Tips for beginners and veterans with bad memory :)

I think 90% of all people complaining about gameplay mechanics, slow leveling, RNG and auction houses etc are inexperienced/beginning players, with sub-optimal builds that didn't take the time to learn this complex and deep game, and blame the game for their lack of understanding. And that doesn't matter, we all have to start somewhere.

I know this sounds harsh but in the beginning I had exactly the same complaints as they did, and now I'm happy the game is not what I expected then because it wouldn't have been as rewarding on the long haul. To help these players I'd like to open a thread with tips for them, feel free to add and when I have time I'll include them in the OP.

POE is deep and not pick-up-and-play, if you adapt your expectations to this it will be much more rewarding. It will take at least 100 hours and one or two builds to really get the hang of it



-o)0_ The Tips _0(o-

1. Don't use currency before you know when and where. Currency crafting is not a thing to do under lv60, it doesn't reward and higher level currency (everything worth more than a Chaos orb) is much better spent trading when you don't know your way around

2. 3000hp is the bare minimum for end game, no matter what you do, as a beginner your NEED this to get anywhere in merciless difficulty

3. Resists should be 75% for all (fire, lightning, cold) in end game, chaos resistance is arguably less important, I'd aim for anything above 0 for chaos

4. Your first build WILL suck if you don't use advice or a good beginner build, don't think yours won't, we've all been there. Using a good beginner build will make your start a lot more rewarding

5. Look around, every class forum has a list with builds for it on the first page of the forum; see links below. Most of these are very good, beating them would take a LOT of game-understanding and creativity

6. The scion class only unlocks after defeating the game on normal

7. You can play self-found, it is viable with a self-found build no matter what some players on the forum will tell you, but trading greatly enhances your possibilities. Use XYZ, link below, to find items, make sure to tag buyout only and online only, you'll see prices and are 90% sure the person selling will respond to your offer. Select the mods and requirements you have, good filtering makes this tool very powerful

8. Start a shop thread early on and add buyout tags, see guide below, you'll sell unwanted items for some extra currency when priced right

9. Use poexyz for price checks by looking for similar items to yours with buyout prices

10. You can use procurement, see links below, to automate your shop, I don't because I don't feel I need it, some swear by it though

11. Be kind and people will help, even with starter gear when they feel like it

12. Once you get the hang of it make a Magic Find character (MF), you'll earn more with it. Getting 200% Increased Item Rarity (IIR) is not expensive on the right build. Going higher and/or having a significant amount Increased Item Quantity (IIQ) can be very expensive, IIQ is a legacy roll and you an only find it on old items via trading and a few still droppable uniques. Going above 300 IIR and 80 IIQ is difficult, expensive, and the returns are greatly diminishing

13. Don't expect to get legendary gear, it's legendary for a reason and you don't need it to enjoy the game to the fullest. I've played 400 hours and have no legendary uniques and my only six-link is a tabula rasa that can be bought for less than 1ex on standard

14. Don't ever use exalted orbs if you don't have a lot and don't know the game completely yet. They are worth a lot and much better suited for trading, one ex will buy you very good gear in most cases

15. RNG can be brutal, its random as f@#k on purpose, don't expect GGG to change this because they feel it's a core component of the game. Trading is the best way to deal with this

16. Make a hideout, it makes trading more fun and easier and you have something to show off with

17. Do the master challenges, they give you good crafting options when leveled to some degree

18. Maps are fun, but can be pretty dangerous too. Avoid maps with reflect and beyond mods in the beginning, they will wreck an inexperienced player

19. Mirrors are ridiculously rare, don't expect to find one, ever

20. Level 100 is very hard to achieve, expect never to go far beyond lv80, plan your build up to level 75, from there on leveling up gets progressively slower and takes dedication

21. In the beginning transmute all your maps, later alch all of them from tier 4-5 on, this will net you more items from them and make you learn mods and dangers well

22. The POE-wiki is your friend, link below, any skill/unique/keystone/map you plan on using first read about it there, this will deepen your knowledge and answer many questions

23. Always try to be constructive and avoid trolling, forums here are kind and constructive, take your part in that

24. Standard league is big, but also not the focus of this game, you can disagree (like me) but the developers focus on leagues and hardcore, adapt your expectations accordingly

25. If you know the game and have a reasonable build playing self-found is very viable

26. Look for a good beginner build when you start, this saves you a lot of nuisance, ZiggyD and Liftingerdbro (to name a few) have very good beginner builds and explanations here and on youtube, use that, it makes starting out a LOT more fun when you have some beginner knowledge

27. Expect this game to change, sometimes a LOT, your favourite build now probably won't be your favourite in a year

28. Damage mitigation is important, choose one or more (evasion, armor, block, energy shield etc) and invest in it

29. Whenever possible have +life on any gear that can have the mod, except when you play low-life, which I don't recommend for beginners

30. Uniques are not alway the best items, in endgame usually rares are better for your specific build

31. Use uniques for special mods that rares don't have, smart use of uniques will lift your build to a higher level

32. In general a build only uses one or two uniques, a build with only uniques will not have the life and resists you need for endgame

33. Don't expect to get rich at any point when you just play casually and experiment. The rich players everyone envies play a LOT, trade even more and have mostly been here from the very start so trying to overtake them is futile

