Diary of a Self-Found Player, Week 1 (long)

There's nothing objectively wrong with trading, but some of us (there are dozens!) find that trading defeats the purpose and tarnishes the experience in a game that is all about finding loot. It expedites you far too quickly to the point where you basically no longer find upgrades, and it puts you at the mercy of a rather barebones trading system and a volatile economy that takes a lot of time and work to keep up with.

There's something much more rewarding and pure about directly earning everything you've got. Obviously one has also earned the stuff with which one trades with others, but it's not the same. I feel much more in tune with the game itself when playing self-found than I do when trading (I have tried to play the game "normally"), and I enjoy being unfettered by concerns about the economy and how much more others have than me.

Also, self-found players find that trading gives them that same feeling you get when you enter cheat codes into a single-player game: it's briefly amusing to gain a bunch of power, but then you're shortly struck by that feeling of "why bother playing anymore?" In short, it ruins the purity of the ARPG experience and turns the whole thing into a trading simulator where you just farm for proverbial money with which to purchase things that other people found. It doesn't feel right to us.

Now, playing self-found hardcore is possible, but it's really not a very good idea. I tried once and I gave up rather quickly. I enjoy hardcore and played it almost exclusively in both D2 and post-Jay D3, and would enjoy it in PoE if it were more viable to play it without engaging in heavy trading, but it really isn't. It's like trying to sew with oven mitts on -- not technically impossible, but rather uphill to say the least. Besides, the game is not lacking in death penalty nor difficulty when playing self-found, even softcore. I wouldn't like softcore if I were a trading player, but I'm not. As such, when I returned to PoE for Forsaken Masters, I chose the Rampage League (also because the features of Beyond sounded horrible and seem to have turned out exactly as I predicted).

Starting out is fairly easy. Everyone is pretty much self-found for the first day or two, barring the occasional traded skill gem or something. Without access to the latter, I knew I would have to find a Grace gem somewhere along the way, but everything else would be available from quests throughout the game. Day 1 was rather uneventful and ordinary. I reached level 40 or so and called it a night.. day... I sort of lost track of time.

After doing my shopping (including half a dozen Red Bull), I logged into PoE for my second day of self-found extravaganza. I was ready to do a heavy push, having a full day available (uni doesn't start again until next month). I plowed through cruel and merciless, finding remarkably little in the way of gear, and prepared to do Docks runs until I had obtained 5L of some kind... any kind.

When checking the shops every level, I can usually get one somewhere along the way from A3 normal, where they first become available, to the end of merciless. If not, farming Ledge/Fellshrine/Docks for half a day tends to do the trick. No such luck today, however, and I dragged myself to bed at level 69 or so.

In addition to craving a 5L, I was nearing Iron Reflexes and really wanted to find a Grace to go with it. Playing with <1000 armour is no fun. I farmed Docks all afternoon, well into level 72 or 73. Eventually I started doing a pile of level 66 maps, but still no trace of a 5L. Or Grace. I did find a 9% Flameblast, however, and stuck it in a red socket to level it up a bit in tandem with my own 4-linked one (Flameblast, Chance to Ignite, Elemental Proliferation, Fire Penetration).

Ugh, Flameblast is slow with +12% cast speed. Should I have gone witch? No. No! In the long term, 3x 4% cast speed is not good value, and if I ever wanted to get that, I've got access to it in two different places. Screw witches. They're overplayed, anyway.

Still no 5L. Still no Grace. Doing level 66-68 maps galore, but reflect is turning out to be more of an issue than I expected. I am using a ruby flask to defend myself against it, but sometimes you can't see the elemental reflect animation under certain enemy models, or if they're in water. Sometimes something runs in from off-screen just as you release your Flameblast. I died several times to one-shotting myself against reflect before resolving to simply pop a ruby flask each and every time I'm nuking an elite that I'm not 100% certain doesn't have reflect. It ends up working out, and since getting used to this, I haven't died to reflect once.

