack speed depending on your total Intelligence and Dexterity. It's the one important source of damage for all the OP stats stacking builds.

Corruption is a hail marry to either brick or improve an items you can't improve any further. When used on gear it mostly feel like a sink to remove items as rich players spam corrupt an item they want, and it also make for a very end game goal on extremely optimized build. ("Yes I have this 50 divines piece of gear which is the best for my build, but it could be even better if I manage to land this 1/12 corruption result").
You should save your Vaal Orbs for T15 maps as it has a chance to upgrade them to T16. Don't let anyone in global chat pressure you into Vaal'ing a good item, it should only done when you're certain you won't want to modify that item any further and you're alright with the consequence of the corruption having a terrible result.