How much PoE is actually open to custom builds?
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Hi everyone!
I played some nice PoE bunch of months ago and I'm planning to return for casual gaming with a bunch of mates. I experimented / tried lots of build for the first 20-30 levels, just to see how the game develops. I'm currently playin' this beautiful Witch at lvl 32 and I want to get to endgame with her, at least. Now, let's come to this weird question: at the very beginning I felt like this game has an insane / unique potential in terms of what you can do even in a single run... You find a new gem, discover a new mechanic and there you go... Another character concept / transformation. But in the end, seeing what is actually dominating the end game (I talk about videos / tutorials, runs) I see that lots of players tend to stick to pretty much the same ideas (THAT type of marauder, THAT kind of Witch, etc). I don't care about havin' a "unique" character by itself, I just want to understand what is the truth or if there is any possibility in between those extreme paths ("do what you want, you'll enjoy it" and "in the end, you'll have to stick with reliable builds"). What do you think? This is NOT a rant or something... I just want to know how this game actually works for the endgame and I want to be sure that this huge building freedom isn't actually a "mask" for what could be a "hidden / written path" for each class. Thanks for your opinions!!! Marco Last bumped on Jun 15, 2016, 8:57:24 AM
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The answer is: Depends on how you like to play.
If you want to be able to complete content in the game, but don't care necessarily about being the "fastest" in your completion then YES. There are tons of builds to play on each character. That being said, it is human tendency to make characters the most efficient to farm in this game (especially since drop rates are lower in this game than in most others). If you feel the need to clear high level content at a VERY FAST PACE...then your build options drastically shrink to a handful of builds that can perform to that level. TL;DR: Yes there are 100s of builds if you don't care that much for efficiency and want to just have fun. NO if you are looking for the most efficient method to farm in end game. |
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There's a lot of build freedom in the sense that many different builds are viable. You can make a very wide variety of offensive and defensive playstyles work in the late game. However, what you described is definitely not the optimal way to play. Your character should have a direction, you shouldn't be speccing into a dozen elemental nodes and then decide you'll use the chaos spells instead. It's perfectly fine to experiment but if your character is constantly "evolving" and you don't have a clear cut plan then you will hit a wall in Cruel or Merciless. All of my characters have planned passive trees before I even name them. I don't always stick to the plan but it's always there to get me basic character definition and push me through to maps.
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Hi!!
Thanks a lot for your time and patience, at first! I'm usually a casual gamer, so I'll probably stick with the basic concept I had with this game (and the main reason why I started): choices. :) I just hope to find some nice equips / gems to fill the gaps lol Since you're so gentle... Is it possible (by your experience or feel) to build a character which relies on 2, max 3 skills? I saw a bunch of "high rated" players playing with just one or two so I was curious... I'm kinda attracted by the idea of building a character around a solid and focused concept. Thanks again mate! |
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" You can buy lots of skills for cheap from vendors in town after completing quests. The one who sells flasks also sells gems. |
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1. There will always be 1 the most effective build
2. There is a lot of fun build to play "Is there such a thing as an absolute, timeless enemy? There is no such thing, and never has been. And the reason is that our enemies are human beings like us. They can only be our enemies in relative terms." Last edited by kamil1210#5432 on Jun 14, 2016, 3:53:42 PM
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Tons of build options.
as a matter of fact new builds are being posted monthly by streamers. |
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" The norm is to use one primary skill, maybe two (which would generally be one AoE and one single target). It's pretty unusual for builds to use more than two damage skills. Generally the rest will be random utility. By the way, something important to note is that, while there are thousands of viable builds in this game, you have to make about eleventy bajillion correct decisions to end up with a really good build. This can make the skill tree in particular a bit of a minefield for newer or more casual players trying to make their own builds. If you feel this way, I recommend heading here and requesting help optimising your build. Have you done something awesome with [url=http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Sire_of_Shards]Sire of Shards[/url]? PM me and tell me all about it!
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" To be fair, the nature of this game doesn't really allow for more than 2 main skills and maybe a couple of support skills (i.e. one movement skill). The reason is that the Gem linking system allows for at max 2 6-linked skills (1 skill + 5 support gems). That is also providing you use a 2 hander with a chest piece. If you go to using anything that is not a two-hander (incl bows), then you will usually be relegated to 1 main damage dealing skill with a few supporting skills. Most characters (not all) go something like this: 1 set of links for main damage skill - 6L 1 set of links for movement support - 3L or 4L (weapon or gloves/boots) 1 set of links for aura support - 3L or 4L 1 set of links for auto-cast support - 4L (typically reserved for trigger gems like Cast When Damage Taken). The reason you will never see 4-5 main damaging skills is that you can't link that many supports to each skill gem you choose. |
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In general most people who have been around for some time and gotten grip on how +/- things work almost always run custom builds,but in my experience custom in PoE actually means custom.
For example let's look at Summon Raging Spirit. The basic build is Life based 6-link +3 fire staff starting from scion going for default pathing a/i reduced mana,duration,life nodes,cast speed,ee,reduced mana reservation and all that stuff. So the idea of the basics of the build is set in stone: Get defenses while boosting the damage of raging spirits. However there are more than few ways how to do it. You can go pledge of hands instead of +3,faster casts thus more sustainability for spirits in shorter time spans,generally used for magic finding. Or maybe you want to go for cast speed wand+victario's charity and pick necromantic aegis,turning your spirits in disco balls of death. Maybe you don't want to go scion but instead choose witch,marauder or whichever other class you prefer. The basic idea of how to scale most skills will always be set in stone,how you choose to go about doing it is totally up to you,and every skill has dozens of different ways how you can build around it,the general idea will be the same almost always,but that's about it,you can either follow a guide as if it was a bible,or you can adjust and/or choose your own pathing. When you have gotten a somewhat okayish grip on mechanics just pick a general guide and experiment with it,adjust the build to your own preference,start off small so if it fails you can reverse the change,and eventually you will look at guides as basics for kickstarting a new build,as in you will craft your own build based on someone else's build,that's basically how 90% of us play,we see something that we like,and customize it for our own personal use. So in general i'd say that while the game can be playing in almost any way you can imagine,there are certain rules of thumb you ought to follow unless you want to get stuck at some point either because you start lacking damage,or white mobs start oneshotting you. No rest for the wicked.
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