Inexperienced and Dying at 51

Played & enjoyed "Flashback League" until mid 40's or so, then popped into Standard, finished Normal, now playing Cruel, at Sarn and I'm dying to the point that I can't gain experience past level 51. Any tips or pointers?

This is the second character class I got about this high up, and almost feel like quitting. But I'm choosing differently and trying to educate myself on how to do better. But sticking with Duelist, what are good strategies to keep climbing the ladder beyond level 50?

Does one have to join parties? I've been playing solo, but that's getting pretty effing difficult now. I have Iron Reflexes, but I can't really tell that my Evasion Rating is actually stopping damage as well as armor.I've noticed, looking at a couple of other builds, that my tree is compact and balanced in a way others are not... Is that bad?

My Passive Tree: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAAAYB3AlYC8ER1RXsFfYY2xpVIWAppTXvOBs6szrtQzFEnkd-TipTu1boV5dbr185YEFhIWJ5Y3BlTW5pdPGBQYTZiO2K8JAKmSubLZ-Cqfqwc7CruR29Nr2Bvqe_1cGLxILEuMqQ0_zV-Nun3Q3d4-CV4urpRvTm

I have no idea how to post my equipment. I am retarded when it comes to skill abbreviations. I can't say I've ever traded anything, except to give stuff away. (Or be gifted a cool weapon from "above" a high level player, etc.)

It's just mind-boggling imagining one can even get to level 70-something.

I'm pretty novice myself so take my advice any way you want. Life nodes on the passive tree are your friend. Damage nodes are great but if you are dead then they aren't being taken advantage of. Not sure what your gear looks like but +life and resistance affixes will probably benefit you the most at this point. Also not sure if you are doing the master daily quests but there are some defensive affixes you can attach to your gear that might also help. Again I know there are people out there that know this game inside and out and could probably give you much better tips. Either way I wish you luck!

Most people hit a hard learning curve when they pick up this game, especially when it comes to the "passive forest" so don't worry!

I bricked my first character and fortunately there's been several resets since then. You'll get one in about a week ;)

Here's something I learned early on: Generally you don't want to take both sides of the starting area, a full "wheel" and you don't want to pick passives that you can overcome with simple gear options. You want to save your points and head for notables and keystones.

Look at what I've done here with the same # of points.

I dropped Iron Reflexes because typically that's something you want to get later on. Evasion is a cheap, great defense at the beginning and you don't want to lose it until you have your full build planned out.


I also really recommend reading some of the beginner guides here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-forum/gameplay-discussion

Thanks Maizan and Sicyo for your comments. I'm trying "Rapand450's 1.3.x Cleaver Duelist build", with a couple of tweaks (some Mana regen nodes), and just took down the Vaal Boss end of A1 at level 30, so it's working for now.

Thanks Sicyo, for your general tip about not completing wheels and going for the keystones.

I also take Sicyo's point about evasion, although have to say on my lvl 51 Duelist I didn't really notice that IR made much difference defense-wise. (It seems like the game "forgets" that your 434 evasion points are equivalent to armor??) It also sometimes feels like the game "forgets" that I've got a 25% movement bonus on that character's boots. Does that happen to anyone else?

How do you post your equipment to a forum?

Oh right, posting your equipment!

Click on your character at the top, then click the item. It will paste the code where your cursor is.

You would probably see more benefit from Revelry, Essence Sap, or Spirit Void than you would Mana regen. I really don't like the mana flows passive, it pales in comparison to the other utility/resource passives around the tree. Most duelists reserve most of their mana and are constantly hitting/spending resources so it doesn't feel like mana regen is nearly as effective as mana/kill, mana/hit, and leech. Or even flask effects/charges for that matter.