I'm finally getting to use the crafting system properly. It seems to take forever to level the masters, but I've stuck 50 life on a few of my items, and my scepter received a delightful +32% spell damage. Discovered to my dismay, after sticking 20 dex on an item temporarily (I thought), that you can't actually change or reroll an enchanted mod. I was sure I'd heard that you could. Note to self: don't craft until you're sure, and don't craft anything onto a really good item until you've leveled the associated master high enough to get the best tier of that mod. There has got to be something more than 12-17 flat energy shield.

Oh, I finally found a Grace just before logging off.

Desperation for a 5L is reaching unfathomable heights. a 4L Flameblast is no bueno, it's like a lifelong smoker blowing up a beach ball, you die a little inside at the ponderously slow expansion of that damned orange circle. Still using a 4L at level 80 is miserable. In my despair, I decide to fusing-spam a 6-socketed Vaal Regalia I found.

And after about 30 fusings, I stare dumbfoundedly at the first 6L I've ever owned.

Yeah. I 6-linked a Vaal Regalia in 30ish fusings. On day 4 of a new league. Playing self-found.

Proof: http://i.imgur.com/7qWxu1t.jpg (yes, my PC is made of driftwood and string)

I chaos-spam it up to about 400 ES and finally stick the point in MoM that was awaiting a bigger mana pool. Now, with about 600 unreserved after auras, MoM is finally viable. It's still not quite as much unreserved mana as I would like to have with MoM, but I had like 300 before which wasn't even worth considering going MoM with.

My other gear is still largely garbage. I have a level 41 spirit shield that I found in cruel, amazing at the time with its 55% spell damage and 60 life, but no longe that great. My other gear is just random crap that I have to wear for the resists; I'm just barely touching 75% in all three, and -40% chaos, which is quite rough. Dragged myself up to 3500 life, 4000 armour, and the combined defenses of AA+MoM. Finally feeling a little tanky. I go to bed at level 80, still not quite able to believe I just 6-linked a friggin' Vaal Regalia in a handful of fusings like some kind of streamer.

Having obtained my ludicrously lucky 6L, I decide it's time to get a 20% Flameblast and complete my link setup. The 9% one that I found is now the same level as the one I'd been using the whole time, I've found 5 GCPs along the way, and I've kept a bunch of superior gems to turn into more GCPs with the vendor recipe. I get it up to 17% and finally, throughout the day, to 20% thanks to a few lucky GCP drops and another vendoring of superior gems. I'm now rocking 20% Flameblast, Fire Penetration, Elemental Proliferation, Concentrated Effect, Spell Echo and Faster Casting. I'm also leveling an Increased Burning Damage in the background in order to turn that into a 20% one and maybe replacing Faster Casting with this, but I really like having a rapidly expanding Flameblast.

Breezing through maps. A few really shitty deaths (new Mervail in Graveyard is a bitch, and Sallazzang in Labyrinth insta-gibbed me completely). The exp from lower-level maps is practically non-existent now and I feel a little stuck at level 82 until I finally manage to build up a decent repertoire of level 72-74 maps and grind it out to 83.

My gear is starting to look a little more organized now. I've got ES pieces in all slots (except I still have that crappy spell damage shield) and my total mana pool is now a whopping 4000, with almost 800 unreserved -- my goal for MoM usage. Still sitting at a kind of unimpressive 3500 life, though, which I want to get to 4000 as well. Any more than this will require better gear as most of my pieces just have the 50ish that I could craft onto it. Found a very tidy onyx amulet with cast speed, spell damage, man regen and allres. Could only stick 26 life on it, but it's probably still going to be my amulet for a long time.

Today I'm going to get to 86, the initial 105-points goal of the build. Beyond that level, any further passives will just go into 5% life nodes which aren't particularly crucial to the concept. There's seven 5%ers available, though, so if I ever do get into the 90s, I'll probably be rocking 5k life. For now, my goal is a modest 4k.

Grinding. Grinding.

Grinding a game that pertains to gear(s). Every day I'm grindin'.

I notice that I've yet to find any really interesting uniques. This is one of those big issues that self-found players face. You can get decent rares, you can get a 5L (and, evidently, even a 6L if you're obscenely lucky), but the top uniques are often something you simply have to resign yourself to living without. I've filled two stash tabs with common, unexciting uniques. Did grab an Eye of Chayula, however, which - while not useful to me - is something I'll keep for what I plan to be a future CI character. I mean, I already have a 6L Vaal Regalia, right?

