F.A.Q. -- READ THIS BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION, IT MIGHT BE ANSWERED HERE.

The purpose of this FAQ is to hopefully give people some knowledge of the game for when they start playing. It is compiled based on questions that many others and myself have spent countless hours answering over and over and over again in normal chat. This is not a "technical" FAQ as there are many posts throughout this forum that handle the more technical aspects.

*If you see something out of date or wrong or just want me to consider adding something just shoot me a PM about it. I'll be more likely to see your inquiry there then as a reply to this thread.

General


Q: Is this game available on Mac?
Spoiler
A: Not inherently. However some great people in the community made a port for Mac using Wine. The credit for this version (V3) goes to Julus. Download Here. Copied the FAQ from his post in the Beta forums down below at the end of this post for help with the Wine port. **NOTE: This link may not be accurate as it may point to an outdated version, check the beta forums for the post by Julus and go from there until I have time to sit down and fix it.**

A second option has become available from PlayOnMac. The link to it is here. **NOTE: Same as above note, link may be bad check beta forum post by Julus and search for right one there.** Thanks to runningjojo for the PoM link and whoever developed it.


Q: Is there a Wiki?
Spoiler
A: Yes. Wiki


Q: What is with the alphabet soup? What do these acronyms mean!?
Spoiler
A: You can find the truth in this post here.


Q: Is there PVP in the game?
Spoiler
A: Yes there is now pvp in Path of Exile. Have at thee!


Q: I got rushed through normal but I can't enter the next difficulty. What gives?*needs to be updated with new level restrictions
Spoiler
A: GGG has put level restrictions on the various difficulties. Cruel is 20 and Merciless is ??(not sure what current level restriction is for Merciless atm) to enter.


Q: What sorts of things will be in the cash shop? Is it pay-to-win?
Spoiler
A: Grinding Gear Games is 100% against Pay-to-Win. The cash shop is now live. You can view the contents of it by clicking on the "Shop" link at the top of the page.


Q: Is there a way to make a build without ruining my character?
Spoiler
A: There is a web based skill tree on the website (the link is under 'Game' at the top of the screen). It has a search feature and can calculate the shortest distance as well as showing you other nodes that match the one you are mousing over.


Q: What the heck is this Skill tree...forest...thing?!
Spoiler
A: The Passive Skill 'Tree' is a large network of passive buffs and raw attribute increases for your character. All classes are on the same tree, but start in different places. When you level up, you gain one skill point. You can use that point to activate a node, but you must be connected to that node. This is how the character's passive 'path' is formed.

While the passive tree (sometimes referred to in-game as the Skilldrasil or Skill Web) may seem complicated, it actually only has two parts. It can be thought of as a map, with suburbs and roads.

The clusters of related passive nodes that boost a specific area (sword, hammer, archery, fire damage, evasion, and so on) are like suburbs. These will form the bulk of your character's build. The pathways between these clusters, comprised entirely of nodes that give +10 to a certain attribute, are like roads. Some of these roads can cover a great distance much quicker than if you detour through the suburbs: what may look like a short path with passive boosts could in fact be much longer than taking the +10 to attribute path.

You can see what these attributes do by pressing 'c' and hovering your mouse over each of the three. Anything the attributes don't do, such as increase ranged damage or attack speed, will likely be handled by passive nodes on the skill 'tree'.


Q: What is the point of classes in this game if they all are on the same tree?
Spoiler
A:While it is true that all classes can use the same skill gems, are on the same skill 'tree' and can use any item in the game provided they meet the attribute and level requirement, there are three significant differences between the classes:
1)starting position on the skill tree, thus determining which passive nodes are easier to get
2)Starting attribute allocation
3)What skills you get from quests.

Think of how you want to build your character then pick the class that will help you get there the best.


Q:What's the max level in this beta?
Spoiler
A: 100. If you look at the 'Passive Skill Tree' (link on the left), it grants 111 skill points. This takes into account all quest rewards. Although 100 is the maximum level, it is virtually impossible to reach. Most people create builds to 'milestones', such as levels 30 and 60.


Q: Where is the gold? Is there no gold in this game?
Spoiler
A: There is no gold. Path of Exile uses a barter system based on consumable currency called orbs. There are various orbs worth varying amounts.

