General Gameplay Questions

I've been playing for a few hours - and am currently a level 8 ranger. Over the course of my play, I have come up with a few questions - I'm hoping people can help me in this thread.

1) This is my first beta test - I am typically a rule / guide reader. Is there an organized resource that can help answer some of my questions below?

2) I notice a lot of people selling items in chat - but there is no general currency in this game. What do people use in lieu of currency? Should I be saving up certain scrolls or orbs?

3) Can rarer scroll / orbs be traded for less rare ones at vendors?

4) Is there a good guide to what various stats do? Does dexterity do something beyond help me meet item prerequisites?

5) I have seen people describe ranger builds with as many as 8 frenzy charges - I can only see 5 on the skill point interface. Are there other ways to get them? Is this something that may have changed in a patch?

6) Are there other ways to get skill points apart from leveling up? For instance, in both D2 and TQ, certain quests rewarded points.

7) Do all areas currently have a purpose - quest goal, treasure, or path to another area? I came across an area early on next to the Mud Flats - I forget the name - that seemed to be just a dead end.

8) I am winging my ranger build - is there a way to reset skill points at some point in the game. Incidentally, if anyone wants to PM me any advice, it would be appreciated.

9) How does one typically get into a party? Does being i a party change game mechanics (monster difficulty, exp, loot)? How is loot handled (FFA, round robin, specific to player, etc...)

Thanks again for answering my questions.

Regards,
Beo

1) No organized resource really. But for general help I would definitely recommend the following topics for maps/quest guides:

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3156
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/12241
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/15493

2) Definitely pick up all your orbs, as many people take those and they are used as currency. People also just swap item for item depending on the situation. Currency information here:
http://www.pathofexile.com/item-data/currency

I'm not sure on the exact values and ratios of swapping currencies with other players, haven't done that much trading. Someone else probably knows more than me.

3) This thread explains all the 'recipes' at vendors that are known when selling:
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/15223

4) If you go into the passive skill tree in game, you can highlight each skill to see what they do. I believe str = hp, physical dmg. dex = evasion and reqs, int = mana. Someone else can correct me on that

Dexterity does not influence ranged damage and intelligence does not influence magic damage

5) Not sure, you might just be missing some. I believe you can get 2 frenzy charges by using the frenzy skill without even adding additional ones, so that would be 7 charges.

6) There's a few quests that give skill points, refer back to the quest guide topics

7) You can look at the map, it labels what each map has. I'd say every map either has a chest, sidequest, main quest, or is a way to get to another map.

8) You gain 2 respec points from a quest, you can use orbs of regrets, and during beta their may be full skill resets. Difficult to fully respec just using the game but you can fix minor errors

9) Parties aren't used that much, you can try to ask in global chat or town. Best way would be to find some friends or find a clan due to looting. Loot is FFA at the moment, there is a large discussion about future options here:

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/392


Also I'd read the beta manifesto:
http://www.pathofexile.com/betamanifesto/

Thank you very much for the info!

If you have friends that are playing at the same time as yourself you can party invite them by pressing enter and typing, /invite username, then to check invite requests press s and accept in that window.