Being a mediocre player gets you nowhere in POE

What i like in PoE is that in every league i get a little bit deeper into the game that previous. In last league i was able to kill Atziri the very first time. Yes. I really dont care about end game content. When i get bored i leave PoE and get back when new League starts and try to do something different that the last time and see when this time i manage to get.

If one wants to finish this game then it has to invest time and attention. HIS/HER time and attention, there is no easy mode. Either You follow it or You wont be able to get deeper.

To me its simple, but not easy. But i guess many people think easy=simple.

Lol, I'm a medicore player too, and I still get all my gears for WR MF by Day 7.

I learned mistakes from other leagues and know what's to expect.
If u have bad RNG/lucks in this league.

1) Don't worry, you're not the only one that's suffering; it's just part of the game.
2) Don't worry about doing end-game content in league, just enjoy what's available to you, because if you want to do those kind of thing; you have to learn your way out of being medicore players
3) Knows what's your plan in league - For example, my plan is to farm divine orbs - Buy them as much as I can and convert them into exalted orb in standard league. Set up the atlas to either sustain BC/Arcade map and farm casually and don't need to worry about the end-game content.
4) End-game content can be bought through currency (but why would u do that?! That's no fun! Well, because I don't start with a character who do end-game content, because I'm a medicore player who's suck as bossing that's all.)
5) Plan out ur goal (Farm currency? Do end-game content? Be a best league runner? or Be wanna be...uhh don't know about this one... :D)

Extra story
One of my guild mates who's insanely rich in standard and he's a very good league runner as well; he knows all mechanic and how to exploit them to get ahead of everyone in the league. He usually get most of the content done by day 2/3, but in this league he got a very bad timing & RNG/luck that pushes his goal further back to get everything done by day 5.


Conclusion: Learn your way out of being a medicore player and step up your game.
1) Learn the game's mechanic & how to exploit them
2) Learn how to set up your atlas to sustain map and make a ton of currency
3) learn how to trade, flip, and know how to price items
4) Learn & research different build for league running and crush content on your own.
5) All of these stuffs that you can learn on "Youtube".

- Don't have time to do all of these stuffs because you have a real life? Don't worry, you have a really long time to do all of these stuffs, and heck human can live for like up to 80+ years old man. Take care of your body, live a healthy lifestyle & know how to manage your life and learn all of these things one at a time.

Anyway, good luck exiles!

I died to hillock once...

I must admit, great game but the endgame design is for NOLIFE only. you do not have any fun in the game past level 85. the progression is terrible, the trading is not possible in most cases cause of the system itself AND/OR you just dont get the currency to buy anything what is very good. a normal player can buy 1 piece of gear what is top tier (not super top tier) every 7 days or so, because of the high market prices. sure, if u get lucky, you will have something to trade and get some exalts like that. but thats "luck" and nothing is more frustrating than getting your own character progression going in very small steps and falling just behdind everyone will more time to spend. sadly the game design and especially the "endgame" design targets the "NOLIFE" (old kripp style, the game is like 80% inspired by him). one very big reason that this game experience is only good for NOLIFE people or people who stream as their job of course. for me personally, this 2 cases are the only ones, which makes u feel great playing it more than 30+ hours in a league. and dont forget about the free botting in this game since there is no detection for it, from time to time bots getting banned... sure. but u know, that they do not care and just make new accountS which reache maps in 8 hours or so aprox. and then after some days MAYBE banned, after several exalts the make or even a mirror etc.

i hope u respect free speech.

small indie company btw xD

EDIT: i mean, u will see what direction will be done in the future. it will come down to "casual" playstyle and endgame content. they are trivializing many things (quality of life also) every month or so, step by step until they reach the "chinese" standards. POE does not survive like that and u know it. just look at recent changes and the upcoming party changes. i hate to say it, but close to diablo we go with that. haters gonna hate the facts and will love whats going on nevertheless, and this is ok. but in the end, the result will be the same as always.

Being a medicore player as well and had similar thoughs like the OP several times.

My observation so far: League is intense grinding non-stop. Standard often is forgotten to be the alternative.

I found myself frustrated not playing league content fast enough. If you don't want to dump more than 5-15 hours per week to play then you get litterly nowhere in league.

For that reason, I decided to play PoE at my pace accepting to miss most of the leagues' content. I even skipped many of them and played standard instead.

Standard can be fun in so many ways, in particular, if you don't want to feel the pressure of the 3-month timer running up.

If you want to play PoE like an oldschool ARPG then playing standard maybe is the answer (in particular, if you don't care about trading like me).

From one mediocre player to another, I feel your pain. My limitations are more computer based because my computer and internet are both sub par. But if you want to kill shaper my answer is always this: totems. Aw chieftain has become my go to, but there are so many good variations. Then you don't have to react as fast, very tanky too. Of course if you don't enjoy totems that doesn't help.

Another thing is that best strategy for accumulating currency isn't trying to get after end game content. It's low/mid maps very quickly. I just learned this myself. I was amazed. Make a cheap fast character capable of passing over low maps such as burial Chambers, gorge or strand really quickly. Clear as fast as you can, repeat.

Good luck to you, I hope you get some answers that help.