Infinite Hunger/Sanctum(Builds)

Just fought the Infinite Hunger. Died when he had 20% health left.

Didn't die to him but died to the sludge every time. I tried looking for the way back but the sludge just slows you and so many enemies overwhelm you eventually you just die. I watched guides and noticed they barely had any enemies chasing them and yet here I am with hordes coming after me. You can imagine it frustrates me beyond belief when I die to an annoying mechanic.

Let's skip the well it's hardcore and you might not be cut out for hardcore games. I am playing PoE because it's one of the most Hardcore arpgs on the market. There simply are some mechanics that are annoying. Elden ring or Dark Souls bosses are hardcore. They reward you with a sense of accomplishment when you finally learn the mechanics. Playing SBMM in cod games and others is Hardcore. Facing off against sweats in a game that was designed off the premise of being casual and arcadie fun.

Fighting Archnemesis mobs was not Hardcore it was annoying. Thankfully GGG changed that! GGG also acknowledged players not liking the idea of being forced into MF builds. They fixed that! Although in releasing Sanctum GGG has brought upon a new form of build restrictions. Yes you can play melee/close quarter builds. Yet if you had the option to run on gravel with runners or barefoot which would you choose? I had to learn the hard way barefoot and though I completed the Sanctum(out of stubbornness) a few times it was not fun most of the time. I never play traps because I don't like traps but I feel forced to play traps because I don't really wanted to do minions. I have done enough minion builds to last a life time and I really enjoy the melee or close quarter playstyle PoE offers. I want to feel like I am in the middle of battle in a massive pack of mobs just to see them explode! I want to try the static strike shockwave build but I fear I wont be able to enjoy the Sanctum.

To give some added perspective my first ever PoE build that I committed to was a "Facebreaker" Scion using smite. One reason and one reason only had me in love with that build. I got to punch enemies in the face with my fists. This is way before Saitama one punch man was even a thing!

The harsh reality is that most builds even melee that excel in the Sanctum do enormous amounts of damage. Meaning the people have invested enough to the point where it doesn't really matter. Yet if I want a mage blood we are talking near 300 divines!!! That is roughly 75'000 chaos. Do you guys understand how damn near impossible that is for me and many others to get. Yet if I want to Replica Alberon's then it's near 60 divines. More achievable but again so expensive! Now the expense is not the problem really. It's that in order to make the melee build comfy I need to invest an absurd amount into it to make it fun. Where as a trap build or srs build is far easier to play with in the Sanctum and this means you can have fun with less invested.

Again this causes problems where certain builds exploit major flaws in the Sanctums intended mechanics. The Sanctum is amazing when it works but sadly I have a sneaking suspicion that the Sanctum will not be an official league mechanic. It's two different games clashed together and it shows how at the end of the day it doesn't work. It's either not fun or it's easily exploited. I get GGG worked hard and put lots of time and effort into the league but it's a league that just doesn't fit in PoE and it shows. If you GGG made the Sanctum a separate game using the PoE models etc... Made it a singleplayer game for 40 bucks with more levels and different dimensions to explore giving it more depth. I think it would be an amazing game. I would 110% buy it!



Side note I usually don't do mapping in a league. I really just play the story and try new builds out and have fun not trying to be endgame too much. Although this league I thought I would really push myself to stick to a build even though I have made multiple lol and see how far in mapping I would go. For the first time in over 700 hours... Yes I have near 750 hours in-game and barely scratched endgame. Mind you I took breaks that could last upwards of a year or more so many mechanics have changed since the last time I played. Yet this should show how much fun I have had playing around with the different types of builds in PoE. Endgame mapping is not everything in PoE.


So my suggestions or at least what I hope to see changed. Is that the Infinite Hunger is revamped removing the sludge mechanic and adding new boss mechanics to make the Boss far more engaging and deadly. As well I would like to see an effort made to balance out melee and ranged builds in the Sanctum. Perhaps this will require GGG to reconsider resolve and perhaps even removing it entirely but buffing the damage of the mobs in the Sanctum. Perhaps melee characters should get a higher buff reducing the damage done to resolve.

Mind you I really think there is not much to be done. The league mechanic is simply so different in many ways to what type of game PoE is that ultimately the only thing that can be asked is that it is not added into the base game. It was a cool mechanic but it doesn't belong in PoE. It's too easily exploited and I have my own theories believing it to be a leading factor in the economies inflation within PoE for this league(not that other factors don't play into it as well).

You barely reach maps and yet you care about Mageblood??

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Johny_Snow wrote:

You barely reach maps and yet you care about Mageblood??

Why wouldn't I be concerned with a mageblood? It's a staple piece in many builds nowadays. Plus if the build I enjoy or the playstyle I enjoy requires a mageblood what's the matter with that?

As for barely reaching maps? I don't understand where you read that or presumed to assume that?

Yes I haven't done endgame high tier mapping(in past leagues) but I have done low tier mapping in the past. It simply wasn't my focus for many of the leagues. Instead I really enjoyed the league mechanics and levelling new characters trying new builds. What's wrong with that? Searching for new ways to play the game. Making your own builds and seeing how far you get then restarting because you realized it doesn't work or it's not what you thought it to be.

Also your statement is suggesting I haven't done any endgame mapping(this league). I have completed a t16 not corrupted mind you. Yet I have comfortably done t10 to t12 maps. Since I want the atlas tree passives I am working my way up the tiers. I thought I would try a t16 once to see how it felt and it was a bit challenging but doable with few deaths.

What I find more annoying is out of everything I said you nit-pick at a bloody mageblood... It could of been a headhunter or an Ashes of the Stars for all I care. I used the mageblood more specifically because of how inflated the price has become. There are far bigger problems in the current league 3.20 then a mageblood and my post wasn't about a certain unique. Rather it was about how much investment had to go into certain builds over others in order to have a similar comfort level in the Sanctum. How this can force players into playing a certain kind of build. Something people expressed concerns about in 3.19 via the loot goblins and MF builds. As well how certain builds are able to exploit the Sanctum with ease compared to many others.

PoE has always been a game that is prided on it's diversity in playability via different builds and different league mechanics. Heck look at the recent static strike shockwave build that is rising in popularity. Last league there was the cyclone forbidden rite CI which was enjoyable as well.

Although I will admit I am very confused. This is not a post about caring for a specific unique. It's highlighting and suggesting my ideas and opinions for this league mechanic and for a boss that I find in my opinion outdated and in need of an upgrade. As well about the Sanctum mechanic that is easily exploited by certain builds. Meaning either you need to invest heavily to feel comfortable in the sanctum or you can opt to use a build that favours the Sanctum. After a month and a half I opted to stop bashing my head against the wall and go for an srs or a trap build. I hate totems(from experience) for the most part and already had prior experience with srs/minion builds thus I opted to give traps a shot. Even though I am also not a big fan of traps visually speaking but I disliked totems more then traps. Ironically I actually found traps enjoyable. So fortunately there was an upside to the sanctum favouring certain builds, lol.


So I don't know why you posted what you did??


*Edits were for some grammatical errors I saw*