The epic journey of a noob for the 8 challenges completion

It's funny when i remember how i was a random player stuck on merc farming mud flats because of the big number of rares that area can spawn.
I was so happy when i got The Magnate droping.
I was dreaming of getting an Andvarius, chancing gold rings and stuff..

One of the items that made me dream was Tabula Rasa, i made this thread on the past rofl http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/375861
And my best drop was :



Why did i not use it yet, and what does it mean ? You will know if you read what is following.
( Oh and i got a pair of Rainbowstrides)

Now i have every unique for uniques achievement, including : Andvarius, Thunderfist, Shavronne's Wrappings..

Lioneye's Glare, marohi erqi, taryn's Shiver.. !

Shavronne's revelation, Dream fragment, gifts from above.. !

Rise of the Pheonix, Aegis Aurora, Alpha's Howl, Bringer of rain.. !

Heartbreaker, Midnight Bargain, and Void battery.. !!

1) First of all it was my build, my build is an attempt to make a character on a non HC league doing maps and leveling as much as he can without one single life node and with 0 ES. ( eldrich battery )

I succeeded in making it leveling till merc lunaris 2 ( level 71 ), I succeeded in beating Vaal merc with 0 death on the combat.

Physical was easily handled, with Immortal call and endurances charges.
Cold was never that hurtful because i had seething flasks and was trying kill monsters before they deal that much of cold dmg. I had Freeze immunity, and Chill immunity if needed.
Fire was the easiest to beat with Arctic Armour. Even if AA reduce the fire dmg taken it did not prevent ignite status which is hurtful, so i was using an Ashrend unique chest when needed.

lightning dmg was the problem.

basically, i wanted to "nullify" all sources of damages, so i can run freely kiling all monsters with a max of 650 life through all the game.

Lightning on Barracks was a little problem and it was aswell on maps.
Ghudda suggested to me to get Rejuvenation totem, wich proved powerful for my build ( 100 life / sec ), 5-6 sec = my life is full. I was finally able to do Barracks : each lightning hit was doing 150-200 life loss. It gets tedious when you have to juggle between rejuv totem-avoiding chargers-using enduring cry-using immortal call-And killing monsters.

So yeah even with my status immunities and my huge ele resistances, lightning was annoying.

That's why i went asking if there was anything that would raise lightning res besides the usual stuff here :

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/435438

2 days later, Divination Distillate Unique first flask came and answered my question with +6 all max ele resists.

I went desperately offering almost all i had, because the build was the most important thing to me, in that time. http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/438149

Final note : on my build i was running 00-50 iir and 00 IIQ,( only got 50 iir because of Aurseize otherwise i should have 0-12 ~~~~ ) i did that because i think that iir is not important on early levels.

2) The ring!




Someday, someone called Calm__Assertive was spamming several number of items on chat, each one selling for 1 jewel.

I bought from him Four items including the ring. I flipped for the first time an item, 6gcp 9 jewel i got at the end from selling the ring. The buyer needed resists on Merc he said ( we were still at the beginning of Anarchy ) I felt i should not get that much benefits so i gave him back 1 gcp.
SO i bought from A the ring for 1 jewel
sold it to B :6gcp9jewel
gave A : 1 gcp
Gave B : 1 gcp

I went back to calm__assertive (B) and gave him 1 gcp, i explained to him the situation then he said thx for your honesty or whatever he said. I don't know who is the one who suggested, but we agreed on this : I would sell for him an item and get a cut from the selling. Trust was established. And since he did not like to spend his time trading, so.. it was a win-win.

I had the luck to sell for him a gg WAND, at time i did not know it was but asking a high level player on my friend list proved to be a good thing, he is saying : 2-4 ex :o

I sold out the item for 2.5ex equivalent.

Used maligaros virtuosity from the trade to buy an Andvarius ( Finnaly :) ) but in the meantime Divination Distillate came out.

I traded My Andy ( :( ) for a Divination, it had a good roll btw.
Since all divinations had the same +max ele res, i did another flip without even noticing, i found a buyer + a seller : SO i sold it for 3ex 11 gcp and bought another low roll for 3ex. 11GCP won by trading _woh_.
After that i got an Abyssus from him and only low uniques. He did not get more gg items. But it was an important event for my ascension.

3) This time it will be my work 100%, during a race when some players were absent i found what it seemed to be a very nice spell mace, thanks to calm_assertive and the guy who price checked me i knew this was some kind of very good item.
I had 1 ex left from calmassertive's wand ( i did not pay him back, yet), i sold it for 7-8 times its price. (http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/454905/page/1)
I went back to the buyer and gave him 1EX. ( it proved useful later.. :o karma ? )

This one was easy because i was on Anarchy. If my memory is right i found 12/13 of them and bought one : Damoi Tui, from that guy named : SEXCALIBURE ( yes forum guys play the game aswell :o )

The rarest Exile is : Igna Phoenix, but i was lucky enough to find her at my first merc barracks. I sold it for 2 guys aswell, about 2-3 gcps.. we killed it.