Click here for the Dev Diary about Path of Exile's currency.

List of current currency items.

Known list of vendor recipes.


Q: I have all these items in my stash but don't want to have to manually keep track of them to know when I have a recipe match is there another way to accomplish this?
Spoiler
A: Yes there is thankfully. However it is currently limited to Google Chrome browser. Thread here(in beta forums not sure if you can get to it without beta access). And you can download it here.

Installation

1) click https://raw.github.com/njs50/poe_ext/master/poe_ext.crx to download the file

2) Ignore the message about not being able to install

3) Type in chrome://extensions in the address bar to go to your extensions page.

4) drag the file you downloaded in 1 (should be on the bottom of your screen still) into this page.

*credit for this goes to: HouseAbsolute ---> TheJumpingJawa(TJJ) ---> njs50 you guys rock!


Q: Why did my town portal close? How long do instances stay open?
Spoiler
A: Your town portal closed because the timer on your empty instance ran out. It is 8 minutes for regular instances and 15 minutes for instances that have side zones. An example of a 15 minute instance would be Mud Flats. You have Fetid Pool to the north and Submerged Passage to the east.


Q: How do I make a new instance? Can I farm an area or a boss?
Spoiler
A: You can make a new instance by Crtl+Left Clicking on either the Way Point or the zone entrance portal and select new. Note that you cannot reset the instance/zone from within that zone, you will have to be outside at the zone/instance entrance or at another waypoint to do so. This is how you would farm bosses or farm Dread Thicket for it's chest and double unique monkey bosses. Please note that bosses are not in their "own" instance but rather their instance is tied to the instance prior to them and you will have to reset that instance to farm them. If you wanted to farm Vaal Oversoul you would have to reset the instance for the pyramid, which is not the waypoint instance but rather the instance tied to the first set of stairs. If you wanted to farm Merveil you would have to reset the Cavern instance right before you get to her, again not the waypoint instance. Same goes for Brutus, you would have to reset the upper prison instance.


Q: Is there a quest log in the game?
Spoiler
A: Yes. You press “u” to see the quest log. It also doubles as your Way Point map. When you cycle through the quests you have active the map will show you the path to the zone where the quest is to be completed.


Q: Is there a penalty for dieing in Path of the Exile?
Spoiler
A: Not on normal difficulty but as you progress through the difficulties the penalty is XP loss. 7.5% for Cruel and 15% for Merciless.


Q: What does quality do?
Spoiler
A: It varies per item. Armors and Shields gain an increase in their defensive stats. More Armor, Evasion, Energy Shield, and Increased Block Chance. Weapons give more damage. Health/Mana Flasks it increases the amount returned. For Granite/Diamon Flasks it increases the effect duration. For gems it depends on the gem where some gems gain attack speed and others gain piercing or radius of the skill.

Complete list of all skill gems with quality bonuses here.

Complete list of all support gems with quality bonuses here.


Q: How do I get back to town without walking all the way back?
Spoiler
A: You either use a Town Portal. Use a Waypoint. Or you can get yourself killed. 3rd option not recommended in higher difficulties.


Q: Is there a quick way to sell things?
Spoiler
A: Control+Left Click while the sell window is open.


Q: Can I compare items?
Spoiler
A: Press and hold Alt while the mouse is over the item you wish to compare to the equipped item.


Q: Is there a map or minimap?
Spoiler
A: There is the traditional map overlay which can be activated via Tab by default. Or in the options you can turn on the minimap.


Q: Is there a quick way to move things into my stash?
Spoiler
A: Ctrl+left click will also quick-move things to and from your stash.


Q: Is there a Way Point in every zone?
Spoiler
A: No, but almost now. All of the major areas have WP's now but some of the side areas do not such as Fetid Pool and Dread Thicket.


Q: Is there a Way Point in Zone X? What does that icon on my quest tracker map mean?
Spoiler
A: There is a legend in the quest log/way point map. If you go to the zone and then see a small dot in the middle of the circle that represents the zone then there is a way point you just haven't discovered it yet. Otherwise if the circle is empty there is no way point in the zone.


Q: Is there a way to respec?
Spoiler
A: Yes you get 2 respec points per act per difficulty via quests. Act 1 is the Fetid Pool quest from Tarkleigh. Act 2 is the Through Sacred Ground quest from Yeena. Other than that you can get Orbs of Regret as drops in the world or trade them from other players.