After a long and grueling grind - thank you Netflix for keeping me sane and awake - I finally get to level 86 and drag my ass to bed. I'm quite satisfied with where my character is now. Comfortably maxed resists, 3900 life, 950 unreserved mana, 4000 armour, and an astonishing clear speed thanks to a 6-linked 20% Flameblast and a build that is turning out very well indeed. I'm absolutely breezing through maps, even the level 72-74 ones.

Results so far:
http://i.imgur.com/MG4WAOg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QFxq9Q4.jpg

Today I need to level my masters. It's getting kind of critical. Most of them are level 5 and I think I'm missing out on the top tiers of craftable mods which, due to the apparent permanency of enchanting, leaves me unwilling to sully my good items with weaker mods. I've already put an underwhelming 26 life on my amulet and there really has got to be something better than that.

My goals for today are to level masters and upgrade gear. Leveling is no longer terribly important, although one is obviously always working towards it. I also want to set up my last auxiliary links, having so far neglected Immortal Call as I've been leveling it to 20 (nearly there) in order to reset it into a 20% one. Also finally found a second Spell Echo for my Enduring Cry, and I hope to find a Reduced Duration for my Lightning Warp.

I still haven't actually found a 5L armour. I check all shops from A3N onwards every single level, and have spotted a few mid-level 5L axes and two-handed swords there, but no actual armours. Luckily I've got my 6L, but that's obviously a complete fluke. Now, at this stage, I think I have enough jeweller's orbs to make up the 150 fusings it takes to craft a 5L, which by the way is a fabulous addition to the game, but it's still remarkable that a week of playing nearly every waking hour is not enough for me to find a 5L armour of any kind. If I have to be completely honest, I would probably have abandoned PoE yesterday in favour of D3 2.1 if I hadn't got that 6L or the option of crafting a 5L. That amount of time without finding what is generally considered largely necessary for any kind of advanced gameplay, as with so many other aspects of PoE's loot system, feels off.

The 5L recipe could probably be reduced to 100 fusings instead of 150, considering how much most builds depend on a 5L and how shitty it can be to not find one after 80+ hours. I think the goal should be about 50 hours tops for a 5L, considering the fact that this is easily 2+ weeks of play for anyone with ordinary playtimes. It's not really worth 150 fusings, anyway, given the lost opportunity of a 6L. Normally you'll find a 5L every few days at worst, but when you don't, I think the alternate option needs to equate to a bit less farming time than it does with 150 fusings.

The other gear is so-so. It's good enough for me and what I'm doing (still on low-70s maps) but not really anything special. I have 150ish ES on my gloves and helmet, I have some godawful boots that I just use for the 30% movement speed and 80 life on them, and I have the same scepter and shield I've used since cruel. Not much has changed regarding the quality of gear that one obtains playing self-found, and the reality is that PoE is so stingy with the loot that one must resign oneself to pauperhood if constant trading does not appeal. I'm alright with that, but I know a lot of people have left the game due to the stupendous rarity of great items.

Crafting has helped a moderate amount, but I still don't feel like I've really unlocked its potential as the masters level so slowly. Finding an item which has great stats except for that one stat it's missing, and actually has room for that stat to be enchanted onto it, is surprisingly rare. In 95% of cases, it hasn't got room for what you would want on it anyway.

Also, while the crafting system is at least in part a service to self-found players, the big issue for us is that it costs the same resource that you already use to make your gear. Alchs and chaos orbs are needed elsewhere -- I have to alch every pair of sorcerer's gloves/boots, every hubris circlet, every titanium spirit shield in hopes of getting upgrades. I have to chaos-spam my chest 20 times a day trying to land 600+ ES and at least one solid resist, something that has eluded me so far after about 50 chaos orbs. This new self-found feature is mutually exclusive with the main source of upgrades for self-found players. It would have been nice if crafting didn't cost the very same thing that I can spare the least.