Note : All exiles i found were outside maps.
Save the pets.

Using an Eternal and an Exalt when you don't need is upsetting.
I ended by asking a random player to let me use HIS item and HIS exalt and i would offer MY eternal, and IF the exalt was succesful he would pay me a few gcps and if not i will just use the imprint and give him back his item not exalted.
Surisignly i was able to spare my ex and found someone : katsumg ( chinese or russian or something like that ) Accepted. At that time i met Reboticon( hi :p).
Thanks again! I hope he gets 8 stars soon.

Here is a very funny why to make this achivement : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2JGtN3J0JI

The fastest way to level i know and i'v heard of is using Facebreaker.
I will make a guide here >>Guide<< In beta general discussion.

During my leveling sessions i met some strong players with nice dps, nice dps = ofc faster exp gain.
I saw some fire based searing touch builds. ( firetrap/ DISCHARGE )
i saw some cleaver builds aswell.
VERY SPECIAL THANKS to : ZODRAC never seen a nicer person ! RIP his OS char.. and his other friends dead chars. Did not see him around after he ripped^^

Not big deal, if you can't get items ilvl 75+ you had to ask someone who do maps level 73+ to sell to you rare items.
Or just buy crafting items with high ilvl and alch them if you can.

It was wfl_rebelz who helped me with this achivement early. Thanks!
The other stuff is easy except selling a 6L.
2 options :
-Buy a crappy 6L.
-Buy a tabula Rasa.

This may prove hard for most players.
Some stop at maps level 74, some at 75 and some others at maps 71( like me, with my strange build )
Someone wfl_rebelz ( again ) helped the first 8 stars and the second one an MANY OTHERS get their 6th achivement done by offering this service : http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/497683 ( Free advertisement OG ;) )

Hardest area to clear is : River crossing! I remember doing the map 2 times again searching for that last monkey.

The asiest way to do it ( and you can still do it if you want to get a star before leagues end ) is :

Make a party of 6 players.

Player 1 go to area 1
Player 2 go to area 2
Player 3 go to area..
Player 6 go to area 6.

Then :

Player 1 use /ramining and tell the other when there is only 1-2 monsters left.
They come and the last monster is killed : everyone get the clearance.
Player 1 go to Area 7.
Player X do the same as player 1 and when they are finished he go to area 8..

and so on!

I did it with a friend sometimes and with another guy some other time.

Oh god!

2 options :
**Use 30 EX equivalent of regrets. You only have to get a node once you can after that unallocate it ( not sure about this word ) and allocate your points to another node.
**OR ! Level a bunch of chars to level 20-21

Here is how you do it fast :

Ask a friend to rush you from beginning to fellshrines act 1 normal.
You enter, get a tp to mud flats, open the underground passage with the three glyphs.
Now you can enter Ledge, take waypoint. Wait till your high leveled skilled friend ( Hyperbear ) reach Brutus.
get a tp to brutus NEXT ROOM. He kill it and you get the quest, no need to go outside the prison, come back to town quickly.
Take tp to Cavern of wrath, take waypoint. And wait in town
Take tp for merveil. he kills it and you get the quest. Go back to town
Your friend use wp to go town act 2, he enter forest through town ( not throught wp ) he tp you at the enterance of town. Enter.
Take tp to fellshrines.
Now you can Level up freely and quickly ( you could reach level 20 in 30 min ), to make this even more efficient, you can rush 4-5 chars at once ( Hyperbear had this crazy idea ) :
Your friend go to brutus, you get the quest. unlog to another char while your friend is going back to LOWER PRISON to open a new insance for a new Brutus kill.. do that for the other chars and other quests.

Ok what do you need : ?

From level 1 to level 4=


( 2X blackhearts )

+ Burning Arrow/Poison Arrow maybe not sure about level required.
+ Split arrow if you can.

From level 4 to level 10 :



At level 10 you can use





You have to use karui Ward for the DEX needed.
And The ring for Mana. ( you don't need it with Silverbranch )

At this level you can go Coves from cavern wp and do 2 runs to get level 11-13
Now you can do 1-2 runs of Forest
Finally go to fellshrines and reach level 21.

IMO : you will get more EXP playing alone when you can 1-2 shot multiple pack of monsters that easily.

Notes :

- Do not level up your gems, level 1 is enough. this way you will be able to use them for other chars.
- Don't bother allocating your points. Just wait you level to 20-21 then do it ( unless you need a quick node with DEX/INT )

I don't even... oh wait i made it U_U ( YES!! =D )
So how did i do.. ?

