Nerve-wracking things to do in Path of Exile - HC Uber

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This is (AFAIK) the first completely solo player/single character, second solo player (after Havoc), and second single char for bosses (after Celery) to clear the Alluring Abyss in Hardcore.

Videos (1080p60)

First run
Second run
Third run

Why do this

I've flip flopped on this opinion since SotV was released, but right now I feel that the Apex of Sacrifice and the Alluring Abyss pair of gated content is GGG's finest work. I also don't think this can be fully appreciated unless you do so in a Hardcore league context where trial and error (well, the error part anyway) is punished severely.

Obviously the Apex is fairly accessible if you set your mind to it, and even in HC temp leagues this is routinely farmed. However, the jump to the Abyss is enormous and planning, difficulty, tactics are entirely different. It is by far the most intimidating content in the game, which makes it the most interesting and exciting in a Hardcore context.

How to do this

I've received a number of messages both here and reddit asking for step by step instructions on how to do this solo in HC, and it seems fairly clear most of the people who are asking have never played any spell-triggering build let alone this general one, and seem to be looking for a "quick fix".

I think the best part of this game is learning the map and monster mechanics, brainstorming solutions to these problems, refining a build to suit, piecing the gear together, and learning all of the idiosyncratic scenarios you might encounter. Experiment, then reiterate. I don't think there's much enjoyment to be had by following a recipe and rote learning from someone else.

So, I'm not going to spoon feed everything here, but I can provide some general comments and advice:

* POE is a knowledge game; I'm not a particularly good player and I don't have a lot of hand/eye coord skill compared to the top players, knowing what to look for and how to pre-empt or predict is more important than insane reaction time or positioning skill.

* In HC this area is "90% mental, 10% ability", this is why you need to practice as much as possible and get experience in the area first. There are literally dozens of simple mistakes that can lead to instant death, and it's important that you are as calm as possible and remain aware of the various critical indicators (e.g., flask charges, flask duration, IC duration, life/mana remaining, monster tells/telegraphing.)

* The best way to practice the Abyss fights would be replicating your character entirely in Standard, however this isn't particularly easy so short of doing that there are two other things you can do:

* Do normal Apex runs with 1/4 your regular damage, and pretend that losing 1/3 of your life = death. Recording/streaming so you can review and see if this ever happens is very useful.

* Find someone you can parcel out the trash clear and boss fights in the Abyss with, and get some experience in the area first. It is much easier to build and gear for a character that focuses on the specific requirements of one part in the area: Trash = DPS, crowd control, cursing; Vaals = Cold and Lightning resistance, spell block, mobility; Trio = complete Physical mitigation and Fire resistance; Atziri = DPS, Fire and Lightning resistance, projectile evasion, mobility.

Damage and life levels

Compared to the Apex of Sacrifice, the Alluring Abyss has roughly quadruple the life and triple the damage of all monsters. There are various Standard builds that successfully negate the damage threat with overwhelming DPS or amazingly precise positioning, however this approach leaves you vulnerable to unfortunate events that are out of your control.

Some numbers and notable differences between Apex and Abyss that are helpful to understand:

* Vaal Fallen deal 3100 base physical damage
* Power crits Vaal Fallen do about 8060 physical damage when they crit (assuming 260% crit multi, based on when you use Headhunter and kill a rare with Powerful crits your own crit multi doubles)
* Snakes deal 2600 base physical damage, several also have Extra Damage or Powerful Crits. Those with puncture will bleed you for 87% of this per second and an astronomical 437% (11.3k/sec minimum) while moving.

==> By way of comparison Maze Vaal smash does 5783 physical and 5783 fire damage, so it is useful to treat the Vaal Fallen as walking vaal smashes (unless you have strong defensive curses which are 100% effective versus these mobs.)

There are also many rares and totems in the areas between boss fights which can ramp up their own damage (+ that of allies) substantially.

* Penetration on Atziri's double flame blast is 10% in Abyss (8% in Apex) and the maximum roll damage is 62k (per flameblast ring.) Even with 100% fire resistance this is very likely to one shot you so must be avoided.

Build and Gear

Primarily based on Funsy's Mjolnoob build, with modifications appropriate for HC.

Level 95 tree.

Save this spot.

holy shit that gear.

nice 4 billion exalt build m8

Can we see your tree please bud?

I fucking love your bravery mate. Also, dat spear caused major chunkage at 12:35 during the Atziri kill.

"

Daresso wrote:

I fucking love your bravery mate. Also, dat spear caused major chunkage at 12:35 during the Atziri kill.

That was max dmg (zero ECs when hit), and lines up roughly with the information on this tw database site.

It was a little scary :\

"

xiaoxiao921 wrote:

nice 4 billion exalt build m8

It's not really that bad is it :\

good stuff, hopefully you can have her on farm eventually

Uber on hardcore league is pretty damn amazing, not to mention no more snapshot to 10k your ES. GG man, well done!