HC Feedback

I play strictly Self Found, Solo, HC with Bind on Equip. I do allow characters to use items found by other characters within this same rule set. I've played this way since D1 first came out... before it really, with the early rogue-likes.

Three things:
1) 3.x is over the top. Regular builds don't stand a chance against Dominus, even 10 levels over him. Level 51 Porcupines decimate a level 63 evasion/archer.
2) Atziri is way over the top. The entire community is either unwilling or unable to defeat her.
3) Approximately 1% of the player base plays Standard HC.

You need to fix this. Quit ruining this game. You're obviously trying to challenge people, but have over-reached this goal and are simply turning them away from a standard play style that's been around longer than most of you have been alive. I'm too old to change.

1.) What regular builds? I've beaten Dom with archers, spectral throwers, trappers, cleaver-doublestrikers, groundslammer.. 'regular' builds on HC/Nem/Inv, playing solo self-found. All the cheap non-specific-gear dependent builds.

2.) Dunno, dun care (I'm not gonna farm faceroll content like an idiot, for the chance to beat all the RNG layers to get to her. If I manage to obtain the fragments naturally, while leveling, then Ill check it out. Else not)

3.) As a solo self-found player you shouldn’t really give a damn about how many people are in std HC. The less people, the less desync / server lag problems for you

Check out Inv. The difficulty spikes make Act 3.X and Dom look like a kindergarten. Or check out maps (even in SC) - you'll then see that regular content is faceroll.

Regular builds wat?

I killed HC dominus rispectively with:

100% pierce split arrow build (invasion)
multitrapper shadow (invasion)
ST scion (nemesis)
Phys franzy duelist (nemesis)
ST templar (Nemesis)
Viper strike scion (Nemesis)
elemental split arrow scion (Nemesis)

Any non crap build cna handle Dominus quite well :/ with the 100% pierce build i was self found too and with 50% all res lols

cruel domi is surprisingly OK
at level 60, no less!
:^)

The number of people playing HC is an indicator that the game isn't being designed in a way that makes that mode of play enjoyable. The lack of anyone willing/able to kill Atziri in Invasion will show them why people aren't enjoying it.

I'm glad you all find Cruel Dominus beatable. I don't. I've killed him once, and he's killed my characters five or six times. I'm not the best of players. I don't exploit flaws in the game. I tend not to use all the advantages given to me, but specialize on using one or two. I rarely do Flavor of the Month.

Reading some guide or copying what some streamer does isn't my style either.

Cruel Dom require some Lunaris 3 grind, to loot gear from Piety. Once you are geared up (max. res, good life, topaz, granite) its. no prob.

Unless you refuse to TP out to replenish your flasks, or some other silly 'rule' like that. But then the problem is all in your mind.

"not using all the (gameplay?) advantages at your disposal" is also an obstacle that is just in your mind.

It's not "in my mind". It's in 40+ years of computer gaming experience. I find that as soon as I start exploiting flaws in the game in order to beat it, I lose interest in the game and shelve it. I have the self-control not to do this. You're right that I don't typically use TP in and out to whittle down a boss. I don't slap a summon skeleton totem on a character just because I would benefit from the distraction it would cause. I don't pass my best items from character to character, or use one character to level up the gems for a second.

There's all sorts of things I could do to improve my strengths... but if I start doing that, I'd feel cheezy (tm) and quit.

Those are not 'flaws' or 'exploits', but gaming mechanics you should use at your advantage. You are like playing a driving game and not using the sixth or seventh gear, because it would make you go too fast

I can understand that some players are against stuff like logut (even tho the lead dev says the game is balanced around it), but not using TP or totems to distract mobs? Next you'll tell resist pots are an 'exploit' because they raise your max res beyond cap... -_-

To be honest, I don't really like the fact that one can tp out and in just to refill the flasks, but the game has been built around it for a while so .....

I understand the fact that, for example, if someone wants to play an archer, he doesn't want to use magic because in many archer's stories/backgrounds, there is just no place for magic and that's not the way the player wants to build his char => not using summon skeleton totem.

But the game is also built around this, so you're at a disadvantage if you do not use it.
I mean, PoE is meant to give players a challenge, and in this kind of game, you might need to use every single piece of "help" that is available to you.

I can understand roleplay, but PoE really isn't designed for it. One of the appeals for starting in new leagues, is to work your way up with bare minimum (sometimes a bit too minimum, tbh), using everything at your disposal to help you progress.

But gimping yourself with (too strict) rules and not progressing because of it, its a shame, because you are depriving yourself of the (imo) best part of the game - maps.

Not trading already makes the game a lot more challenging than otherwise.