tried self found but failed.

"

irukandji wrote:

well self found is not that easy if you also exclude party play but it`s still possible.

Self-found that includes party is a ridiculous concept. It would allow one party member to focus on trading game to the point where he has so good gear that he can solo carry a full 6-man team, and then the person who didn't trade could state "who cares if I got carried by a person that traded to obtain his power, since I did not trade, I am self-found, herp derp".

Everything I have in Torment is self-found. Check out the 81 Witch in my profile. I too use an Arc build and I'm rocking 8,300 dps atm with only a four link. I also dual wielded the entire time.

I did find a Spell Echo somewhere around the mid 50s from some zone I can't remember, but the dps boost from that was insane. Remember Arc has a 50% damage effectiveness, so + spell/lightning damage is effectively cut in half, making cast speed and +1 gem level supreme since they are not affected by the effectiveness nerf - technically the +1 gem level is, but that's just a function of the skill itself so it has no inherent scaling issue with itself as a result; that would just be stupid.

You'll get there, just farm up the levels. Keep in mind that the dps boost on spell gems per level is quite insane compared to melee. I got about 700 dps per gem level from the last few levels on Arc. Try to find a +1 or better yet, +2 lightning gems wand/sceptre. That'll give you the largest boost to dps until you start getting 4+ links.

Focus purely on defensive stats on gear with the aforementioned in mind. Spell damage, while nice to have, isn't really a major concern. All you should ever need to start mapping is a +1 with Arc, Spell Echo, and Life Leech. That's what I did, and it'll work for you too.

I'm by no means hardcore when it comes to this game. I just enjoy playing from time to time and experiencing what's on offer in the latest patches. I'm more of a melee player, but I dislike melee in this game for the most part due to desync. This Witch is also the first character I've ever gotten to reliably farm maps. All my other chars are melee. =/

Good luck on the drops mate.

EDIT

Apparently you can't look at chars on the forums lol. Could have sworn you could, ah well, I'll link her items.



This sceptre is the one I used all the way into maps. The off-hand sceptre wasn't particularly great either. I used it for the mana regen mostly. I just gathered up items and used the Alchemy recipe to craft items. http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Recipes#Straight_Flush

I'm playing self-found, and have been since closed beta. It takes A LOT of time to get real power full playing this way, and that's why I never play the ladders.

But, some day even self-founders can rock Atziri, using six links and what-not.

I've played self-found through Merc Dominus numerous times. I generally kill him in the first week of a new league. I can do it in 2-3 days if I have the whole day to play. Physical Ranger is the easiest way to do this since you don't even have to max your resists. I've also done it on Dual Strike/cleave a few times, and once with searing bond.

You really have to know the game well to do this, but once you have a feel of when to farm vs when to progress it's pretty easy. Or heck, if you're in softcore it's super easy. Just stack damage nodes and zerg through stuff. Use your portals.

I usually don't bother trading for things until I'm deep into mapping.

Solo self found is a way of life. I did it for a roughly 18 months.

Here's my build tips.
Choose one single target, and one group skill.
Always try to max resists, even if that means sacrificing life/es/dps.
Use your boots with the highest movement available.
Run a flask with remove freeze and bleed.
On the tree chase life nodes, while filling out with other benefits in the direct line.

That design will get you through merciless easily. After that pray like you have never prayed before.

I dont really think that selffound makes any sense at all - it is a multiplayer game so why shouldnt you sell the stuff you dont need and buy stuff you need..

But I played a couple of chars to low lvl maps without trading (usually in 1 week races).
If you really want to play selffound - it is possible if you choose the right build to start with)

But imho its not that much fun - I prefer lvling with really good lvling items so I can 1-shot everything and get to maps and a char lvl where the build finally starts working asap..


of course if you want to start selffound with e.g. a CI char you'll probably fail hard

Couple points on self found. Some builds are easier than others. Totem builds and powerful spells tend to be easier for me to start out, after that probably 2h melee honestly. I buy gems if needed. I am not a huge fan of the gem/sock/link system (although it is ingenious). Having to find gems just detracts from the fun of self found for me. Armor/life is king for self found. And don't feel bad about cheating and buying a piece of gear, lol. I have gone strict self found plenty but it is more fun for me to go self found on wealth only, no selling. Chance orbs are for jewelry (poor mans alch). And finally, I consider a succesful self found character one that can farm merc piety. From there on its just time to get to whatever content.

"

DorenAlexander wrote:

Here's my build tips.
Choose one single target, and one group skill.
Always try to max resists, even if that means sacrificing life/es/dps.
Use your boots with the highest movement available.
Run a flask with remove freeze and bleed.
On the tree chase life nodes, while filling out with other benefits in the direct line.

That design will get you through merciless easily. After that pray like you have never prayed before.

Good sound advice there. I might add; learn vendor recipes!

"

azraelb wrote:

I dont really think that selffound makes any sense at all - it is a multiplayer game so why shouldnt you sell the stuff you dont need and buy stuff you need..

But I played a couple of chars to low lvl maps without trading (usually in 1 week races).
If you really want to play selffound - it is possible if you choose the right build to start with)

But imho its not that much fun - I prefer lvling with really good lvling items so I can 1-shot everything and get to maps and a char lvl where the build finally starts working asap..


of course if you want to start selffound with e.g. a CI char you'll probably fail hard

Selffound is just a different way of achieving the same goals. Only difference is that it will be harder, since RNG does everything it can to stop you. The sense in playing selffound comes if you can break through to endgame content on your own. Of course some builds work better for starting out with SF.
If your goal is to get BiS gear, yeah, trade is probably easier...

i think that i forgot one important thing when i returned as self found.... THE GRIND IS STILL REAL !!

yep, its real. i think many of us who have played poe for a long time, start afresh after a break and expect to steam roll through every act. this may be the case for some players, especially if trading for items instead of SF.

but the reality is, its just like in final fantasy, sometimes u got hammer some lower lvl content before progressing.

ive just hit merc and im noticing the difficulty now, so time to get a grind on.

I can't attempt self found, there's just so much more grinding required.