How I Owned It Up In Trade Chat

Hey guys, I recently got asked a question about any advice I might have for a newbie when it comes to effective use of trade chat in order to help them keep their character's progression and momentum going as they reach Act 3 Normal and beyond. On the first day of the open beta I managed to get my hands on 5 uniques through trade chat - and not random uniques either, it was the uniques that I wanted. Somehow I managed to trade for best in slot items even though I had no idea how much anything was actually worth, and to a large degree I still don't! Here are some tips based on my experience:

Hardcore League is Better for Important Gear -for- Gear Trades
1: Whenever possible, start your character in Hardcore League and begin your trading efforts there. Unlike in Softcore, you will be much less likely to find mid-high level players who stubbornly hold on to unnecessary gear such as Uniques simply for sentimental value or peace of mind. Because of the more focused and competitive nature of HC League, people will more readily jettison what they don't need in favor of what they do. This means overall it will be easier to pry items you want from the clutches of others as long as you yourself have something that they want in turn. In contrast, SC mode has newer players who will receive their first ever Unique or GemX and hold on to it for no other reason than to keep it as a trophy or because they imagine that the item is worth 10x as much as it actually is. Yes, start your character in HC and keep them there for as long as possible.


Uniques are a Currency That Capture the Imagination
2: Uniques are worth more to HC players than SC players who don't have a predetermined strategy for their character already set in their mind. So while you are in HC mode, don't be afraid to bypass the orb system altogether in favor of peddling Uniques. But of course peddling to the right people will take luck. I happened to get lucky in this department quite a bit.


Maximize Your Turnover
3: Sell low and sell lots. Sure there is some benefit to holding on to the perfect item and cock teasing everyone on the forum to "Come and get it fellas tee hee" and keeping an auction thread open for a full week, but usually if you find an interesting rare it is in your best interest to just sell it for some kind of orb, any kind of orb, as long as it is of greater value than the in game NPC is going to give you for it. I've sold a number of items much lower than you might find someone else selling it for. But time is also a part of the equation. I'd rather sell 5 decent rares at 1/2 price than spend a bunch of time getting full price for just 2. You may ask why is that? The more people you succeed in trading with the more oppurtunity to lucking out you expose yourself to. Once I offered a mediocre rare shield to a random guy for almost nothing, I asked for 2 transmutation orbs, which I didn't care about at all, but once we were already set to make a deal I asked him did he have any uniques he wanted to get rid of, and he told me he did. From I got a Unique that changed everything about my style of play in Path of Exile. Making a deal with him over a shield opened him up to other possibilities in a way that just spamming "WTB ur Uniques" in trade chat wouldn't have. Expose yourself to making deals. Sell low. Sell lots.

Network with People whoWwant Similiar builds as you
4: Find people who are trying to build similiar style characters as you and put them on your friends list. This way you can contact each other whenever you find something of interest or a vendor who is selling an item you are looking for. I am a magic find fanatic even though magic find probably doesn't even do much, there are other people out there who are also enthusiastic about making a character with the highest possibly magic find/ item quantity while also being able ot actually make it through the content. I keep in touch with these people and we help each other locate the gear that we want to find.