Q: Can I respec all of my points at once?
Spoiler
A: No, skill point resets are a single point at a time. GGG have made clear this is working as intended and they do not plan to implement a method of total respec.


Q: I just took a passive that increases my critical strike chance by 15% but I see no change or very little chage in my crit percent what gives?
Spoiler
A: Crit increasing passives are multiplicative and not additive. Meaning if you have 5% base crit and you take a 15% crit increasing passive you don't get 20% crit. You instead get (5*.15)+5 as your crit.


Q: How do I view items linked in chat?
Spoiler
A: You have to press enter then mouse over the item(s). Although GGG has said they are toying with the idea of active links where you would just mouse over them rather then having to enter chat first.


Q: How do I link items in chat?
Spoiler
A: Ctrl+Alt+Left Click


Q: Can I buy more than one currency item at a time from the vendor?
Spoiler
A: You can only buy items one at a time for now.


Q: Do vendors ever change their wares?
Spoiler
A: Yes there are 2 things that change what a vendor has for sale. Once every 24 hours (not sure what the exact time it occurs it) they reset. And every time you level the vendors change their wares. Also of course on server restarts.


Q: Can I play with friends?
Spoiler
A: Yes but you must first play through the Twilight Strand before you can do so.


Q: How do I find games/parties to join?
Spoiler
A: There is a messageboard in each town that lists public games/parties for you to join. Alternatively, you can press 'S' and click the 'Public Parties' tab.


Q: Is there a chat service for voice chatting with people in the game?*need to verify still working
Spoiler
A: Not inherently. There is however a Mumble server set up by a group of people who are in the beta. Tutorial on how to join. Thread for rules regarding the Mumble server.
IP - 212.16.110.188
Port -64738
Password - poe


Q: Is there a way to trade?
Spoiler
A: You may now trade via trade windows with the person you desire to trade with as long as you are both in the same zone. Right click on the portrait of the character you wish to trade with and select the right option. You MUST view each item in the window before you can accept the trade to verify that you are getting the item you are trading for.


Q: I thought we were going to be able to trade through the website and with people in other zones?
Spoiler
A: You WILL be able to but you cannot do so just yet. It is in the works by the lovely folks at GGG.


Q: How do I get more skills and/or support gems?
Spoiler
A: You get some from quests and you can find them from mobs and random environment objects like chests, barrels, rocks.



Skills


Q: Does it matter where I put my skill gems, like weapon skills have to go into a weapon?
Spoiler
A: No it doesn't matter where you put skill gems as long as you don't put a square peg into a round hole (color matching).


Q: Can I stack the same skill gem to make it stronger?
Spoiler
A: No you cannot. You can however use two of the same gem if you wish to have differing support set ups for them.


Q: Is this gem a spell or a weapon skill?
Spoiler
A: There are two kinds of skills, spells and attacks. All attacks deal damage based on your weapon, and if you select them in the character screen will show main hand and/or off hand damage depending which weapons the skill is usable with. Spells base damage comes from the gem, rather than the weapon, and they will generally show "spell damage" in the character screen (if they do damage).


Q: Why would I never level up a gem?
Spoiler
A: Three reasons to not level a gem. A)If you cannot support the new mana cost of the gem or the mana reservation. B) If you want to pass it on to another character which might be lower level. C)If you are gear dependent on the stats required to use the skill gem and don't think you're going to be able to keep up with the stat requirements.


Q: Can I have multiple supports on the same skill gem?
Spoiler
A: Yes. If you are lucky enough to get a 6 link chest you can have up to 5 supports on a single skill.


Q: Can one support gem support more then one skill gem?
Spoiler
A: You can support up to 5 skills with a single support if you have a 6 linked item.


Q: What is the max level for skill gems?
Spoiler
A: 20


Q: Do 1 hand passives work for dual wield?
Spoiler
A: Yes.


Q: Do I need to use a skill to level it up?
Spoiler
A: No any skill that is equipped will gain XP.


Q: Do skills I use gain more XP then those that I don't?
Spoiler
A: No all equipped skills gain XP at the same rate regardless. They are also not affected by the XP penalty that players are.


