PoE endgame single-hero variety/specialization

In some games, a high-lvl character is built around a single skill and when you play the game all you do is cast that skill. E.g. Hammerdin in D2 or Prismatic Bolt embermage in Torchlight 2. In the endgame you only use a single spell.

In other games, you can encounter more variety. The best example is the Invoker from Dota 2. Dota isn't exactly an RPG but the Invoker hero is a great example of how you can cast more and more skills, all of them with better efficiency, as you progress in the match. Invoker's idea is that you summon combinations of magic orbs around you and then, depending on the combination, you gain access to different magics. 2 yellow orbs and 1 blue orb "unlock" the skill to summon a fire elemental, while 2 yellow orbs and 1 purple orb let you cast a meteor.





So I was wondering, in PoE, when you build up your character and play the endgame content, can you use 3+ different skills and be viable, or do you have to focus on 1-2. If you insert skill gems for summoning a fire elemental and then for a meteor and then for something else, will a hero be as efficient as a Witch that only ever throws fireballs all the time?

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ussrspace wrote:

So I was wondering, in PoE, when you build up your character and play the endgame content, can you use 3+ different skills and be viable, or do you have to focus on 1-2. If you insert skill gems for summoning a fire elemental and then for a meteor and then for something else, will a hero be as efficient as a Witch that only ever throws fireballs all the time?

Unfortunately you have to focus on only 1 or 2 main damage skills, because of how the linking system works.

You will be using lots of support skills though. Most builds use a totem, a curse, a golem, an aura or two, and a movement skill. There are also many other support skills that get used a lot.

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ussrspace wrote:

So I was wondering, in PoE, when you build up your character and play the endgame content, can you use 3+ different skills and be viable, or do you have to focus on 1-2. If you insert skill gems for summoning a fire elemental and then for a meteor and then for something else, will a hero be as efficient as a Witch that only ever throws fireballs all the time?

Depends what are you using. If all the skill you plan on using share similar properties, for example 'elemental projectile spell' you can build your character to be able to mix and match a lot of spells freely.

However there are two major snags about that
- You usually have room for one or two high-link skill setups, more if you use Hierophant and certain uniques but that reduces your skill selection, you're giving up on more raw power and...
- It's pointless, there aren't many advantages to multiskill setups for variety's sake, there isn't any elemental immunity in the game, high resistance is very common and such enemies are jumbled together so punching through it with your main spell is preferable to switching them around.

Now, the exception are certain setups that use skill combos as their main trick, like elemental equilibrium, but those setups usually have a main skill and a support skill that serves just to trigger the effect and they're automated in some way.

You can indeed build chars that use multiple skills and even mix and match playstyles like melee attacker and caster or archer and summoner, but there usually isn't anything such chars can do that their straight variants can't, it's usually the opposite. As a rule, hybrid builds will start working later and their overall power level will be lower, it's something you do for fun.

The Weapon switch can be used to get one extra 6-link at no cost to the build - in terms of it being optimal or not.

Example 1 with practical relevance:
I play a phys->ele Tornado Shot build and use a Puncture Trap on the weapon switch.

Example 2 with practical relevance:
I play a caustic arrow build with caustic arrow + inc area + xyz for mobs.
And on the weapon switch I have caustic arrow + trap + conc + xyz.
So depending on the situation I can shoot caustic arrows (vs easy mobs) or I can throw caustic arrow traps (vs tough boss).

Due to trap mechanics (cooldown) Trappers can in general also benefit from using more than one "main" skill.

But overall I mostly agree that "the game"/GGG does not like hybrid characters/builds. Especially if you are new you will probably just gimp your build if you try something "fancy" involving multiple main skills.