Is the game worth playing right now?

no

"

codetaku wrote:

The forced metas have gotten worse, not better.

well the buffed meta has gotten worse, not the nerfed meta.

before, GGG would uber smack anything strong down to oblivion, which forced metas to anything else that was stronger. while now i think that has shifted to where GGG buffs something into oblivion so it clearly stands out.

other builds are still super strong etc etc but just not as good as the next skill getting an MTX

"

frenrihr wrote:

While i know meta builds are impossible to not exist i really don't like that the rest of the builds can't do anything compared to those...

It depends on what you mean by "can't do anything". An experienced player can do nearly all content in the game with any half-decent build, using SSF gear.

That's because 1M shaper DPS is easily achieved and, used with some skill, is plenty for nearly anything.

Yes, some necro builds with high-end gear can pump out 30-40M, but a game where all builds can one-shot entire screens and major bosses with one or two clicks will be pretty boring. (At least for me.)

It does make your decision easy though. If that's what you're looking for, PoE is not there yet. But check again in a couple of years!

"

xMustard wrote:

well the buffed meta has gotten worse, not the nerfed meta.

before, GGG would uber smack anything strong down to oblivion, which forced metas to anything else that was stronger. while now i think that has shifted to where GGG buffs something into oblivion so it clearly stands out.

other builds are still super strong etc etc but just not as good as the next skill getting an MTX

Right... tell me more about how fast Winter Orb can clear now, or about how Warlord's Mark is still viable for spellcasters, or about how Cyclone didn't get its radius functionally cut in half this league.

The only thing they've nerfed that hasn't been absolutely destroyed as a result is tornado shot via the fork bugfix, and that's because tornado shot is already too fucking strong. And apparently they're buffing bows in 3.9 so I look forward to that being the completely indisputable global meta when we see minions nerfed into the ground.

"

codetaku wrote:

The forced metas have gotten worse, not better.

I say this as someone who actually created and played a very strong "off-meta" build this league

It would be great to start a thread dedicated to unusual builds created by players. ::poke::

No need for guides; just "here's the PoB" and "this build is cool because..." I think a lot of interesting builds don't get posted because of the work/expectations that go along with a formal guide. :: poke poke::

Oh, last comment, the forums are always the same regardless of the game. As someone once said, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

But seriously in almost every league the level of complaining is roughly the same, so its a very bad gauge for the state of the game.

If the complaining every stops, that's how you'll know the game is dead.

"

GreyLensman wrote:

It would be great to start a thread dedicated to unusual builds created by players. ::poke::

No need for guides; just "here's the PoB" and "this build is cool because..." I think a lot of interesting builds don't get posted because of the work/expectations that go along with a formal guide. :: poke poke::

I actually did make a guide, so there's no need for me to make such a thread :P

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2643210

Also I think my character tab is public, you can just check out the character codetaku_agonizes if you don't wanna read everything.

I basically looked at Cold Iron Point and went "omg ultra-defensive cyclone applying poison 14 times per second for HoAg".

This one item and the necro buffs made this build immediately viable but it's not actually a summoner build, it's an agony build (which used to be bow-based). My other minions are literally just meatshields.

I play softcore but it's basically impossible to die with this build unless you run headlong into a series of projectiles without fortify up. Which is how I got my first "legit" 100 (my previous 100 was in Betrayal league with breachstone boosting)

But anyway, my point (which is what makes this post not off-topic) is that a lot of these items would've been more expensive if people actually noticed how huge a buff herald of agony got. Instead it's an ignored "off-meta" that GGG very explicitly made to be insane this one patch. It's still a part of the new-forced-meta system even if most people don't notice.

"

codetaku wrote:

"

xMustard wrote:

well the buffed meta has gotten worse, not the nerfed meta.

before, GGG would uber smack anything strong down to oblivion, which forced metas to anything else that was stronger. while now i think that has shifted to where GGG buffs something into oblivion so it clearly stands out.

other builds are still super strong etc etc but just not as good as the next skill getting an MTX

Right... tell me more about how fast Winter Orb can clear now, or about how Warlord's Mark is still viable for spellcasters, or about how Cyclone didn't get its radius functionally cut in half this league.

The only thing they've nerfed that hasn't been absolutely destroyed as a result is tornado shot via the fork bugfix, and that's because tornado shot is already too fucking strong. And apparently they're buffing bows in 3.9 so I look forward to that being the completely indisputable global meta when we see minions nerfed into the ground.

This game seems one of those games that just keep switching the meta in order to keep the game alive but it is a really scummy tactic for doing so.

I started playing again this league (in the past I half-assed a playthrough during the essence league). It's great. Might not be the best league for certain builds or loved by everyone, but pickup a low budget summoner or totem build and you'll have a blast if you enjoy that gameplay. Blight lanes within normal maps are still doable with melee characters with a aoe slam or something like that, but you wont be soloing the actual blighted maps anytime soon with them.

Otherwise, wait for the next league (coming soon)