Q: What is elemental damage?
Spoiler
A: Elemental damage is all non physical damage except for Chaos damage. Chaos is not an element. That means: Fire, Cold, Lightning are all elemental damages.


Q: Do bonuses that affect elemental damage affect spells?
Spoiler
A: As long as it does not state "weapon elemental damage" and rather states the more generalized "elemental damage" then yes it will affect your spells. "Weapon Elemental Damage" affects weapon based elemental skills like Burning Arrow, Lightning Arrow, Lightning Strike since they are not spells and are weapon based.


Q: Is there a stealth or invis ability/spell? Does X class ever get to become invisible or learn stealth?
Spoiler
A: There is currently no invisibility or stealth skill in the game.


Q: Do 1 hand passives affect me while I am dual wielding?
Spoiler
A: Yes 1h passives affect the character if they are duel wielding. Even the weapon specific 1h passives affect dual wield and you get double effect if you are dual wielding the same weapon.



Quests


Q: What do I do with the Baleful Gem?
Spoiler
A: Keep it for use with the Wicked Spear.


Q: What do I do with this Wicked Spear?
Spoiler
A: Keep it. If you read the quest text you would know the answer but then you wouldn't be asking the question. You need the Wicked Spear and the Baleful Gem to bypass the roots that block your way to Oak.


Q: Which Bandit should I kill?*needs to be changed
Spoiler
A: Up to you. You don't have to kill all 3 of them. Leaving one alive yields you a specific bonus instead of a single skill point for killing all 3. Oak gives 45 HP, Kraitlyn gives +8 all resists, and Alira gives 30 MP on normal. Cruel: All 3 is still a skill point, helping Alira gives , helping Kraitlyn gives , helping Oak gives .


Q: I have killed all 3 Bandits what do I do now?
Spoiler
A: You should now have the combined amulet. You will take that back to the Pools and Streams area and go through the Waterfall cave. There you will find the Pyramid. It is 4 levels of mobs and then a top level where you use the combined amulet to spawn the Vaal Oversoul. After this, in closed beta, you then go through the door to enter the next difficulty and in Open Beta you will go through the door and then enter Act 3



Items


Q: What does it mean when a socket is linked to another?
Spoiler
A: It means you can place a support gem into socket B with a skill gem in socket A and it will gain the effect of the support gem when you use the skill gem. For example: I put Heavy Strike in socket A and I put Added Lightning Damage in socket B. You will now see a “L” on the skill icon for Heavy Strike and the tool tip should show added lightning damage.


Q: How do I get Town Portal scrolls?
Spoiler
A: They drop off of mobs, chests, barrels, etc. You can also buy them from the vendors with 3 Wisdom Scrolls per Town Portal Scroll.


Q: How do I get Scrolls of Wisdom?
Spoiler
A: White items sells for scroll fragments. 5 scroll fragments make a single scroll. I advise picking up only the smaller objects to vendor as you can carry more per return to town.


Q: Is there a point to picking up any of these white items once I no longer need Scrolls of Wisdom?
Spoiler
A: Yes if you find an item that can yield a Chromatic Orb(3 sockets linked with all 3 colors) or if you find an item that has 4+ links that you want to trade to other players, sell to vendor (6 socket, not 6L sell for 7 orbs), or craft with them via alchemy, transmutation + chaos, etc.


Q: How do I identify stuff?
Spoiler
A: Right click on the Scroll of Wisdom and then left click on the unidentified object.


Q: Do I need to identify things before I sell them? Does selling an unidentified item sell for more?
Spoiler
A: You don't have to identify before you sell but it doesn't grant you more shards. Instead selling identified and unidentified items grants you different shards for different orbs. Unidentified items grant you Transmutation Shards, whereas identified items grant you Alteration shards.