This is going to surprise more than 1 person but no more than 90% of the uniques were bought! Not all challengers bought their items, i talked with some other Stars seekers and i found that there were several ways to achieve what seems to be "the" impossible :

- You either play A LOT ( some guy told me he bought only 10 uniques out from the 90, holy cow! )
- You either Borrow some of the uniques from a friend who does not care about the challenges.
- You either try to trade your uniques ( not needed for challenge ) with uniques you need like did Enki91 here : http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/501663/page/1 Unfortunetaly, he may not be able to finish in time. ( You can do it! And you will!)
- Or You buy them all because you can.
- If you are an Onslaught player and have some a little wealth there, then you convert your ex to Anarchy ex's with a rate of 2:1 and buy the items you need for half the price.
- You are/were a very good wealthy player on Standard/HC, then make a cross-trade and get the ex on the approriate league and buy the uniques left.

Ok how did you do to buy all this uniques ( questioning myself ) ? ( and Shavronne's wrappings :/ ? )
Well, the answer would be : I became VERY VERY good at flipping items.

TO explain to you how it works i will put a basic example :
buy Rainbowstrides for 1.5 ex and sell it in chat for 2EX.
It may take 10 minutes or several days.

Some examples :
Buying a divination for 2-2.5 ex and selling it for 2.5 (in a hurry) or 3-3.5ex

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/479252
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/486516
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/485925

Some rares : ( i believe this guy talk about how rares are important : http://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/1gsrvg/understanding_and_making_use_of_poes_economy/ i did not have the time to read his "epic?" message, i bet you will understand everything reading his stuff )

Well, first offff : The caster mace i linked in intro.
Then :

This sickest mace anyone ever saw : http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/480554
Bought 4EX ( i had like 6-7 max si it was a big risk thing ) and sold out for 12-15 equiv, it took time tho.

This crazy dps slow bow, i won the auction by offering like 8 gcp. http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/481833
SOld out for 2-2.5 ex.



Auxium Unique belt ( because its name fits mine hehe ) :
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/482329

Bought for 6-7ex and sold for 9-10.5 ex


So, you have to :
-Know the value of an item.
-Buy the item if no interested player put the right price, for a lower price?
-Wait and find the interetsed player by that item and sell it for an appropriate price.

I made a market and trade guide here ======>Help understanding the market<======

The thing that gave me an edge was my friends :

- "Friends Power", If you don't have the right amount to buy a cheap very pricy item how do you do ? Well you borrow currencies. Your friends must trust you first then trust you will succesful fliping that item.

PROMO1987, who knew when to trust me and gave me 3 ( was it 4 ? ) EXs, after i turned that 3 to 5EX, we agreed that i keep the 5EX and try to turn them into a higher amount of EXs.
His birthday came and i gave him an EXTRA EX from his benefits.


Lately ( after he saw me flipping a mirror ) he trusted my trade skills again and lend me 15 ex for an item i bought ans sold out the next hour for 29EX.
gave him back like 16-17 ex, so everyone wins.
2 days ago, he lend me 26EX ( YEAH 26..... )
( i talked to him, and TOO BAD he sais he does not trust me lol he is just waiting for the day when i would screw him + all the others by borrowming 1000EX => SAD SENTENCE :/ )

Hyperbear, Who helped me price check ES items and other stuff. ( yes i don't know how to price check es stuff because i never played a CI build and yes my character is named FireBoomBoom and is not a Discharger )

Ghudda, man this guy was so nice! I remember talking to a top player on Anacrhy ladder and reading this kind of words : I will not price check you ( give you an opinion on that item ) only if you do this or that!
Another was telling me who are you ?! Only level 71.. i should not even be talking to you ( lol ) arrogance much?
Yet Ghudda who make things that amaze even Chris, kept being cool + friendly + helpful if he was not busy. ( http://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/19m9fb/poe_is_a_boring_game/ Check Chris comment )

MANY other friends from the most important ones for me that i did not name to the random ones i added in the time of Standard/Anarchy and that i did forget.

Price checking on Anarchy Price check forums : a bunch of players liked me for that.
I was lucky enough to find a player from them that had become slightly rich.

He liked me and was happy to lend me exalts when i needed to buy an item that i could not buy ( either i used my currencies on an item or i did not have enought : like a mirror..etc)
He said you don't have to give me benefits, but i gave him a few anyway. ( i borrowed from him like 7 ex i think one time )
His name : ZEEKIDC2
2 days ago, he gave me 19EX ( i think i like this guy the most : because he trust me blindly it seems => Epic trust :D)

Another guy who helped me was Gonathras, 3 ex borrowed once then second then 4 ex.
Another guy was : SHANDEL, this is a friend of the guy who owned the HOLY MACE.. He sold out to me a 6L Searing Touch for 4EX.
Too bad he is not showing up anymore, i still have 2EX to give him back. ( He was joking about death WTF? I REALLY hope he is alive )
And ofc : WIGGIN which i offered my selling cut service : http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/479923
Sold this awesome WAND the items from the sale let me buy a SOul Taker.. which made my ascension even more possible. So BIG THX to you Wiggin

Holy shit lol