34. Trading can be very rewarding and is the best way to gear up, it also teaches you a lot about item value

35. RMT (Real Money Trading) is illegal and for douchebags, don't be one, it can also get you banned. If you see someone do or promote it take evidence and report it to GGG

36. Item filters are incorporated since 2.0 and are a great quality-of-life addition to this game, they also teach you what to look for and what not

37. Learn the best vendor recipes, they will make farming a lot more efficient, just look online or on youtube, one quick search will give you the highlights you need

38. If you're not a spell caster or are not using the resolute technique keystone, accuracy is a must have stat, have at least a few items with a high accuracy roll or your chance of landing your attack will drop fast in end game. On a good build chance to hit should be >80%

39. MF; IIR IIQ op the map itself, not of your gear, applies to chests too in maps, as opposed to non-map area's, open them all when you run a map with increased magic find

40. Sarcasm and snarky remarks won't get you anywhere fast

41. Merciless difficulty is hard (well at least with a bad build), and dying takes 10% off your XP which is a big punishment above lv75. Make sure you're ready for it, cap your resists and have enough life and good damage mitigation (armour/energy shield/evasion ect)

42. With some builds, high DPS rangers for instance, damage reflection can be a big risk, especially at higher difficulties, be prepared

43. Don't check online currency exchanges for currency price conversion, they are generally owned by RMT companies and are not accurate. Reliable currency exchange rates are much better gotten from poe.xyz, see link below

44. Look at the keywords on skills and supports, they tell you a lot about how they work and which interactions are possible. For instance a "spell" support won't have an effect on a "attack"

45. Some unique maps are very dangerous and highly sought after. If you find one, research them before just blindly opening it

46. Legacy items are old items that don't drop anyone or still drop but with nerfed or buffed stats. Some legacy items are very powerful, but also extremely expensive, don't expect to get one easily

47. Fishing [removed by support] ;)




-o)0_ Useful Links _0(o-

POE wiki
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Path_of_Exile_Wiki

POE.xyz
http://poe.trade

Guide for buyout tags
http://poe.trade/tags.html

Procurement
https://code.google.com/p/procurement/


Here are links to maintained and proven build lists for every class.

Ranger builds:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/917964

Shadow builds:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1065084

Duelist builds:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/732938

Scion builds:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/821224

Witch builds:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/549763

Templar builds:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1065793

Marauder builds:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/740906

Still updating; posted to save, more will be added

Nice advertisement for third-party-sites.

Rule #1: GGG fucked up trading, deal with it.

"

SuperMotte wrote:

Nice advertisement for third-party-sites.

I think that mostly counts for RMT sites and forums, I'm sure they don't mind the wiki and xyz, they mention it themselves too.

"

SuperMotte wrote:

Nice advertisement for third-party-sites.

Rule #1: GGG fucked up trading, deal with it.

They left the players to their own devices, it's them thats fucked up not the trading.

Hi

I think GGG fucked up trading due to the fact the employees of GGG haven't done anything to rectify the mess in ages. Only empty promises and constantly trying to flood us over, like the Emperor from gladiator, with more and MOAR content that is rushed.

I don't think indy companies should attempt what WOTC have been doing for years with MTG, now Blizzard on the other hand could attempt an WOTC MTG production model but GGG*shakes head ATM. The logistics and constant work on MTG sets spans years in development, like the current set Zendikar took like 4 yeas of planning and is referred to as the experimental land block. I severely doubt GGG employees are planning that far ahead... if anything it constantly feels like the new stuff comes out unpolished, seemingly untested or over tuned so the first posts of new leagues is always so and so is impossible to beat.

cheers

"

I think 90% of all people complaining about gameplay mechanics, slow leveling, RNG and auction houses etc are unexperienced/beginning players, with sub-optimal builds that didn't take the time to learn this complex and deep game, and blame the game for their lack of understanding.

This does not mean they cant post their feedback. Feedback unexperienced/beginning players is very important.

"

Kasparov13 wrote:

I think 90% of all people complaining about gameplay mechanics, slow leveling, RNG and auction houses etc are unexperienced/beginning players, with sub-optimal builds that didn't take the time to learn this complex and deep game, and blame the game for their lack of understanding.

there is a diference between people complaining that their armor/ES build with acrobatic sucks and people complaining that their build sucks becouse they tried to build around heavy strike or elemental hit instead of cyclone.

the first one is user mistake becouse it quite clear armor/ES dont go well with acrobatics, the second one is poor game balance that push people into specific builds.

"

kamil1210 wrote:

"

I think 90% of all people complaining about gameplay mechanics, slow leveling, RNG and auction houses etc are unexperienced/beginning players, with sub-optimal builds that didn't take the time to learn this complex and deep game, and blame the game for their lack of understanding.

This does not mean they cant post their feedback. Feedback unexperienced/beginning players is very important.

Anyone can post feedback, as long as it is done in a civilized and constructive way. Sadly most of the time, that is not the case.

And there is an underlying current of forum dwellers that post "feedback" solely because they dream of the game adapting to their playstyle instead of them adapting to the game rules.

"

Rhys wrote:

IIQ/IIR from your gear does not affect chests, so there's not point in "gearing up" for the Vaults of Atziri. You may as well wear nothing at all so you can carry more stuff out.

Source

Just to be clear, only a maps iir/iiq effects chests.