(For a more in-depth FAQ, please see Malice's Mechanics Thread -- Charan)


Mac Port Using Wine Info

Known Issues
The port inherits the rare bugs which may occure on windows, so you can expect crashes and/or graphical glitches.
The port is know not to run on some configuration by default with D3ERR_INVALIDCALL error (possible workaround below in FAQ)

___________________________________________________________________

FAQ


How to move contents from old wrapper
Spoiler
Copy "wrapper/drive_c/Program Files/Grinding Gear Games" to new wrapper (to same location)


How to disable gatekeeper - Mountain Lion only
Spoiler
Temporary workaround: Right click the wrapper -> Open
Permanent workaround: Open system preferences -> Search for gatekeeper-> allow all sources



Game won't start - fix
Spoiler
You can fix this by one of these solutions
1) reboot the OS X (the /tmp will get cleaned along with the lock file)
2) delete the lockfile from /tmp (the lock file will be named like "xWSxUsersxUsernamexblablaxtadatatada.app" (but make sure there are not any hanged wine processes)

This is new "safety" feature of wineskin 2.5.6 which is preventing from bad things to happen.


Game opens in too small window | Game does not want to enter fullscreen
Spoiler
Press CMD+Enter


Game will fail to load with D3ERR_INVALIDCALL
Spoiler
This may or may not help.
1) Right click the wrapper->Show contents
2) Open wineskin
3) select Advanced->Tools->Winetricks
4) from settings check glsl=enabled and click Run
5) close all Wineskin windows, and try to launch the game


Where can i find the logs?
Spoiler
1) Right click the wrapper->Show contents
2) navigate to Contents / Resources / Logs
3) The LastRunWine.log and LastRunX11.log are often needed when troubleshooting


Workaround for OSX 10.8.2 and 10.7.5
Spoiler
1) Download and install XQuartz 2.7.4
2) Open wineskin
3) select Advanced->Options
4) Check "Force use of system installed XQuartz instead built in WineskinX11
5) close all Wineskin windows, and try to launch the game
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/36608
FAQ made through many hours of enduring global chat in Normal


Last edited by Dark0mens on Feb 19, 2013, 9:07:34 AM
Last bumped on Oct 21, 2013, 11:13:52 AM
Considering the General Discussion is the 'first port of call' for newcomers, and all the other helpful threads really are quite technical and in-depth, this is in my opinion long overdue.
Warhammer 40k Inquisitor: where shotgunning is not only not nerfed, it is deeply encouraged.

Dogma > Souls, but they're masterworks all. You can't go wrong.

I was right about PoE2 needing to be a separate, new game. It was really obvious.
Good call cause I had no idea about linked gems for the longest time at first I thought I could link all str gems with str gems then I thought of materia from ff7, then it happened I found it I found a support gem and the stars aligned them selfs and the world grew a bit brighter that day.

Please don't pm me asking for beta keys :)
When I can pull myself away from playing I will tidy it up a bit. I was just in a hurry to get some info out there. Shadow is so much fun....stab stab stab stab stab stab.
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/36608
FAQ made through many hours of enduring global chat in Normal


Some other questions with answers I would like to see is stuff about guilds and how to make or join them, what kind of benefits is there to having a guild, and maybe bring to light math behind the diminishing returns on stats.

I'm sorry if my asking is pestering its just that I don't know how diminishing returns math works and I'm not even sure if I'm spelling that right lol :p
Please don't pm me asking for beta keys :)
Unfortunately guild support isn't part of the game yet, so any existing 'guilds' are really the D2 style -- put a tag on your name, player-run events, etc.
Warhammer 40k Inquisitor: where shotgunning is not only not nerfed, it is deeply encouraged.

Dogma > Souls, but they're masterworks all. You can't go wrong.

I was right about PoE2 needing to be a separate, new game. It was really obvious.
"
Unfortunately guild support isn't part of the game yet, so any existing 'guilds' are really the D2 style -- put a tag on your name, player-run events, etc.


Those were the days. 4v4 guild pvp matches, "raiding" other guild games, trolling one another in guild hardcore games.

I eagerly await the same things in PoE :)
ANT for the win till it went main stream and died into a bot channel.
Please don't pm me asking for beta keys :)
great tread, though I have played for a few month I am still learning from it.

But there is a thing I am not sure:

Do vendors reset their wares every 24h? I once checked them everytime I logged in but only found them changed after level up.

Besides, is the good "bug" that you can buy 6-linked ware from vendors by small price fixed?
Nice Thread, i would lie if i would say, im here to Read it... but i will read it, as soon as i get one Beta-Key..

I would read this while im downloading and installing my game, but no... don't give me a chance reading this <3



So if you want me to read this Q/A.. give me a key xD

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